Fix this text
The Bookfellow
Fix this textTHE AUSTRALASIAN REVIEW.
Fix this textMONTHLY.—VoI. 11, No. 1.
Fix this textJANUARY 1, 1913.
Fix this textSIX SHILLINGS A YEAR
Fix this textRegistered at the General Post Office, Sydney, for transmission by post as a newspaper.
Fix this textSingle Copy, 6d.
Fix this textTHE YEAR 1912.
Fix this textJn the Australasian field, the year that
Fix this texthas ended cannot be called remarkable
Fix this textfor literary accomplishment. The prom-
Fix this textinent figures are still those of writers
Fix this textnow in their forties; the work that they
Fix this textaccomplished fifteen and twenty years
Fix this textago has not yet been surpassed in vigour
Fix this textand in virtue. As their spirits fail and
Fix this texttheir hands falter, we look vainly for
Fix this textsuccessors who have drawn inspiration
Fix this textfrom the same wells of mirth, and fancy,
Fix this textand feeling. Lawson and Paterson, Dy-
Fix this textson and O’Dowd, are impotent or with-
Fix this textdrawn ; all were faulty; yet together
Fix this textthey had a force that we cannot quite
Fix this textmatch among the writers since their day.
Fix this textThe charm of even an indifferent verse
Fix this textof Daley’s still puts competitors to shame.
Fix this textIn the West the outlook is no better.
Fix this textVerse does not leap as it leapt ten years
Fix this textago; and prose is dormant. Not a New
Fix this textZealand writer has arisen to replace
Fix this textChurch and Mackay. For the best, we
Fix this textlook backward with satisfaction rather
Fix this textthan forward with assurance.
Fix this textIt is true that some beautiful things
Fix this textare still being written, some good things
Fix this textare still being collected. In verse the
Fix this textyear has brought us books from Miss
Fix this textMackellar, Llebblethwaite. O’Hara, and
Fix this textSouter—the first gathering the fresh
Fix this textfancies and bright pictures of a gild’s
Fix this textdreaming vision ; the second rich in mel-
Fix this textlow grace ; the third portraying natural
Fix this textscenes skilfully, and rising sometimes
Fix this textto a true poetic strain; the fourth
Fix this textgiving snatches of the homely glee and
Fix this textpathos of a countryside. The rich
Fix this textharvest of McCrae’s imagination; the
Fix this textshining glimpses of New Zealand life
Fix this textlovingly shown by Miss Baughan; Ar-
Fix this textnold Wall's quaint, thoughtful, original
Fix this textutterance; —these are not yet far in
Fix this textthe vista. For this year we are prom-
Fix this textised the fine and tender stream of
Fix this textNeilson’s song; the fuller, calmer cur-
Fix this textrent of Brennan’s. And withal, we look
Fix this textback a dozen years to affirm that the pulse
Fix this textof Australasian poetry was stronger
Fix this textthen, if it ran in a wrist less delicate,
Fix this textless shapely. We seem to have gained
Fix this textliterary, merit, but we have lost some-
Fix this textthing of human value. The poetical blood
Fix this textof those ruder, earlier rhymers ran
Fix this textredlv from their hearts; the verse that
Fix this textwe dream over was their reality.
Fix this textIt is the spirit of balladry that we
Fix this texthave lost; and, with all its roughness, we
Fix this textregret it. Our verse is better, our poetry
Fix this textis finer, yet we have not replaced the
Fix this texttang of nature in “The Worked-out
Fix this textMine," or “Ben Duggan.” or “Old Par-
Fix this textdon," or “The Camp-Fires of the Lost"
Fix this text(which is of the same clan despite its
Fix this textsophisticated stanza), or “The Ballad of
Fix this textRed Heart Rum,” or “At Devlin’s Sid-
Fix this texting.” Daley and Ogilvie and Quinn are
Fix this textour bridges from bushland to meadow-
Fix this textland. The ladies show the change also:
Fix this textMiss Mackellar and Miss Derham have
Fix this textpleasant voices; but they have not the
Fix this textoutpouring utterance of Miss Louise
Fix this textMack. Fragmentary as her work is, Mrs.
Fix this textGilmore too shows a stronger fibre than
Fix this textwe meet tc-day; and as for the rushing
Fix this textenergy of Miss Mackay—
Fix this textAnd if death could hold it fast, then Mackay
Fix this textwere lord again—
Fix this textLord first and last by the Naver!
Fix this textFor the White Banner waves o’er a hundred
Fix this textthousand men
Fix this textIn the green, green graves of Strathnaver—
Fix this textWe do not expect to match that in a
Fix this textgeneration.
