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Walking to the Cattle Place : A Meditation sequence   poetry  
  • Author:agent Les Murray http://www.poetrylibrary.edu.au/poets/murray-les
Issue Details: First known date: 1972... 1972 Walking to the Cattle Place : A Meditation
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AbstractHistoryArchive Description

Described by Peter Alexander as 'a complex and learned series of meditations on the significance of the cow-culture in which Murray [was]... raised, and which [draws]... on his curious and varied knowledge about other cattle-cultures ranging from Celt to Sanskrit to Zulu.' (Les Murray : A Life in Progress.)

Notes

  • Sequence has epigraph : At once I came into a world wherein I recovered my full being. Tagore.
  • 'The Middle Earth' does not appear in the sequence after its 1976 publication in Selected Poems: The Vernacular Republic.

Includes

Sanskrit i "Upasara, the heifer after first mating,", Les Murray , 1972 single work poetry
— Appears in: Poetry Australia , no. 42 1972; (p. 4) Poems against Economics 1972; (p. 39) Selected Poems : The Vernacular Republic 1976; (p. 60) Australian Verse from 1805 : A Continuum 1976; (p. 304) The Vernacular Republic : Poems 1961-1981 1982; (p. 64-65) Collected Poems 1994; (p. 55-56)
— Appears in: Holy Cows 2006; (p. 6-7)
Middle Earth i "Middle Earth is a dead man's cup", Les Murray , 1971 single work poetry
— Appears in: Southerly , vol. 31 no. 3 1971; (p. 200-201) Poems against Economics 1972; (p. 61-62) Selected Poems : The Vernacular Republic 1976; (p. 79-80)
The Artery i "It is patience and stalks in the wide house of cattle", Les Murray , 1972 single work poetry
— Appears in: Poetry Australia , no. 42 1972; (p. 7-8) Poems against Economics 1972; (p. 45-46) Selected Poems : The Vernacular Republic 1976; (p. 65-66) Australian Verse from 1805 : A Continuum 1976; (p. 306-307) The Vernacular Republic : Poems 1961-1981 1982; (p. 70-71) Collected Poems 1994; (p. 60-61)
— Appears in: Holy Cows 2006; (p. 8-11)
Death Words i "Beasts, cattle, have words, neither minor nor many.", Les Murray , 1972 single work poetry
— Appears in: Poetry Australia , no. 42 1972; (p. 8) Poems against Economics 1972; (p. 47) Gesture of a Hand 1975; (p. 73) Selected Poems : The Vernacular Republic 1976; (p. 67) Australian Verse from 1805 : A Continuum 1976; (p. 307) The Vernacular Republic : Poems 1961-1981 1982; (p. 71-72)
The Commonwealth of Manu (after a Discussion with Walter Davis) i "Just for a moment", Les Murray , 1972 single work poetry
— Appears in: Poetry Australia , no. 42 1972; (p. 8-9) Poems against Economics 1972; (p. 48-49) Selected Poems : The Vernacular Republic 1976; (p. 68-69) The Vernacular Republic : Poems 1961-1981 1982; (p. 72-73) Collected Poems 1994; (p. 62-63)
Stockman Songs i "Going to Rubuntja, the cattle-train. Banging two trailers.", Les Murray , 1972 single work poetry
— Appears in: Poems against Economics 1972; (p. 50) Selected Poems : The Vernacular Republic 1976; (p. 69-70) Australian Verse from 1805 : A Continuum 1976; (p. 308) The Vernacular Republic : Poems 1961-1981 1982; (p. 73-74) Collected Poems 1994; (p. 63-64)
The Bush i ""The boss at home, Missus?" A man couldn't tell suitors from buyers-", Les Murray , 1972 single work poetry
— Appears in: Poetry Australia , no. 42 1972; (p. 10) Poems against Economics 1972; (p. 51) Selected Poems : The Vernacular Republic 1976; (p. 70) Australian Verse from 1805 : A Continuum 1976; (p. 308) The Vernacular Republic : Poems 1961-1981 1982; (p. 75) Collected Poems 1994; (p. 64-65)
