''The Oxford Book of Australasian Verse ''(1918) is

anthology In book publishing, an anthology is a collection of literary works chosen by the compiler; it may be a collection of plays, poems, short stories, songs, or related fiction/non-fiction excerpts by different authors. There are also thematic and g ...

poems Poetry (from the Greek language, Greek word ''poiesis'', "making") is a form of literature, literary art that uses aesthetics, aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language to evoke meaning (linguistics), meanings in addition to, or in ...

by Australian and New Zealand poets edited by

Walter Murdoch Sir Walter Logie Forbes Murdoch, (17 September 187430 July 1970) was a prominent Australian academic and essayist famous for his intelligence and wit. He was a founding professor of English and former Chancellor of the University of Western A ...

. It was originally published in

hardback A hardcover, hard cover, or hardback (also known as hardbound, and sometimes as casebound (At p. 247.)) book is one bound with rigid protective covers (typically of binder's board or heavy paperboard covered with buckram or other cloth, heavy ...

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the publishing house of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world. Its first book was printed in Oxford in 1478, with the Press officially granted the legal right to print books ...

in London in 1918. After the original publication by Oxford University Press in 1918, the anthology was reprinted in 1924, 1945, and 1950. The contents were changed with each edition. The anthology includes 192 poems by various authors in the 1918 edition, 186 poems in the 1924 edition, 205 poems in the 1945 edition, and 216 poems in the 1950 edition.

Contents of the 1918 edition

The 1918 edition of the anthology contained the following poems: * From : "

Australasia Australasia is a subregion of Oceania, comprising Australia, New Zealand (overlapping with Polynesia), and sometimes including New Guinea and surrounding islands (overlapping with Melanesia). The term is used in a number of different context ...

William Charles Wentworth William Charles Wentworth (August 179020 March 1872) was an Australian statesman, pastoralist, explorer, newspaper editor, lawyer, politician and author, who became one of the wealthiest and most powerful figures in colonial New South Wales. He ...

* " Weary",

Henry Parkes Sir Henry Parkes, (27 May 1815 – 27 April 1896) was a colonial Australian politician and the longest-serving non-consecutive Premier of New South Wales, premier of the Colony of New South Wales, the present-day state of New South Wales in ...

* "

Four Score The FOUR Score is a clinical grading scale designed for use by medical professionals in the assessment of patients with impaired level of consciousness. It was developed by Dr. Eelco F.M. Wijdicks and colleagues in Neurocritical care at the Mayo ...

* "

Fatherland A homeland is a place where a national or ethnic identity has formed. The definition can also mean simply one's country of birth. When used as a proper noun, the Homeland, as well as its equivalents in other languages, often has ethnic nation ...

* "The Eye of the Beholder", James L. Michael * "

Words A word is a basic element of language that carries meaning, can be used on its own, and is uninterruptible. Despite the fact that language speakers often have an intuitive grasp of what a word is, there is no consensus among linguists on its ...

Charles Harpur Charles Harpur (23 January 1813 – 10 June 1868) was an Australian poet and playwright. He is regarded as "Australia's most important nineteenth-century poet." Life Early life on the Hawkesbury Harpur was born on 23 January 1813 at Windso ...

* " A Mid-Summer Noon in the Australian Forest",

* "

Andrew Marvell Andrew Marvell (; 31 March 1621 – 16 August 1678) was an English metaphysical poet, satirist and politician who sat in the House of Commons at various times between 1659 and 1678. During the Commonwealth period he was a colleague and friend ...

* " A Similitude",

* "She Loves Me Love A Confession",

* "A Regret",

* "The Angel of Life", Richard Rowe * "To His Wife", Daniel Henry Deniehy * "Morning at Sea in the Tropics", George Gordon McCrae * " The Sick Stock-Rider",

Adam Lindsay Gordon Adam Lindsay Gordon (19 October 1833 – 24 June 1870) was a British-Australian poet, horseman, police officer and politician. He was the first Australian poet to gain considerable recognition overseas, and according to his contemporary, write ...

