AustLit logo

AustLit

Woman to Man single work   poetry   "The eyeless labourer in the night,"
Issue Details: First known date: 1946... 1946 Woman to Man
The material on this page is available to AustLit subscribers. If you are a subscriber or are from a subscribing organisation, please log in to gain full access. To explore options for subscribing to this unique teaching, research, and publishing resource for Australian culture and storytelling, please contact us or find out more.

Latest Issues

Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of

  • Appears in:
    y separately published work icon Meanjin Papers vol. 5 no. 3 [Spring] 1946 Z618148 1946 periodical issue 1946 pg. 183
  • Appears in:
    y separately published work icon Australian Poetry 1947 Frederick T. Macartney (editor), Sydney : Angus and Robertson , 1948 Z179407 1948 anthology poetry Sydney : Angus and Robertson , 1948 pg. 40
  • Appears in:
    y separately published work icon Voices : A Quarterly of Poetry no. 133 Spring 1948 Z1747696 1948 periodical issue 1948 pg. 17
  • Appears in:
    y separately published work icon Modern Australian Poetry [1946] H. M. Green , Melbourne : Melbourne University Press , 1952 Z16209 1952 anthology poetry Melbourne : Melbourne University Press , 1952
  • Appears in:
    y separately published work icon A Book of Australian Verse Judith Wright (editor), Melbourne : Oxford University Press , 1956 Z565053 1956 anthology poetry Melbourne : Oxford University Press , 1956
  • Appears in:
    y separately published work icon A Book of Australian Verse Judith Wright (editor), Melbourne : Oxford University Press , 1956 Z565053 1956 anthology poetry Melbourne : Oxford University Press , 1956 pg. 197
  • Appears in:
    y separately published work icon The Penguin Book of Australian Verse John Thompson (editor), Kenneth Slessor (editor), R. G. Howarth (editor), Harmondsworth : Penguin , 1958 Z1013022 1958 anthology poetry Harmondsworth : Penguin , 1958 pg. 204-205
  • Appears in:
    y separately published work icon Five Senses : Selected Poems Judith Wright , Sydney : Angus and Robertson , 1963 Z563031 1963 selected work poetry Sydney : Angus and Robertson , 1963 pg. 25
  • Appears in:
    y separately published work icon Judith Wright : Selected Poems Judith Wright , Sydney : Angus and Robertson , 1963 Z565587 1963 selected work poetry (taught in 1 units) Sydney : Angus and Robertson , 1963 pg. 7-8
  • Appears in:
    y separately published work icon Six Voices : Contemporary Australian Poets Chris Wallace-Crabbe (editor), Sydney : Angus and Robertson , 1963 Z66424 1963 anthology poetry Sydney : Angus and Robertson , 1963
  • Appears in:
    y separately published work icon Modern Australian Verse Douglas Stewart (editor), Sydney : Angus and Robertson , 1964 Z390812 1964 anthology poetry Editor's Introduction: The anthology covers 'from 1930 onwards'... And, lastly, of course, an anthology of this kind should attempt to give as wide a picture as possible, consistent with quality, of Australian poetry in the period. That I have certainly tried to do; but without losing sight of the principle that it should be enjoyable. ... Douglas Stewart (q.v.) (xxi-xxxv). Sydney : Angus and Robertson , 1964 pg. 127
  • Appears in:
    y separately published work icon An Introduction to Australian Literature Literary Criterion 6.3 (1964) C. D. Narasimhaiah (editor), Brisbane : Jacaranda Press , 1965 Z283778 1964 anthology Brisbane : Jacaranda Press , 1965 pg. 188
  • Appears in:
    y separately published work icon On Native Grounds : Australian Writing from Meanjin Quarterly Louis Kahan (illustrator), C. B. Christesen (editor), Sydney : Angus and Robertson , 1967 Z213499 1967 anthology poetry short story extract criticism biography Sydney : Angus and Robertson , 1967 pg. 142-143
