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Australia single work   poetry   "A nation of trees, drab green and desolate grey"
  • Author:agent A. D. Hope http://www.poetrylibrary.edu.au/poets/hope-a-d
Issue Details: First known date: 1939... 1939 Australia
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Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of

  • Appears in:
    y separately published work icon Meanjin Papers vol. 2 no. 1 Autumn 1943 Z592963 1943 periodical issue 1943 pg. 42
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    y separately published work icon Australian Poetry 1944 R. G. Howarth (editor), Sydney : Angus and Robertson , 1945 Z171208 1945 anthology poetry Sydney : Angus and Robertson , 1945 pg. 21-22
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    y separately published work icon An Anthology of Australian Verse George Mackaness (editor), Sydney : Angus and Robertson , 1952 6472657 1952 anthology poetry Sydney : Angus and Robertson , 1952 pg. 148-149
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    y separately published work icon A Book of Australian Verse Judith Wright (editor), Melbourne : Oxford University Press , 1956 Z565053 1956 anthology poetry Melbourne : Oxford University Press , 1956 pg. 133-134
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    y separately published work icon The Penguin Book of Australian Verse John Thompson (editor), Kenneth Slessor (editor), R. G. Howarth (editor), Harmondsworth : Penguin , 1958 Z1013022 1958 anthology poetry Harmondsworth : Penguin , 1958 pg. 119-120
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    y separately published work icon An Introduction to Australian Literature Literary Criterion 6.3 (1964) C. D. Narasimhaiah (editor), Brisbane : Jacaranda Press , 1965 Z283778 1964 anthology Brisbane : Jacaranda Press , 1965 pg. 174
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    y separately published work icon Poetry : Reading and Understanding : An Anthology with Commentaries and Questions K. G. W. Cross (editor), Derick R. C. Marsh (editor), Melbourne : Cheshire , 1966 Z61749 1966 anthology poetry criticism biography Melbourne : Cheshire , 1966 pg. 222-223
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    y separately published work icon Collected Poems 1930-1965 A. D. Hope , New York (City) : Viking , 1966 Z244918 1966 selected work poetry satire humour Sydney : Angus and Robertson , 1966 pg. 13
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    y separately published work icon Silence into Song : An Anthology of Australian Verse Clifford O'Brien , Adelaide : Rigby , 1968 Z413694 1968 anthology poetry extract Adelaide : Rigby , 1968 pg. 46
  • Appears in:
    y separately published work icon A Book of Australian Verse Judith Wright (editor), Melbourne : Oxford University Press , 1956 Z565053 1956 anthology poetry Melbourne : Oxford University Press , 1968 pg. 123-124
  • Appears in:
    y separately published work icon Collected Poems 1930-1965 A. D. Hope , New York (City) : Viking , 1966 Z244918 1966 selected work poetry satire humour Collected Poems 1930-1970 Sydney : Angus and Robertson , 1972 pg. 13
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    y separately published work icon The Penguin Book of Australian Verse Harry Payne Heseltine (editor), Ringwood Harmondsworth : Penguin , 1972 Z334403 1972 anthology poetry Selection of works by Australian poets from Charles Harpur (1813-1868) to Charles Buckmaster (b. 1951). Ringwood Harmondsworth : Penguin , 1972 pg. 190
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    y separately published work icon Selected Poems A. D. Hope : Selected Poems A. D. Hope , Sydney : Angus and Robertson , 1973 Z370389 1973 selected work poetry This collection ... omits some of the longer pieces in my Collected poems 1930-1970 but brings the selection up to date by the inclusion of a number of poems written since then.' (Author's preface.) Sydney : Angus and Robertson , 1973 pg. 8
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    y separately published work icon The Land's Meaning L. M. Hannan (editor), B. A. Breen (editor), South Melbourne : Macmillan Australia , 1973 Z873720 1973 anthology poetry South Melbourne : Macmillan Australia , 1973 pg. 12
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    y separately published work icon The Golden Apples of the Sun : Twentieth Century Australian Poetry Chris Wallace-Crabbe (editor), Carlton : Melbourne University Press , 1980 Z62463 1980 anthology poetry Carlton : Melbourne University Press , 1980 pg. 42
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    y separately published work icon The World's Contracted Thus J. A. McKenzie (editor), J. K. McKenzie (editor), Richmond : Heinemann Education Australia , 1983 Z174491 1983 anthology poetry Richmond : Heinemann Education Australia , 1983 pg. 280-281
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    y separately published work icon The Illustrated Treasury of Australian Verse Beatrice Davis , Melbourne : Nelson , 1984 Z315151 1984 anthology poetry biography Melbourne : Nelson , 1984 pg. 142-143
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    y separately published work icon Cross-Country : A Book of Australian Verse John Barnes (editor), Brian McFarlane (editor), Richmond : Heinemann , 1984 Z900285 1984 anthology poetry (taught in 1 units) Richmond : Heinemann , 1984 pg. 89
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    y separately published work icon My Country : Australian Poetry and Short Stories, Two Hundred Years Leonie Kramer (editor), Sydney : Lansdowne , 1985 Z1067493 1985 anthology poetry short story Sydney : Lansdowne , 1985 pg. 222
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    y separately published work icon Anthology of Australian Religious Poetry Les Murray (editor), Blackburn : Collins Dove , 1986 Z212505 1986 anthology poetry Blackburn : Collins Dove , 1986 pg. 228
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    y separately published work icon The Macmillan Anthology of Australian Literature Ken L. Goodwin (editor), Alan Lawson (editor), South Melbourne : Macmillan , 1990 Z535337 1990 anthology criticism correspondence extract poetry drama biography short story prose humour satire travel

