The Drover's Wife

Originally published in the July 1892 edition of Bulletin Magazine, The Drover’s Wife is a short story written by Australian author Henry Lawson. Set in the Australian outback, the story follows an unnamed woman who lives in an isolated hut with her four children. While her husband has been away droving for six months, the woman expresses difficulties contending with the perils of nature. Over the course of one night, the woman reflects on the hardships of facing floods, bushfires, drought, and other natural disasters. When a five-foot long black snake slithers under the hut near sunset one day, the woman must protect her brood. She puts her children to bed and waits with her dog, Alligator, for the snake to emerge from the hole in the wall so she can kill it. The Drover’s Wife was subsequently published in several of Lawson’s collections and additional anthologies. In 1968 the story was adapted into a 45-minute TV version by the Australian Broadcasting Commission. In 2016, the story was adapted as a stage play by Leah Purcell.

Narrated in the omniscient third person POV, the story begins in the rural Australian outback. A woman and four young children (two boys, two girls) live in a small wooden two-room hut. The woman’s husband has been off droving sheep for the past six months. The hut is surrounded by bush and dying apple trees that stretch 19 miles before reaching the closest neighbor. At sunset one day, one of the children yells out “Snake! Mother, here’s a snake!” Mother asks where, but the snake slithers under a woodheap. The woman’s black dog, Alligator, breaks away from his chain and chases the snake, but just misses it before it disappears under the hut. One of the woman’s boys, Tommy, swings his stick at the snake but also narrowly misses and hits Alligator’s nose instead. The woman tells her children to stand back, and places two saucers of milk by the hole in the wall. After one hour, the snake does not emerge. Afraid of the snake crawling up through the floorboards and harming her children at night, the woman moves her brood to the outdoor kitchen area, where she builds a fire and puts her kids to bed on the kitchen table. As her children sleep, the woman keeps close guard of the wall with a club and Alligator by her side.

During the night, daughter Jacky complains about Tommy’s club taking her space and poking her while she sleeps. Tommy asks his mother to wake him if the snake appears, and she agrees. Around midnight, the woman takes breaks from reading and sewing by watching the wall. Every sound makes the woman clutch her club. The storm worsens, and the wind nearly blows out the woman’s candles. She moves the candle and shields it with a newspaper. Alligator stretches out near the wall, indicating that the snake is still there. Typically unafraid, the woman begins reflecting on recent tragic events. Her brother-in-law’s son died from a snake bite in the past, for example. The woman’s also worried about her husband, having not heard from him in six months. But because a drought cost them all of their money, he was forced to sell his sheep and begin droving anew. When he returns, he plans to move the family into the nearest town. While her husband is away, she is visited by her brother-in-law once a month. In exchange for the woman’s sheep, her brother-in-law occasionally provides items she may need.



The woman continues reflecting on her past as the night goes on. Her hopes and dreams have been dashed, finding her only excitement in fashion pictures seen in Young Ladies Journal. Despite being married to a good husband who gives most of his money to her and takes her to the city when he can, she is used to being apart for long durations. The woman recalls becoming ill during childbirth, resulting in the death of a child while she was all alone. She carried her dead baby 19 miles for assistance. Around 2:00 AM, the fire wanes, and Alligator nearly falls asleep. The dog is described as hating every living thing other than kangaroo dogs, and will attack everything from a flea to a bull. Having attacked many snakes in his time, Alligator is sure to be fatally bitten by one someday. The woman continues to reflect on hardships, including the time she fought a grassfire while her husband was away. She used a green tree branch and her husband’s trousers to stamp out the fire, which threatened to destroy the house. Tommy helped, laughing at the use of his father’s trousers. The fire would’ve prevailed if it weren’t for four male passersby who helped in the nick of time.

The woman recounts her time fighting a flood while her husband was away, trying to save a dam across the creek by digging a ditch for water to go around it. Her efforts failed, resulting in shame and heartbreak. She cried at the thought of her husband discovering all his hard work being washed away. The woman also reflects on the times battling cattle flu, an unruly bullock, as well as crows and eagles intent on poaching her chickens. She mentions a recent visit by a drunken swagman demanding to be fed. After feeding him, she uses Alligator to scare him away. While awaiting the snake to emerge, the woman thinks of how she gussies her family up every Sunday and takes walks along the brush track. The woman laments the uniformity of her surroundings, making each day feel the same. She used to hate the loneliness but now embraces the isolation.

In the daylight of morning, the woman’s candles burn out and she accidentally collapses the woodpile. She cries, wiping her tears away with a holy handkerchief and poking herself in the eyes. She laughs. The snake slithers out of the hole about two feet. The woman lifts her stick. The snake tries to escape. Alligator snaps its jaws at the snake, but misses entirely. He snaps again and catches the snake, dragging it out 18 inches. The woman bashes the snake as Alligator bites its neck. Tommy tries to help but the woman denies him. The snake is battered to pieces and thrown into the fire. Tommy and the dog watch. The other babies sleep. With tears in her eyes, Tommy embraces the woman and says “Mother, I won’t ever go droving…damn me if I do!” The woman pulls Tommy close and kisses him as they watch daybreak over the bush.