Denis James Matthews Glover (9 December 19129 August 1980) was a New Zealand poet and publisher. Born in Dunedin, he attended the

University of Canterbury The University of Canterbury ( mi, Te Whare Wānanga o Waitaha; postnominal abbreviation ''Cantuar.'' or ''Cant.'' for ''Cantuariensis'', the Latin name for Canterbury) is a public research university based in Christchurch, New Zealand. It was ...

where he obtained a Bachelor of Arts, and subsequently lectured. He worked as a reporter and editor for a time, and in 1937 founded the Caxton Press, which published the works of many well-known New Zealand writers of the day (including Glover's own poetry). After a period of service in World War II, he and his friend

Charles Brasch Charles Orwell Brasch (27 July 1909 – 20 May 1973) was a New Zealand poet, literary editor and arts patron. He was the founding editor of the literary journal ''Landfall'', and through his 20 years of editing the journal, had a significant im ...

founded the literary magazine ''

Landfall Landfall is the event of a storm moving over land after being over water. More broadly, and in relation to human travel, it refers to 'the first land that is reached or seen at the end of a journey across the sea or through the air, or the fact ...

'', which Caxton began publishing in 1947. Glover's later years were marred by alcoholism, forcing him to resign from Caxton Press and subsequent roles, and impacting on his personal life. After a move to Wellington with a new partner, he continued to work as a copywriter, publisher and teacher, and amongst other things served as a member of the New Zealand Literary Fund Advisory Committee from 1955 to 1958 and as president of the Friends of the Turnbull Library from 1963 to 1965. In the mid-1970s he was awarded an honorary doctorate of literature from

Victoria University of Wellington Victoria University of Wellington ( mi, Te Herenga Waka) is a university in Wellington, New Zealand. It was established in 1897 by Act of Parliament, and was a constituent college of the University of New Zealand. The university is well know ...

. During his life he published many poetry collections and other works; one of his best-known poems is "

The Magpies "The Magpies" is the most famous poem by New Zealand poet Denis Glover (1912–1980). It helped define New Zealand's distinctive style of poetry. The poem was first published in Glover's 1964 anthology ''Enter Without Knocking''. Over the course ...

" (1941).

Early life and education

Glover was born in Dunedin on 9 December 1912. His parents were Henry Lawrence Glover, a dentist, and Lyla Jean Matthews. Glover went to Arthur Street School, Dunedin, until moving with his mother in 1925 to

New Plymouth New Plymouth ( mi, Ngāmotu) is the major city of the Taranaki region on the west coast of the North Island of New Zealand. It is named after the English city of Plymouth, Devon from where the first English settlers to New Plymouth migrated. ...

. He attended

Central School A central school was a selective secondary education school with a focus on technical and commercial skills in the English education system. It was positioned between the more academic grammar schools and the ordinary elementary schools where m ...

there, being awarded

dux ''Dux'' (; plural: ''ducēs'') is Latin for "leader" (from the noun ''dux, ducis'', "leader, general") and later for duke and its variant forms (doge, duce, etc.). During the Roman Republic and for the first centuries of the Roman Empire, ''dux' ...

. He was also a

Boy Scout A Scout (in some countries a Boy Scout, Girl Scout, or Pathfinder) is a child, usually 10–18 years of age, participating in the worldwide Scouting movement. Because of the large age and development span, many Scouting associations have split ...

and school cadet during this period. In 1926 he attended

New Plymouth Boys' High School New Plymouth Boys' High School is a single-sex boys' state secondary school in New Plymouth, Taranaki, New Zealand. The school currently caters for approximately 1300 students, including 210 boarders, on its site. The school often collaborate ...

, before moving to Auckland where he attended

Auckland Grammar School Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The most populous urban area in the country and the fifth largest city in Oceania, Auckland has an urban population of about I ...

. There, he and Bob Lowry published an unofficial school journal ''La Verite''. He finally moved to

Christchurch Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon River / ...

in 1929 where he attended Christ's College until 1930. Glover was a popular and keen swimmer, boxer, and cross-country athlete at college. From 1931, Glover attended

, studying Greek, Latin, philosophy, and English for a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

in English and Greek. While at university, he was captain of the boxing club and fought in the welterweight division, obtaining a University blue. He also played rugby for the Old Collegians and sailed yachts. Glover was a member of the Canterbury Mountaineering Club and Christchurch Classical Association. His mountaineering experiences formed the basis for his later ''Arawata Bill'' and ''Sings Harry'' poems. On 8 January 1936 he married Mary Granville.

