John Le Gay Brereton
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John Le Gay Brereton (2 September 1871 – 2 February 1933) was an Australian
poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral or writte ...
, critic and professor of English at the
University of Sydney The University of Sydney (USYD), also known as Sydney University, or informally Sydney Uni, is a public research university located in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and is one of the country's si ...
. He was the first president of the
Fellowship of Australian Writers The Fellowship of Australian Writers (FAW) was established in Sydney in 1928, with the aim of bringing writers together and promoting their interests. The organisation played a key role in the establishment of the Australian Society of Authors in ...
when it was formed in
Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...
in 1928.


Early life

Brereton was born in
Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...
, the fifth son of John Le Gay Brereton (1827–1886), a well-known Sydney physician who published five volumes of verse between 1857 and 1887, and his wife Mary, née Tongue. His parents had travelled on the ''Dover Castle'' from
England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
, arriving in
Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...
on 25 July 1859 and then moved to Sydney. The younger Brereton was educated at
Sydney Grammar School (Praise be to God) , established = , type = Independent, day school , gender = Boys , religious_affiliation = None , slogan = , headmaster = R. B. Malpass , founder = Laurence Hynes Halloran , chairman = ...
from 1881 and the University of Sydney where he graduated BA (1894), reading English under Professor Sir Mungo MacCallum. He was editor of ''
Hermes Hermes (; grc-gre, Ἑρμῆς) is an Olympian deity in ancient Greek religion and mythology. Hermes is considered the herald of the gods. He is also considered the protector of human heralds, travellers, thieves, merchants, and orato ...
'', the student literary annual, and became the university's chief librarian in 1915. Brereton became a
vegetarian Vegetarianism is the practice of abstaining from the consumption of meat (red meat, poultry, seafood, insects, and the flesh of any other animal). It may also include abstaining from eating all by-products of animal slaughter. Vegetarianism m ...
in his youth and never lapsed throughout his life.


Career

Brereton had several occupations and continued his writing, in 1896 he published ''Perdita, A Sonnet Record'', and ''The Song of Brotherhood and Other Verses''. These were followed in 1897 by ''Sweetheart Mine: Lyrics of Love and Friendship'' and by ''Landlopers'' in (1899), mostly prose, based on a walking tour with Dowell Philip O'Reilly. The verse in Brereton's earlier volumes was pleasant but not very distinguished; however, ''Sea and Sky'' (1908) contained stronger work. In 1909 his volume ''Elizabethan Drama Notes and Studies'' proclaimed him a scholar of unusual ability and knowledge, and his studies in this period stimulated him to write his one-act play in blank verse ''To-Morrow: A Dramatic Sketch of the Character and Environment of Robert Greene''. This is possibly the best Australian poetical play of its period, and has the merit belonging to comparatively few Australian plays that it is actable.
World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
led to Brereton producing a slender volume of verse published in 1919, ''The Burning Marl'', dedicated to "All who have fought nobly". In 1921 he was appointed professor of English literature at the University of Sydney. Brereton produced a volume of poems, ''Swags Up'' (1928), and a collection of his prose articles and stories was published under the title of ''Knocking Round'' (1930). The sketches of
Henry Lawson Henry Archibald Hertzberg Lawson (17 June 1867 – 2 September 1922) was an Australian writer and bush poet. Along with his contemporary Banjo Paterson, Lawson is among the best-known Australian poets and fiction writers of the colonial perio ...
and Dowell O'Reilly are of particular interest. His edition of ''
Lust's Dominion ''Lust's Dominion, or The Lascivious Queen'' is an English Renaissance stage play, a tragedy written perhaps around 1600, probably by Thomas Dekker in collaboration with others and first published in 1657. The play has been categorized as a rev ...
'' was sent to the
Catholic University of Leuven University of Leuven or University of Louvain (french: Université de Louvain, link=no; nl, Universiteit Leuven, link=no) may refer to: * Old University of Leuven (1425–1797) * State University of Leuven (1817–1835) * Catholic University of ...
,
Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...
in 1914 but was thought lost in the German invasion; it was finally published there in 1931. ''So Long, Mick!'' a short one-act play in prose, was also published in 1931. Brereton contributed many letters and poems on diverse subjects to the
Sydney Morning Herald ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily compact newspaper published in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, and owned by Nine. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuously published newspaper i ...
, often under the pseudonym 'Basil Garstang'.


