"The Magpies" is the most famous poem by New Zealand poet

Denis Glover 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 where he obtained a Bachelor of Arts, and subsequently lectured. He worked as a reporte ...

(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 of six short stanzas, the life of a farming couple from young man and wife through to their death of old age is recounted, each verse finishing with the couplet: :''And Quardle oodle ardle wardle doodle/The magpies said,'' except for the last verse, in which the last word is "say". The intention of the poem is to indicate the passage of time and yet the timelessness of nature. A human lifetime passes, yet the underlying natural life - symbolised by the unchanging backdrop of the magpies' call - remains unchanging. The phrase imitating the call 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 well-known lines in New Zealand poetry.

Bill Manhire William Manhire (born 27 December 1946) is a New Zealand poet, short story writer, emeritus professor, and New Zealand's inaugural New Zealand Poet Laureate, Poet Laureate (1997–1998). He founded New Zealand's first creative writing course at ...

has commented that this line is "determinedly unpoetic".

References

Bibliography

*Wedde, I., and McQueen, H. (eds.) (1985). ''The Penguin Book Of New Zealand Verse.'' Auckland: Penguin Books (N.Z.). *

External links

New Zealand Book Council Denis Glover page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Magpies New Zealand poems 1964 poems

See also

References

Bibliography

External links