DISCOVERING OLD AND NEW POETS

Hello Readers:

I hope you are keeping well, and will enjoy this article.

The other day, I was talking to a friend, about my poetry book, The Mists of Time, published April, 2021 by Austin Macauley Publishers, London.   She then told me about her Grandfather, Richard Rogers Davidson, who had written poetry throughout his life.  He had lived in the outback, near Winton, Queensland, Australia.

I look forward to buying his published poems.  His book, ‘Winton’s Larrikin Poet’ was launched on June 23, 2021 at The Outback Writers’ Festival, Winton, Queensland.

The book was assembled posthumously by the writer, Jeff Close, with the assistance of the Davidson family. Richard wrote poetry throughout his life and won the 1974 Bronze Swagman Award for Bush Verse with ‘Last Camp’. He was 49.

The word drover, is a person who is an experienced stockman, who moves livestock, usually sheep, cattle, and horses “on the hoof” over long distances. Droving is a common theme in outback poetry. The drovers would sit around the camp fire at the end of a hot and dusty day. They would play the harmonica, to calm the cattle, and tell stories about their own adventures.

Many an Australian bush poet, have put their stories into verse.  The poems are lively, and they canter along.  You can nearly smell the cattle, the dust and the eucalyptus trees.  They are ‘earthy’ poems.

One such poet, called A.B. (“Banjo”) Patterson, was not a drover, but he spent his early childhood in the bush.  He learned to ride, and met a variety of bush characters, and discovered a lot about life in the bush.  Later, he was educated in Sydney, and lived with his Grandmother, who wrote poetry.  Banjo then went into law, and then journalism.  He started writing poetry in his late 20’s, this was in the late 1880’s.

Banjo, is Australia’s best known folk poet.  You may already know some of his poetry, especially, ‘Clancy of the Overflow’, published in 1889.  ‘The Man from Snowy River’, and ‘Waltzing Matilda’, written in 1895.  The Man from Snowy River, was made into a movie.

Banjo Patterson, captured the essence of Australia and the imagination of generations of Australians.

I think expressing their thoughts on paper, gave the bush poet a feeling of self-worth. They were very isolated. Discovering old and new poets, will give you an enthusiasm and excitement to learn more.

Please write a book review for my book, ’The Mists of Time’, on:

https://www.austinmacauley.com/book/mists-time  website.  You can also buy my book or ebook on this website or others.

Enjoy reading and discovering poetry.

Anne

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