Brahm

by Joseph Furphy

Brahm (in Short Poetry Collection 173 )

BRAHM
(For the "Bulletin.")

A spectral film that came and went,
In its elusive way gave vent
In some unreal words which meant;
"I think therefore I am."
That phantasm only thought it thought;
A vain conception crudely wrought;
An egotistic sham.
Which brings us up against the fact
By Chunder's attestation backed —
There is no Substance, Thought, nor Act
Nothing exists but Brahm.
This quaint contraption here below
Is not a magic shadow show
Where phantom figures come and go,
As held by old Khayyam.
A show has time and space enough,
But here we only have such stuff
As dreams are made of — mental fluff
And visionary flam,
Throughout the universal scheme,
Be sure things tare not what they seem,
(To quote a well-known psalm)
They're only whimsies of a dream
A transient dream of Brahm.
All through the cyles of the Past
At which Notation stands aghast
He has subsisted, first and last,
Lone, functionless and calm.
Nothing extraneous can obtrude
Upon his Sabbath quietude,
Or discompose his tranquil mood,
For nothing is but Brahm.
"The Past and Present here unite
Beneath Time's flowing tide" (to cite
A Bard of Uncle Sam)
For Time stretched out in aeons dim
To Apprehension's very rim,
Is insignificant to him
A Bagetelle to Brahm.

MP3 CD

Published January 1, 2019

About the author

Born to a farming family in colonial Victoria, Joseph Furphy spent his working life as a grazier, engine driver, and bullock-team leader. An avid reader and writer (he memorised passages of Shakespeare from the age of seven, as it was the only book in the house other than the Bible), Furphy composed short stories which were intermittently published in newspapers such as The Bulletin. Much of his work was published under the pseudonym "Tom Collins", and he is still sometimes misidentified as such today.

In 1897, Furphy completed his manuscript for a novel, "Such is Life", which was sent to the Bulletin's editor, A.G. Stephens. Stephens recommended changes and cuts, including two entire chapters. The novel was published in 1903 and, although its sales were limited, "Such is Life" quickly came to exemplify a new school of Australian literature, one that operated in resistance to the standard colonial and traditional writing of the time. The book has been described as occupying a similar place in the Australian scene of the turn-of-the-century as "Tristram Shandy" or "Ulysses" in their respective countries.

In 1905, Furphy moved to Western Australia where his sons were living and working. The two excised chapters from his novel were extended and formed two further works: "Rigby's Romance" (serialised in 1905 but not published in book form until 1921), and "The Buln-Buln and the Brolga" (published posthumously). Furphy died in 1912.

"Such is Life" gradually developed a reputation as an Australian classic. Miles Franklin and Kate Baker published a biography of Furphy in 1944, and the author's Western Australian home eventualyl became the headquarters of the state branch of the Fellowship of Australian Writers. In 1992, a Furphy Literary Award was established by his descendants and, in 2003, a statue was raised in his home town.

The Australian word "furphy" is used to mean a tall story. Although such stories pepper his works, and are the most obvious trait of Furphy's writing, the word seems to have been somewhat coincidental. Research suggest that the word originated around the same time as a result of a popular type of water carts - which were produced by a firm owned by, of all people, Furphy's brother.