Poem by Henry Lawson
"When Your Pants Begin to Go" is a poem by Australian poet Henry Lawson. It was first published in "The Bulletin" on 17 December 1892, 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."
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."
References.
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