Children in bush poetry

[Vic Jefferies]

Henry Kendall's poem to his dead baby daughter, "Araluen" is, in my opinion, amazingly beautiful:

"Take this rose and very gently place it on the tender, deep
mosses where our little darling, Araluen, lies asleep.
Put the blossom close to baby-kneel with me, my
love, and pray;
We must leave the bird we've buried-say good-bye
to her today..."

The poem often referred to as Bertha and sometimes printed under that name is actually entitled Barta. It is listed in the Lawson collection A Fantasy Of Man as Barta and appears on the net under that name. I have other books of Lawson's works where it is listed as Bertha. Barta I presume was a family name given to his daughter. Barta has been set to music and is a marvelous song.
To complicate matters Henry also wrote when, "Bertha Comes to Tea" about the same daughter.

[Stephen Whiteside]

I was interested to discover that both Lawson's wife and her mother were named Bertha.

[Heather]

Vic i remember the first time I read "Araluen". It is a very touching poem. The book I have of Kendall poetry also has a a bit of a biography on Henry Kendall and I think it is necessary to understand his life to understand his poetry. It's probably the same for most, if not all poets.

Heather

[Bob Pacey]

You people actually read poetry as well ??? well I'll be buggered ?


Gonna have to graduate from golfing mags and Phanthom comics



Robert

[Vic Jefferies]

Heather, as you say Kendall had a sad life and knowing this does help one to better understand his poetry. He had a great gap in his writing (from memory eleven years or so) and I often wonder what he may have produced in that time.
He remains one of our greatest poets.

[Stephen Whiteside]

That was probably when he was raising kids, Vic. I know that is how it was for me!

[Heather]

Stephen, Henry Kendall suffered from depression and alcoholism and had a time he called "the dark years" (or something like that). It was after his baby daughter died and he separated from his wife for some years. I'll read the bio again to make sure of the facts but a family on the NSW coast took him in and he eventually recovered and was reunited with his wife.

The story I find most fascinating about Kendall is about his grave. He was buried in a grave without much, if any memorial. Louisa Lawson set about starting a fund to raise money for a suitable memorial. The fund was taken over by people with more influence in society than Louisa and in the end Henry Kendall's body was removed to another site in the cemetery (Waverley i think), where a large memorial could be erected.

The irony is that Henry Lawson (a fan of Kendall's) is now buried in the plot next to where Kendall was originally laid to rest.

Heather