Poley Bullock Couplets i "Old Poley, pin bullock. The round one has left me slack here.", Les Murray , 1972 single work poetry
— Appears in: Poetry Australia , no. 42 1972; (p. 11) Poems against Economics 1972; (p. 52) Selected Poems : The Vernacular Republic 1976; (p. 71) The Vernacular Republic : Poems 1961-1981 1982; (p. 76) Collected Poems 1994; (p. 65)
The Boeotian Count i "Maudie", Les Murray , 1972 single work poetry
— Appears in: Poetry Australia , no. 42 1972; (p. 11-13) Poems against Economics 1972; (p. 53-55) Selected Poems : The Vernacular Republic 1976; (p. 72-74) The Vernacular Republic : Poems 1961-1981 1982; (p. 76-78) Collected Poems 1994; (p. 65-67)
Novilladas Democraticas i "The fancy rider sent his Texan boots", Les Murray , 1972 single work poetry
— Appears in: Poetry Australia , no. 42 1972; (p. 13-14) Poems against Economics 1972; (p. 56) Selected Poems : The Vernacular Republic 1976; (p. 74-75) Australian Verse from 1805 : A Continuum 1976; (p. 308-309) The Vernacular Republic : Poems 1961-1981 1982; (p. 79) Collected Poems 1994; (p. 67-68)
Hall's Cattle i "Upwind on Sandy Creek, cooking", Les Murray , 1972 single work poetry
— Appears in: Poetry Australia , no. 42 1972; (p. 14-16) Poems against Economics 1972; (p. 57-58) Selected Poems : The Vernacular Republic 1976; (p. 75-77) The Vernacular Republic : Poems 1961-1981 1982; (p. 80-82) Collected Poems 1994; (p. 68-70)
Boopis i "Coming out of reflections", Les Murray , 1972 single work poetry
— Appears in: Poetry Australia , no. 42 1972; (p. 16-17) Poems against Economics 1972; (p. 59-60) Selected Poems : The Vernacular Republic 1976; (p. 77-79) Australian Verse from 1805 : A Continuum 1976; (p. 309-310) The Vernacular Republic : Poems 1961-1981 1982; (p. 82-83) Selected Poems 1986; (p. 22-23)
— Appears in: Ein ganz gewohnlicher Regenbogen : Gedichte 1996; (p. 19-20)
— Appears in: Holy Cows 2006; (p. 22-25)
The Pure Food Act i "Night, as I go into the place of cattle.", Les Murray , 1972 single work poetry
— Appears in: Poetry Australia , no. 42 1972; (p. 17-18) Poems against Economics 1972; (p. 63-64) Selected Poems : The Vernacular Republic 1976; (p. 80-81) The Vernacular Republic : Poems 1961-1981 1982; (p. 83-84) The Younger Australian Poets 1983; (p. 24-25) Collected Poems 1994; (p. 72-73)
— Appears in: Holy Cows 2006; (p. 26-29)
Goloka i "Their speech is a sense of place", Les Murray , 1972 single work poetry
— Appears in: Poetry Australia , no. 42 1972; (p. 18-22) Poems against Economics 1972; (p. 65-70) Selected Poems : The Vernacular Republic 1976; (p. 82-87) The Vernacular Republic : Poems 1961-1981 1982; (p. 84-89) Collected Poems 1994; (p. 73-77)
The Names of the Humble i "Fence beyond fence from breakfast", Les Murray , 1972 single work poetry
— Appears in: Poetry Australia , no. 42 1972; (p. 4-6) Poems against Economics 1972; (p. 42-44) Selected Poems : The Vernacular Republic 1976; (p. 62-65) Australian Verse from 1805 : A Continuum 1976; (p. 304-306) The Collins Book of Australian Poetry 1981; (p. 337-339) The Vernacular Republic : Poems 1961-1981 1982; (p. 67-69)
— Appears in: Ein ganz gewohnlicher Regenbogen : Gedichte 1996; (p. 16-18) Holy Cows 2006; (p. 14-19)
Birds in Their Title Work Freeholds of Straw i "At the hour I slept", Les Murray , 1972 single work poetry
— Appears in: Poems against Economics 1972; (p. 40-41) Selected Poems : The Vernacular Republic 1976; (p. 61-62) Poems from The Age, 1967-79 1979; (p. 79-80) The Vernacular Republic : Poems 1961-1981 1982; (p. 65-66) The Younger Australian Poets 1983; (p. 22-24) The Faber Book of Modern Australian Verse 1991; (p. 197-199)

Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of

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Works about this Work

Is There an Australian Pastoral Poetry? Andrew Taylor , 2015 single work criticism
— Appears in: Le Simplegadi , November no. 14 2015; (p. 38-51) Pastoral was common as a European literary genre from the Renaissance until the eighteenth century. It existed in other artistic forms as well, especially in the visual arts, and after its demise as a distinct genre elements of it persisted into the twentieth century, for example in music. With the colonial spread of European culture the pastoral influence also extended into other countries, with a mixed fate. Recently, the term Pastoral has come back into prominence in literature in English, not only in Great Britain but also, notably in the USA and Australia, with the growth of writing motivated by ecological involvement with the natural world, especially landscape. This has led to re-definitions of the term Pastoral in the last few decades. A number of Australian poets are looked at to see whether, and how, their writing about landscape might relate to, or incorporate elements of the Pastoral. The Australian poet John Kinsella, in particular, has been a widely published spokesperson for a new definition of Pastoral. His published works trace his move from a politically activist anti-colonialist redefinition of Pastoral towards a quieter, more harmonious, and essentially ethical engagement with the natural world.
Rethinking the Sacred—Poetry as Satyagraha : A Gandhian Reading of Les Murray's 'Walking to the Cattle Place' Sudhir Kumar , 2009 single work criticism
— Appears in: Sacred Australia : Post-Secular Considerations 2009; (p. 137-155)
Folie, Topography and Family in Murray's Middle-Distance Poems Christopher Pollnitz , 2001 single work criticism
— Appears in: Australian Literary Studies , October vol. 20 no. 2 2001; (p. 43-63) The article demonstrates that Murray's poems "of more than one or two pages but less than fifty or a hundred" have "modes and preoccupations in common: they are topographical poems in which the protagonist moves through a landscape observing and reflecting; or they are family memoirs and chronicles; or ... they are a combination of both" (p.43). The author also examines Murray's sympathy for the "Foucaultian crew of social outsiders ... marginalised by folie" (p. 49), which he sees as an energising force in the most successful of these poems.
This Country is My Mind Carmel Gaffney , 1994 single work criticism
— Appears in: Westerly , Autumn vol. 39 no. 1 1994; (p. 67-79)
"Embracing the Vernacular": An Interview with Les A. Murray Noel Peacock (interviewer), 1992 single work interview biography
— Appears in: Australian & New Zealand Studies in Canada , June no. 7 1992; (p. 28-40)
Rethinking the Sacred—Poetry as Satyagraha : A Gandhian Reading of Les Murray's 'Walking to the Cattle Place' Sudhir Kumar , 2009 single work criticism
— Appears in: Sacred Australia : Post-Secular Considerations 2009; (p. 137-155)
Les Murray's Vernacular Republic Bruce A. Clunies Ross , 1986 single work criticism biography
— Appears in: Diversity Itself : Essays in Australian Arts and Culture 1986; (p. 21-37)
"Embracing the Vernacular": An Interview with Les A. Murray Noel Peacock (interviewer), 1992 single work interview biography
— Appears in: Australian & New Zealand Studies in Canada , June no. 7 1992; (p. 28-40)
This Country is My Mind Carmel Gaffney , 1994 single work criticism
— Appears in: Westerly , Autumn vol. 39 no. 1 1994; (p. 67-79)
Patriot and Expatriate: Les A. Murray and Peter Porter Bruce Bennett , 1991 single work criticism
— Appears in: An Australian Compass : Essays on Place and Direction in Australian Literature 1991; (p. 38-51)
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Last amended 20 Sep 2005 10:12:38
Subjects:
  • c
    India,
    c
    South Asia, South and East Asia, Asia,
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