Career

From 1936 to 1938, he was an assistant lecturer in English and reported university news for the ''

Press Press may refer to: Media * Print media or news media, commonly called "the press" * Printing press, commonly called "the press" * Press (newspaper), a list of newspapers * Press TV, an Iranian television network People * Press (surname), a fam ...

'' until he wrote an article advocating trial marriage, which angered the university. Well known for radical leftist opinions, he was often in trouble with authorities. In addition to writing for the ''Press'', Glover edited ''New Zealand Motor Owner'', the Canterbury University College ''Review'', and Students Association newspaper ''Canta''. In 1934 he interviewed

George Bernard Shaw George Bernard Shaw (26 July 1856 – 2 November 1950), known at his insistence simply as Bernard Shaw, was an Irish playwright, critic, polemicist and political activist. His influence on Western theatre, culture and politics extended from ...

for the newspaper.

Caxton Press

In 1932 at the university sports tournament in Auckland he again met up with Lowry. Lowry had by this time set up a press for the Auckland University Students Association and was publishing a magazine called ''Phoenix''. Returning to Canterbury Glover formed the Caxton Club with the aim of studying printing and typography. In 1937 together with John Drew he founded the Caxton Press. The Caxton Press enabled Glover to pursue his interest in publishing. Caxton published the early works of many New Zealand writers such as

Ursula Bethell Mary Ursula Bethell (pseudonym, Evelyn Hayes; 6 October 1874 – 15 January 1945), was a New Zealand social worker and poet. She settled at the age of 50 at Rise Cottage on the Cashmere, New Zealand, Cashmere Hills near Christchurch, with her co ...

R. A. K. Mason Ronald Allison Kells Mason (10 January 1905 – 13 July 1971) was a New Zealand poet. Described by Allen Curnow as New Zealand's "first wholly original, unmistakably gifted poet", he was born in Penrose, New Zealand, Penrose, Auckland on 10 ...

Allen Curnow Thomas Allen Monro Curnow (17 June 1911 – 23 September 2001) was a New Zealand poet and journalist. Life Curnow was born in Timaru, New Zealand, the son of a fourth generation New Zealander, an Anglican clergyman, and he grew up in a relig ...

Frank Sargeson Frank Sargeson () (born Norris Frank Davey; 23 March 1903 – 1 March 1982) was a New Zealand short story writer and novelist. Born in Hamilton, Sargeson had a middle-class and puritanical upbringing, and initially worked as a lawyer. After ...

and

A. R. D. Fairburn Arthur Rex Dugard Fairburn (2 February 1904 – 25 March 1957), commonly known by his initials A. R. D. Fairburn and otherwise as Rex, was a New Zealand poet who was born and died in Auckland. Fairburn was born in Auckland in 1904. His grandfa ...

. Glover's own poems were also printed.

Military service

His work at the Press was interrupted by service with the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. He had wanted to join the

Royal New Zealand Navy The Royal New Zealand Navy (RNZN; mi, Te Taua Moana o Aotearoa, , Sea Warriors of New Zealand) is the maritime arm of the New Zealand Defence Force. The fleet currently consists of nine ships. The Navy had its origins in the Naval Defence Act ...

but as there were no suitable vacancies he applied under a programme which sent New Zealand naval recruits to the United Kingdom on loan to the Royal Navy. He left Christchurch to Auckland, then embarking on the '' Dominion Monarch'' for Shortly Gate, England, arriving in February 1942. After a short period of training he was assigned to the newly completed destroyer for its sea trials. The ''Onslaught'' was then tasked with escorting

Arctic convoy The Arctic convoys of World War II were oceangoing convoys which sailed from the United Kingdom, Iceland, and North America to northern ports in the Soviet Union – primarily Arkhangelsk (Archangel) and Murmansk in Russia. There were 78 convoys ...

s to

Murmansk Murmansk (Russian: ''Мурманск'' lit. "Norwegian coast"; Finnish: ''Murmansk'', sometimes ''Muurmanski'', previously ''Muurmanni''; Norwegian: ''Norskekysten;'' Northern Sámi: ''Murmánska;'' Kildin Sámi: ''Мурман ланнҍ'') i ...

, Russia. In 1943 Glover undertook officer training at being promoted to Lieutenant on 29 October. He was placed in command of infantry landing craft LCI(S) 516. During this time he provided sea training for various infantry units under took part in sorties across the Channel to France. In June 1944 he took Lord Lovat's 6th commando brigade 2 Troop under Lt-Colonel Mills-Roberts, to

Ouistreham Ouistreham () is a commune in the Calvados department in Normandy region in northwestern France. Ouistreham is a small port with fishing boats, leisure craft and a ferry harbour. It serves as the port of the city of Caen. The town borders the mo ...