* "Bush Delights (By Wood and Wold)"",

* " A Dedication",

* "Whisperings in Wattle-Bough",

* "The Last Leap",

* "Finis Exoptatus : A Metaphysical Song",

* "Gone",

* "

Bell-Birds "Bell-Birds" is a poem by Australian writer Henry Kendall that was first published in ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' on 25 November 1867. It was later included in the author's poetry collection ''Leaves from Australian Forests'' (1869), and w ...

", Henry Kendall * " September in Australia", Henry Kendall * " Beyond Kerguelen", Henry Kendall * " Orara", Henry Kendall * " Song of the Shingle Splitters", Henry Kendall * " Mooni", Henry Kendall * "The Mallee Fire", Charles Henry Souter * "Sonnets - Ad Innuptam", Patrick Moloney * "Honour",

Ada Cambridge Ada Cambridge (21 November 1844 – 19 July 1926), later known as Ada Cross, was an English-born Australian writer. She wrote more than 25 works of fiction, three volumes of poetry and two Autobiography, autobiographical works.Cato (1989) p. v ...

* "Album Verses (In a Lady's Album)",

Marcus Clarke Marcus Andrew Hislop Clarke (24 April 1846 – 2 August 1881) was an English-born Australian novelist, journalist, poet, editor, librarian, and playwright. He is best known for his 1874 novel ''For the Term of His Natural Life'', about the con ...

* "Travel Song", Mrs James Glenny Wilson * "Fairyland", Mrs James Glenny Wilson * "Hast Thou Forgotten Me?", Philip J. Holdsworth * "Australia", John Laurence Rentoul * From "An Austral River", John Laurence Rentoul * "Nora", Henry Laurie * "The Bush", James Lister Cuthbertson * "Wattle and Myrtle", James Lister Cuthbertson * "Corona Inutilis", James Lister Cuthbertson * "The Symbol",

James Hebblethwaite James Hebblethwaite (22 September 1857 – 13 September 1921) was an English-born Australian poet, teacher and clergyman. Life Hebblethwaite was born in Preston, Lancashire, England, the son of William Hebblethwaite, a corn miller, and his w ...

* "Wanderers",

* "Perdita",

* "Rosalind",

Hubert Church Hubert Newman Wigmore Church (13 June 1857 – 8 April 1932) was an Australian poet. Church was born in Hobart, Tasmania, the son of Hubert Day Church and his wife Mary Ann. His father, a barrister, came from Somerset and was a descendant of the ...

* "Spring in New Zealand",

* "The Boundary Rider",

Thomas William Heney Thomas William Heney (3 November 1862 – 19 August 1928) was an Australian journalist and poet. Heney was the son of Thomas William Heney (Snr), a printer, and Sarah Elizabeth, ''née'' Carruthers. He was born in Sydney and educated at Cooma, ...

* "To the Poet",

* "The Earth-Mother", John Sandes * "The Dreamers", Sydney Jephcott * "White Paper", Sydney Jephcott * "Twenty Gallons of Sleep",

Agnes L. Storrie Agnes Louisa Storrie (23 August 1864 – 20 August 1936) was an Australian poet, writer and one of the founders of the Wattle Day League. She wrote as Agnes L. Storrie, but was also known by her married name, Agnes L. Kettlewell. Other penname ...

* "Lights Along the Mile", Alfred Chandler * "To M.", William Gay * "Australia, 1894", William Gay * "The Sonnet of Federation (Australian Federation)", William Gay * "A Sonnet of Battle", William Gay * "Australia Infelix", William Gay * "The Crazy World", William Gay * "Australia",

Dowell O'Reilly Dowell Philip O'Reilly (18 July 1865 – 5 November 1923) was an Australian poet, short story writer and politician. Early life O'Reilly was born at Sydney. His father, Rev. Thomas O'Reilly, was a well known clergyman of the Church of England ...

* "Stars",

* "Faith, Love and Death",

* " Sea-Grief",

* "

Peter Simson's Farm "Peter Simson's Farm" (1896) is a poem by Australian poet Edward Dyson. It was originally published in '' The Argus'' on 22 February 1896 and subsequently reprinted in a collection of the author's poems, other newspapers and periodicals and a ...

