Figurative Language And Imagery In Waltzing Matilda By Banjo Patterson

Waltzing Matilda is an Australian bush ballad written by Banjo Patterson in 1895. With an underlying theme of defiance of authority, Waltzing Matilda tells the story of a swagman who steals a sheep and when caught prefers to die rather than be locked up in jail. It is based on a historical event that happened in the 1800s where a group of shearer’s went on a strike for better pay. During the strike a shearing shed was burnt down and the next day a man, who was thought to have burned it down, was found dead next to a billabong by supposed suicide (Blackwood, 2006). The following analysis will tell you about the literary devices, figurative language and imagery in the poem. It will also have a reflection on my own thoughts and feelings about the poem.

The rhyme scheme in this poem is ABCB, with end rhyme in the verses and identical rhyme in the chorus. Rhyme is when two words have the same sound. An example of two phrases that rhyme from Waltzing Matilda is ‘under the shade of a Coolibah tree’ and ‘who’ll come a Waltzing Matilda with me’ (Paterson, 1917) where ‘tree’ and ‘me’ rhyme. Rhyme helps the poem sound better and establish poetic form. Repetition is where the author repeats the same words or line of a poem more than once. In Waltzing Matilda the chorus, also known as a refrain, is repeated four times. This helps the reader remember the words to the poem. Waltzing Matilda uses the literary devices of rhyme and repetition to help the reader remember the