“A Dream Of The Melbourne Cup” by A.B. ‘Banjo’ Paterson: A Critical Analysis

A Long Way After Gordon

Bring me a quart of colonial beer

And some doughy damper to make good cheer,

   I must make a heavy dinner;

Heavily dine and heavily sup,

Of indigestible things fill up,

Next month they run the Melbourne Cup,

   And I have to dream the winner.

Stoke it in, boys! the half-cooked ham,

The rich ragout and the charming cham,

   I’ve got to mix my liquor;

Give me a gander’s gaunt hind leg,

Hard and tough as a wooden peg,

And I’ll keep it down with a hard-boiled egg,

   ‘Twill make me dream the quicker.

Now that I’m full of fearful feed,

Oh, but I’ll dream of a winner indeed,

   In my restless, troubled slumber;

While the nightmares race through my heated brain

And their devil riders spur amain,

The trip for the Cup will reward my pain,

   And I’ll spot the winning number.

Thousands and thousands and thousands more,

Like sands on the white Pacific shore,

   The crowding people cluster;

For evermore it’s the story old,

While races are bought and backers are sold,

Drawn by the greed of the gain of gold,

   In their thousands still they muster.

 And the bookies’ cries grow fierce and hot,

“I’ll lay the Cup! The double, if not!”

   “Five monkeys, Little John, sir!”

“Here’s fives bar one, I lay, I lay!”

And so they shout through the live-long day,

And stick to the game that is sure to pay,

   While fools put money on, sir!

And now in my dream I seem to go

And bet with a “book” that I seem to know —

   A Hebrew moneylender;

A million to five is the price I get —

Not bad! but before I book the bet

The horse’s name I clean forget,

   His number and even gender.

Now for the start, and here they come,

And the hoof-strokes roar like a mighty drum

   Beat by a hand unsteady;

They come like a rushing, roaring flood,

Hurrah for the speed of the Chester blood!

For Acme is making the pace so good

   They are some of ’em done already.

But round the track she begins to tire,

And a mighty shout goes up: “Crossfire!”

   The magpie jacket’s leading;

And Crossfire challenges fierce and bold,

And the lead she’ll have and the lead she’ll hold,

But at length gives way to the black and gold,

   Which right to the front is speeding.

Carry them on and keep it up —

A flying race is the Melbourne Cup,

   You must race and stay to win it;

And old Commotion, Victoria’s pride,

Now takes the lead with his raking stride,

And a mighty roar goes far and wide —

   “There’s only Commotion in it!”

But one draws out from the beaten ruck

And up on the rails by a piece of luck

   He comes in a style that’s clever;

“It’s Trident! Trident! Hurrah for Hales!”

“Go at ’em now while their courage fails;”

“Trident! Trident! for New South Wales!”

   “The blue and white for ever!”

Under the whip! With the ears flat back,

Under the whip! Though the sinews crack,

   No sign of the base white feather:

Stick to it now for your breeding’s sake,

Stick to it now though your hearts should break,

While the yells and roars make the grandstand shake,

   They come down the straight together.

Trident slowly forges ahead,

The fierce whips cut and the spurs are red,

   The pace is undiminished;

Now for the Panics that never fail!

But many a backer’s face grows pale

As old Commotion swings his tail

   And swerves — and the Cup is finished.

 And now in my dream it all comes back:

I bet my coin on the Sydney crack,

   A million I’ve won, no question!

“Give me my money, you hook-nosed hog!

Give me my money, bookmaking dog!”

But he disappears in a kind of fog,

   And I woke with “the indigestion”.

❓ 1. How does the poem use humor to critique societal values?

In “A Dream Of The Melbourne Cup” by A.B. ‘Banjo’ Paterson, humor is central to the poet’s critique of Australian society’s obsession with horse racing and gambling. Paterson employs satire, irony, and absurd exaggeration to expose the foolishness of the narrator and, by extension, the culture he represents. The speaker deliberately eats a ridiculous amount of greasy, hard-to-digest food—“a gander’s gaunt hind leg” and “a hard-boiled egg”—to dream up the winner of the Melbourne Cup (Stanza 2). This absurdity is a comic reflection of how far people will go to gain a betting advantage. The climactic irony comes when the narrator dreams of winning “a million” but wakes up only to indigestion and no money (Final Stanza), poking fun at the false hopes fueled by gambling. Paterson uses comedy not just for entertainment, but to criticize the greed and gullibility embedded in racing culture.

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❓ 2. In what ways does the poem reflect Australian national identity?

In “A Dream Of The Melbourne Cup” by A.B. ‘Banjo’ Paterson, the poet captures the essence of turn-of-the-century Australian identity through the lens of the Melbourne Cup—an event symbolic of unity, rivalry, and colonial heritage. Paterson references regional pride explicitly with lines like “Trident! Trident! for New South Wales! The blue and white forever!” (Stanza 10), evoking state-based loyalties in the form of horse racing. Moreover, the scene is vividly Australian, with damper, colonial beer, and large noisy crowds evoking a shared cultural image: “Thousands and thousands and thousands more, like sands on the white Pacific shore” (Stanza 4). The race becomes a metaphor for national celebration and chaos alike, where triumph and loss coexist. Paterson’s use of slang, the larrikin tone, and iconic references creates a poetic snapshot of a society trying to define itself through spectacle and competition.

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❓ 3. What role does fantasy play in the narrator’s experience of the Melbourne Cup?

In “A Dream Of The Melbourne Cup” by A.B. ‘Banjo’ Paterson, fantasy plays a central role, revealing the gap between desire and reality. The narrator enters a self-induced dream state through excessive eating, hoping to receive a supernatural vision of the winning horse. This reliance on fantasy is made evident in lines like “Now that I’m full of fearful feed, Oh, but I’ll dream of a winner indeed” (Stanza 3), portraying the irrational belief that one can control chance through dreams. The dream itself is filled with magical realism: horses gallop with mythical energy, crowds roar endlessly, and odds appear impossible—“A million to five is the price I get” (Stanza 6). However, fantasy ultimately fails him. He forgets the horse’s name, loses the winnings, and wakes up with physical discomfort instead of riches. The poem uses fantasy to mock the escapist mentality of gamblers and how it leads to inevitable disappointment.

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❓ 4. How does the structure of the poem mirror the race itself?

In “A Dream Of The Melbourne Cup” by A.B. ‘Banjo’ Paterson, the poem’s structure mimics the dynamics of an actual horse race—starting with slow buildup, reaching a frenzied climax, and ending with a sudden, jarring stop. The early stanzas are slower and deliberate, focusing on food preparation and the absurd ritual of “dreaming the winner.” As the dream unfolds, the pace of the poem accelerates with fast rhymes and shorter, action-driven lines like “Under the whip! With the ears flat back…” (Stanza 11), which mirrors the energy and urgency of the race. The staccato rhythm and repetitions in “Trident! Trident!” (Stanza 10) heighten the emotional and competitive intensity. Then, in classic anti-climax, the final stanza brings everything to a halt: “And I woke with the indigestion.” This structural arc—from build-up to climax to collapse—not only reflects the experience of a race, but also the cycle of anticipation and letdown in gambling culture.