    Note: Appears under 'Three Poems' alongside 'Woman to Child' and 'Woman's Song'.
  • Appears in:
    y separately published work icon A Book of Australian Verse Judith Wright (editor), Melbourne : Oxford University Press , 1956 Z565053 1956 anthology poetry Melbourne : Oxford University Press , 1968 pg. 200
  • Appears in:
    y separately published work icon Judith Wright : Collected Poems, 1942-1970 Judith Wright , Cremorne : Angus and Robertson , 1971 Z563360 1971 selected work poetry Cremorne : Angus and Robertson , 1971 pg. 29
  • Appears in:
    y separately published work icon The Penguin Book of Australian Verse Harry Payne Heseltine (editor), Ringwood Harmondsworth : Penguin , 1972 Z334403 1972 anthology poetry Selection of works by Australian poets from Charles Harpur (1813-1868) to Charles Buckmaster (b. 1951). Ringwood Harmondsworth : Penguin , 1972 pg. 282
  • Appears in:
    y separately published work icon Australian Verse from 1805 : A Continuum Geoffrey Dutton (editor), Adelaide : Rigby , 1976 Z399014 1976 anthology Adelaide : Rigby , 1976 pg. 198
  • Appears in:
    y separately published work icon The Golden Apples of the Sun : Twentieth Century Australian Poetry Chris Wallace-Crabbe (editor), Carlton : Melbourne University Press , 1980 Z62463 1980 anthology poetry Carlton : Melbourne University Press , 1980 pg. 93
  • Appears in:
    y separately published work icon The Collins Book of Australian Poetry Rodney Hall , Sydney : Collins , 1981 Z542215 1981 anthology poetry Sydney : Collins , 1981 pg. 200
  • Appears in:
    y separately published work icon The World's Contracted Thus J. A. McKenzie (editor), J. K. McKenzie (editor), Richmond : Heinemann Education Australia , 1983 Z174491 1983 anthology poetry Richmond : Heinemann Education Australia , 1983 pg. 309-310
  • Appears in:
    y separately published work icon The Illustrated Treasury of Australian Verse Beatrice Davis , Melbourne : Nelson , 1984 Z315151 1984 anthology poetry biography Melbourne : Nelson , 1984 pg. 180
  • Appears in:
    y separately published work icon Cross-Country : A Book of Australian Verse John Barnes (editor), Brian McFarlane (editor), Richmond : Heinemann , 1984 Z900285 1984 anthology poetry (taught in 1 units) Richmond : Heinemann , 1984 pg. 116
  • Appears in:
    y separately published work icon My Country : Australian Poetry and Short Stories, Two Hundred Years Leonie Kramer (editor), Sydney : Lansdowne , 1985 Z1067493 1985 anthology poetry short story Sydney : Lansdowne , 1985 pg. 129
  • Appears in:
    y separately published work icon Two Centuries of Australian Poetry Mark O'Connor (editor), Melbourne : Oxford University Press , 1988 Z322247 1988 anthology poetry criticism Contains poems grouped into 18 thematic sections (19 in 2nd. ed.) ; each section has an introduction, notes and suggestions for study activities and further study. Biographical notes on authors and indexes also included. Melbourne : Oxford University Press , 1988 pg. 181-182
  • Appears in:
    y separately published work icon Cross-Country : A Book of Australian Verse John Barnes (editor), Brian McFarlane (editor), Richmond : Heinemann , 1984 Z900285 1984 anthology poetry (taught in 1 units) Richmond : Heinemann Education Australia , 1988 pg. 116
  • Appears in:
    y separately published work icon Five Senses : Selected Poems Judith Wright , Leeanne Crisp (illustrator), Canberra : 1989 Z1482073 1989 selected work poetry Canberra : 1989
  • Appears in:
    y separately published work icon The Macmillan Anthology of Australian Literature Ken L. Goodwin (editor), Alan Lawson (editor), South Melbourne : Macmillan , 1990 Z535337 1990 anthology criticism correspondence extract poetry drama biography short story prose humour satire travel

