Henry Lawson

Send Round the Hat

Send Round the Hat - meaning Summary

Solidarity in the Bush

Lawson's poem states a simple bush ethic: communal support cuts across class and past mistakes. The narrator presents a plain creed—if someone is in need, the community should 'pass round the hat' to help, regardless of whether the person was formerly a criminal or a gentleman. It emphasizes practical solidarity, egalitarianism, and the blunt moral code of rural Australian life, valuing action over judgment.

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Now this is the creed from the Book of the Bush – Should be simple and plain to a dunce: If a man’s in a hole you must pass round the hat – Were he jail-bird or gentleman once.

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