# Said Hanrahan > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Said_Hanrahan > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Said_Hanrahan.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Said_Hanrahan > Source revision: 1288059358 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) **"Said Hanrahan"** is a poem written by the Australian [bush poet](/source/Bush_poet) John O'Brien, the [pen name](/source/Pen_name) of Roman Catholic priest [Patrick Joseph Hartigan](/source/Patrick_Joseph_Hartigan).[1] The poem's earliest known publication was in July 1919 in *[The Catholic Press](/source/The_Catholic_Press)*,[2] appearing in 1921 in the anthology *[Around the Boree Log and Other Verses](/source/Around_the_Boree_Log_and_Other_Verses)*.[1] The poem describes the recurrent natural cycle of [droughts](/source/Drought), [floods](/source/Flood) and [bushfires](/source/Bushfires_in_Australia) in rural Australia as seen by "Hanrahan", a [pessimistic](/source/Pessimism) man of Irish descent. "'We'll all be rooned', said Hanrahan"—an [adage](/source/Adage) extracted from the poem—has entered the [Australian English](/source/Australian_English) lexicon. ## Poem Description The poem starts with the area in the grip of a drought, the worst since "the banks went bad"; a reference to the drought and banking crisis of the early 1890s. - *"If we don't get three inches, man,* - *Or four to break this drought,* - *We'll all be rooned," said Hanrahan,* - *"Before the year is out."* In time, the rains "drummed a homely tune" on "iron roof and window-pane". The problem then changed from drought to flood. "Banker" refers to a watercourse filled from bank to bank, unusual in Australia where many watercourses are [ephemeral](/source/Ephemeral) or only intermittently full. - *And every creek a banker ran,* - *And dams filled overtop;* - *"We'll all be rooned," said Hanrahan,* - *"If this rain doesn't stop."* "In God's good time" the rain stopped and spring arrived with "harvest-hopes immense". The "knee-deep" grass, while good for feeding livestock, brought to mind the risk of bushfire. - *"There'll be bush-fires for sure, me man,* - *There will, without a doubt;* - *We'll all be rooned," said Hanrahan,* - *"Before the year is out."* ## Popular culture The key refrain in the poem is "We'll all be rooned" ("rooned" is a transcription of an [Irish Australian](/source/Irish_Australian) pronunciation of "ruined") which has entered the [Australian lexicon](/source/Australian_English) as a dismissive response to predictions of disasters or hard times,[3] especially those out of the control of the speakers. ## The Poem SAID HANRAHAN - "We'll all be rooned," said Hanrahan, - In accents most forlorn, - Outside the church, ere Mass began, - One frosty Sunday morn. - The congregation stood about, - Coat-collars to the ears, - And talked of stock, and crops, and drought, - As it had done for years. - "It's lookin' crook," said Daniel Croke; - "Bedad, it's cruke, me lad, - For never since the banks went broke - Has seasons been so bad." - "It's dry, all right," said young O'Neil, - With which astute remark - He squatted down upon his heel - And chewed a piece of bark. - And so around the chorus ran - "It's keepin' dry, no doubt." - "We'll all be rooned," said Hanrahan, - "Before the year is out. - "The crops are done; ye'll have your work - To save one bag of grain; - From here way out to Back-o'-Bourke - They're singin' out for rain. - "They're singin' out for rain," he said, - "And all the tanks are dry." - The congregation scratched its head, - And gazed around the sky. - "There won't be grass, in any case, - Enough to feed an ass; - There's not a blade on Casey's place - As I came down to Mass." - "If rain don't come this month," said Dan, - And cleared his throat to speak-- - "We'll all be rooned," said Hanrahan, - "If rain don't come this week." - A heavy silence seemed to steal - On all at this remark; - And each man squatted on his heel, - And chewed a piece of bark. - "We want a inch of rain, we do," - O'Neil observed at last; - But Croke "maintained" we wanted two - To put the danger past. - "If we don't get three inches, man, - Or four to break this drought, - We'll all be rooned," said Hanrahan, - "Before the year is out." - In God's good time down came the rain; - And all the afternoon - On iron roof and window-pane - It drummed a homely tune. - And through the night it pattered still, - And lightsome, gladsome elves - On dripping spout and window-sill - Kept talking to themselves. - It pelted, pelted all day long, - A-singing at its work, - Till every heart took up the song - Way out to Back-o'Bourke. - And every creek a banker ran, - And dams filled overtop; - "We'll all be rooned," said Hanrahan, - "If this rain doesn't stop." - And stop it did, in God's good time; - And spring came in to fold - A mantle o'er the hills sublime - Of green and pink and gold. - And days went by on dancing feet, - With harvest-hopes immense, - And laughing eyes beheld the wheat - Nid-nodding o'er the fence. - And, oh, the smiles on every face, - As happy lad and lass - Through grass knee-deep on Casey's place - Went riding down to Mass. - While round the church in clothes genteel - Discoursed the men of mark, - And each man squatted on his heel, - And chewed his piece of bark. - "There'll be bush-fires for sure, me man, - There will, without a doubt; - We'll all be rooned," said Hanrahan, - "Before the year is out." John O'Brien ## References 1. Walsh, G. P. (1983). "Patrick Joseph Hartigan (1878–1952)". Vol. 9. Retrieved 2009-08-20. 1. O'Brien, John (31 July 1919). ["Said Hanrahan"](http://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/106072280). *The Catholic Press*. p. 19. Retrieved 30 November 2017. 1. ["Australian Words: H-R"](http://www.anu.edu.au/ANDC/res/aus_words/aewords/aewords_hr.php). *Australian National Dictionary Centre*. Australian National University. Retrieved 2009-08-20. ## External links - [Questioning Hanrahan: Environmental optimism and realism in the 21st century](https://web.archive.org/web/20090831072211/http://www.ias.uwa.edu.au/lectures/hobbs) - [Address by the Governor of Queensland](http://www.govhouse.qld.gov.au/the_governor/guaddress.aspx) [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20090913054550/http://www.govhouse.qld.gov.au/the_governor/guaddress.aspx) 2009-09-13 at the Wayback Machine --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Said Hanrahan](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Said_Hanrahan) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Said_Hanrahan?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.