The Good Old Concertina
The Good Old Concertina - meaning Summary
Music Binds Bush Communities
Lawson’s lyric celebrates the humble concertina as the heart of bush social life. Through scenes of hut dances, campfire singing and shared drink, the poem links music with companionship, memory and consolation across rural Australia. It contrasts imported instruments with the practical warmth of the concertina and suggests that, despite hardship and time, that simple music restores cheer and communal identity in the outback.
Read Complete Analyses’Twas merry when the hut was full Of jolly girls and fellows. We danced and sang until we burst The concertina’s bellows. From distant Darling to the sea, From the Downs to Riverina, Has e’er a gum in all the west Not heard the concertina? ’Twas peaceful round the campfire blaze, The long white branches o’er us; We’d play the tunes of bygone days, To some good old bush chorus. Old Erin’s harp may sweeter be, The Scottish pipes blow keener; But sing an old bush song for me To the good old concertina. ’Twas cosy by the hut-fire bright When the pint pot passed between us; We drowned the voice of the stormy night With the good old concertina’s. Though trouble drifts along the years, And the pangs of care grow keener, My heart is gladdened when it hears That good old concertina.
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