Our poem was written in 1892…Which means the language is a bit tricky to comprehend. Some words/phrases are redundant and not in use in this day and age.
Your Task:
Choose a verse from the poem. A verse which you find interesting and may not have read before.
You are to rewrite this verse in your own generational language (the way we speak in the present day.)
You may use slang language (not rude language) to interpret the verse you have chosen.
For a challenge, try to get the end words to rhyme like it does in the poem!
Check mine out as an example!
Man from Ironbark's notes:
All the go = the current fashion
Blessed = an exclamatory oath; “bloody” was the most common expletive used at that time, but it was regarded as so rude and uncouth that it could not be printed
Bloomin’ = an exclamatory oath
Bushman = a man from the bush; someone who lives out in the country
By George = an exclamatory oath; from the tradition of avoiding blasphemy and the misuse of sacred words, by substituting words with the same initial letter (exclamatory oaths that use such a substitution for “God” include “by George”, “good golly”, “oh my gosh”, “good gracious me”, and “good grief”)
Catch him all alive = to succeed in tricking someone with a practical joke (originally an unrelated fishermen’s phrase)
Dexter = on the right side
Flash = showy, vulgar; fashionable or showy, but in a way that shows a lack of taste.
Flats = usually a reference to river flats, the flat and fertile alluvial plains located around the lower reaches of large streams or rivers (usually prone to flooding)
Gilded youths = fashionable and usually idle young men; from “gilded” as in covering an item with a thin layer of gold (or to make something look that way), leading to the meaning of “gilded” as to give a deceptively attractive or showy appearance that conceals something of little worth
Murder! Bloody Murder! = this is a precise usage of the word “bloody”, as to use “bloody” as a swear word was considered at that time to be too rude and uncouth to be printed
Nail and tooth = to act in a totally unrestrained manner; the usual phrase “tooth and nail” means to fight fiercely with every available means
Peeler man = a policeman; a reference to Sir Robert Peel, 1788-1850, former British Prime Minister who, when he was Home Secretary, laid the foundations for the modern police force in Britain (police were also nicknamed “Bobbies” after him; from the nickname of “Bob” commonly used for the name Robert)
Razor = an open-blade razor or (also known as a “cut-throat razor”), as was used in earlier times for shaving, in wide use before the invention of the safety razor Toff = someone who is rich or upper-class, a term usually used in a somewhat derogatory manner; “do the Sydney toff” refers to acting like a rich man from the city of Sydney Tote = short for totalisator (US spelling, totalizator), a form of betting on horse races, where those who bet on the winners divide the bets or stakes, less a percentage which goes to those who run the operation (who “keep the tote”) Up-country = a reference to a remote, inland region; in this context it is an unflattering reference to an unsophisticated style