Edward Dyson Edward George Dyson (4 March 1865 – 22 August 1931) was an Australian journalist, poet, playwright and short story writer. He was the elder brother of illustrators Will Dyson (1880–1938) and Ambrose Dyson (1876–1913), with three sisters ...

* " The Worked-Out Mine",

* "Sweethearts",

Mary Gilmore Dame Mary Jean Gilmore (née Cameron; 16 August 18653 December 1962) was an Australian writer and journalist known for her prolific contributions to Australian literature and the broader national discourse. She wrote both prose and poetry. Gi ...

* "Marri'd",

* "Homeward Bound", D. H. Rogers * "To Giusue Carducci", G. W. L. Marshall-Hall * "On Reading Shakespeare's Sonnets", G. W. L. Marshall-Hall * "Australia",

Bernard O'Dowd Bernard Patrick O'Dowd (11 April 1866 – 1 September 1953) was an Australian poet, activist, lawyer, and journalist. He worked for the Victorian colonial and state governments for almost 50 years, first as an assistant librarian at the Supreme ...

* "Dawnward? : Proletaria",

Danton Georges Jacques Danton (; ; 26 October 1759 – 5 April 1794) was a leading figure of the French Revolution. A modest and unknown lawyer on the eve of the Revolution, Danton became a famous orator of the Cordeliers Club and was raised to gover ...

* "Dawnward? : Young Democracy",

* "Love and Sacrifice",

* "The Cow",

* "True America's Message ('Fleet' Week, 1908)",

* "The Poet",

* "Last Stanzas of 'The Bush'",

* "The Magpie's Song", Frank Samuel Williamson * "Dew", Frank Samuel Williamson * "Dirge", Frank Samuel Williamson * "She Comes as Comes the Summer Night", Frank Samuel Williamson * "Thrushes", Frank Samuel Williamson * " The Great Grey Water", E. J. Brady * " Lost and Given Over", E. J. Brady * "Babylon",

Alfred George Stephens Alfred George Stephens (28 August 1865 – 15 April 1933), commonly referred to as A. G. Stephens, was an Australian writer and literary critic, notably for '' The Bulletin''. He was appointed to that position by its owner, J. F. Archibald in 1 ...

* " The Camp Within the West",

Roderic Quinn Roderic Joseph Quinn (26 November 1867 – 15 August 1949) was an Australian poet. Early life Quinn was born in Sydney the seventh child of Irish parents: Edward Quinn, letter-carrier, and his wife Catherine. He was educated at Catholic school ...

* "The Circling Hearth-Fires (The Circling Hearths)",

* "Mid-Forest Fear",

* "The Hidden Tide",

* "The End of the Episode",

John Philip Bourke John Philip Bourke (5 August 1857 – 13 January 1914) was an Australian poet. Bourke was born in Nundle, New South Wales, on the Peel River diggings, New South Wales, the son of William David Bourke, butcher, and his wife Jane, ''née'' She ...

* "Pioneers", A. W. Jose * "The Sum of Things", A. W. Jose * "Freedom the Goddess", Ishmael Dare * "Love's Palace", Arthur Maquarie * "Britannia's Throne", Arthur Maquarie * "Of Taking Things Easy", Arthur Maquarie * "Of Glory", Arthur Maquarie * "Rhapsody", Arthur Maquarie * "The Forest of Night : 1898-1902 : The Twilight of Disquietude : 36",

Christopher Brennan Christopher John Brennan (1 November 1870 – 5 October 1932) was an Australian poet, scholar and literary critic. Biography Brennan was born in Haymarket, an inner suburb of Sydney, to Christopher Brennan (d. 1919), a brewer, and his wife ...

* "The Forest of Night : 1898-1902 : The Twilight of Disquietude : 37",

* "O White Wind, Numbing the World (Pauca

avca The American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) is an organization of over 9,000 members, incorporated as a private non-profit corporation, non-profit educational corporation in 1981, as the Collegiate Volleyball Coaches Association. It is cur ...