    'Poems, stories, letters and extracts from novels, plays and journals present a great variety of responses to Australia and to the art of writing. Items have been arranged into 12 groupings that reflect different ways of seeing the material of Australian writing. Each section has its own introduction. Problems are explained, theories and contexts for a wider understanding are offered. The book includes biographical guides to all authors and a full chronological table of events in the literary history of Australia.'   (Publication summary)

    South Melbourne : Macmillan , 1990
    pg. 516
  • Appears in:
    y separately published work icon A Human Pattern : Selected Poems Judith Wright , North Ryde : Angus and Robertson , 1990 Z9022 1990 selected work poetry (taught in 3 units)

    'Judith Wright's own definitive selection of her poetry, covering the best and most memorable of her remarkable oeuvre.

    'From the elegant and moving precision of the first collection, The Moving Image (1946), to the political passion of Phantom Dwelling (1985), Wright's poetry speaks with intelligence and courage - and gracefully sensuous imagery.

    'Forty years of poetic production from Australia's best-loved poet.' (Publication summary)

    North Ryde : Angus and Robertson , 1990
    pg. 20
  • Appears in:
    y separately published work icon An Anthology of Commonwealth Poetry C. D. Narasimhaiah (editor), Chennai : Macmillan , 1990 Z1176727 1990 anthology poetry Chennai : Macmillan , 1990 pg. 79-80
  • Appears in:
    y separately published work icon The Penguin Book of Modern Australian Poetry John Tranter (editor), Philip Mead (editor), Ringwood : Penguin , 1991 Z151302 1991 anthology poetry Ringwood : Penguin , 1991 pg. 53
  • Appears in:
    y separately published work icon The Faber Book of Modern Australian Verse Vincent Buckley (editor), London : Faber , 1991 Z563845 1991 anthology poetry war literature satire humour London : Faber , 1991 pg. 77
  • Appears in:
    y separately published work icon Australian Poetry in the Twentieth Century Robert Gray (editor), Geoffrey Lehmann (editor), Port Melbourne : Heinemann , 1991 Z27032 1991 anthology poetry Port Melbourne : Heinemann , 1991 pg. 161-162
  • Appears in:
    y separately published work icon The Oxford Book of Australian Love Poems Jennifer Strauss (editor), Melbourne : Oxford University Press , 1993 Z203381 1993 anthology poetry war literature satire humour romance Melbourne : Oxford University Press , 1993 pg. 106
  • Appears in:
    y separately published work icon Outrider : A Journal of Multicultural Literature in Australia Queensland : Words and All vol. 10 Indooroopilly : Phoenix Publications , 1993 Z591899 1993 periodical issue

    'Queensland : Words and all may sound to some a very parochial title. It may even convey the promise of more or less sensational revelations. To others it may suggest a representative documentation of the state of Queensland letters, the 'art of the state', as it were.' (Introduction)

    Queensland : Words and All
    Indooroopilly : Phoenix Publications , 1993
    pg. 331
  • Appears in:
    y separately published work icon Collected Poems 1942-1985 Judith Wright , Pymble : Angus and Robertson , 1994 Z501989 1994 selected work poetry war literature satire (taught in 8 units) Pymble : Angus and Robertson , 1994 pg. 27
  • Appears in:
    y separately published work icon The Oxford Book of Australian Women's Verse Susan Lever (editor), South Melbourne : Oxford University Press , 1995 Z566500 1995 anthology poetry biography South Melbourne : Oxford University Press , 1995 pg. 81
  • Appears in:
    y separately published work icon An Anthology of Australian Literature Hoju munhak chonjip Ch'oe Chin-yong (editor), Cynthia Van Den Driesen (editor), Seoul : Hansin Munhwasa , 1995 Z994880 1995 anthology poetry short story Seoul : Hansin Munhwasa , 1995 pg. 142
  • Appears in:
    y separately published work icon Bridgings : Readings in Australian Women's Poetry Rose Lucas (editor), Lyn McCredden (editor), South Melbourne : Oxford University Press , 1996 Z219096 1996 anthology poetry criticism extract South Melbourne : Oxford University Press , 1996 pg. 10-11
  • Appears in:
    y separately published work icon The Illustrated Treasury of Australian Verse Beatrice Davis , Melbourne : Nelson , 1984 Z315151 1984 anthology poetry biography Sydney : State Library of New South Wales Press , 1996 pg. 180
  • Appears in:
    y separately published work icon Australian Verse : An Oxford Anthology John Leonard (editor), Melbourne : Oxford University Press , 1998 Z461207 1998 anthology poetry (taught in 1 units) A thorough survey of poetry by Australians in English, beginning with a selection of contemporary work by younger poets, and going backward in time to the early colonial period. In addition to poems in the literary tradition, it indudes performance poetry, convict songs and old bush ballads. An extensive selection has been provided from the work of five major twentieth-century poets: Les Murray, Gwen Harwood, Judith Wright, A.D. Hope and Kenneth Slessor. Several features are provided to assist the reader: the date of first publication of each poem is provided; footnotes explain unfamiliar words and allusions; and brief biographical notes assist in locating each poet in his or her place in time. Melbourne : Oxford University Press , 1998 pg. 205
  • Appears in:
    y separately published work icon Half a Lifetime Judith Wright , Patricia Clarke (editor), Melbourne : Text Publishing , 1999 Z436604 1999 single work autobiography