Fix this textWhat we miss is the vehemence of the
Fix this text’nineties. We do not notice to-day's
Fix this textwriters feeling so passionately as the
Fix this textyoung Lawson, coming home in tears
Fix this textfrom a quashed Republican meeting
Fix this textwith, “Mother, my countrymen are cow-
Fix this textards.” They would be far too self-con-
Fix this textscious for such dramatic self-expression;
Fix this textand in our view self-ccnsciousness is
Fix this textfatal to poetry. Not until a poet forgets
Fix this texthimself do we remember him. Xeilson
Fix this textindeed will feel as keenly as Lawson, and
Fix this textmore finely; but there is not quite the
Fix this textsame body in his feeling, he is a rare
Fix this textwine rather than a strong ale. Without
Fix this textdispraising brook and river and lake,
Fix this textwe should like to see again the earlier
Fix this texttorrent of the writers who let themselves
Fix this textgo, ignorant of obstacles. Lyric and
Fix this textballad, we want both.
Fix this textIn imaginative prose there is but one
Fix this textbock to cite for 1912 —Louis Stone’s
Fix this textJonah —a book limited in scope, imper-
Fix this textfect in plan, yet tilling well its little plot
Fix this textof life, and disengaging from ignoble
Fix this textcharacters a noble message of hu-
Fix this textmanity. Mr. D. Maclean’s John Scar-
Fix this textlett represents the day’s work in
Fix this textfiction, efficient in its place. Mr.
Fix this textA. H. Adams’s A Touch of Fantasy
Fix this textfumbles unpleasantly with the sexual
Fix this textmotive; and its thin, smart admixture of
Fix this textcynicism and sentiment had a curiously
Fix this textnasty flavour. The jet of talent which
Fix this textMr. Adams showed in Maoriland, and
Fix this textparticularly in the pretty little play of
Fix this text“The Minstrel,” seems to have fallen
Fix this textinto an arid basin; and instead of sincere
Fix this textperformance we watch conscious pos-
Fix this texttures, sometimes clever, always futile.
Fix this textThe most popular writer of Australian
Fix this textfiction is Mr. A. H. Davis, with a dozen
Fix this textshilling books and a sale of more than
Fix this text300.000 copies to his credit. His Book
Fix this textof Dan. published last year, approached
Fix this textmore nearly than some other books to the
Fix this textmerit of the book that made his reputa-
Fix this texttion—On Our Selection. On Our Selec-
Fix this texttion was dramatised during the year,
Fix this textand the piece, tending toward farce, has
Fix this textbeen played successfully. The veteran
Fix this textAustralian novelist, Mr. T. A. Browne,
Fix this textnow 86 years old, has permitted his in-
Fix this textdustrious pen to rest: Mrs. G. F. Cross,
Fix this textwho returned to England in her 68th
Fix this textyear, published her recollections of
Fix this texther English childhood in A Retrospect.
Fix this texta book of particular interest and charm.
Fix this textIn juvenile literature the year has
Fix this textseen the rising vogue of Miss M. G
Fix this textBruce, whose stories for children have a
Fix this textfresh and captivating merit, and are
Fix this textwritten well. Miss Ethel Turner, instead
Fix this textof adding the familiar yearly volume to
Fix this texther long series of successful books for
Fix this textchildren, published a record of her Euro-
Fix this textpean tour in Ports and Happy Havens.
Fix this textThe valuable publications of the Com-
Fix this textmonwealth Bureau of Census and Statis-
Fix this texttics, edited by Mr. G. H. Knibbs as
Fix this textCommonwealth Statistician, deserve par-
Fix this textticular commendation. The report just
Fix this textpublished on Prices. Price Indexes, and
Fix this textCost of Living in Australia gathers the
Fix this textfruit of a new and important inquiry in
Fix this textthe industrial field.
Fix this textThe expiry of copyright in the poems
Fix this textof A. L. Gordon, a popular Australian
Fix this textverse-writer who died in 1870, caused
Fix this textthe issue of several competitive editions,
Fix this textwith some recrudescence of interest in
Fix this textwhat may be called the romance of Gor-
Fix this textdon. These poems just escape the ex-
Fix this texttension of term granted in the British
Fix this textAct, bv which the work of other leading
Fix this textwriters in the Australian field will bene-
Fix this textfit.
Fix this textIt's easy and takes two shakes of a lamb's tail!
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(1911). The bookfellow : the Australasian review and journal of the Australasian book trade Retrieved August 16, 2025, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-842932348
The bookfellow : the Australasian review and journal of the Australasian book trade Sydney: Bookfellow, 1911. Web. 16 August 2025 <http://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-842932348>
1911, The bookfellow : the Australasian review and journal of the Australasian book trade Bookfellow, Sydney viewed 16 August 2025 http://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-842932348
{{Citation
|
| title=The bookfellow : the Australasian review and journal of the Australasian book trade.
| year=1911
| section=v. ; 32 cm.
| edition=Trade ed.
| issue=Vol. 2 No. 1 (1 January 1913)
| location=Sydney
| publisher=Bookfellow
| url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-842932348
| id=nla.obj-842932348
| access-date=16 August 2025
| via=Trove
}}
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