Normandy Normandy (; french: link=no, Normandie ; nrf, Normaundie, Nouormandie ; from Old French , plural of ''Normant'', originally from the word for "northman" in several Scandinavian languages) is a geographical and cultural region in Northwestern ...

(near ''Sword Beach'') on

D Day The Normandy landings were the landing operations and associated airborne operations on Tuesday, 6 June 1944 of the Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during World War II. Codenamed Operation Neptune and often referred to as D ...

earning a

Distinguished Service Cross The Distinguished Service Cross (D.S.C.) is a military decoration for courage. Different versions exist for different countries. *Distinguished Service Cross (Australia) *Distinguished Service Cross (United Kingdom) *Distinguished Service Cross (U ...

for bravery. Glover and his crew had rescued 233

Warwickshire Regiment The Royal Warwickshire Regiment, previously titled the 6th Regiment of Foot, was a line infantry regiment of the British Army in continuous existence for 283 years. The regiment saw service in many conflicts and wars, including the Second Boer War ...

infantrymen from the sinking LCI(L) 130 and later that same day the crew of a sister ship LCI(S) 517, which was under command of a fellow New Zealander Lieutenant Joseph Gaunt. Glover returned to New Zealand in 1944 and joined the

Royal New Zealand Naval Volunteer Reserve The Royal New Zealand Naval Volunteer Reserve (RNZNVR) is the volunteer reserve force of the Royal New Zealand Navy (RNZN). History Early history The first Naval Volunteer units were formed in Auckland and Nelson in 1858. Over the rest of th ...

where he rose to the rank of

Lieutenant-Commander Lieutenant commander (also hyphenated lieutenant-commander and abbreviated Lt Cdr, LtCdr. or LCDR) is a commissioned officer rank in many navies. The rank is superior to a lieutenant and subordinate to a commander. The corresponding rank i ...

on 29 October 1951.New Zealand Navy List, p. 41, April 1952. In 1975, Glover was presented with the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

's war veterans medal for his service on the Russian convoys.

Post-war life and career

During 1944, while on leave in London, Glover stayed with his New Zealand friend Charles Brasch. Together they developed the idea for a new literary magazine. This became ''Landfall'', which Caxton began publishing in March 1947. From 1945 to 1948 Glover served on the Canterbury University College Council, while also working at Caxton. His work was hindered however by a growing drinking problem and he was dismissed at the end of 1951. He began working for Albion Wright at Pegasus Press but was again dismissed. During this period he separated from his wife; they did not divorce until 1970. In 1950 he began a relationship with Khura Skelton and they moved to

Paekākāriki Paekākāriki () is a town in the Kapiti Coast District in the south-western North Island, New Zealand, and one of the northernmost suburbs of Wellington. It lies north of Porirua and northeast of the Wellington CBD. The town's name comes from ...

in 1954, but his drinking problem descended into alcoholism. Kura died in 1969. In 1954, Glover worked for Carlton, Carruthers, du Chateau and King as an advertising copywriter and subsequently for Wingfield Press from 1954 to 1962 as production manager and typographer. He tutored for the Technical Correspondence Institute from 1964 to 1973. During the late 1950s he helped develop the Mermaid Press and in 1971 founded the Cats-paw Press. He was a member of the New Zealand Literary Fund Advisory Committee from 1955 to 1958 and president of the Friends of the Turnbull Library from 1963 to 1965. Glover married Gladys Evelyn Cameron (née Stevens) on 21 September 1971. In 1975 he was invited to visit Russia by the Soviet Writers Union. Later that year he was awarded an honorary doctorate of literature from Victoria University of Wellington and elected president of honour of the New Zealand Centre of PEN. On 7 August 1980, Glover fell down some steps at Breaker Bay and injured himself. He died two days later from bronchopneumonia.