    'In this luminous memoir, Judith Wright takes the reader on an intimate journey into the first half of her life. She tells how her stern forebears became prominent pastoralists in northern New South Wales, and describes with stunning clarity the landscapes she grew up in.'

    'She remembers her first encounters with words and the emergence of her consciousness of self. She movingly describes her mother’s death. And she recounts her resolution to escape from this world she loved in order to be free.'

    'In Brisbane during the war Wright met Jack McKinney, a philosopher who became her lover, and her intellectual companion in her commitment to the environment, the rights of Aboriginal people, and the possibility of leading a just life.'

    'Half a Lifetime includes a number of Wright’s best-loved poems, and many never before published photographs. Sensuous, honest and intelligent, this is an unforgettable autobiography by a great Australian writer.'

    Melbourne : Text Publishing , 1999
    pg. 183-184
  • Appears in:
    y separately published work icon The Sydney Morning Herald 27 June 2000 Z591901 2000 newspaper issue 2000 pg. 13
  • Appears in:
    y separately published work icon Seven Centuries of Poetry in English John Leonard (editor), South Melbourne : Oxford University Press , 2003 Z1058257 2003 anthology poetry (taught in 6 units) Contains poetry from twelve countries, including Australia, and spans the development of English poetry over seven centuries. South Melbourne : Oxford University Press , 2003 pg. 108-109
  • Appears in:
    y separately published work icon The Equal Heart and Mind : Letters between Judith Wright and Jack McKinney Judith Wright , J. P. McKinney , Meredith McKinney (editor), Patricia Clarke (editor), St Lucia : University of Queensland Press , 2004 Z1131180 2004 selected work correspondence poetry The selection includes a preface by Patricia Clarka, pp. xi-xiii, and a memoir of her parents by Meredith McKinney. The letters, covering the years from 1945-1950, are arranged chronologically within themed sections and selected poems by Wright appear within and between the sections; each section is preceded by a biographical essay contextualising the letters. St Lucia : University of Queensland Press , 2004 pg. 109
  • Appears in:
    y separately published work icon Two Centuries of Australian Poetry Kathrine Bell (editor), Smithfield : Gary Allen , 2007 Z1472336 2007 anthology poetry Smithfield : Gary Allen , 2007 pg. 207
  • Appears in:
    y separately published work icon Grace and Other Poems Judith Wright , Warners Bay : Picaro Press , 2009 Z1585016 2009 selected work poetry Warners Bay : Picaro Press , 2009 pg. 6
  • Appears in:
    y separately published work icon Macquarie PEN Anthology of Australian Literature Nicholas Jose (editor), Kerryn Goldsworthy (editor), Anita Heiss (editor), David McCooey (editor), Peter Minter (editor), Nicole Moore (editor), Elizabeth Webby (editor), Crows Nest : Allen and Unwin , 2009 Z1590615 2009 anthology correspondence diary drama essay extract poetry prose short story (taught in 23 units)

    'Some of the best, most significant writing produced in Australia over more than two centuries is gathered in this landmark anthology. Covering all genres - from fiction, poetry and drama to diaries, letters, essays and speeches - the anthology maps the development of one of the great literatures in English in all its energy and variety.

    'The writing reflects the diverse experiences of Australians in their encounter with their extraordinary environment and with themselves. This is literature of struggle, conflict and creative survival. It is literature of lives lived at the extremes, of frontiers between cultures, of new dimensions of experience, where imagination expands.

