AustLit
Latest Issues
AbstractHistoryArchive Description
'This paper takes its lead from the poet John Keats’ notion of ‘negative capability’ (1891: 48), exploring some of the key methodologies of representing landscapes in writing, specifically using place to effect the process of ‘… being capable of being in uncertainties, Mysteries, doubt, without any irritable reaching after fact and reason …’ (48).
Keats refers to the poet as ‘taking part’ in the life of the poem; and being in the poem. This paper features our own poetry, located in two different landscapes and with its own understanding of place, which captures a sense of connection to rugged and remote terrains. To evoke this sense of connection, Keats’ negative capability comes into play—understood in this paper as a metaphysical space where a meditative state provides the writer with a ‘glimpse’; a recognition of that moment of connection without which ‘poetry cannot happen’ (Oliver 1994: 84)
Our writing, as will be discussed, is individually informed by knowledge about environment and notions of poetic space, where ‘aspects of the unconscious move into consciousness’ (Hetherington 2012: 8). This paper explores the commonalities and distinctions between our work, using brief examples.' (Publication abstract)
Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of
- Songs of Central Australia 1971 anthology poetry
- The Eye of a Needle 2013 single work poetry
- Tasmania 1982 single work poetry
- The Sky is Darker at Night 2009 single work poetry
- Back 2001 single work poetry
- Dust 1945 single work poetry
- Seven Feet & Where They're From 2001 sequence poetry
- Leaving Wollongong Harbour 2002 single work poetry
- Christmas 2005 single work poetry