Johnson-s Antidote Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis
Rhyme Scheme: AABBCCDDEEFFGGHHIIDD JJKKLLMMDD NNHHHHDDHHDD OOHHDDPPQQRRDD SSTTUUVVDD AAWXDD| Down along the Snakebite River where the overlanders camp | A |
| Where the serpents are in millions all of the most deadly stamp | A |
| Where the station cook in terror nearly every time he bakes | B |
| Mixes up among the doughboys half a dozen poison snakes | B |
| Where the wily free selector walks in armour plated pants | C |
| And defies the stings of scorpions and the bites of bull dog ants | C |
| Where the adder and the viper tear each other by the throat | D |
| There it was that William Johnson sought his snake bite antidote | D |
| Johnson was a free selector and his brain went rather queer | E |
| For the constant sight of serpents filled him with a deadly fear | E |
| So he tramped his free selection morning afternoon and night | F |
| Seeking for some great specific that would cure the serpent s bite | F |
| Till King Billy of the Mooki chieftain of the flour bag head | G |
| Told him Spos n snake bite pfeller pfeller mostly drop down dead | G |
| Spos n snake bite old goanna then you watch a while you see | H |
| Old goanna cure himself with eating little pfeller tree | H |
| That s the cure said William Johnson point me out this plant sublime | I |
| But King Billy feeling lazy said he d go another time | I |
| Thus it came to pass that Johnson having got the tale by rote | D |
| Followed every stray goanna seeking for the antidote | D |
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| Loafing once beside the river while he thought his heart would break | J |
| There he saw a big goanna fighting with a tiger snake | J |
| In and out they rolled and wriggled bit each other heart and soul | K |
| Till the valiant old goanna swallowed his opponent whole | K |
| Breathless Johnson sat and watched him saw him struggle up the bank | L |
| Saw him nibbling at the branches of some bushes green and rank | L |
| Saw him happy and contented lick his lips as off he crept | M |
| While the bulging in his stomach showed where his opponent slept | M |
| Then a cheer of exultation burst aloud from Johnson s throat | D |
| Luck at last said he I ve struck it tis the famous antidote | D |
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| Here it is the Grand Elixir greatest blessing ever known | N |
| Twenty thousand men in India die each year of snakes alone | N |
| Think of all the foreign nations negro chow and blackamoor | H |
| Saved from sudden expiration by my wondrous snakebite cure | H |
| It will bring me fame and fortune In the happy days to be | H |
| Men of every clime and nation will be round to gaze on me | H |
| Scientific men in thousands men of mark and men of note | D |
| Rushing down the Mooki River after Johnson s antidote | D |
| It will cure delirium tremens when the patient s eyeballs stare | H |
| At imaginary spiders snakes which really are not there | H |
| When he thinks he sees them wriggle when he thinks he sees them bloat | D |
| It will cure him just to think of Johnson s Snakebite Antidote | D |
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| Then he rushed to the museum found a scientific man | O |
| Trot me out a deadly serpent just the deadliest you can | O |
| I intend to let him bite me all the risk I will endure | H |
| Just to prove the sterling value of my wondrous snakebite cure | H |
| Even though an adder bit me back to life again I d float | D |
| Snakes are out of date I tell you since I ve found the antidote | D |
| Said the scientific person If you really want to die | P |
| Go ahead but if you re doubtful let your sheep dog have a try | P |
| Get a pair of dogs and try it let the snake give both a nip | Q |
| Give your dog the snakebite mixture let the other fellow rip | Q |
| If he dies and yours survives him then it proves the thing is good | R |
| Will you fetch your dog and try it Johnson rather thought he would | R |
| So he went and fetched his canine hauled him forward by the throat | D |
| Stump old man says he we ll show them we ve the genwine antidote | D |
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| Both the dogs were duly loaded with the poison gland s contents | S |
| Johnson gave his dog the mixture then sat down to wait events | S |
| Mark he said in twenty minutes Stump ll be a rushing round | T |
| While the other wretched creature lies a corpse upon the ground | T |
| But alas for William Johnson ere they d watched a half hour s spell | U |
| Stumpy was as dead as mutton t other dog was live and well | U |
| And the scientific person hurried off with utmost speed | V |
| Tested Johnson s drug and found it was a deadly poison weed | V |
| Half a tumbler killed an emu half a spoonful killed a goat | D |
| All the snakes on earth were harmless to that awful antidote | D |
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| Down along the Mooki River on the overlanders camp | A |
| Where the serpents are in millions all of the most deadly stamp | A |
| Wanders daily William Johnson down among those poisonous hordes | W |
| Shooting every stray goanna calls them black and yaller frauds | X |
| And King Billy of the Mooki cadging for the cast off coat | D |
| Somehow seems to dodge the subject of the snake bite antidote | D |
Banjo Paterson
(1)
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