When Your Pants Begin to Go

"When Your Pants Begin to Go"
by Henry Lawson
First published in	The Bulletin, 17 December 1892
Country	Australia
Language	English
Publication date	1892
Lines	48
Full text
When Your Pants Begin to Go at Wikisource

"When Your Pants Begin to Go" is a poem by Australian poet Henry Lawson.[1] It was first published in The Bulletin on 17 December 1892,[2] and later in the poet's collections and other Australian poetry anthologies.

Outline

The poem puts the point that, no matter how low you may feel, how bad your circumstances may be, the most important thing that should be on your mind is the state of your trousers.

Analysis

In an overview of Lawson's work in the Free Lance (Melbourne) in 1896 a writer noted that "Lawson is a sundowner of inveterate type, and although everything he writes is prompted by genuine inspiration, none of his pieces is more solidly inspired than 'When your pants begin to go.' That is the production of a man who has been there, and been there often."[3]

Again in 1896, a critic in The Weekly Times commented, when discussing this poem, that Lawson "observes much – almost too much of some things. The centre of his observation, so far as men are concerned, is their trousers."[4]

Further publications

• When I Was King and Other Verses by Henry Lawson, 1905
• Selected Poems of Henry Lawson by Henry Lawson, Angus and Robertson, 1918[5]
• The Bulletin, 29 January 1930[6]
• Australian Poets Speak edited by Colin Thiele and Ian Mudie, Rigby, 1961[7]
• Favourite Australian Poems edited by Ian Mudie, Rigby, 1963[8]
• The Bulletin, 30 December 1980[9]
• A Campfire Yarn : Henry Lawson Complete Works 1885-1900 edited by Leonard Cronin, Lansdowne, 1984[10]
• The Illustrated Treasury of Australian Verse edited by Beatrice Davis, Nelson, 1984[11]
• The New Oxford Book of Australian Verse edited by Les Murray, Oxford University Press, 1996[12]
• An Australian Treasury of Popular Verse edited by Jim Haynes, ABC Books, 2002[13]
• Two Centuries of Australian Poetry edited by Kathrine Bell, Gary Allen, 2007[14]
• 100 Australian Poems You Need to Know edited by Jamie Grant, Hardie Grant, 2008[15]

See also

• 1892 in poetry
• 1892 in Australian literature
• Australian literature

References

1. ""When Your Pants Begin to Go" by Henry Lawson". Austlit. Retrieved 27 November 2024.
2. ""When Your Pants Begin to Go"". The Bulletin, 17 December 1892, p24. Retrieved 27 November 2024.
3. ""Popular Press Man No 9. – Henry Lawson"". Free Lance. Free Lance, 25 June 1896, p3. 25 June 1896. Retrieved 27 November 2024.
4. ""Literary Chit-Chat"". Weekly Times. The Weekly Times, 21 November 1896, p12. 21 November 1896. Retrieved 27 November 2024.
5. "Selected Poems of Henry Lawson by Henry Lawson". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 27 November 2024.
6. ""When Your Pants Begin to Go"". The Bulletin, 29 January 1930, p52. Retrieved 27 November 2024.
7. "Australian Poets Speak edited by Colin Thiele and Ian Mudie". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 27 November 2024.
8. "Favourite Australian Poems edited by Ian Mudie". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 27 November 2024.
9. ""When Your Pants Begin to Go"". The Bulletin, 30 December 1980, p79. Retrieved 27 November 2024.
10. "A Campfire Yarn : Henry Lawson Complete Works 1885-1900 edited by Leonard Cronin". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 27 November 2024.
11. "The Illustrated Treasury of Australian Verse edited by Beatrice Davis". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 27 November 2024.
12. "The New Oxford Book of Australian Verse edited by Les Murray". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 27 November 2024.
13. "An Australian Treasury of Popular Verse edited by Jim Haynes". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 27 November 2024.
14. "Two Centuries of Australian Poetry edited by Kathrine Bell". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 27 November 2024.
15. "100 Australian Poems You Need to Know edited by Jamie Grant". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 27 November 2024.