    'Poems, stories, letters and extracts from novels, plays and journals present a great variety of responses to Australia and to the art of writing. Items have been arranged into 12 groupings that reflect different ways of seeing the material of Australian writing. Each section has its own introduction. Problems are explained, theories and contexts for a wider understanding are offered. The book includes biographical guides to all authors and a full chronological table of events in the literary history of Australia.'   (Publication summary)

    South Melbourne : Macmillan , 1990
    pg. 311
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    y separately published work icon An Anthology of Commonwealth Poetry C. D. Narasimhaiah (editor), Chennai : Macmillan , 1990 Z1176727 1990 anthology poetry Chennai : Macmillan , 1990 pg. 74-75
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    y separately published work icon The Penguin Book of Modern Australian Poetry John Tranter (editor), Philip Mead (editor), Ringwood : Penguin , 1991 Z151302 1991 anthology poetry Ringwood : Penguin , 1991 pg. 16
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    y separately published work icon Selected Poems A. D. Hope , David Brooks (editor), Pymble : Angus and Robertson , 1992 Z552438 1992 selected work poetry Pymble : Angus and Robertson , 1992 pg. 71-72
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    y separately published work icon An Anthology of Australian Literature Hoju munhak chonjip Ch'oe Chin-yong (editor), Cynthia Van Den Driesen (editor), Seoul : Hansin Munhwasa , 1995 Z994880 1995 anthology poetry short story Seoul : Hansin Munhwasa , 1995 pg. 144-145
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    y separately published work icon The Arnold Anthology of Post-Colonial Literatures in English John Thieme (editor), London : Arnold , 1996 Z818232 1996 selected work extract poetry short story London : Arnold , 1996 pg. 193-194
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    y separately published work icon Australian Verse : An Oxford Anthology John Leonard (editor), Melbourne : Oxford University Press , 1998 Z461207 1998 anthology poetry (taught in 1 units) A thorough survey of poetry by Australians in English, beginning with a selection of contemporary work by younger poets, and going backward in time to the early colonial period. In addition to poems in the literary tradition, it indudes performance poetry, convict songs and old bush ballads. An extensive selection has been provided from the work of five major twentieth-century poets: Les Murray, Gwen Harwood, Judith Wright, A.D. Hope and Kenneth Slessor. Several features are provided to assist the reader: the date of first publication of each poem is provided; footnotes explain unfamiliar words and allusions; and brief biographical notes assist in locating each poet in his or her place in time. Melbourne : Oxford University Press , 1998 pg. 240-241
    Note: Editor's note: Written 1939
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    y separately published work icon A. D. Hope : Selected Poetry and Prose A. D. Hope , David Brooks (editor), Rushcutters Bay : Halstead Press , 2000 Z398744 2000 selected work poetry essay extract review (taught in 1 units) Rushcutters Bay : Halstead Press , 2000 pg. 54
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    y separately published work icon The Sydney Morning Herald 15 July 2000 Z634178 2000 newspaper issue 2000 pg. 33
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    y separately published work icon The Norton Anthology of Modern and Contemporary Poetry : Volume 1 Jahan Ramazani (editor), Richard Ellmann (editor), Robert O'Clair (editor), New York (City) : W. W. Norton , 2003 Z1109648 2003 anthology poetry New York (City) : W. W. Norton , 2003 pg. 817-818
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    y separately published work icon Australian Poetry Library APRIL; APL; The Australian Poetry Resources Internet Library John Tranter , Sydney : 2004- Z1368099 2004- website

    'The Australian Poetry Library (APL) aims to promote a greater appreciation and understanding of Australian poetry by providing access to a wide range of poetic texts as well as to critical and contextual material relating to them, including interviews, photographs and audio/visual recordings.

    This website currently contains over 42,000 poems, representing the work of more than 170 Australian poets. All the poems are fully searchable, and may be accessed and read freely on the World Wide Web. Readers wishing to download and print poems may do so for a small fee, part of which is returned to the poets via CAL, the Copyright Agency Limited. Teachers, students and readers of Australian poetry can also create personalised anthologies, which can be purchased and downloaded. Print on demand versions will be availabe from Sydney University Press in the near future.