Legacy

Brereton died suddenly on 2 February 1933 near
Tamworth, New South Wales Tamworth is a city and administrative centre of the north-western region of New South Wales, Australia. Situated on the Peel River (New South Wales), Peel River within the local government area of the Tamworth Regional Council, it is the largest ...
while on a caravan tour. He had married in 1900 Winifred Odd, who survived him with a daughter and four sons. As an Elizabethan scholar, his only rival in Australia in his day was
Ernest Henry Clark Oliphant Ernest Henry Clark Oliphant (14 August 1862 – 20 April 1936), commonly referred to as E. H. Oliphant or Professor Oliphant, was an Australian journalist, an authority on Elizabethan literature, a popular public speaker and occasional playwrigh ...
. His prose work was interesting and sensitive, and the best of his verse gives him an assured place among Australian poets. He was entirely unselfish and did much for Lawson when he was most in need of friends. He was a close friend of and collaborator with Henry Lawson (whom he met in late 1894 through Mary Cameron, later
Dame Mary Gilmore Dame Mary Jean Gilmore (née Cameron; 16 August 18653 December 1962) was an Australian writer and journalist known for her prolific contributions to Australian literature and the broader national discourse. She wrote both prose and poetry. Gi ...
), and
Christopher Brennan Christopher John Brennan (1 November 1870 – 5 October 1932) was an Australian poet, scholar and literary critic. Biography Brennan was born in Haymarket, an inner suburb of Sydney, to Christopher Brennan (d. 1919), a brewer, and his wife Ma ...
. For at least part of his life, he was a disciple of
Annie Besant Annie Besant ( Wood; 1 October 1847 – 20 September 1933) was a British socialist, theosophist, freemason, women's rights activist, educationist, writer, orator, political party member and philanthropist. Regarded as a champion of human f ...
. Brereton Park in
East Ryde East Ryde is a suburb of Sydney in the state of New South Wales, Australia. East Ryde is in the Northern Sydney region and is located 12 kilometers north-west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the City ...
is named in his honour. Brereton admitted to being profoundly affected by
Christopher Marlowe Christopher Marlowe, also known as Kit Marlowe (; baptised 26 February 156430 May 1593), was an English playwright, poet and translator of the Elizabethan era. Marlowe is among the most famous of the Elizabethan playwrights. Based upon the ...
and
Walt Whitman Walter Whitman (; May 31, 1819 – March 26, 1892) was an American poet, essayist and journalist. A humanist, he was a part of the transition between transcendentalism and realism, incorporating both views in his works. Whitman is among t ...
,Books I Remember, ''The Lone Hand'',Vol. 12 No. 70 (1 February 1913), pp97-9

/ref> and several of his emotionally intense poems addressed to men, such as 'Cling To Me' ("Cling to me, love, and dare not let me go; Kiss me as though it were our time to die, And all our comradeship had drifted by...Over our love what shelter can I throw?"), have been anthologised in collections of homosexual verse, including ''Australian Gay and Lesbian Writing: An Anthology'' (1993), ''Sexual Heretics: Male homosexuality in English literature from 1850 to 1900'' (1970), and ''
The Penguin Book of Homosexual Verse ''The Penguin Book of Homosexual Verse'' (1983) is an anthology of poetry dealing with "a history of the different ways in which homosexual people have been seen or have seen themselves", from classical antiquity to the contemporary period. It w ...
'' (1983).


Bibliography

* '' The Song of Brotherhood, and Other Verses'' (1896) * ''Landlopers'' (1899) * ''Sea and Sky'' (1908) * ''The Burning Marl'' (1919) * ''Swags up!'' (1928) * ''Knocking Round'' (1930) * ''Henry Lawson, by his Mates'', ed. (1931)


References

*


External links

* * ebooks b
John LeGay Brereton
a
Project Gutenberg Australia
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brereton, John Le Gay 1871 births 1933 deaths Australian poets Australian literary critics Australian people of English descent Writers from Sydney People educated at Sydney Grammar School University of Sydney faculty