Mea : 101)",

* "O Said, This Misery Must End I Said This Misery Must End ((Pauca

Mea : 103))",

* "In the Moonlight", David McKee Wright * "The Robe of Grass", J. Le Gay Brereton * "Buffalo Creek", J. Le Gay Brereton * "Waking", J. Le Gay Brereton * "Incarnation", J. Le Gay Brereton * "Pioneers", Francis William Ophel * "His Epitaph", Francis William Ophel * " Love's Coming",

John Shaw Neilson John Shaw Neilson (1872–1942) was an Australian poet. Slightly built, for most of his life he worked as a labourer, fruit-picking, clearing scrub, navvying and working in quarries, and, after 1928, working as a messenger with the Country Road ...

* " The Meeting of Sighs",

* " O Heart of Spring! Blossoms of Thought",

* "The Land Where I Was Born",

* " The Green Singer",

* " The Break of Day",

* "Written in Australia", Arthur H. Adams * "The Australian", Arthur H. Adams * "A Pair of Lovers in the Street", Arthur H. Adams * "The Pleiades", Arthur H. Adams * "The Weakling", Arthur H. Adams * "Fleet Street", Arthur H. Adams * "Ocean",

Louis Lavater ] Louis Isidore Lavater (2 March 1867 – 22 May 1953) was an Australian composer and author born in Victoria (Australia), Victoria, of Swiss-Swedish extraction. He published more than a hundred musical works, beginning in 1880 with the waltz '' ...

* "After the Storm",

* "The Sonnet",

* "Courage",

* "The Christ-Child Day in Australia",

Ethel Turner Ethel Turner (24 January 1872 – 8 April 1958) was an English-born Australian novelist and children's literature writer. Life She was born Ethel Mary Burwell in Doncaster in England. Her father died when she was two, leaving her mother Sarah ...

* "A Boat on the Sea",

* "Summer", Johannes C. Andersen * "At Evening",

Dora Wilcox Dora Wilcox (born Mary Theodora Wilcox, 24 November 1873 – 14 December 1953), was a New Zealand and Australian poet and playwright. Biography Wilcox was born in Christchurch, New Zealand to William Henry Wilcox and his wife Mary Elizabeth, né ...

* "Liebesweh",

* "Before Exile",

Louise Mack Marie Louise Hamilton Mack (10 October 1870 – 23 November 1935) was an Australian poet, journalist and novelist. She is most known for her writings and her involvement in World War I in 1914 as the first woman war correspondent in Belgium. Bi ...

* "To Sydney",

* "The Skull", Mary E. Fullerton * "Song", Robert Crawford * "Winged Words", Robert Crawford * "Bound for Sourabaya!",

C. H. Souter C. H. Souter (1864–1944) was a British/Australian medical practitioner and poet who was born in Aberdeen in Scotland. At the age of eight, in 1872, Souter's family moved to Nottingham, England, where he attended Highgate and University Colleg ...

* "The Lonely Woman", Mabel Forrest * "Ballade of Autumn",

Marie E. J. Pitt Marie Elizabeth Josephine Pitt (1869–1948) was an Australian poet and socialist activist, also journalist and Unitarianism, Unitarian. Pitt wrote very highly coloured nature poetry, once much anthologised; and also wrote poetry in support of t ...

* "Hamilton",

* "Evil",

* "The Treasure", Dorothy Frances McCrae * "September", Dorothy Frances McCrae * "Homesick", Dorothy Frances McCrae * "Grey",

Archibald Strong Sir Archibald Thomas Strong (30 December 1876 – 2 September 1930) was an Australian scholar and poet. V. A. Edgeloe, 'Strong, Sir Archibald Thomas (1876–1930)', ''Australian Dictionary of Biography'', Volume 12, MUP, 1990, pp. 124–125. Ret ...

* "Vain Death",

* "Gloriana's England",

* "Hawke",

* "Nelson",

* "Dawn at Liverpool",

* "Australia, 1902",

* "Australia, 1905",

* "Australia, 1914",

* "Australia to England",

* "The Pathfinders",

Vance Palmer Edward Vivian "Vance" Palmer (28 August 1885 – 15 July 1959) was an Australian novelist, dramatist, essayist and critic. Early life Vance Palmer was born in Bundaberg, Queensland, on 28 August 1885 and attended the Ipswich Grammar School. Wi ...

