Sometimes Gladness : Collected Poems 1954-2005

by Bruce Dawe

Bruce Dawe is Australia's best-selling and most popular living poet. This fifth edition of Sometimes Gladness marks its extraordinary ongoing success. All the poems which have established Dawe's reputation have been retained in this edition, and more recent poems have been included.

Genres: Poetry, Teaching, Australia, Nonfiction, Collections

Paperback

First published January 1, 1978

About the author

Donald Bruce Dawe AO (15 February 1930 – 1 April 2020) was an Australian poet, considered by some as one of the most influential Australian poets of all time.

Awards
1965 – winner of the Myer Poetry Prize
1967 – winner of the Ampol Arts Award for Creative Literature[6]
1968 – winner of the Myer Poetry Prize
1973 – winner of the Dame Mary Gilmore Medal
1978 – winner of the Grace Leven Prize for Poetry
1979 – winner of the Braille Book of the Year
1980 – winner of the Patrick White Literary Award
1984 – winner of the Christopher Brennan Award
1990 – Paul Harris Fellowship of Rotary International
1992 – made an Officer of the Order of Australia: "In recognition of service to Australian literature, particularly in the field of poetry"
1996 – Alumni Award by the University of New England
1997 – winner of the inaugural Philip Hodgins Memorial Medal at the Mildura Writers' Festival
2000 – Australian Council for the Arts Emeritus Writers Award for his long and outstanding contribution to Australian literature
2001 – awarded the Centenary Medal for "distinguished service to the arts through poetry"
- Wikipeadia

Reviews

[Trevor · Rating 5 out of 5]

Drifters is perhaps one of my favourite poems; there is something essentially Australian about it that is hard to explain to someone that is not Australian. Though, it is hard to imagine a time now when children cried out 'truly!' instead of 'really!' Thus the landscape of language changes over so short a time.

Dawe's nightmare visions of a suburban future in, say, The New Landscape or his critique of then contemporary politics in The Not So Good Earth - still resonate with our contempory concerns.

He can have us laughing out loud or weeping at the brutal banality of existence in poems like Homecoming or Life-Cycle. A joy forever.

"Make a wish, Tom, make a wish."

[Dee-Ann · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my favourite poets ... this was required reading in year 12 and even after all disecting, critiqueing etc I had to do, still liked it and went out and bought my own copy.

[Mirna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dawe often uses long sentences in his poems to preserve the moment and the mood of the poem, as most of them occur over a short period of time. His simplicity reminds me of one of my favorite poet, Sapardi Djoko Damono.

One of my favorite poems in the books is this:

==Soliloquy for One Dead==

Ah, no, Joe, you never knew
the whole of it, the whistling
which is only the wind in the chimney's
smoking belly, the footsteps on the muddy
path that are always somebody else's.
I think of your limbs down there, softly
becoming mineral, the life of grasses,
and the old love of you thrusts the tears
up into my eyes, with the family aware
and looking everywhere else.
Sometimes when summer is over the land,
when the heat quicken the deaf timbers,
and birds are thick in the plums again,
my heart sickens, Joe, calling
for the water of your voice and the gone
agony of your nearness, I try hard
to forget, saying: If God wills,
it must be so, because of
His goodness, because--
but the grasshopper memory leaps
in the long thicket, knowing no ease. Ah, Joe,
you never knew the whole of it...

[Bev · Rating 5 out of 5]

My favourite book of poetry. I usually prefer an anthology to dip into the words of different writers, but Bruce Dawe writes with so many pens, with so many different accents, with so many voices of such varied ages, that he is a poet to suit every mood.

[Nina · Rating 2 out of 5]

Poetry Anthology

[ZackReads · Rating 3 out of 5]

The range of poems found in this text is solid. There were a couple of nice ones, a few that were okay, and some that I wasn't a fan of at all. Although that appears when reading Poetry Anthologies, I can't say that I would recommend this collection.

[Annette Heslin · Rating 4 out of 5]

A collection of Bruce Dawe's Poetry on a variety of subjects - War, Social Issues, Family, Places, etc.

After studying Dawe's work for my HSC, I have always admired and appreciated his work. This book was a great selection of his Poetry.

[Peter Metcalfe · Rating 5 out of 5]

Magical poetry.

[Angus Mcfarlane · Rating 4 out of 5]

Poetry is a recent addition to my annual reading diet, initiated by some Neruda when I was in chile and finding some Australian anthologies now I'm back home. I don't think I've read any Dawes before, yet his name seemed familiar when I saw this volume in a second hand store and it is perhaps his final list (he died last year but 2005 seems to be the most recent edition of his works).

It was great to be reading through a contemporary Australian perspective on various topics: nature, politics, street life, home, war and many more. Most of the scenes felt familiar even if some were set before I was born.

I needed to learn how to read Dawes' poetry. It rarely has the riveting rhyme and rhythm of banjo Paterson, or the reflective imagery of Neruda. Rather each poem reads something like a short story, each line a way of capturing the sequence of ideas, the train of consciousness which eventually leads to the conclusion, usually poignant, which sums up his observations. While I found it difficult, it somehow worked for me.

[Ruby · Rating 3 out of 5]

There are some really good poems in here. Some of them are a bit ordinary - but the good ones really do shine out. Surprisingly like Mr. Dawe.

[Jaimee · Rating 1 out of 5]

I dont really enjoy Australian poetry. Some of the more personal poems were very sad and well written.

[Sarah · Rating 1 out of 5]

There were a few nice poems, but otherwise this was a drag.

[yvonne Calder · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dawes poems span different forms as well as content that is all so Australian in voice
He is quite an inspiration

[Kerry · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have taught this guy's poetry for many years now. Really enjoy it!

[Kara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not bad.