Works

Books

* ''Thistledown'' Christchurch, Caxton Club Press, 1935 * ''Short Reflection on the Present State of Literature in This Country'' Christchurch, Caxton Club Press, 1935 * ''Six Easy Ways of Dodging Debt Collectors'' Christchurch, Caxton Press, 1936 * ''Three Short Stories'' Christchurch, Caxton Press, 1936 * ''What are New Zealand Authors Writing?'' Christchurch, Caxton Press, 1936 * ''The Arraignment of Paris'' Christchurch, Caxton Press, 1937 * ''Thirteen Poems'' Christchurch, Caxton, 1939 * ''Till the Star Speak'' Christchurch, Caxton Press, 1939 * ''Cold Tongue'' Christchurch, Caxton Press, 1940 * ''A Specimen Book of Printing Types'' Christchurch, Caxton Press, 1940 * ''A Catalogue of Publications from the Caxton Press, Christchurch, up to February 1941'' Christchurch, The Caxton Press, 1941 * ''D-Day'' Christchurch, Caxton, 1944 * ''The Wind and the Sand: Poems 1934-44'' Christchurch, Caxton, 1945 * ''Summer Flowers'' Christchurch, Caxton Press, 1946 * ''Printing Types: A Second Specimen Book of Faces Commonly Used at the Caxton Press, Christchurch, New Zealand'' Christchurch, Caxton Press, 1948 * ''Sings Harry and Other Poems'' Christchurch, Caxton, 1951; second edition 1957 * ''Arawata Bill: A Sequence of Poems'' Christchurch, Pegasus Press, 1953, and Wellington, Mermaid Press, 1957 * ''A Clutch of Authors and a Clot'' Wellington, Denis Glover, 1960 * ''Hot Water Sailor'' Wellington, A.H. and A.W. Reed, 1962 * ''Denis Glover’s Bedside Book'' Wellington, Reed, 1963 * ''Enter Without Knocking: Selected Poems'' Christchurch, Pegasus, 1964; second enlarged edition 1971 * ''Sharp Edge Up: Verses and Satires'' Auckland, Blackwood and Janet Paul, 1968 * ''Myself When Young'' Christchurch, Nag's Head Press, 1970 * ''To A Particular Woman'' Christchurch, Nag's Head Press, 1970 * ''Diary to a Woman'' Wellington, Catspaw Press, 1971 * ''Wellington Harbour'' Wellington, Catspaw Press, 1974 * ''Dancing to my Tune'' Wellington, Catspaw Press, 1974 * ''Clutha: River Poems'' Dunedin, John McIndoe, 1977 * ''Come High Water'' Palmerston North, Dunmore Press, 1977 * ''Men of God'' Palmerston North, Dunmore Press, 1978 * ''Or Hawk or Basilisk'' Wellington, Catspaw Press, 1978 * ''For Whom the Cock Crows'' Dunedin, John McIndoe, 1978 * ''To Friends in Russia'' Christchurch, Nag's Head Press, 1979 * ''Towards Banks Peninsula'' Christchurch, Pegasus, 1979 * ''Hot Water Sailor and Landlubber Ho!'' Auckland, Collins, 1981 Wellington Harbour with Denis Glover poem

Wellington Harbour with Denis Glover poem

Collections

* ''Denis Glover: Selected Poems'' Allen Curnow Auckland, Penguin, 1981 * ''Denis Glover: Selected Poems'' Bill Manhire Wellington, Victoria University Press, 1995 * ''Letters of Denis Glover'' Selected and edited by Sarah Shieff. Otago University Press, 2020.

Scripts

* ''The Coaster'', Verse commentary by Glover' New Zealand National Film Unit, 1948 * ''They Always Float at Sea'', radio drama. NZBC, 1966 * ''The Magpies'', short film, Martyn Sanderson, New Zealand, Ripoff Productions, 1974

Recordings

* ''Sings Harry. Poems by Glover'', music by

Douglas Lilburn Douglas Gordon Lilburn (2 November 19156 June 2001) was a New Zealand composer. Early life Lilburn was born in Whanganui and spent his early years on the family sheep farm in the upper Turakina River valley at Drysdale. He attended Waitaki Bo ...

, Kiwi Records, 1961 * ''Sings Harry. Poems by Glover'', music by Douglas Lilburn. Kiwi Records, 1977 * ''Arawata Bill and Other Verse'', read by Glover, Kiwi Records, 1971 * ''Mick Stimpson'' short film, directed by Rupert Glover and John Laing, New Zealand, Ripoff Productions, 1974

Music

set some of his poems to music, and later used a theme from his setting of "Sings Harry" in his '' Third Symphony'' (1961, published by Faber Music around 1968). * ''The Great New Zealand Songbook'', Auckland, Godwit Press, 1991 * ''Sings Harry'', Dunedin: Otago University Press, 1966 * ''Sings Harry'', Wellington, Waiteata Press, 1991 * ''The Magpies'' Unpublished manuscript, Dunedin, Otago University Extension Dept 1954 * ''The Six Volts - The Magpies'' The Hills are Alive, Braille Records, 1990 * ''Builders - Magpies'' authorised reinterpretation, Beatin Hearts 1982.