* "Youth and Age",

* "The Submarine", Will Lawson * "Brogan's Lane",

Louis Esson Thomas Louis Buvelot Esson (10 August 1878 – 27 November 1943) was an Australian poet, journalist, critic and playwright. He was a co-founder of the Pioneer Players. His second wife, Hilda Esson (nee Bull), had a career in theatre besides work ...

* "Cradle Song",

* "The Old Black Billy an' Me",

* "The Shearer's Wife",

* "Caprice",

* "Never Again",

Hugh McCrae Hugh Raymond McCrae OBE (4 October 1876 – 17 February 1958) was an Australian writer, noted for his poetry. Life and career McCrae was born in Melbourne, the son of the Australian author George Gordon McCrae and grandson of the painter and ...

* "A Bridal Song",

* "Australian Spring",

* "Memnon", L. H. Allen * "Unsung",

Nettie Palmer Janet Gertrude "Nettie" Palmer (née Higgins) (18 August 1885 – 19 October 1964) was an Australian poet, essayist and Australia's leading literary critic of her day. She corresponded with women writers and collated the ''Centenary Gift Book'' ...

* "The Mother",

* "The Welcome",

* "Progress", Furnley Maurice * "Edelweiss", Furnley Maurice * "The Last Port", Furnley Maurice * "The Suburbs", Enid Derham * "Farewell", Enid Derham * "O City, Look the Eastward Way", Enid Derham * "The Mountain Road", Enid Derham * "Love, the Wizard",

Lilian Wooster Greaves Lilian Wooster Greaves (21 December 1869 – 28 January 1956) was a Western Australian botanist and poet. Personal life Greaves was born in Ballarat, Victoria, where her father, William H. Wooster, was lecturer of botany at the Federation Uni ...

* "Bush Goblins", H. M. Green * "A Toi", Alys Hungerford * "A Summer Nocturne", Alys Hungerford * "The Pool", F. S. Burnell * "The Isle of Apple-Trees", F. S. Burnell * "Night", H. Duncan Hall * "

My Country "My Country" is a poem written by Dorothea Mackellar (1885–1968) at the age of 19 about her love of the Australian landscape. After travelling through Europe extensively with her father during her teenage years, she started writing the ...

Dorothea Mackellar Isobel Marion Dorothea Mackellar (1 July 1885 – 14 January 1968) was an Australian poet and fiction writer. Her poem " My Country" is widely known in Australia, especially its second stanza, which begins: "I love a sunburnt country / ...

* "In a Southern Garden",

* "Oine", Roderick Kidston * "France", S. Elliott Napier * "Russia", S. Elliott Napier * "All Men Are Free!", S. Elliott Napier * "Mater Dolorosa", S. Elliott Napier * "Song of the Foot-Track", Elsie Clarice Cole

Critical reception of 1918 edition

A writer in ''

The Sydney Morning Herald ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid newspaper published in Sydney, Australia, and owned by Nine Entertainment. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuous ...

'' noted: "The inclusion of Australia in the 'Oxford' series is welcome, and no better editor than Professor Walter Murdoch could have been found for the ''Oxford Book of Australasian Verse.'' The name of our poets is legion, their fertility is enormous, and perhaps for that very reason Australian poetry shows to better effect in an anthology than in a library. Professor Murdoch has been wide in his range and judicious in his choice...Professor Murdoch is as discriminating in his selection from those whose names are household words with us. But this anthology has one disability which, though he is not responsible for it, prevents it from being wholly representative of Australian poetry. The 'inexorable necessities of copyright' have compelled him to omit many flowers from his garland. An anthology which contains nothing of the work of Daley, Brunton Stephens, Essex Evans, John Farrell, Barcroft Boake, Major Paterson, Mr. Henry Lawson, Mr. W. M. Ogilvie, and Miss Zora Cross, to name only a few, does not give to the world the best fruits of Australian poetry." In '' The Argus'', from Melbourne, a reviewer stated: "Those who have an intimate knowledge of Australian verse will as he expects miss some poems and wonder why others were included but many beautiful things will be found and for its purpose of making Australian verse better known in Great Britain the book deserves the success which it is likely to find."

