Harry (poem)

"Harry"
by Francis Webb
Written1962
First published inMeanjin Quarterly vol. 21 no. 1, March 1962
CountryAustralia
LanguageEnglish
SeriesWard Two
Publication dateMarch 1962
Lines43

"Harry" (1962) is a poem by Australian poet Francis Webb.[1]

It was originally published in the journal Meanjin Quarterly vol. 21 no. 1, March 1962, and was subsequently reprinted in the author's single-author collections and a number of Australian poetry anthologies.[1]

The poem forms a part of the poet's Ward Two sequence of 8 poems.[2]

Synopsis

Harry, the subject of the poem, is a young man with Down syndrome who is confined to a mental health institution. He is attempting to write a letter with "purloined paper" and a "bent insitutional pen". The letter will be directed "to the House of no known address." This implies that he has written such a letter before but that it was returned.

The poet's Ward Two sequence of poems is based on the time that Francis Webb spent as a patient in Parramatta Psychiatric Hospital in 1960-61.[3]

Critical reception

Andrew Taylor, in his chapter on Webb in his book Reading Australian Poetry, stated the "poem leaves us in no doubt that Harry is not only innocent of literacy, he is also innocent of the fallen condition of his world". The poem "leaves us in no doubt that by failing to write [the letter] Harry has avoided the fall from primal innocence and communion with holiness."[4]

In his commentary on the poem in 60 Classic Australian Poems Geoff Page noted that while Webb wrote "quite a few more 'ambitious poems'" it is this poem, "with its deeply felt religious imagery – and its 'laborious serfs' – that we see Webb at his most moving and most interesting."[3]

Publication history

After the poem's initial publication Meanjin Quarterly in 1962[1] it was reprinted as follows:

  • Australian Poetry 1962 edited by Geoffrey Dutton, Angus and Robertson, 1962[5]
  • The Ghost of the Cock : Poems by Francis Webb, Angus and Robertson, 1964[6]
  • Modern Australian Writing edited by Geoffrey Dutton, Collins, 1966[7]
  • On Native Grounds : Australian Writing from Meanjin Quarterly edited by C. B. Christesen, Angus and Robertson, 1967[8]
  • A Book of Australian Verse edited by Judith Wright, Oxford University Press, 1968[9]
  • New Impulses in Australian Poetry edited by Rodney Hall and Thomas Shapcott, University of Queensland Press, 1968[10]
  • Collected Poems by Francis Webb, Angus and Robertson, 1969[11]
  • Twelve Poets, 1950-1970 edited by Alexander Craig, Jacaranda Press, 1971[12]
  • The Penguin Book of Australian Verse edited by Harry Heseltine, Penguin Books, 1972[13]
  • Australian Verse from 1805 : A Continuum edited by Geoffrey Dutton, Rigby, 1976[14]
  • The Golden Apples of the Sun : Twentieth Century Australian Poetry edited by Chris Wallace-Crabb, Melbourne University Press, 1980[15]
  • The Collins Book of Australian Poetry edited by Rodney Hall, Collins, 1981[16]
  • Anthology of Australian Religious Poetry edited by Les Murray, Collins Dove, 1986[17]
  • Contemporary Australian Poetry: An Anthology edited by John Leonard, Houghton Mifflin, 1990[18]
  • An Anthology of Commonwealth Poetry edited by C. D. Narasimhaiah, Macmillan, 1990[19]
  • The Penguin Book of Modern Australian Poetry edited by John Tranter and Philip Mead, Penguin, 1991[20]
  • Cap and Bells : The Poetry of Francis Webb edited by Michael Joseph Griffith and James A. McGlade, Angus and Robertson, 1991[21]
  • Australian Poetry in the Twentieth Century edited by Robert Gray and Geoffrey Lehmann, Heinemann, 1991[22]
  • Fivefathers : Five Australian Poets of the Pre-Academic Era edited by Les Murray, Carcanet, 1994[23]
  • Australian Verse : An Oxford Anthology edited by John Leonard, Oxford University Press, 1998[24]
  • 60 Classic Australian Poems edited by Geoff Page, University of NSW Press, 2009[25]
  • Macquarie PEN Anthology of Australian Literature edited by Nicholas Jose, Kerryn Goldsworthy, Anita Heiss, David McCooey, Peter Minter, Nicole Moore, and Elizabeth Webby, Allen and Unwin, 2009[26]
  • The Puncher & Wattmann Anthology of Australian Poetry edited by John Leonard, Puncher & Wattmann, 2009[27]
  • Australian Poetry Since 1788 edited by Geoffrey Lehmann and Robert Gray, University of NSW Press, 2011[28]
  • Island, no. 126, Spring 2011[1]

Notes

  • You can read the full text of the poem via the Informit website.[29]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d "Austlit — "Harry" by Francis Webb". Austlit. Retrieved 16 January 2026.
  2. ^ "Ward Two poetry sequence by Francis Webb". Austlit. Retrieved 16 January 2026.
  3. ^ a b 60 Classic Australian Poems edited by Geoff Page, University of NSW Press, 2009, pp133-135.
  4. ^ Reading Australian Poetry by Andrew Taylor, University of Queensland press, 1987. Chapter 8: The Spilled Cruet of Innocence: Subject in Francis Webb's Poetry", pp99-111
  5. ^ "Australian Poetry 1962 by Geoffrey Dutton". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 16 January 2026.
  6. ^ "The Ghost of the Cock : Poems by Francis Webb". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 16 January 2026.
  7. ^ "Modern Australian Writing edited by Geoffrey Dutton". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 16 January 2026.
  8. ^ "On Native Grounds : Australian Writing from Meanjin Quarterly edited by C. B. Christesen". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 16 January 2026.
  9. ^ "A Book of Australian Verse edited by Judith Wright". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 16 January 2026.
  10. ^ "New Impulses in Australian Poetry edited by Rodney Hall and Thomas Shapcott". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 16 January 2026.
  11. ^ "Collected Poems by Francis Webb". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 16 January 2026.
  12. ^ "Twelve Poets, 1950-1970 edited by Alexander Craig". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 16 January 2026.
  13. ^ "The Penguin Book of Australian Verse edited by Harry Heseltine". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 16 January 2026.
  14. ^ "Australian Verse from 1805 : A Continuum edited by Geoffrey Dutton". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 16 January 2026.
  15. ^ "The Golden Apples of the Sun : Twentieth Century Australian Poetry edited by Chris Wallace-Crabb". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 16 January 2026.
  16. ^ "The Collins Book of Australian Poetry edited by Rodney Hall". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 16 January 2026.
  17. ^ "Anthology of Australian Religious Poetry edited by Les Murray". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 16 January 2026.
  18. ^ "Contemporary Australian Poetry: An Anthology edited by John Leonard". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 16 January 2026.
  19. ^ "An Anthology of Commonwealth Poetry edited by C. D. Narasimhaiah". Austlit. Retrieved 16 January 2026.
  20. ^ "The Penguin Book of Modern Australian Poetry (Penguin)". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 16 January 2026.
  21. ^ "Cap and Bells : The Poetry of Francis Webb edited by Michael Joseph Griffith and James A. McGlade". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 16 January 2026.
  22. ^ "Australian Poetry in the Twentieth Century edited by Robert Gray and Geoffrey Lehmann". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 16 January 2026.
  23. ^ "Fivefathers : Five Australian Poets of the Pre-Academic Era (Carcanet)". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 16 January 2026.
  24. ^ "Australian Verse : An Oxford Anthology edited by John Leonard". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 16 January 2026.
  25. ^ "60 Classic Australian Poems edited by Geoff Page". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 9 January 2026.
  26. ^ "Macquarie PEN Anthology of Australian Literature edited by Nicholas Jose, Kerryn Goldsworthy, Anita Heiss, David McCooey, Peter Minter, Nicole Moore, and Elizabeth Webby". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 16 January 2026.
  27. ^ "The Puncher & Wattmann Anthology of Australian Poetry edited by John Leonard". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 16 January 2026.
  28. ^ "Australian Poetry Since 1788 edited by Geoffrey Lehmann and Robert Gray". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 16 January 2026.
  29. ^ ""Meanjin Quarterly vol. 21 no. 1, March 1962"". Informit. Retrieved 16 January 2026.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.