    It is hoped that the APL will encourage teachers to use more Australian material in their English classes, as well as making Australian poetry much more available to readers in remote and regional areas and overseas. It will also help Australian poets, not only by developing new audiences for their work but by allowing them to receive payment for material still in copyright, thus solving the major problem associated with making this material accessible on the Internet.

    The Australian Poetry Library is a joint initiative of the University of Sydney and the Copyright Agency Limited (CAL). Begun in 2004 with a prototype site developed by leading Australian poet John Tranter, the project has been funded by a major Linkage Grant from the Australian Research Council (ARC), CAL and the University of Sydney Library. A team of researchers from the University of Sydney, led by Professor Elizabeth Webby and John Tranter, in association with CAL, have developed the Australian Poetry Library as a permanent and wide-ranging Internet archive of Australian poetry resources.' Source: www.poetrylibrary.edu.au (Sighted 30/05/2011).

    Sydney : 2004-
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    y separately published work icon True Blue? : On Being Australian Peter Goldsworthy (editor), Crows Nest : Allen and Unwin , 2008 Z1455140 2008 anthology single work prose extract poetry short story (taught in 3 units)

    'What makes us Australian? Fifty years ago, the laconic bush worker was indisputably the typical Australian, and any Australian schoolchild could have quoted at least the first verse of Banjo Patterson's Man from Snowy River. Now at the beginning of the 21st century, waves of immigration and a highly cosmopolitan urban culture make it more difficult to see what it is that unites us on this dry brown land. This collection of some of the best Australian writing old and new, from across the continent, reminds us of our heritage and shows we have much to be proud of.' (Publisher's blurb)

    Crows Nest : Allen and Unwin , 2008
    pg. 131
  • Appears in:
    y separately published work icon The Penguin Anthology of Australian Poetry John Kinsella (editor), Camberwell : Penguin , 2009 Z1553543 2009 anthology poetry (taught in 16 units)

    'This is a comprehensive survey of Australian poetic achievement, ranging from early colonial and indigenous verse to contemporary work, from the major poets to those who deserve to be better recognised.' (Provided by the publisher).

    Camberwell : Penguin , 2009
    pg. 160-161
  • Appears in:
    y separately published work icon Macquarie PEN Anthology of Australian Literature Nicholas Jose (editor), Kerryn Goldsworthy (editor), Anita Heiss (editor), David McCooey (editor), Peter Minter (editor), Nicole Moore (editor), Elizabeth Webby (editor), Crows Nest : Allen and Unwin , 2009 Z1590615 2009 anthology correspondence diary drama essay extract poetry prose short story (taught in 23 units)

    'Some of the best, most significant writing produced in Australia over more than two centuries is gathered in this landmark anthology. Covering all genres - from fiction, poetry and drama to diaries, letters, essays and speeches - the anthology maps the development of one of the great literatures in English in all its energy and variety.

    'The writing reflects the diverse experiences of Australians in their encounter with their extraordinary environment and with themselves. This is literature of struggle, conflict and creative survival. It is literature of lives lived at the extremes, of frontiers between cultures, of new dimensions of experience, where imagination expands.

    'This rich, informative and entertaining collection charts the formation of an Australian voice that draws inventively on Indigenous words, migrant speech and slang, with a cheeky, subversive humour always to the fore. For the first time, Aboriginal writings are interleaved with other English-language writings throughout - from Bennelong's 1796 letter to the contemporary flowering of Indigenous fiction and poetry - setting up an exchange that reveals Australian history in stark new ways.

    'From vivid settler accounts to haunting gothic tales, from raw protest to feisty urban satire and playful literary experiment, from passionate love poetry to moving memoir, the Macquarie PEN Anthology of Australian Literature reflects the creative eloquence of a society.

    'Chosen by a team of expert editors, who have provided illuminating essays about their selections, and with more than 500 works from over 300 authors, it is an authoritative survey and a rich world of reading to be enjoyed.' (Publisher's blurb)

    Allen and Unwin have a YouTube channel with a number of useful videos on the Anthology.

    Crows Nest : Allen and Unwin , 2009
    pg. 523-524
  • Appears in:
    y separately published work icon The Puncher & Wattmann Anthology of Australian Poetry John Leonard (editor), Glebe : Puncher and Wattmann , 2009 Z1674214 2009 anthology poetry (taught in 16 units) Glebe : Puncher and Wattmann , 2009 pg. 291
First known date: 1939
  • Appears in:
    y separately published work icon The Scythe Honed Fine : A.D. Hope, A Celebration for his 90th Birthday A. D. Hope , Canberra : National Library of Australia , 1997 Z76868 1997 selected work poetry criticism biography Poetry by A.D. Hope with an introductory essay about the poet. Canberra : National Library of Australia , 1997 pg. 15-16
    Note: Contains facsimile of handwritten manuscript of 'Australia', dated 1939. 'This version differs significantly from most published versions'.

