Includes index. Previously published : Sydney : John Ferguson, 1979. A stunning collection from one of Australia's favourite poets. Readers have long embraced the passionate energy of Henry Lawson's poems. This collection showcases the very best of Lawson -- heart-rending tales of the human condition, rousing poems of social protest, images of comic characters, and classic portraits such as Middleton's rouseabout, as well as some of Lawson's lesser-known works, including the poignant verse addressed to his lost love, Hannah Thornburn. Henry Lawson was a man burdened by poverty and deafness and haunted by the spectres of alcoholism and madness. Against his tortured life, the spirit, humour and understanding evident in this collection show the breadth of Lawson's achievement and demonstrate why he has endured as one of Australia's great poets.