AustLit
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Notes
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Only literary material by Australian authors individually indexed.
Other material in this issue includes:
- First and Last Page Pictures: 'A View of Donnelly's Creek, Healesville', photograph from the Victorian Railways, page heading 'An Australian Fairyland', [113]; 'Some Australian Poets', portraits of Adam Lindsay Gordon, Henry Clarence Kendall, James Brunton Stephens, Henry Lawson, Essex Evans, Edward Dyson, "Banjo" Paterson (qq.v.), 128.
- Prose: 'News from the Schools', short piece about two rural Victorian schools, with photographs, 127; 'Seasonable Work for Little Gardeners: September ' (unattributed gardening instructions) 127.
- Industry: 'Made in Australia: Aeroplanes', prepared by the Made in Australia Council, Melbourne, and issued as a supplement to The School Paper under the authority of the Minister of Public Instruction, Victoria, illustrated with diagrams and photographs, i-iv.
- Notices: 'Notices', regarding 'Spelling Tests' and the 'Price of The School Paper', 126; 'Gould League Competitions', information about school competitions, 128.
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Preceding or following each piece is a short glossary of the longer words contained therein, as well as notes about people and places mentioned, and comments on the metre of poetry. There are also often 'General Notes' which ask the reader questions about the work.
Contents
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Verselets : 3 : A Song of Roving
A Song of Roving
A-Rovingi"When the sap runs up the tree,",
single work
poetry
(p. 114)
Note: With title: A Song of Roving.
- The Water Mallee, extract prose (p. 114-116)
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The Ballad of the "Calliope",
extract
poetry
(p. 116-119)
Note: Illustration: 'A View of Apia, Samoa'.
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Cooking for the Wedding,
extract
novel
(p. 119-120)
Note: Photograph: 'An Old Colonial Home', from Brady's Australia Unlimited.
- Suggan Boggini"Spectre-footed of the past,", single work poetry (p. 121)
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The Drover's Wife,
single work
short story
First appearing in The Bulletin in 1892, Henry Lawson's short story 'The Drovers Wife' is today regarded as a seminal work in the Australian literary tradition. Noted for it's depiction of the bush as harsh, potentially threatening and both isolated and isolating, the story opens with a simple enough premise: an aggressive--and presumably deadly--snake disrupts the working life of a bushwoman and her young children. Brave but cautious, the woman resolves to protect her children since her husband is, characteristically, away from home and of no help.
As time passes within the story, tension builds, and the snake's symbolic threat takes on layers of meaning as the sleepless heroine recalls previous challenges she faced while her husband was away. A series of flashbacks and recollections propel the story through the single night over which it takes place, and by the time the climax arrives--the confrontation with the snake--readers have learned much about the heroine's strengths and fears, most of the latter involving the loss of children and dark figures who encroach upon her small, vulnerable homestead. To be sure, this "darkness" is highly symbolic, and Lawson's use of imagery invokes Western notions of good and evil as well as gendered and racial stereotypes.
Note: Illustration: '"The dog lies still, and the woman sits as one fascinated"', drawn for The School Paper by E. H. Rix. -
The Warrigali"Through forest boles the storm-wind rolls,",
single work
poetry
(p. 349)
Note: With title: The Warrigal (Wild Dog of Australia). Illustration: 'A Dingo'.
Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of
- Orbost - Cann River area, East Gippsland, Gippsland, Victoria,