Works about this Work

Desert Worlds Richard Nile , 2019 single work essay
— Appears in: Southerly , vol. 79 no. 1 2019; (p. 84-105)
'In late 1914, twenty thousand mostly young Australian men ventured forth from the driest inhabited continent on earth to cross the ocean in a convoy spread over twenty-five kilometres in length and measuring twenty kilometres in width. The greatest mass exodus from the Antipodes which included a further ten thousand New Zealanders, this was the first and largest of many similar voyages over the next four years. The Australians might have considered themselves to be desert people. “The sand has his own / Wave and motion,” wrote S. Musgrove in “Australia Deserta” in the first issue of Southerly in 1939, “Rages the bed / Of the stony ocean” (14). Yet they preferred to identify as colonial sons returning to the motherland of pastoral England before heading to war. Of their own place, “They call her a young country but they lie,” wrote A. D. Hope in his much debated poem “Australia” which he began writing around the time of the publication of the inaugural issue—and to which he contributed an essay—“She is the last of lands, the emptiest, / ... the womb within is dry” (Hope).' 

 (Introduction)

Anthems, ‘Ranthems’, and Otherwise Loves: Nationalism in Australian Poetry Kevin Brophy , 2017 single work essay
— Appears in: The Conversation , 24 January 24 2017;

'A young woman of 23, Dorothea MacKellar (1885-1968), had a poem published in the London Spectator in 1908, titled 'Core of My Heart'. She was the daughter of a wealthy pastoral family, educated privately, a graduate of the University of Sydney. She is said to have written the first draft of the poem in 1905 in response to the breaking of a prolonged drought on the family cattle and tobacco farming property, Torryburn, near Maitland in NSW. The poem was also written in protest against the anti-Australianism of many Australians at that time, excoriating them for their nostalgic love of English “grey-blue” landscapes and English weather.' (Introduction)

Naming the Nation : A Poetic Retrospect Nicholas Birns , Nicole Moore , Sarah Shieff , 2014 single work criticism
— Appears in: Antipodes , December vol. 28 no. 2 2014; (p. 263-266)

'The work of conjuring settler nationhood for literary space was a self-conscious, colonial, and then nationalist task for both Australia and New Zealand. This conjuring project is powerfully present in poems bearing the name of the country in which they were written, apostrophizing that national/colonial entity and bringing it into a literary reading space. Here, Birns et al discuss the Australian and New Zealand poetic literature.' (Publication summary)

'Fearful Affinity' : Jindyworobak Primitivism Peter Kirkpatrick , 2014 single work criticism
— Appears in: Adelaide : A Literary City 2014; (p. 125-146)
Beyond Beaches, Bushes and Backwoods : Issues of National Identity and Representation in Modern Australian Poetry Kanwar Dinesh Singh , 2010 single work criticism
— Appears in: Explorations In Australian Poetry 2010; (p. 41-57)
In this essay, Singh discusses 'how Australian poets show a detour from the elaborate descriptions of the Australian landscape to its representation as a new nation with plurality of peoples and cultures - a multicultural nation..' (vi.)
Telling the Nation Paul Gillen , 2002 single work criticism
— Appears in: Cultural Studies Review , November vol. 8 no. 2 2002; (p. 157-178)
'..identifying, seeking out and evaluating the distinguishing features of Australian culture or Australian people remains a popular activity. This essay discusses some recent books that do so, focusing on their underlying assumptions and motivations, and attempting to put them into historical perspective.' (p.157)
A.D. Hope: Australia Connie Barber , 2006 single work column
— Appears in: Five Bells , Winter vol. 13 no. 3 2006; (p. 22-23)
Australian Poetry in the Indian Classroom Malati Mathur , 2006 single work criticism
— Appears in: Explorations in Australian Literature 2006; (p. 102-111)
Taking a trajectory through Australian poetry from the writing of Hope, Wright and Dobson to the work of Aboriginal poets, Mathur's students come to appreciate Australian literature as not simply writing by Australians about Australia, but as 'voicing universal, human concerns - penned by people who happen to be Australian'.
Writing in Australia : My State of Mind and Experiences Julie Hsia Chang , 1997 single work autobiography
— Appears in: Chinese Cultures In The Diaspora: Emerging Global Perspectives on the Centre and Periphery 1997; (p. 79-84)
A Weed of Waste Places : Australia and Australian Identity Alan Frost , 2004 single work criticism
— Appears in: Antípodas , no. 15 2004; (p. 156-172)
Last amended 25 Aug 2017 11:20:49
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