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Contents
* Contents derived from the
Sydney,
New South Wales,:Angus and Robertson
, 1962 version. Please note that other versions/publications may contain different contents. See the Publication Details.
- Symbolism in Nineteenth Century Literature, single work criticism
- German Romanticism : A Progressive Definition, single work criticism
Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of
Related Works
-
y
The Verse of Christopher Brennan
A. R. Chisholm
(editor),
John Joseph Quinn
(editor),
Sydney
:
Angus and Robertson
,
1960
Z443320
1960
collected work
poetry
Works about this Work
-
F.C.S. Schiller and Brennan's the Burden of Tyre
2011
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Southerly , vol. 71 no. 3 2011; (p. 116-129) 'Christopher Brennan composed the bulk of his fifteen-poem sequence The Burden of Tyre between August 1900 and May 1901, but it remained unpublished until Harry Chaplin's private edition of 1953. Prompted by the Boer war, which Brennan vehemently opposed, and dealing with it as an expression of philosophical principles, he had initially hoped to "sneak it in" to Poems 1913, to lie between The Forest of Night and The Wanderer. This indicates the weight it clearly carries, which is of a different order to that of the noisier and slighter The Chant of Doom (1916), Brennan's response to the First World War. G.A. Wilkes observed that on publication "It seems at once to have proved itself as inscrutable as the rest of Brennan's work". Yet only Wilkes and Mary Merewether have provided extended treatments of it, and much of it remains obscure. A close reading of his sources can solve some of the most seemingly intractable problems of Brennan scholarship, and Merewether's paper in particular is an invaluable resource in this regard. Yet she has missed the principle source of the Prologue, namely F.C.S. Schiller, whose philosophical work The Riddles of the Sphinx deeply influenced Brennan at this time; and so this most important poem of the sequence, as an overture announcing its chief themes and concerns, remains poorly understood. Wilkes felt that "[It] certainly is political poetry, but only intermittently is it anything more"; and Merewether that "The reading of The Burden of Tyre ... shows there to be few new ideas in it". The purpose of this paper is to provide a thorough exegesis of the Prologue in the light of The Riddles of the Sphinx, and to show that there are indeed new ideas in it, and ideas, moreover, which can throw light into some important aspects of Poems 1913, and into Brennan's response to one of his chief influences at the time. -
The Alpha and Omega of Brennan's The Wanderer
2011
single work
criticism
— Appears in: JASAL , vol. 11 no. 2 2011; 'The influence of Nietzsche's Also Sprach Zarathustra on Christopher Brennan's poem The Wanderer has been underestimated. It is especially apparent in the epigraph, and the poems (86 and 99) which open and close the sequence. The inner quest described in The Wanderer is generally held to have been a failure, but a revaluation in the light of the Nietzschean influence, incorporating a recension of the crucial poem 99, reveals a different story. The annular nature of the quest as described in the epigraph derives from Nietzsche's notion of Eternal Return , on which he confessed Zarathustra to be founded. Themes from Zarathustra dominate poem 86, and recur in poem 99. The line in the latter 'no ending of the way, no home, no goal', which has been widely interpreted as a confession of failure of the quest, is demonstrated to have been sourced from Zarathustra, where it does not bear that inference at all, but rather of triumph over doubt. The pivotal word 'withhold' in poem 99 is shown to be used in its archaic and neutral sense of 'hold within', rather than its modern sense of 'refuse to give up'. The Wanderer's quest is a success to approximately the same degree as that of Nietzsche's hero. Such clarity as to Brennan's achievement is essential if he is to attain the global reputation which many would argue he deserves.' (Author's abstract)
-
The Transposed World-- Aestheticism and Christopher Brennan
1982
single work
criticism
biography
— Appears in: Southerly , March vol. 42 no. 1 1982; (p. 56-69) -
The Social Context of Brennan's Thought
1968
single work
criticism
biography
— Appears in: Southerly , vol. 28 no. 4 1968; (p. 250-271) Sturm argues that Australia provided the most immediate context for Brennan's sense of the external world. In Poems Brennan sees through the "material", which is Australia, to provide "as complete a poetic statement of the pressures of a colonial situation as Henry Handel Richardson's The Fortunes of Richard Mahony". -
The Verse of C.J. Brennan
1964
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Southerly , vol. 24 no. 1 1964; (p. 6-19) The Australian Nationalists : Modern Critical Essays 1971; (p. 215-219) French provides a negative assessment of Brennan's poetry, identifying passages that he regards as "obscure" rather than "profound". French criticizes Brennan's critics for paying too much attention to the poet's thought at the expense of a sustained critique of the artistic achievement of the poetry .