Contents of the 1924 edition

The 1924 edition of the anthology contained all of the poems in the 1918 edition with the following additions and deletions.

Poems added to the 1924 edition

* " A Song of Autumn",

* " The Dominion", J. Brunton Stephens * “Pax Vobiscum”,

Thomas Bracken Thomas Bracken ( December 1843 – 16 February 1898) was an Irish-born New Zealand poet, journalist and politician. He wrote " God Defend New Zealand", one of the two national anthems of New Zealand, and was the first person to publish the phr ...

* "

Clancy of the Overflow "Clancy of the Overflow" is a famous Australian poem written by Banjo Paterson and first published in '' The Bulletin'', an Australian news magazine, on 21 December 1889. The poem is typical of Paterson, offering a romantic view of rural life, ...

", A. B. Paterson * " On Kiley's Run", A. B. Paterson * "

A Bushman's Song "A Bushman's Song" (1892) is a poem by Australian poet A. B. Paterson. It was originally published in '' The Bulletin'' on 24 December 1892, with the title "Travelling Down the Castlereagh", and subsequently reprinted in a collection of the a ...

", A. B. Paterson * " The Sliprails and the Spur",

Henry Lawson Henry Archibald Hertzberg Lawson (17 June 1867 – 2 September 1922) was an Australian writer and bush poet. Along with his contemporary Banjo Paterson, Lawson is among the best-known Australian poets and fiction writers of the colonial period ...

* " The The Great Grey Plain",

* " The Teams",

* "The Super-Lark", R. H. Long * "City of God", R. H. Long * "The Skylark's Nest", R. H. Long * "Drought", Will H. Ogilvie * " From the Gulf", Will H. Ogilvie * "The Dead", J. Le Gay Brereton * " Where the Dead Men Lie", Barcroft Boake * "Roses and Rain",

* "Oxford",

* "When I was Six",

Zora Cross Zora Bernice May Cross (18 May 1890 – 22 January 1964) was an Australian poet, best-selling novelist and journalist. Life Cross was born on 18 May 1890 at Eagle Farm, Brisbane, to Sydney-born accountant Ernest William Cross and Mary Louisa El ...

* "Witchcraft",

* "To God: From the Warring Nations", Furnley Maurice * "The Open Sea",

* "The Husband",

Leon Gellert Leon Maxwell Gellert (17 May 1892 – 22 August 1977) was an Australian poet. Early life and education He was born in Walkerville, South Australia, Walkerville, a suburb of Adelaide, South Australia. He was the grandchild of Hungarian immigra ...

* "The Cross",

* "Through a Porthole",

* "For England", J. D. Burns

Poems not included in the 1924 edition

* "

* " A Mid-Summer Noon in the Australian Forest",

* "

* "A Regret",

* "Morning at Sea in the Tropics", George Gordon McCrae * "Finis Exoptatus : A Metaphysical Song",

* " Song of the Shingle Splitters", Henry Kendall * "The Mallee Fire", Charles Henry Souter * "Hast Thou Forgotten Me?", Philip J. Holdsworth * From "An Austral River", John Laurence Rentoul * "Nora", Henry Laurie * "To Giusue Carducci", G. W. L. Marshall-Hall * "On Reading Shakespeare's Sonnets", G. W. L. Marshall-Hall * "Thrushes", Frank Samuel Williamson * "The End of the Episode",

* "Britannia's Throne", Arthur Maquarie * "Rhapsody", Arthur Maquarie * "Incarnation", J. Le Gay Brereton * "After the Storm",

* "The Sonnet",

* "The Skull", Mary E. Fullerton * "Ballade of Autumn",

* "Hamilton",

* "Evil",

* "Vain Death",

* "The Submarine", Will Lawson * "Caprice",

* "Australian Spring",

* "Progress", Furnley Maurice * "Edelweiss", Furnley Maurice * "The Last Port", Furnley Maurice * "Love, the Wizard",

References