Robert Harris (poet)
Encyclopedia
Robert Harris was an Australia
n poet
Harris died in 1993 of a heart attack or influenza. His obituary in The Sydney Morning Herald stated that "he followed his own poetic path with little regard for the niceties of a literary career." A friend wrote "Robert Harris had only known two things in his short life: poverty and poetry. He knew poetry would get him, and it did."
Harris was involved in literary magazines as an author and as an editor. He worked as an editor for New Poetry magazine and for Overland
magazine. Five books of his poetry were published.
His manuscript papers are held at the Australian National Library.
The device of material presented as a kind of translation bookmarked his efforts with Translations from the Albatross and Jane, Interlinear. It provided a mechanism for expanding the vocabulary and musicality of the pieces. Poems such as Do I think we could have won, Signs & Wonders and O'Hara show a longing for softness and a relief from despair in himself and others, an eye for the underdog. Events and localities often frame or stimulated his poetry, for example New York, Sydney and country New South Wales. Isaiah by Kerosene Lantern Light from The Cloud Passes Over has many of Harris' themes: the memory of a friend, the locality (a tent), the contrast of the mild and the nasty (heresy hunter), the book as a thing that demands response.
In around 1990, he traveled to England to study Lady Jane Grey and visit the original locations.
He became progressively more interested in using poetry cycles, seeing a tendency in Australian contemporary poetry towards safety or lack of ambition. He responded to criticism that he was over-ambitious with the acerbic poem High & Low from The Cloud Passes Over which begins with a reference from a New Testament verse Ephesians 1.3 "Do I reach to high,/ will the judgment which I come under/ be therefore greater?" but he is revealed to be reaching for an empty glass in a pub as a menial glass-collector. Cycles also gave Harris an opportunity to deal with less autobiographical material and less parochial or obscure subjects than in his vignette
-like shorter poems as found in The cloud passes over.
In his final book, these cycles were:
Poet Jill Jones
wrote concerning neglected masterpieces:
Writer David Malouf
is quoted in Harris' obituary:
He is the subject of a poem by Tim Thorne
, The Living Are Left with Imagined Lives, and also Et in Acadia Ego. He is a subject of a poem in Weeping for Lost Babylon by Eric Beach
. He is a subject in a poem The Ghost of John Forbes by Dorothy Hewett
. Noting an (unidentified) poem by Robert Adamson
, a critic wrote in 1994 "Can the anthology of elegies for Robert Harris be far off?"
His poems have been included in the New Oxford Book of Australian Verse
(The Enthusiast, Riding over Belmore Park, Tambaroora Remembers), the Oxford Book of Australian Religious Verse (The Eagle), and Chapters into verse : poetry in English inspired by the Bible (Isaiah by Kerosene Lantern Light).
His essay The Carriers Off of the Dead has been included in the Oxford Book of Australian Essays.
Robert Adamson
judges the Robert Harris Ulitarra Poetry Prize.
Harris received four literary grants in the 1970s.
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
Poet
A poet is a person who writes poetry. A poet's work can be literal, meaning that his work is derived from a specific event, or metaphorical, meaning that his work can take on many meanings and forms. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary...
Life
Robert Harris was born in Melbourne. He was educated in Dovetown High School. He enlisted in the Australian Navy in 1968 during the Vietnam War. During the 1970s he spent time in a commune. He was married but separated from his wife in the 1980s with no children. He lived in Sydney in the later part of his life.Harris died in 1993 of a heart attack or influenza. His obituary in The Sydney Morning Herald stated that "he followed his own poetic path with little regard for the niceties of a literary career." A friend wrote "Robert Harris had only known two things in his short life: poverty and poetry. He knew poetry would get him, and it did."
Harris was involved in literary magazines as an author and as an editor. He worked as an editor for New Poetry magazine and for Overland
Overland (literary journal)
Overland is an Australian literary and cultural journal. It was founded in 1954, under the auspices of the Realist Writers Group in Melbourne, Australia, with Stephen Murray-Smith being the first editor. The current editor is Jeff Sparrow. The journal has a left-wing orientation.- External links :*...
magazine. Five books of his poetry were published.
