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Notes
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In the first draft, the first line read: 'One day soon he'll come home and tell her it's time to start packing...' The poem was not published in any source with the added phrase.
Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of
Works about this Work
-
Bruce Dawe (1930 -) : 'Drifters'
2009
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Sixty Classic Australian Poems 2009; (p. 150-152) -
ReVerse
2006
single work
criticism
— Appears in: 80 Great Poems from Chaucer to Now 2006; (p. 279-281) -
The Face
2001
single work
biography
— Appears in: The Weekend Australian , 7-8 July 2001; (p. 3) -
Much More Could You Say : Bruce Dawe's Poetry
1998-1999
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Sydney Studies in English , vol. 24 no. 1998-1999; (p. 102-117) 'Bruce Dawe's reputation as a vernacular poet can be a disadvantage. I once heard an eminent Australian critic remark that once you'd read his poems there wasn't much more you could say. The implication was that his work had an immediate appeal but no depth and that to exercise one's critical faculties on work so colloquial in pitch and perspective would be a waste of a well-trained mind. At the same time I encountered the poetry of Philip Martin. Martin is a writer Dawe acknowledges as his friend and mentor, yet Martin's poetry seems at first very different: the accent is more cultivated and the focus more personal. There is, however, at least one important similarity: both practise 'the art that conceals art', exercising great control of rhythm and speech stress to create an apparently uncomplicated voice. It is only when you do read their poems — that is, read within rather than over their poems — that you find there is much more you could say.' (Author's abstract)
- y A Study Guide to Bruce Dawe's Sometimes Gladness Ballarat : Wizard Books , 1996 Z516198 1996 single work biography criticism
-
ReVerse
2006
single work
criticism
— Appears in: 80 Great Poems from Chaucer to Now 2006; (p. 279-281) -
Bruce Dawe (1930 -) : 'Drifters'
2009
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Sixty Classic Australian Poems 2009; (p. 150-152) -
Much More Could You Say : Bruce Dawe's Poetry
1998-1999
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Sydney Studies in English , vol. 24 no. 1998-1999; (p. 102-117) 'Bruce Dawe's reputation as a vernacular poet can be a disadvantage. I once heard an eminent Australian critic remark that once you'd read his poems there wasn't much more you could say. The implication was that his work had an immediate appeal but no depth and that to exercise one's critical faculties on work so colloquial in pitch and perspective would be a waste of a well-trained mind. At the same time I encountered the poetry of Philip Martin. Martin is a writer Dawe acknowledges as his friend and mentor, yet Martin's poetry seems at first very different: the accent is more cultivated and the focus more personal. There is, however, at least one important similarity: both practise 'the art that conceals art', exercising great control of rhythm and speech stress to create an apparently uncomplicated voice. It is only when you do read their poems — that is, read within rather than over their poems — that you find there is much more you could say.' (Author's abstract)
-
Struggling With an Imperial Language
1989
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Southerly , September vol. 49 no. 3 1989; (p. 409-420) Falling into Language 1990; (p. 32-44) -
Bruce Dawe
Dagmar Strauss
(interviewer),
1990
single work
interview
— Appears in: Facing Writers : Australia's Leading Writers Talk with Dagmar Strauss 1990; (p. 79-92)
Last amended 29 Jun 2023 11:29:31
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