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Around the Boree Log and Other Verses
A selection from Around the Boree Log and The Parish of St Mel'sVerses by John O'Brien, Illustrated by Patrick Carroll'Beautiful full-colour oil paintings by highly successful Australian artist Patrick Carroll illustrate the works. Patrick's deep regard for John O'Brien's verse and his great love of the Australian landscape have contributed to paintings of exceptional beauty and understanding.'
128 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1921
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About the author
John O'Brien
8 books2 followersJohn O'Brien is the the pseudonym of Patrick Joseph Hartigan, a Roman Catholic priest, educator, author and poet.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
April 7, 2020
This is another book I would never have known of if not for a Goodreads friend's review. Verse written by "John O'Brien" who was actually Monsignor Patrick Hartigan, published in 1925. From what I was able to learn about him, which wasn't much, he was Australian, lived in Ireland, back to Australia where he was a priest in the outback. "We'll be rooned" is the refrain of the most famous one and most have a singsong rhythm. It's poignant and lively and lyrical, actually could very well be lyrics.
I greatly enjoyed this distraction. Very different type of poetry than I'm used to. Different place, culture, time, everything. In the way his verses are about his parish, the people, the births and deaths and burials from the perspective of course of a priest but still, the life of a community, this reminds me in the broadest sense of a book I love, an American classic:
Spoon River Anthology by Edgar Lee Masters
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Totally different book, free verse whereas O'Brien's is formulaic even though he altered the formula sometimes. In "Spoon River" each poem is a headstone in the cemetery. It definitely influenced one of my favorite novels, "Lincoln in the Bardo," though George Saunders took the idea and gave it wings that fly above most contemporary literature. (Not everyone agrees, and I get that.)
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
What "Spoon River" and "Around the Boree Log" have in common is one living, breathing or not breathing community: in "Spoon River" the life of that community told in headstones, in "Around the Boree Log" told in song-like verse, all kinds of characters, dead and alive and legendary, births, marriages, dramas and deaths and a few graves, as told by a big-hearted priest.
I'm not at all clear on where the Irish ends and the Australian takes over, I only know it was fun to read. Full of sadness and tragedy, yes, and goodness and eccentricity, but like O'Brien was singing to me. Comfort food for the mind. I appreciated its simple, different flavor (for me), especially at a time when it's hard for me to concentrate.
from "Josephine"
"The presbytery has gone to pot since this housekeeper came;
She's up-to-date and stylish, but the place is not the same.
Since Death's hard summons robbed me of the sterling old machine,
That wore out in my service here -- my faithful Josephine...
"The people called her 'curate,' yes, and 'bishop' too, I hear;
They even called her 'parish priest' -- in disrespect, I fear.
They told me that she'd 'roon' the church -- too long with me she'd been;
But only death could give the sack to faithful Josephine..."
From "Said the White-Haired Priest":
"Let them paint fresh colors on vale and hill,
Let them say new flowers bloom brighter;
'Tis the same old rut on the highway still
Which she trod when her steps were lighter.
And the same old hopes that her way beguiled,
And the same old griefs, -- no other
Ah, they wait hard by for yourself, my child,
As they did for your poor old mother..."
I greatly enjoyed this distraction. Very different type of poetry than I'm used to. Different place, culture, time, everything. In the way his verses are about his parish, the people, the births and deaths and burials from the perspective of course of a priest but still, the life of a community, this reminds me in the broadest sense of a book I love, an American classic:
Spoon River Anthology by Edgar Lee Masters
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Totally different book, free verse whereas O'Brien's is formulaic even though he altered the formula sometimes. In "Spoon River" each poem is a headstone in the cemetery. It definitely influenced one of my favorite novels, "Lincoln in the Bardo," though George Saunders took the idea and gave it wings that fly above most contemporary literature. (Not everyone agrees, and I get that.)
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
What "Spoon River" and "Around the Boree Log" have in common is one living, breathing or not breathing community: in "Spoon River" the life of that community told in headstones, in "Around the Boree Log" told in song-like verse, all kinds of characters, dead and alive and legendary, births, marriages, dramas and deaths and a few graves, as told by a big-hearted priest.
I'm not at all clear on where the Irish ends and the Australian takes over, I only know it was fun to read. Full of sadness and tragedy, yes, and goodness and eccentricity, but like O'Brien was singing to me. Comfort food for the mind. I appreciated its simple, different flavor (for me), especially at a time when it's hard for me to concentrate.
from "Josephine"
"The presbytery has gone to pot since this housekeeper came;
She's up-to-date and stylish, but the place is not the same.
