On the Edge of a Plain
"On the Edge of a Plain" | |
---|---|
Short story by Henry Lawson | |
Country | Australia |
Language | English |
Publication | |
Published in | The Bulletin |
Media type | print (periodical) |
Publication date | 6 May 1893 |
Series | Jack Mitchell stories |
"On The Edge of a Plain" is a sketch story by Australian writer Henry Lawson, featuring his recurring character Jack Mitchell. The story was originally published in The Bulletin on 6 May 1893, and was collected in While the Billy Boils in 1896.[1] It is considered among Lawson's best Mitchell stories.[1]
Plot summary
Mitchell and his mate drop their swags, and sit down in the mulga shade on the edge of a plain. Mitchell reflects about the last time he saw his family, after having been away for eight years. While he speaks, he holds a young cattle-pup, and occasionally intercuts his tale with observations about the pup's feet, or a request for a knife. With his story complete, Mitchell and his mate take up their swags, "[turn] their unshaven faces to the wide, hazy distance, and [leave] the timber behind them."
Writing style
"On The Edge of a Plain" is an example of a sketch story, a style of short story of which Lawson was particularly fond.[1] The story itself contains very little plot, and simply describes one particular moment in Mitchell's life.
Reception
"On The Edge of the Plain" has been cited as the "perfect" example of an effective sketch story.[1] Critic John Barnes believes that the story was ahead of its time, writing that "to a modern reader of Chekhov, the art of this little story is quickly recognised, but the originality of what Lawson was doing on his own went unremarked when While the Billy Boils was published in 1896."[1]
Publication Details
- First Published: Bulletin, 6 May 1893.
- Source: While The Billy Boils, Sydney, Angus and Robertson, 1896
References
- ^ a b c d e The Penguin Henry Lawson Short Stories (first published 1986); with an introduction by John Barnes, Camberwell, Victoria: Penguin Books Australia, pp. 1–16, 221–6
- v
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- Flag of the Southern Cross (1887)
- A Song of the Republic (1887)
- Faces in the Street (1888)
- Andy's Gone with Cattle (1888)
- The Roaring Days (1889)
- The Teams (1889)
- The Fire at Ross's Farm (1890)
- The Song of Old Joe Swallow (1890)
- Freedom on the Wallaby (1891)
- Up the Country (1892)
- The City Bushman (1892)
- The Poets of the Tomb (1892)
- Saint Peter (1893)
- The Never-Never Country (1901)
- Scots of the Riverina (1917)
- His Father's Mate (1888)
- The Drover's Wife (1892)
- The Bush Undertaker (1892)
- On the Edge of a Plain (1893)
- The Union Buries Its Dead (1893)
- Bill, the Ventriloquial Rooster (1898)
- The Loaded Dog (1901)
- A Double Buggy at Lahey's Creek (1901)
- A Child in the Dark, and a Foreign Father (1902)
- While the Billy Boils (1896)
- On the Track (1900)
- Over the Sliprails (1900)
- Joe Wilson and His Mates (1901)
- Crime in the Bush (1899)
- While the Billy Boils (1921)
- Lawson (1943)
- Three in One (1957)
- The Drover's Wife (2021)