    'This rich, informative and entertaining collection charts the formation of an Australian voice that draws inventively on Indigenous words, migrant speech and slang, with a cheeky, subversive humour always to the fore. For the first time, Aboriginal writings are interleaved with other English-language writings throughout - from Bennelong's 1796 letter to the contemporary flowering of Indigenous fiction and poetry - setting up an exchange that reveals Australian history in stark new ways.

    'From vivid settler accounts to haunting gothic tales, from raw protest to feisty urban satire and playful literary experiment, from passionate love poetry to moving memoir, the Macquarie PEN Anthology of Australian Literature reflects the creative eloquence of a society.

    'Chosen by a team of expert editors, who have provided illuminating essays about their selections, and with more than 500 works from over 300 authors, it is an authoritative survey and a rich world of reading to be enjoyed.' (Publisher's blurb)

    Allen and Unwin have a YouTube channel with a number of useful videos on the Anthology.

    Crows Nest : Allen and Unwin , 2009
    pg. 594-595
  • Appears in:
    y separately published work icon The Puncher & Wattmann Anthology of Australian Poetry John Leonard (editor), Glebe : Puncher and Wattmann , 2009 Z1674214 2009 anthology poetry (taught in 16 units) Glebe : Puncher and Wattmann , 2009 pg. 258-259
  • Appears in:
    y separately published work icon 100 Australian Poems of Love and Loss Jamie Grant (editor), Prahran : Hardie Grant Books , 2011 Z1758937 2011 anthology poetry Prahran : Hardie Grant Books , 2011 pg. 70
  • Appears in:
    y separately published work icon Australian Poetry Since 1788 Geoffrey Lehmann (editor), Robert Gray (editor), Sydney : University of New South Wales Press , 2011 Z1803846 2011 anthology poetry (taught in 1 units) 'A good poem is one that the world can’t forget or is delighted to rediscover. This landmark anthology of Australian poetry, edited by two of Australia’s foremost poets, Geoffrey Lehmann and Robert Gray, contains such poems. It is the first of its kind for Australia and promises to become a classic. Included here are Australia’s major poets, and lesser-known but equally affecting ones, and all manifestations of Australian poetry since 1788, from concrete poems to prose poems, from the cerebral to the naïve, from the humorous to the confessional, and from formal to free verse. Translations of some striking Aboriginal song poems are one of the high points. Containing over 1000 poems from 170 Australian poets, as well as short critical biographies, this careful reevaluation of Australian poetry makes this a superb book that can be read and enjoyed over a lifetime.' (From the publisher's website.) Sydney : University of New South Wales Press , 2011 pg. 396
  • Appears in:
    y separately published work icon Sense, Shape, Symbol : An Investigation of Australian Poetry Brian Keyte (editor), Putney : Phoenix Education , 2013 6310209 2013 anthology criticism poetry

    'Sense, Shape, Symbol is an investigation of Australian poetry. It explores the ways in which poets succeed, or fail, in their attempts to bring their experience to life.

    Their primary raw materials are the five senses - sight, sound, smell, taste and touch - the means by which we all experience our world.

    Poets also like to experiment with the shape of their writing, starting with the qualities of vowels and consonants, of syllables, and of rhyme, metre and rhythm.

    Working poets make particular use of the metaphor, of the connections that they suggest between normally unlike things, to express their response to their subject.

    The collection explores the work of five poets who have played an important, influential part in the development of Australian poetry: Judith Wright, Oodgeroo Noonuccal, David Malouf, Les Murray and Mark O’Connor.

    The final chapter looks at some of the common concerns that can create conflict in our lives, such as gender, race, age, and socio-economic status, and other issues that create fear and that encourage hope.

    The collection is intended to allow readers to become familiar with the techniques that poets use, and to develop their own poetic writing in an informed way.' (Publisher's blurb)

    Putney : Phoenix Education , 2013
    pg. 122
Alternative title: Perempuan kepada Lelaki
First line of verse: "The eyeless labourer in the night,=Pekerja tanpa mata di malam hari,"
Language: English , Indonesian

Works about this Work

Judith Wright and the Temporality of Composition Elizabeth McMahon , 2007 single work criticism
— Appears in: Australian Literary Studies , October vol. 23 no. 2 2007; (p. 15-26)

Discusses the different approaches to Wright's poetry over the period from her first collection The Moving Image (1946) to her Collected Poems (1994) in the foreword to which Wright discussed changes in literary fashions and readership. Taking several individual poems, McMahon explores their 'complex relation of past and present to present and future readers.