Since Death's hard summons robbed me of the sterling old machine,
That wore out in my service here -- my faithful Josephine...
"The people called her 'curate,' yes, and 'bishop' too, I hear;
They even called her 'parish priest' -- in disrespect, I fear.
They told me that she'd 'roon' the church -- too long with me she'd been;
But only death could give the sack to faithful Josephine..."
From "Said the White-Haired Priest":
"Let them paint fresh colors on vale and hill,
Let them say new flowers bloom brighter;
'Tis the same old rut on the highway still
Which she trod when her steps were lighter.
And the same old hopes that her way beguiled,
And the same old griefs, -- no other
Ah, they wait hard by for yourself, my child,
As they did for your poor old mother..."
March 11, 2020
3★
“‘We'll all be rooned,’ said Hanrahan, In accents most forlorn, Outside the church, ere Mass began, One frosty Sunday morn.”
This poem “Said Hanrahan” was one I fondly remember reading before I migrated to Australia. It’s funny that my memory should be so fond, considering the nature of the conversation that the men have outside the church every Sunday.
No matter what the season or time of year, predictions are dire.
Drought:
“And so around the chorus ran ‘It’s keepin’ dry, no doubt.’
‘We’ll all be rooned,’ said Hanrahan ‘Before the year is out.’”
At last, it rains.
“And every creek a banker ran, and dams filled overtop;
‘We’ll all be rooned’, said Hanrahan ‘if this rain doesn’t stop.’”
At last, the rain stops, crops grow, and the grass is knee-deep. Sounds good, eh?
“‘There’ll be bush-fires for sure, me man, there will, without a doubt;
‘We’ll all be rooned’, said Hanrahan, ‘Before the year is out.’”
I don't know what captured my imagination all those years ago, but it does run in the back of my mind as Australia faces regular drought, floods, and fires. Now, of course, we face more severe assaults due to climate change, but even Hanrahan didn't forecast that.
I have heard Australia called The Land of Too Much – too much Dry, too much Wet. Now we’d add too much Fire. I don’t know who said it, but if you know, please tell me.
This collection of poems is very dated, but I enjoyed several of them. I did have to stop cringing at so many mentions of “the little Irish mother” as if she were an unacknowledged ‘angel’ among us, but I’m sure Father Patrick Hartigan, (John O’Brien), knew his parishioners and the women who were responsible for dragging their men and children to church (to complain about the weather).
A classic.
“‘We'll all be rooned,’ said Hanrahan, In accents most forlorn, Outside the church, ere Mass began, One frosty Sunday morn.”
This poem “Said Hanrahan” was one I fondly remember reading before I migrated to Australia. It’s funny that my memory should be so fond, considering the nature of the conversation that the men have outside the church every Sunday.
No matter what the season or time of year, predictions are dire.
Drought:
“And so around the chorus ran ‘It’s keepin’ dry, no doubt.’
‘We’ll all be rooned,’ said Hanrahan ‘Before the year is out.’”
At last, it rains.
“And every creek a banker ran, and dams filled overtop;
‘We’ll all be rooned’, said Hanrahan ‘if this rain doesn’t stop.’”
At last, the rain stops, crops grow, and the grass is knee-deep. Sounds good, eh?
“‘There’ll be bush-fires for sure, me man, there will, without a doubt;
‘We’ll all be rooned’, said Hanrahan, ‘Before the year is out.’”
I don't know what captured my imagination all those years ago, but it does run in the back of my mind as Australia faces regular drought, floods, and fires. Now, of course, we face more severe assaults due to climate change, but even Hanrahan didn't forecast that.
I have heard Australia called The Land of Too Much – too much Dry, too much Wet. Now we’d add too much Fire. I don’t know who said it, but if you know, please tell me.
This collection of poems is very dated, but I enjoyed several of them. I did have to stop cringing at so many mentions of “the little Irish mother” as if she were an unacknowledged ‘angel’ among us, but I’m sure Father Patrick Hartigan, (John O’Brien), knew his parishioners and the women who were responsible for dragging their men and children to church (to complain about the weather).
A classic.
May 11, 2014
I won this book in a competition in primary school and finally read it 30 years later! The poems were written by the irish priest of a small outback church. Their brilliance lies not in their everyday subject matter but in the precise characterisation of the inhabitants which was so carefully recorded and perhaps gently mocked by the priest.
October 17, 2013
These poems/songs are pretty dated and don't hold up well. I get that they are considered special in Australia but I'm not feeling it.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews