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'I love you more
Than God loves the world.
'Little published in her lifetime, Lesbia Harford died young in the late 1920s. Her short lyrical poems—about social justice, revolution, free love, feminism and the experience of women—display a candour and dynamism unusual for her time and place. This essential new selection of her finest work, chosen and introduced by Gerald Murnane, reaffirms Harford’s position as one of Australia’s pre-eminent modern poets.' (Publication summary)
Contents
- Introduction, single work essay
- I Dreamt Last Night, single work poetry
- Ay, Ay, Ay, the Lilies of the Gardeni"Ay, ay, ay, the lilies of the garden", single work poetry
- I Count the Days until I See You, Deari"I count the days until I see you, dear,", single work poetry
- Some Happy People Can See and Hear Him Daily, single work poetry
- The Troop-ships, single work poetry
- I Can't Feel the Sunshinei"I can't feel the sunshine", single work poetry
- After Raini"Today", single work poetry
- Summer Lightningi"Just now, as warm day faded from our sight,", single work poetry
- Birthdayi"I have a sister whom God gave to me;", single work poetry
- A Soul in Flight, single work poetry
- Noli Me Tangerei"We watched the dawn breaking across the sea", single work poetry
- They Say - Priests Say -i"They say - priests say -", single work poetry
- My Mission in the Worldi"My mission in the world", single work poetry
- Today They've Made a Bonfirei"Today they've made a bonfire", single work poetry
- Ours Was a Friendship in Secret, My Dear,i"Ours was a friendship in secret, my dear,", single work poetry
- The Hot Winds Wake to Life in the Sweet Daytimei"The hot winds wake to life in the sweet daytime", single work poetry
- Somebody Brought in Lilaci"Somebody brought in lilac,", single work poetry
- Deliverance Through Arti"When I am making poetry I'm good", single work poetry
- The Silent Deadi"There's a little boy who lives next door", single work poetry
Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of
Works about this Work
-
Eyes Wide Open : Gerald Murnane Selects Lesbia Harford
2023
single work
review
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , September no. 457 2023; (p. 52-53)
— Review of Selected Poems 2023 selected work poetry'In her short life, Lesbia Harford (1891–1927) created a body of poems which have become increasingly important to scholars and poets in understanding both the impact of poetic modernism in Australia and shifting concepts of gender, class, and the tensions between a personal and a collective politics. While Oliver Dennis’s 2014 Collected Poems of Lesbia Harford presents Harford’s full oeuvre, the new Text Classics edition, selected and introduced by Gerald Murnane, brings a sharp and accessible focus on this seminal Australian poet, highlighting her key themes and demonstrating a literary style that straddled worlds: from the formal structures and decorous themes of late nineteenth-century poetry to the challenges to form, voice, and subject matter that characterised the emerging revolutions of literary modernism.' (Introduction)
-
Eyes Wide Open : Gerald Murnane Selects Lesbia Harford
2023
single work
review
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , September no. 457 2023; (p. 52-53)
— Review of Selected Poems 2023 selected work poetry'In her short life, Lesbia Harford (1891–1927) created a body of poems which have become increasingly important to scholars and poets in understanding both the impact of poetic modernism in Australia and shifting concepts of gender, class, and the tensions between a personal and a collective politics. While Oliver Dennis’s 2014 Collected Poems of Lesbia Harford presents Harford’s full oeuvre, the new Text Classics edition, selected and introduced by Gerald Murnane, brings a sharp and accessible focus on this seminal Australian poet, highlighting her key themes and demonstrating a literary style that straddled worlds: from the formal structures and decorous themes of late nineteenth-century poetry to the challenges to form, voice, and subject matter that characterised the emerging revolutions of literary modernism.' (Introduction)
