The Land's Meaning
| "The Land's Meaning" | |
|---|---|
| by Randolph Stow | |
| Country | Australia |
| Language | English |
| Publisher | Australian Poetry 1962 edited by Geoffrey Dutton |
| Publication date | 1962 |
| Lines | 31 |
"The Land's Meaning" (1962) is a poem by Australian poet Randolph Stow.[1]
It was originally published in Australian Poetry 1962 edited by Geoffrey Dutton in 1962,[2] and was subsequently reprinted in the author's single-author collections and a number of Australian poetry anthologies.[1]
Critical reception
[edit]In a review of the poet's collection Outrider : Poems, 1956-1962 for The Sydney Morning Herald Gustav Cross, after quoting from this particular work, commented that "There is nothing derivative about these poems, but it is not accident that their subject-matter is sometimes the same as Patrick White's: both writers are shaping the Australian myth."[3]
Bruce Clunies Ross, in an essay titled "Landscape and the Australian Imagination", stated that in this poem "the images of landscape and exploration combine into an extended metaphor for human isolation and the search for some sign of love, but the poem reveals the close connection in Stow's imagination between landscape and feeling, which is at the heart of his Australian writings."[4]
Publication history
[edit]After the poem's initial publication in Australian Poetry 1962 it was reprinted as follows:
- Outrider : Poems, 1956-1962 by Randolph Stow, illustrated by Sidney Nolan, MacDonald, 1962[5]
- Australian Letters vol. 5 no. 2 December 1962[1]
- The Vital Decade : Ten Years of Australian Art and Letters edited by Geoffrey Dutton and Max Harris, Sun Books, 1968[6]
- A Book of Australian Verse edited by Judith Wright, Oxford University Press, 1956[7]
- Poetry from Australia : Judith Wright, William Hart-Smith, Randolph Stow edited by Howard Sergeant, Pergamon Press, 1969[8]
- A Counterfeit Silence: Selected Poems by Randolph Stow, Angus and Robertson, 1969[9]
- Twelve Poets, 1950-1970 edited by Alexander Craig, Jacaranda Press, 1971[10]
- Australian Verse from 1805 : A Continuum edited by Geoffrey Dutton, Rigby, 1976[11]
- Wide Domain : Western Australian Themes and Images edited by Bruce Bennett and William Grono, Angus and Robertson, 1979[12]
- My Country : Australian Poetry and Short Stories, Two Hundred Years edited by Leonie Kramer, Lansdowne, 1985[13]
- Margins : A West Coast Selection of Poetry 1829-1988 edited by William Grono, Fremantle Press, 1988[14]
- Randolph Stow : Visitants, Episodes from Other Novels, Poems, Stories, Interviews, and Essays edited by Anthony J. Hassall, University of Queensland Press, 1990[15]
- Australian Poetry in the Twentieth Century edited by Robert Gray and Geoffrey Lehmann, Heinemann, 1991[16]
- The Penguin Anthology of Australian Poetry edited by John Kinsella, Penguin, 2009[17]
- The Puncher & Wattmann Anthology of Australian Poetry edited by John Leonard, Puncher & Wattmann, 2009[18]
- Australian Poetry Since 1788 edited by Geoffrey Lehmann and Robert Gray , University of NSW Press, 2011[19]
- The Land's Meaning : New Selected Poems edited by John Kinsella, Fremantle Press, 2012[20]
- The Fremantle Press Anthology of Western Australian Poetry edited by John Kinsella and Tracy Ryan, Fremantle Press, 2017[21]
Notes
[edit]- The poem is dedicated to Sidney Nolan
- You can read the full text of the poem in The Weekend Australian, 7 July 2012[22]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- 1 2 3 "Austlit — "The Land's Meaning" by Randolph Stow". Austlit. Retrieved 5 May 2026.
- ↑ "Australian Poetry 1962 edited by Geoffrey Dutton". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 5 May 2026.
- ↑ ""Stow Confirms His Early Promise"". The Sydney Morning Herald, 12 January 1963. ProQuest 2525278232. Retrieved 5 May 2026.
- ↑ Mapped, But Not Known : the Australian landscape of the imagination : essays & poems presented to Brian Elliott LXXV 11 April 1985, edited by P.R. Eaden and F.H. Mares, Wakefield Press, 1986, p.240
- ↑ "Outrider : Poems, 1956-1962 by Randolph Stow". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 5 May 2026.
- ↑ "The Vital Decade : Ten Years of Australian Art and Letters edited by geoffrey Dutton and Max Harris". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 5 May 2026.
- ↑ "A Book of Australian Verse edited by Judith Wright". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 5 May 2026.
- ↑ "Poetry from Australia : Judith Wright, William Hart-Smith, Randolph Stow edited by Howard Sergeant". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 5 May 2026.
- ↑ "A Counterfeit Silence: Selected Poems by Randolph Stow". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 5 May 2026.
- ↑ "Twelve Poets, 1950-1970 edited by Alexander Craig". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 5 May 2026.
- ↑ "Australian Verse from 1805 : A Continuum edited by Geoffrey Dutton". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 5 May 2026.
- ↑ "Wide Domain : Western Australian Themes and Images edited by Bruce Bennett and William Grono". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 5 May 2026.
- ↑ "My Country : Australian Poetry and Short Stories, Two Hundred Years edited by Leonie Kramer". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 5 May 2026.
- ↑ "Margins : A West Coast Selection of Poetry 1829-1988 edited by William Grono". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 5 May 2026.
- ↑ "Randolph Stow : Visitants, Episodes from Other Novels, Poems, Stories, Interviews, and Essays edited by Anthony J. Hassall". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 5 May 2026.
- ↑ "Australian Poetry in the Twentieth Century edited by Robert Gray and Geoffrey Lehmann". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 5 May 2026.
- ↑ "The Penguin Anthology of Australian Poetry edited by John Kinsella". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 5 May 2026.
- ↑ "The Puncher & Wattmann Anthology of Australian Poetry edited by John Leonard". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 5 May 2026.
- ↑ "Australian Poetry Since 1788 edited by Geoffrey Lehmann and Robert Gray". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 5 May 2026.
- ↑ "The Land's Meaning : New Selected Poems edited by John Kinsella". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 5 May 2026.
- ↑ "The Fremantle Press Anthology of Western Australian Poetry edited by John Kinsella and Tracy Ryan". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 5 May 2026.
- ↑ ""the Land's Meaning"". The Weekend Australian, 7 July 2012. ProQuest 1023739945. Retrieved 5 May 2026.