His manuscript papers are held at the Australian National Library.
Themes and subject matter
David Malouf wrote that Harris understands that "poetry is one of the last remaining activities in which reverence is paid, in which the holiness of things is recognised in a way that may be essential to the fullest expression of what we are." Through his friendship with Sydney poet and singer Michael Driscoll, Harris became converted to charismatic Christianity, which informed the poems in A Cloud Passes Over, and later became a confirmed Anglican, which informed the poems in Jane, Interlinear.The device of material presented as a kind of translation bookmarked his efforts with Translations from the Albatross and Jane, Interlinear. It provided a mechanism for expanding the vocabulary and musicality of the pieces. Poems such as Do I think we could have won, Signs & Wonders and O'Hara show a longing for softness and a relief from despair in himself and others, an eye for the underdog. Events and localities often frame or stimulated his poetry, for example New York, Sydney and country New South Wales. Isaiah by Kerosene Lantern Light from The Cloud Passes Over has many of Harris' themes: the memory of a friend, the locality (a tent), the contrast of the mild and the nasty (heresy hunter), the book as a thing that demands response.
In around 1990, he traveled to England to study Lady Jane Grey and visit the original locations.
He became progressively more interested in using poetry cycles, seeing a tendency in Australian contemporary poetry towards safety or lack of ambition. He responded to criticism that he was over-ambitious with the acerbic poem High & Low from The Cloud Passes Over which begins with a reference from a New Testament verse Ephesians 1.3 "Do I reach to high,/ will the judgment which I come under/ be therefore greater?" but he is revealed to be reaching for an empty glass in a pub as a menial glass-collector. Cycles also gave Harris an opportunity to deal with less autobiographical material and less parochial or obscure subjects than in his vignette
Vignette (literature)
In theatrical script writing, sketch stories, and poetry, a vignette is a short impressionistic scene that focuses on one moment or gives a trenchant impression about a character, an idea, or a setting and sometimes an object...
-like shorter poems as found in The cloud passes over.
In his final book, these cycles were:
- Seven Songs for Sydney (10 poems), concerning the Royal Australian Navy cruiser HMAS SydneyHMAS Sydney (1934)HMAS Sydney , named for the Australian city of Sydney, was one of three Modified Leander class light cruisers operated by the Royal Australian Navy...
and its sinking in World War II. Harris had served, possibly in the troopship of the same name during the Vietnam War, and felt a strong sympathetic connection to the sailors. It has the dedication "This poem is dedicated to those who perished in Sydney, their families and shipmates." It was performed at a poetry reading performance in 1987 at La Mama TheatreLa Mama Theatre (Melbourne)The La Mama Theatre is a theatrical venue located at 205 Faraday St, Carlton, Victoria. It opened in a former factory building on 30 July 1967 and still operates today under the direction of Liz Jones....
, produced by Barry DickinsBarry DickinsBarry Dickins is an Australian author, artist and playwright.He was born in the Melbourne suburb of Reservoir. Leaving school early he worked in a factory and then as a set-painter for television. Through his association with La Mama Theatre, his first play, Ghosts, was performed in 1974. He has...
. It was performed by Dickins in August 2008 for the ABC Radio Poetica program when the wreck of the cruiser was discovered. - Jane, Interlinear (30 poems), concerning Lady Jane GreyLady Jane GreyLady Jane Grey , also known as The Nine Days' Queen, was an English noblewoman who was de facto monarch of England from 10 July until 19 July 1553 and was subsequently executed...
. Harris was attracted to her for her youth, innocence, religious convictions, and persecution. The Interlinear refers to a form of synchronized text layout used in some biblical publications, from which the layout form of many of the poems is taken in a way that emphasizes phrases, as well as the more obvious meaning. - After the Process (24 mostly unconnected poems), including
- Notations of N.Y.C. (5 poems)
- Silver Buckle (12 poems) about sex and impending middle age.
