''The Wandering Islands'' (1955) is the first poetry collection by Australian poet
A. D. Hope
Alec Derwent Hope (21 July 190713 July 2000) was an Australian poet and essayist known for his satirical slant. He was also a critic, teacher and academic. He was referred to in an American journal as "the 20th century's greatest 18th-centur ...
. It won the
Grace Leven Prize for Poetry
The Grace Leven Prize for Poetry was an annual poetry award in Australia, given in the name of Grace Leven who died in 1922. It was established by William Baylebridge who "made a provision for an annual poetry prize in memory of 'my benefactress ...
in 1955.Austlit - ''The Wandering Islands'' by A.D. Hope /ref>
The collection consists of 39 poems, most are published in this collection for the first time and others are reprinted from various Australian poetry publications. The earliest poem in the collection dates from 1943.
Contents
* "Flower Poem"
* "Easter Hymn"
* "Observation Car"
* "The Wandering Islands"
* "Three Romances"
* "Rawhead and Bloody Bones"
* "X-Ray Photograph"
* "Massacre of the Innocents"
* "Pygmalion"
* "Ascent into Hell"
* "The Gateway"
* "The Muse"
* "The Pleasure of Princes"
* "Imperial Adam"
* "The Trophy"
* "Pyramis or The House of Ascent"
* "Circe : After the Painting by Dosso Dossi"
* "The Death of the Bird"
* "Invocation"
* "William Butler Yeats"
* "Chorale"
* "The Cheek"
* "The Sleeper"
* "Lot and His Daughters" Note: Printed as two separate poems: "Lot and His Daughters" I and II.
* "The Dinner"
* "The Return of Persephone"
* "The Lamp and the Jar"
* "Heldensagen"
* "The Brides"
* "Toast for a Golden Age"
* "Sportsfield"
* "Standardisation"
* "Giving It Up"
* "The House of God"
* "The Lingam and the Yoni"
* "To Julia Walking Away"
* "The Explorers"
* "Conquistador"
* "The Bed"
Notes
"He was talked into publishing his first book in 1956 when two young printers who had inherited a printing press wrote and told him of some fine paper they had acquired. They would print a book if he would provide the manuscript. He did and ''The Wandering Islands'' was born."
Critical reception
In a retrospective of A. D. Hope's work originally published in ''The Times Literary Supplement'',
Clive James
Clive James (born Vivian Leopold James; 7 October 1939 – 24 November 2019) was an Australian critic, journalist, broadcaster, writer and lyricist who lived and worked in the United Kingdom from 1962 until his death in 2019."On A. D. Hope" by Clive James, 19 May 2006 /ref>
Awards
* 1955 - winner
Grace Leven Prize for Poetry
The Grace Leven Prize for Poetry was an annual poetry award in Australia, given in the name of Grace Leven who died in 1922. It was established by William Baylebridge who "made a provision for an annual poetry prize in memory of 'my benefactress ...
See also
*
1955 in Australian literature
This article presents a list of the historical events and publications of Australian literature during 1955.
Books
* Martin Boyd – ''A Difficult Young Man''
* Jon Cleary – ''Justin Bayard''
* Charmian Clift & George Johnston – ''The S ...
*
1955 in poetry
Nationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature (for instance, Irish or France).
Events
* April – Wallace Stevens is baptized a Catholic by the chaplain of St. Francis Hospital in Hartford, Connectic ...