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Reviews of New Books
Australian
Poetry And
Verse Plays
Doorway," by
neth Mackenzie, 5/; "Spright and
Geist," by R.G.H., 2/6; "Austra
lian Poetry, 1943," selected by
H. M. Green, 3/6. (Angus and
Robertson, Sydney).
"The Fire on the Snow" and "The
Golden Lover," two Plays for
Radio, by Douglas Stewart, 5/;
"The Moonlit Ken-
T.\ his two verse plays for
" radio, Douglas Stewart |
rises to heights of feeling I
and memorable description.
"The Fire on the Snow" deals
with the tragic journey of Scott
and his companions to the South
Pole, but the story is only a foun
dation to reveal the thoughts and
actions or the brave men when
faced with disaster and defeat.
From the outset Douglas Stewart
portrays what is in the heart of
man as he stands up to the ulti
mate things. The inevitable clos
ing down that conies in a farewell
is in this:—
"/ thought that I was saying
good-bye to the world.
When ice sirvng nxcay from the
wharf and lost the faces
And the gulls vent home."
'The Golden Lover" Is based on
a Maori legend of the Faery Folk,
the "people of the mist," and re
lates the desire of a beautiful
Maori woman, Tawhai. for her
golden lover, Whana. But it is
actually the story of the yearning
of every human heart to claso a
dream.
The beauty of New Zealand
creeps Insistently into the lines of
the poetry, and while the irony of
the Maoris, the stern acknowledg
ment of actual day-to-day living,
are presented in detail, Douglas
Stewart's poetry conveys all the
enchantment of the "people of the
mist."
While Douglas Stewart takes the
ideal and the dream life, Kenneth
Mackenzie if frankly an adven
turer into the sensuous.
But whether he sings of love,
passion, death, time, or the magic
of moonlight and peacocks, he
never fails to be a poet. Weary, in
"Insomnia," he writes:—
"Stars in my blood burn out
their frrirhing fire.
And my white, vioon grows
shadowy with day.
But it is night, and midnight,
and I aspire
The frozen depths of pure deep.
yet cannot, j
Struggling with heavy thought j
this upward way." \
From these two volumes one may I
turn to R.CH.'s "Spright and
Geist," dedicated to Hugh McCrae,
who on the jacket assures us it
is "a good book," in fact, "an in-,
dividual book, by a master of our
language." Whether this is so or j
not must be left to posterity to;
decide. R.G.H. is certainly a mas
ter of the one-word line such as:—
"Because all days
And always
You
And not the lays
Are
While he has imbibed not a little
of such poets as Keats to some
effect, notably in the following:—
"Let those who will drink ffip
pocreve
Full of tlic glowing south.
Falcmian or fairy dciv — ?
For I have drunk your month!"
The last of this poetical crop is
'Australian Poetry. 1943," selected
by H. M. Green. It includes work
by both Dougles Stewart and Ken
neth Mackenzie, also by Leonard
Mann, David Campbell and James
Devaney.
There is a strong appeal to the
emotions in Betty Biddell's "The
Children March," and some clever
analytical work by A. D. Hope and
Petei Hopegood; and James Mc-
Auley digs beneath the surface in
-'The Blue Horses'' and finds that
"Every little crystal minute
Hag many aeons locked within
it. \
IVilhin whose crystal depths we j
spy
Times upon times eternally.
Australians who see a rennais
sance in our literature will wel
come these books to add interest
to their libraries.
"Princess Elizabeth At Home,"
by Lisa Sheridan. (John Murray,
London, 1944).—This attractive
little book is a photographic re
cord of Princess Elizabeth from
babyhood to just after her 18th
birthday. They were taken by Mrs.
Sheridan and some of them have
appeared in earlier volumes in the
series, but the later ones were taken
this summer. The pictures speak
for themselves, showing Princess
Elizabeth .as she really is at home,
at work and at play, and are com
pletely charming.
$