Issues of Love and Guilt in the Select Poems of Judith Wright S. Robert Gnanamony , 2006 single work criticism
— Appears in: Indian Journal of World Literature and Culture , July-December vol. 2 no. 2006; (p. 23-30)
Australian Poetry in the Indian Classroom Malati Mathur , 2006 single work criticism
— Appears in: Explorations in Australian Literature 2006; (p. 102-111)
Taking a trajectory through Australian poetry from the writing of Hope, Wright and Dobson to the work of Aboriginal poets, Mathur's students come to appreciate Australian literature as not simply writing by Australians about Australia, but as 'voicing universal, human concerns - penned by people who happen to be Australian'.
A Land Without Lendings: Judith Wright, Kenosis, and Australian Vision David Brooks , 2000 single work criticism
— Appears in: Southerly , vol. 60 no. 2 2000; (p. 51-64)
Hegelian Mutations in the Poetry of Judith Wright G. A. Wilkes , 1998 single work criticism
— Appears in: Notes & Furphies , October no. 41 1998; (p. 7)
Four Books of Australian Poetry J. E. S , 1968 single work review
— Appears in: Biblionews and Australian Notes & Queries , vol. 3 no. 1 (2nd Series) 1968; (p. 30-31)

— Review of Elijah's Ravens : Poems Hal Porter , 1968 selected work poetry ; Poems Soft and Loud Geoffrey Dutton , 1967 selected work poetry ; The Rebel General Chris Wallace-Crabbe , 1967 selected work poetry ; Woman to Man Judith Wright , 1946 single work poetry
[Review] Segments of the Bowl [et al] D. Green , 1968 single work review
— Appears in: The Canberra Times , 27 April 1968; (p. 10)

— Review of Segments of the Bowl Robert Clark , 1967 selected work poetry ; Woman to Man Judith Wright , 1946 single work poetry ; An Eye for a Tooth : Poems Bruce Dawe , 1968 selected work poetry
Lyrics of Midnight S , 1949 single work review
— Appears in: The Bulletin (Christmas edition) , 14 December vol. 70 no. 3644 1949; (p. 2,43)

— Review of Woman to Man Judith Wright , 1946 single work poetry
Poetic Intuition Arthur Murphy , 1950 single work review
— Appears in: Southerly , vol. 11 no. 3 1950; (p. 162-165)

— Review of Woman to Man Judith Wright , 1946 single work poetry
[Review] Woman to Man Elizabeth Vassilieff , 1950 single work review
— Appears in: Meanjin , Autumn vol. 9 no. 1 1950; (p. 69-73)

— Review of Woman to Man Judith Wright , 1946 single work poetry
The Poetry of Judith Wright R. F. Brissenden , 1953 single work criticism
— Appears in: Meanjin , Spring vol. 12 no. 3 1953; (p. 255-267) Australian Literary Criticism 1962; (p. 88-100) Critical Essays on Judith Wright 1968; (p. 39-50)
Love, Loss, Anger: A Human Pattern Fiona Capp , 1990 single work biography
— Appears in: The Sunday Herald , 3 June 1990; (p. 32)
Hegelian Mutations in the Poetry of Judith Wright G. A. Wilkes , 1998 single work criticism
— Appears in: Notes & Furphies , October no. 41 1998; (p. 7)
Australian Poetry in the Indian Classroom Malati Mathur , 2006 single work criticism
— Appears in: Explorations in Australian Literature 2006; (p. 102-111)
Taking a trajectory through Australian poetry from the writing of Hope, Wright and Dobson to the work of Aboriginal poets, Mathur's students come to appreciate Australian literature as not simply writing by Australians about Australia, but as 'voicing universal, human concerns - penned by people who happen to be Australian'.
Issues of Love and Guilt in the Select Poems of Judith Wright S. Robert Gnanamony , 2006 single work criticism
— Appears in: Indian Journal of World Literature and Culture , July-December vol. 2 no. 2006; (p. 23-30)
Last amended 24 Feb 2021 10:03:25
X