- Recorder Music (4 poems) is material from the Jane cycle which did not fit, or which came as a response.
Appreciation
In the article on Australia in The Oxford Guide to Contemporary World Literature Peter Craven says of Harris that he:Poet Jill Jones
Jill Jones (poet)
Jill Jones is a poet and writer living in Sydney, Australia.In 1993 she won the Mary Gilmore Prize for her first book of poetry, The Mask and the Jagged Star . Her third book, The Book of Possibilities , was published in 1997. It was shortlisted for the National Book Council 'Banjo' Awards and the...
wrote concerning neglected masterpieces:
Writer David Malouf
David Malouf
David George Joseph Malouf is an acclaimed Australian writer. He was awarded the Neustadt International Prize for Literature in 2000, his 1993 novel Remembering Babylon won the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award in 1996, he won the inaugural Australia-Asia Literary Award in 2008, and he was...
is quoted in Harris' obituary:
He is the subject of a poem by Tim Thorne
Tim Thorne
Tim Thorne is a contemporary Australian poet.Thorne lives in Launceston, Tasmania. He is the author of ten volumes of poetry, the most recent being Best Bitter in 2006 and I Con in 2008....
, The Living Are Left with Imagined Lives, and also Et in Acadia Ego. He is a subject of a poem in Weeping for Lost Babylon by Eric Beach
Eric Beach
Eric Beach, born 1947, is a New Zealand and Australian poet, playwright, and short story writer.-Biography:Born in New Zealand, Beach has lived in Tasmania and in Victoria since 1972...
. He is a subject in a poem The Ghost of John Forbes by Dorothy Hewett
Dorothy Hewett
Dorothy Coade Hewett was an Australian feminist poet, novelist, librettist and playwright. She was also a member of the Communist Party of Australia, though she clashed on many occasions with the party's leadership.-Early life:Hewett was born in Perth and was brought up on a sheep and wheat farm...
. Noting an (unidentified) poem by Robert Adamson
Robert Adamson (poet)
Robert Adamson is an Australian poet and publisher.-Biography:Adamson grew up in Neutral Bay and spent much of his teenage years in Gosford Boys Home for juvenile offenders. He discovered poetry while educating himself in Gaol in his 20s. His first book, Canticles on the Skin, was published in 1970...
, a critic wrote in 1994 "Can the anthology of elegies for Robert Harris be far off?"
His poems have been included in the New Oxford Book of Australian Verse
New Oxford Book of Australian Verse
The New Oxford Book of Australian Verse is a major anthology of Australian poetry edited by the poet Les Murray. It was first published in 1986 and since has been expanded twice....
(The Enthusiast, Riding over Belmore Park, Tambaroora Remembers), the Oxford Book of Australian Religious Verse (The Eagle), and Chapters into verse : poetry in English inspired by the Bible (Isaiah by Kerosene Lantern Light).
His essay The Carriers Off of the Dead has been included in the Oxford Book of Australian Essays.
Robert Adamson
Robert Adamson (poet)
Robert Adamson is an Australian poet and publisher.-Biography:Adamson grew up in Neutral Bay and spent much of his teenage years in Gosford Boys Home for juvenile offenders. He discovered poetry while educating himself in Gaol in his 20s. His first book, Canticles on the Skin, was published in 1970...
judges the Robert Harris Ulitarra Poetry Prize.
Prizes
- Harri Jones Memorial Prize for Poetry (1975)
- C.J. Dennis Prize for Poetry (Victorian Premier's Literary Award for Poetry) (1992) for Jane, Interlinear. Posthumous
- Shortlisted for the Kenneth Slessor NSW Premier's Prize for Poetry 1992
Harris received four literary grants in the 1970s.
External links
- Jane, Interlinear (excerpt and commentary)
- Robert Harris reads his poetry for the Australia Council
- John Tranter, Fine images in romantic bilge, The Australian (review of Translations from the Albatross)