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A Mid-Summer Noon in the Australian Forest single work   poetry   "Not a bird disturbs the air,"
  • Author:agent Charles Harpur http://www.poetrylibrary.edu.au/poets/harpur-charles
Issue Details: First known date: 1851... 1851 A Mid-Summer Noon in the Australian Forest
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Notes

  • This poem appears in a number of versions from 1851 onwards. For further details, see The Poems of Charles Harpur in Manuscript in the Mitchell Library and in Publication in the Nineteenth Century: An Analytical Finding List by Elizabeth Holt and Elizabeth Perkins (Canberra: Australian Scholarly Editions Centre, 2002).

Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of

Alternative title: Noon in the Forest at Midsummer
First line of verse: "Not a bird disturbs the air,"
Notes:
Comprises 28 lines
  • Appears in:
    y separately published work icon The Empire 27 May 1851 Z1712295 1851 newspaper issue 1851 pg. 479
Alternative title: A Mid-Summer Noon in the Forest
First line of verse: "Not a bird disturbs the air,"
Notes:
Comprises 40 lines
  • Appears in:
    y separately published work icon The Empire 28 January 1858 Z1723200 1858 newspaper issue 1858 pg. 4
VIEW PUBLICATION DETAILS FOR ALL VERSIONS ()

Related Works

A Midsummer Noon in the Australian Forest i "Not a sound disturbs the air,", Charles Harpur , 1925 extract poetry (A Mid-Summer Noon in the Australian Forest)
— Appears in: School Paper : Grades V and VI , December no. 322 1925; (p. 170)
Midsummer Noon in the Bush i "Not a sound disturbs the air,", Charles Harpur , 1927 extract poetry (A Mid-Summer Noon in the Australian Forest)
— Appears in: The School Paper : Grades V and VI , December no. 344 1927; (p. 163)
Midsummer Noon i "Not a sound disturbs the air,", Charles Harpur , Stephen Leek (composer), 1952 single work lyric/song
— Appears in: An Anthology of Australian Verse 1952; (p. 130-131) Voices of a Land : Three Australian Songs for Young Voices and Piano or Orchestra 1991; (p. 6-11)
VIEW ALL RELATED WORKS (3)

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.
'Woful Shepherds' : Anti-Pastoral in Australian Poetry Paul Kane , 2004 single work criticism
— Appears in: Imagining Australia : Literature and Culture in the New New World 2004; (p. 269-283)
A Mid-Summer Noon in the Australian Forest i "Amid lush", Gwen Melvaine , 1983 single work poetry satire
— Appears in: Oz Shrink Lit. 1983; (p. 9) The Flight of the Emu : Contemporary Light Verse 1990; (p. 65)
Poetry Vivian Smith , 1981 single work criticism
— Appears in: The Oxford History of Australian Literature 1981; (p. 271-426)
Charles Harpur's 'Midsummer Noon' : A Structuralist Approach Noel Macainsh , 1978 single work criticism
— Appears in: Australian Literary Studies , October vol. 8 no. 4 1978; (p. 435-445) Macainsh offers a paradigmatic analysis of the poem to show a "clarity of structure" not detected by other critics. The "element of space" suggested by the title "is essentially that of a vertical dimension penetrating a horizontal". The elements of the poem all fit in relation to these axes, forming a cone shape. The poem then "moves" along these two axes as the reader proceeds from the first line to the last.
'Woful Shepherds' : Anti-Pastoral in Australian Poetry Paul Kane , 2004 single work criticism
— Appears in: Imagining Australia : Literature and Culture in the New New World 2004; (p. 269-283)
Poetry Vivian Smith , 1981 single work criticism
— Appears in: The Oxford History of Australian Literature 1981; (p. 271-426)
A Mid-Summer Noon in the Australian Forest i "Amid lush", Gwen Melvaine , 1983 single work poetry satire
— Appears in: Oz Shrink Lit. 1983; (p. 9) The Flight of the Emu : Contemporary Light Verse 1990; (p. 65)
Commentary : Nature Notes James McAuley , 1975 single work column
— Appears in: Quadrant , October vol. 19 no. 7 1975; (p. 25-26)
Charles Harpur Frederick T. Macartney , 1923 single work criticism biography
— Appears in: The Bulletin , 25 January vol. 44 no. 2241 1923; (p. 2)
VIEW ALL WORKS ABOUT (9)
Last amended 6 May 2013 10:18:27
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