Women in bush poetry

[keats]

Ted will beg to differ, Stephen!!! lol

Neil

[Stephen Whiteside]

No he wouldn't. He's a pretty modest bloke, old masterful Ted.

[Vic Jefferies]

Lawson wrote a large number of poems concerning women in various circumstances, love and failed romance. I have always thought his Do You Think I do Not Know, written in part to his dead love Hannah Thorburn a wonderful poem.
Sticking To Bill is another that I have always found particularly touching in that it evokes an understanding of a certain type of relationship between a man and a woman.
Just glancing through the index of one of my much read Lawson collections I see that he must have written more poems concerning women than any other Australian poet.

[Stephen Whiteside]

Of course, Vic, Robert Service had 'the lady that's known as Lou', didn't he.

[Vic Jefferies]

He certainly did Stephen! We are just home from holidays in Canada and Alaska and as we traveled through the snow and ice (in comfort of course) I was constantly moved to think of Robert W Service and his poetry. How Sam Mcgee, Dangerous Dan McGrew, Blasphemous Bill and his other characters ever lived in such places is beyond me!
On the subject of Lawson writing about women surely his classic Past Carin' must rate as one of the best poems to illustrate the harsh life women endure(d) in the bush.
Neville nominated Shaw Neilson's the Orange Tree and I would be pleased if someone could explain that poem to me. I have been reading it for years but have to admit I still don't understand it.
Neilson also wrote a wonderful poem about an old lady called Old Granny Sullivan and I have been surprised that I have never heard it recited at any of the poetry gatherings I have attended.

[Stephen Whiteside]

I can't understand 'The Orange Tree' either, Vic. Here's an alternative 'orange tree poem' that I hope you will find easier.

'The Orange Tree'

Stephen Whiteside 21.06.2012

Here's a thing that strikes me hard.
In the garden in our yard
We do not have an orange tree.
It always seems quite sad to me.
Leaves me feeling rather glum.
We have an apple and a plum.
We have a lemon and a lime,
So, you'd think we'd find the time
To plant an orange tree as well.
They give off such a lovely smell.
Grapefruit, cumquat, one of each
We have, and apricot and peach.
Even got a nectarine,
Though its fruit is rarely seen.
Got a walnut. Got a pear.
Got an almond standing there.
Why, then, are we so remiss?
Navel oranges are bliss.
Oranges are best of all.
Buy them from the local stall,
They are juicy, they are sweet,
Have a flesh that can't be beat.
All our fruit is drab and dry.
Matters not how hard we try
To bring a harvest that's delicious.
Then, the local birds are vicious.
So I guess I'm rather pleased
That I eat navels not diseased
By trotting to the local shop
And buying fruit that is tip-top.
So it shouldn't strike me hard
That in the garden in our yard
We do not have an orange tree.
I buy them fresh so easily!

[Stephen Whiteside]

Tell me, Vic, did you get to Service's hut?

[Vic Jefferies]

Great poem Stephen and I understand it. No didn't make Service's hut but did find one of the best second hand bookshops imaginable in Vancouver. Thousands and I mean thousands of books and the bloke who owns it pretty well knows where every book is (or should be.) He has owned the shop for forty years or more and I was amazed to see that he had a stack of Thomas Keneally's books sitting on the table as I walked in.
Our mutual friend Jimmy Smith loves Shaw Neilson and does a wonderful job of reciting The Orange Tree but try as I might I can not decipher its meaning.

[Stephen Whiteside]

Thanks, Vic. Yes, I don't know that second hand e-book shops are ever going to be all that attractive or impressive.

[David Campbell]

It's fascinating to see the range of poems and poets being put forward here, quite a few of which I'm not familiar with, so there's some homework to do! Thank you to all who have contributed so far.

On the subject of 'The Orange Tree' I agree that it's a bit of a puzzle, and was surprised that Neville nominated it here. Although one of the characters is a young girl, the only sense I've been able to make of the poem is that it is contrasting the differing perceptions of something by an adult and a child. The child, perhaps personifying innocence, can see and hear in ways that the adult cannot, and all the adult can do is rattle on with questions that seek an explanation in terms he can understand. In the end, the girl pleads with him to keep quiet so she can enjoy the experience. Thus I don't see the poem as focussing on anything necessarily female, but rather as presenting an observation on childhood. I'd be interested to hear Neville's interpretation.

Cheers
David