-
Untitled
1962
single work
review
— Appears in: The Cairns Post , 8 December 1962; (p. 8)
— Review of The Prose of Christopher Brennan 1962 collected work prose criticism -
Untitled
1963
single work
review
— Appears in: Twentieth Century , vol. 17 no. 1963; (p. 215-224)
— Review of The Prose of Christopher Brennan 1962 collected work prose criticism -
Untitled
1963
single work
review
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , February vol. 2 no. 4 1963; (p. 56)
— Review of The Prose of Christopher Brennan 1962 collected work prose criticism -
Brennan, Critic and Scholar
1963
single work
review
— Appears in: Southerly , vol. 23 no. 3 1963; (p. 203-210)
— Review of The Prose of Christopher Brennan 1962 collected work prose criticism -
Brennan's Collected Prose
1963
single work
review
— Appears in: Meanjin Quarterly , March vol. 22 no. 1 1963; (p. 80-84)
— Review of The Prose of Christopher Brennan 1962 collected work prose criticism -
The Alpha and Omega of Brennan's The Wanderer
2011
single work
criticism
— Appears in: JASAL , vol. 11 no. 2 2011; 'The influence of Nietzsche's Also Sprach Zarathustra on Christopher Brennan's poem The Wanderer has been underestimated. It is especially apparent in the epigraph, and the poems (86 and 99) which open and close the sequence. The inner quest described in The Wanderer is generally held to have been a failure, but a revaluation in the light of the Nietzschean influence, incorporating a recension of the crucial poem 99, reveals a different story. The annular nature of the quest as described in the epigraph derives from Nietzsche's notion of Eternal Return , on which he confessed Zarathustra to be founded. Themes from Zarathustra dominate poem 86, and recur in poem 99. The line in the latter 'no ending of the way, no home, no goal', which has been widely interpreted as a confession of failure of the quest, is demonstrated to have been sourced from Zarathustra, where it does not bear that inference at all, but rather of triumph over doubt. The pivotal word 'withhold' in poem 99 is shown to be used in its archaic and neutral sense of 'hold within', rather than its modern sense of 'refuse to give up'. The Wanderer's quest is a success to approximately the same degree as that of Nietzsche's hero. Such clarity as to Brennan's achievement is essential if he is to attain the global reputation which many would argue he deserves.' (Author's abstract)
-
F.C.S. Schiller and Brennan's the Burden of Tyre
2011
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Southerly , vol. 71 no. 3 2011; (p. 116-129) 'Christopher Brennan composed the bulk of his fifteen-poem sequence The Burden of Tyre between August 1900 and May 1901, but it remained unpublished until Harry Chaplin's private edition of 1953. Prompted by the Boer war, which Brennan vehemently opposed, and dealing with it as an expression of philosophical principles, he had initially hoped to "sneak it in" to Poems 1913, to lie between The Forest of Night and The Wanderer. This indicates the weight it clearly carries, which is of a different order to that of the noisier and slighter The Chant of Doom (1916), Brennan's response to the First World War. G.A. Wilkes observed that on publication "It seems at once to have proved itself as inscrutable as the rest of Brennan's work". Yet only Wilkes and Mary Merewether have provided extended treatments of it, and much of it remains obscure. A close reading of his sources can solve some of the most seemingly intractable problems of Brennan scholarship, and Merewether's paper in particular is an invaluable resource in this regard. Yet she has missed the principle source of the Prologue, namely F.C.S. Schiller, whose philosophical work The Riddles of the Sphinx deeply influenced Brennan at this time; and so this most important poem of the sequence, as an overture announcing its chief themes and concerns, remains poorly understood. Wilkes felt that "[It] certainly is political poetry, but only intermittently is it anything more"; and Merewether that "The reading of The Burden of Tyre ... shows there to be few new ideas in it". The purpose of this paper is to provide a thorough exegesis of the Prologue in the light of The Riddles of the Sphinx, and to show that there are indeed new ideas in it, and ideas, moreover, which can throw light into some important aspects of Poems 1913, and into Brennan's response to one of his chief influences at the time. -
The Transposed World-- Aestheticism and Christopher Brennan
1982
single work
criticism
biography
— Appears in: Southerly , March vol. 42 no. 1 1982; (p. 56-69) -
The Verse of C.J. Brennan
1964
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Southerly , vol. 24 no. 1 1964; (p. 6-19) The Australian Nationalists : Modern Critical Essays 1971; (p. 215-219) French provides a negative assessment of Brennan's poetry, identifying passages that he regards as "obscure" rather than "profound". French criticizes Brennan's critics for paying too much attention to the poet's thought at the expense of a sustained critique of the artistic achievement of the poetry . -
The Social Context of Brennan's Thought
1968
single work
criticism
biography
— Appears in: Southerly , vol. 28 no. 4 1968; (p. 250-271) Sturm argues that Australia provided the most immediate context for Brennan's sense of the external world. In Poems Brennan sees through the "material", which is Australia, to provide "as complete a poetic statement of the pressures of a colonial situation as Henry Handel Richardson's The Fortunes of Richard Mahony".
Last amended 5 Sep 2001 17:59:46
