John Philip Bourke
Encyclopedia
John Philip Bourke was an Australia
n poet.
Bourke was born in Nundle, New South Wales
, on the Peel River
diggings, New South Wales
, the son of William David Bourke, butcher, and his wife Jane, née Shepherd. After a primary education, he became a prospector with his father. At 17 years of age, he sold a claim for £600. He then became a school teacher in September 1882 and occasionally contributed verse to The Bulletin
. He retired from the education department in 1887 after being found drunk by a school inspector. In 1894 he went to the recently discovered goldfields in Western Australia
, prospected in various parts of the west, and at variously made and lost a considerable sums of money. About the turn of the 20th century Bourke took up journalism and was a regular contributor to the Kalgoorlie Sun. He was a writer of vigorous prose and verse which gave him a local reputation, but he was comparatively little known away from the gold-mining towns. He visited the eastern states of Australia for medical advice and to seek a publisher for his books in 1913.
Bourke died at Boulder, Western Australia
, on 13 January 1914. A selection from his verse, Off the Bluebush, edited by A. G. Stephens, was published in Sydney in 1915.
'Bluebush' Bourke was a popular poet, one of the leading poets of the goldfields along with E. B. Murphy. In his own phrase they were "singers standing on the outer rim, who touch the fringe of poetry at times". Murphy wrote more and had the larger audience, but Bourke was the more musical and more often did succeed in touching the fringe of poetry.
Bourke's own estimation of his talent was modest:
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n poet.
Bourke was born in Nundle, New South Wales
Nundle, New South Wales
Nundle is a village in the New England region of New South Wales, Australia. It was formerly the centre of Nundle Shire Local Government Area, but most of this area, including the village of Nundle, was absorbed into Tamworth Regional Council in 2004. The village is 400 km north of Sydney and...
, on the Peel River
Peel River (New South Wales)
The Peel River is a river in New South Wales, Australia. It is part of the Murray-Darling Basin.The Peel rises on the northern slopes of the Liverpool Range south of the village of Nundle. It flows generally north and west through the foothills of the Great Dividing Range, through Woolomin and...
diggings, New South Wales
New South Wales
New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...
, the son of William David Bourke, butcher, and his wife Jane, née Shepherd. After a primary education, he became a prospector with his father. At 17 years of age, he sold a claim for £600. He then became a school teacher in September 1882 and occasionally contributed verse to The Bulletin
The Bulletin
The Bulletin was an Australian weekly magazine that was published in Sydney from 1880 until January 2008. It was influential in Australian culture and politics from about 1890 until World War I, the period when it was identified with the "Bulletin school" of Australian literature. Its influence...
. He retired from the education department in 1887 after being found drunk by a school inspector. In 1894 he went to the recently discovered goldfields in Western Australia
Western Australia
Western Australia is a state of Australia, occupying the entire western third of the Australian continent. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Great Australian Bight and Indian Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east and South Australia to the south-east...
, prospected in various parts of the west, and at variously made and lost a considerable sums of money. About the turn of the 20th century Bourke took up journalism and was a regular contributor to the Kalgoorlie Sun. He was a writer of vigorous prose and verse which gave him a local reputation, but he was comparatively little known away from the gold-mining towns. He visited the eastern states of Australia for medical advice and to seek a publisher for his books in 1913.
Bourke died at Boulder, Western Australia
Boulder, Western Australia
Boulder was a town in the Western Australian goldfields east of Perth and bordering onto the town of Kalgoorlie in the Eastern Goldfields region. Until 1989 it was part of its own municipality. In 1989 the towns of Kalgoorlie and Boulder were merged to form the City of Kalgoorlie-Boulder...
, on 13 January 1914. A selection from his verse, Off the Bluebush, edited by A. G. Stephens, was published in Sydney in 1915.
'Bluebush' Bourke was a popular poet, one of the leading poets of the goldfields along with E. B. Murphy. In his own phrase they were "singers standing on the outer rim, who touch the fringe of poetry at times". Murphy wrote more and had the larger audience, but Bourke was the more musical and more often did succeed in touching the fringe of poetry.
Bourke's own estimation of his talent was modest:
- We singers standing on the outer rim
- Who touched the fringe of poesy at times
- With half-formed thoughts, rough-set in halting rhymes,
- Through which no airy flights of fancy skim —
- We write "just so", an hour to while away,
- And turn the well-thumbed stock still o'er and o'er …