Other

* Motoring, vols 1–6. Edited by Glover. Christchurch: Canterbury Automobile Association, 1931-1937 * Oriflamme, no. 1. Edited by Glover. Christchurch: Canterbury College Caxton Club, April 1933 * Sirocco. Edited by Glover. Christchurch: The Caxton Club Press, July 1933 * New Poems. Selected by Glover and Ian Milner. Christchurch: The Caxton Club Press, 1934 * Another Argo Poems by Allen Curnow, A. R. D. Fairburn and Glover. Christchurch: The Caxton Club Press, 1935 * Verse Alive. Selected by H. Winston Rhodes and Glover. Christchurch: The Caxton Press, 1936 * Verse Alive Number Two. Selected by H. Winston Rhodes and Glover. Christchurch: The Caxton Press, 1937 * A Caxton Miscellany Poems by Lawrence Baigent, Allen Curnow, Peter Middleton, Robin Hyde, A. R. D. Fairburn and Glover. Christchurch: Caxton, 1937 * Recent Poems by Allen Curnow, A. R. D. Fairburn, R. A. K. Mason and Glover. Christchurch: Caxton, 1941 * Book: A Miscellany Nos. 1–9. Edited by Glover. Christchurch: Caxton Press, 1941–47 * Poetry Harbinger: Introducing A. R. D. Fairburn (6-foot 3) and Denis Glover (11 stone 7). Poems by A. R. D. Fairburn and Glover. Auckland: The Pilgrim Press, 1958 * Cross Currents: A Selection by Denis Glover of Sonnets by Merrill Moore, 1903-57 Christchurch: Pegasus Press, 1961 * Quaffers' Gazette, nos1-22. Edited by Glover. Hamilton: Waikato Breweries Ltd, 1962–66 * ''Poetry and the Present'', Canterbury University College Review (1934): 29-32 * ''Pointers to Parnassus: A Consideration of the Morepork and the Muse'', Tomorrow 30 October 1935): 16-18 * ''Poetry out of its Pram'', Tomorrow, 28 October 1936: 20-23 * ''Communists and Soviet Policy'', Tomorrow, 10 January 1940: 155-158 * ''Convoy Conversation'' Penguin New Writing, 16 (January–March 1943): 15-21 * ''New Zealand Books and their Availability: The Publisher’s Point of View'', New Zealand Library Association: Proceedings of the 16th Conference (1947): 48-49 * ''Typography and the Librarian'', New Zealand Libraries 10 no. 11 (December 1947): 225-230 and New Zealand Libraries, 11:1 (Jan-Feb 1948): 48-49 * ''Some Notes on Typography'', Year Book of the Arts in New Zealand, 5 (1949): 165-172 * ''Verse Commentary for a Film'', Landfall, 3: 2 (June 1949): 170-176 * ''Thoughts in the Suburban Tram'', Landfall, 5: 4 (December 1951): 265-267 * ''The Doorknob'', Here and Now (May 1952): 20 * ''Outlook for Poetry'', New Zealand Poetry Yearbook, 5 (1955): 9-11 * ''The New Zealand Literary Fund'', Landfall, 23: 3 (Sept 1969): 273-282 * ''The Nag’s Head Press'', Islands 1: 1 (Spring 1972): 53-54 * ''Tribute to Charles Brasch'', Islands, 2: 3 (Spring 1973): 244-245 * ''A Fair Go'', Islands, 7: 2 (Nov 1978): 211-212 Glover's best-known works are the '' Sings Harry'' sequence (1951), " Arawata Bill", and "

" (1941). The refrain of the latter ("Quardle oodle ardle wardle doodle", imitating the sound of the

Australian magpie The Australian magpie (''Gymnorhina tibicen'') is a black and white passerine bird native to Australia and southern New Guinea. Although once considered to be three separate species, it is now considered to be one, with nine recognised subs ...

) is one of the most famous lines in New Zealand poetry. Playwright Roger Hall wrote a play called ''Mr Punch'' about Glover's life.

Sources

References

External links

Biography at NZ Book Council siteDenis Glover on Zealandia, Britannia's daughter, the woman symbolising New Zealand (particularly in the early twentieth century).
{{DEFAULTSORT:Glover, Denis 1912 births 1980 deaths People educated at Christ's College, Christchurch New Zealand male poets Recipients of the Distinguished Service Cross (United Kingdom) Royal Navy officers of World War II 20th-century New Zealand poets 20th-century New Zealand male writers Writers from Dunedin People educated at New Plymouth Boys' High School People educated at Auckland Grammar School University of Canterbury alumni Pukerua Bay Residents Deaths from pneumonia in New Zealand Deaths from bronchopneumonia New Zealand male sailors (sport)