英文杂志-Magazine：Waltzing Matilda

Waltzing Matildaby Paul MillardMost countries have a unique piece of music that means something special to its people. For many of those celebrating Australia Day this week, it’s a song called ‘Waltzing Matilda’, written in 1895 by a song-writer and poet known as ‘Banjo’ Paterson. It’s a song that, for many, evokes¹ the unique feel of the country, yet tells a very simple story.

The songBefore we go any further, read the lyrics². You can also hear the song at http://www.nla.gov.au/epubs/waltzingmatilda. Can you tell what the song is about?

Once a jolly swagman camped by a billabong
Under the shade of a coolibah tree
And he sang as he watched and waited ‘til his billy boiled
Who’ll come a-waltzing matilda with me?

Chorus;
Waltzing matilda, matilda my darling
You’ll come a-waltzing matilda with me
And he sang as he watched and waited ‘til his billy boiled
Who’ll come a-waltzing matilda with me?

Down came a jumbuck to drink at the billabong
Up jumped the swagman and grabbed him with glee
And he sang as he shoved that jumbuck in his tucker bag
You’ll come a-waltzing matilda with me

(Chorus)

Down came the squatter³, mounted on his thoroughbred
Down came the troopers, one, two, three
'Whose is that jumbuck that you’ve got in your tucker-bag?
You’ll come a-waltzing matilda with me!’

(Chorus)

Up jumped the swagman and jumped into the billabong
‘You’ll never take me alive!’ said he
And his ghost may be heard as you pass by that billabong
You’ll come a-waltzing matilda with me

(Chorus)

If you are a little confused, don’t worry! Some of the most important words are only used in Australia and the story isn’t obvious to many speakers of English. In short, a travelling worker camps next to a lake and heats some water. A sheep comes for a drink at the lake and the man catches it and puts it in a bag. Then the sheep farmer arrives on his horse, with three policemen. Instead of being captured and sent to prison, the man jumps into the lake and dies.

By the way, the ‘matilda’ is the swagman’s sleeping blanket, rolled up for carrying. ‘ Waltzing matilda’ probably refers to the act of carrying it around the country. Alternatively, the swagman was dancing with his blanket!

So, the story is a universal one – a conflict between poor and rich, in which the poor man loses but defiantly⁴ keeps his pride. It may have gained extra significance and popularity because of the things that were happening in Australia at that time.

The writing of Waltzing MatildaAlthough Banjo Paterson lived in Sydney, the song was written while he was visiting the interior of the country – known as the Outback, a tough place where only a few people lived, mostly by farming sheep and cows. Paterson went to Queensland in the north of the country, where, a few months earlier, there had been a lot of tension and conflict. The shearers – workers who travelled around the farms, cutting the wool from the sheep – wanted more money from the sheep farmers. The shearers went on strike, meaning that they stopped working. There had been a lot of anger and violence.

In January 1895, Paterson was staying with the Macpherson family on their sheep farm near Winton in Queensland. Some people say that during the strike a building on the farm had been burned down and many sheep had died. Guns were fired during the incident. The next day, the leader of the workers was found dead near a lake.

Yet it was here, among the owners of the land, that Banjo Paterson wrote this song in apparent sympathy with the poor workers. He gave the song its words, but the music was probably provided by Christina Macpherson, the sister of the sheep farmer. She didn’t write it, but she had remembered the tune⁵, called ‘Craigielee’ being played in the south of Australia the year before.

Waltzing Matilda – Australia’s anthem⁶?The song became very popular in Australia, although it existed in three different forms. In the 1970s, it nearly became Australia’s official national anthem, to be played at major events like the opening of parliament and international matches in football and rugby. Until 1974, Australia’s anthem was the same as Britain’s – God Save the Queen. Many people were dissatisfied with this and votes were held in 1974 and 1977. Waltzing Matilda came in second, with nearly 30% of the vote. Popular, but not as popular as ‘Advance Australia Fair’, a song dating from 1878. This begins with the line, ‘Australians all let us rejoice, for we are young and free’, and goes on to praise Australia as a nation. It is more typical of a national anthem than a story of a man who takes a sheep and then jumps in a lake, but perhaps it is less typically Australian.

Whatever the official anthem is, for many Australians ‘Waltzing Matilda’ will continue to be their real national song.
 

1 evokes   

产生，引起，唤起( evoke的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• The film evokes chilling reminders of the war. 这部电影使人们回忆起战争的可怕场景。
• Each type evokes antibodies which protect against the homologous. 每一种类型都能产生抗同种病毒的抗体。

2 lyrics   

n.歌词

参考例句：

• music and lyrics by Rodgers and Hart 由罗杰斯和哈特作词作曲
• The book contains lyrics and guitar tablatures for over 100 songs. 这本书有100多首歌的歌词和吉他奏法谱。

3 squatter   

n.擅自占地者

参考例句：

• The squatter settlements originally came into being through illegal land invasions. 违章建筑区最初是通过非法的土地占有而形成的。
• Squatter control is maintained by regular patrols and hut-to-hut checks. 当局定期逐户视察所有寮屋，以收管制之效。

4 defiantly   

adv.挑战地，大胆对抗地

参考例句：

• Braving snow and frost, the plum trees blossomed defiantly. 红梅傲雪凌霜开。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• She tilted her chin at him defiantly. 她向他翘起下巴表示挑衅。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 tune   

n.调子；和谐，协调；v.调音，调节，调整

参考例句：

• He'd written a tune,and played it to us on the piano.他写了一段曲子，并在钢琴上弹给我们听。
• The boy beat out a tune on a tin can.那男孩在易拉罐上敲出一首曲子。

6 anthem   

n.圣歌，赞美诗，颂歌

参考例句：

• All those present were standing solemnly when the national anthem was played.奏国歌时全场肃立。
• As he stood on the winner's rostrum,he sang the words of the national anthem.他站在冠军领奖台上，唱起了国歌。