The man from snowy river
The theme and prose of Banjo Paterson’s poem, ‘The Man from Snowy River, does appear to have been influenced by a number of other poems from roughly around the same period. This is hardly surprising, though, as the obvious importance of the horse, and more crucially, horsemen and their exploits of speed and daring, across nearly all societies would naturally be reflected across the world’s various literary traditions. Understandably, the source for such inspiration would have been primarily from English-speaking cultures and so it is only natural that it would be literature from England and, more importantly, the United States, with its ‘cowboy poetry’ and shared frontier ethos, that would be especially significant in Australia