A Century of Australian Song

A Century of Australian Song
AuthorDouglas Sladen
LanguageEnglish
GenrePoetry anthology
PublisherWalter Scott Publishers
Publication date
1888
Publication placeUnited Kingdom
Media typePrint
Pages583 pp.

A Century of Australian Song is an anthology of Australian poetry edited by Douglas Sladen, published by Walter Scott Publishers in the United Kingdom in 1888.[1]

The collection contains 145 poems by 66 identified authors (and several by "unknown"), from a variety of sources.[2]

This book is self described as "This volume is an enlarged edition of Australian Ballads and Rhymes (verso of title page.)" That volume, also edited by Douglas Sladen was released in 1888.[3]

The word "Australian" in the book's title should be read as "the colonies of the Australian continent and New Zealand" as writers from all these parts are represented here. Australia was created as a Federation in 1901 and New Zealand as a Dominion in 1907.

Contents

Publication history

The anthology was re-issued as follows:

  • 1891, W. Scott, UK[4]
  • 1902, Simpkin, Marshall, and Co., UK[5]

Critical reception

A reviewer in the South Australian Register in 1888 opined "Mr. Sladen himself is a better critic than poet, and the remarks appearing in his introduction upon the excellencies and defects of the most distinguished of the writers from whom he quotes generally show sound judgment and strict impartiality." They concluded by calling the book "one of the pleasantest fruits of this centenary season."[6]

Elizabeth Perkins in The Oxford Companion to Australian Literature stated that the anthology was "unimaginative and conventional" in its selection of poems, although it did acknowledge that the volume's publication "aroused interest in England in Australian poetry".[7]

The Oxford Literary History of Australia states: "Colonial and London critics were concerned that Sladen, then based in England, intended to offer a definitive canon of Australian and New Zealand poetry to an international readership. The intention of A Century of Australian Song, however, was promotional rather than canonical in that it was 'a selection of peoms inspired by life and scenery in Australia'."[8]

Vivian Smith writing about Australian colonial poetry in The Cambridge History of Australian Literature commented "Sladen saw Australia as the country of the future and he wanted to showcase the poetry of the Australian colonies for readers in the Old Country". Smith concluded that this "is a remarkable collection for its time, and it has never been fully appreciated."[9]

See also

References

  1. ^ "A Century of Australian Song edited by Douglas Sladen (1888)". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 18 February 2026.
  2. ^ "Austlit — A Century of Australian Song edited by Douglas Sladen". Austlit. Retrieved 18 February 2026.
  3. ^ "Australian Ballads and Rhymes edited by Douglas Sladen". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 18 February 2026.
  4. ^ "A Century of Australian Song edited by Douglas Sladen (1891)". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 18 February 2026.
  5. ^ "A Century of Australian Song edited by Douglas Sladen (1902)". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 18 February 2026.
  6. ^ ""Reviews"". South Australian Register, 9 October 1888, p6. Retrieved 18 February 2026.
  7. ^ The Oxford Companion to Australian Literature edited by Wilde, Hooton and Andrews, 2nd edition, 1986, p634. Accessed: 18 February 2026
  8. ^ The Oxford Literary History of Australia edited by Bruce Bennett and Jennifer Strauss, 1st edition, 1998, p54. Accessed: 18 February 2026
  9. ^ The Cambridge History of Australian Literature edited by Peter Pierce, 1st edition, 2009, p92. Accessed: 18 February 2026
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