Where the Dead Men Lie (Barcroft Boake)

Complete poem published under the pseudonym 'Surcingle' in The Bulletin in December 1891. Barcroft Henry Thomas Boake (1866 - 1892) was born in Sydney, but preferred the bush, living and working in the Monaro and Snowy regions, and in Western Queensland. Tragically, less than six months after the publication of this fine poem, he was dead by his own hand, aged 26. A collection of his poetry titled “Where the Dead Men Lie and Other Poems” was published posthumously in 1897. This poem is one of the early references to the Outback as the “Never Never”. ( “Out on the wastes of the Never Never” Verse 1, Line 1 ) Henry Lawson almost certainly read this poem, and he was to write his own version “The Never Never Country” or “The Never Never Land” (as it is commonly known) in 1901. Lawson’s approach is more serious, Boake’s somewhat macabre. Cello by Lillian Penner. For more songs, go to www.thequeenslandtiger.com