Off the Bluebush
by J. P. Bourke
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About This Book
They say that, when Abraham Lincoln had seen Walt Whitman, he summed his impression in the emphatic “This is a man.” That is what one feels in reading the verses of Western Australian writers—“This is a man.” The work of the tribe of pseudonymous writers in Western newspapers—especially Kalgoorlie Sun and Perth Sunday Times—the work of “Bluebush” and “Dryblower,” “Crosscut,” “Prospect Good,” and the rest—is the most virile and the most original poetry that has been made in Australia since the Commonwealth began. “Here’s manhood,” I say, and “Here’s Australian manhood.” For vigour and versatili...
Chapters (72)
- Off the Bluebush
- Acknowledgement
- John Philip Bourke
- The Versemakers
- Dreams
- Till Day is Done
- To You
- The Gospel of Shirk
- Under the Heel of Fate
- Dreaming the Dream of Life
- A Glimpse of Summer
- The End of the Episode
- The Golden Age
- At Parting
- The Leaden Hoof
- The Pilgrimage
- The Golden Wedding
- A Garland of Sighs
- Waiting for the Call
- My Swag And I
- Soaker Smith
- Pay Wash
- Our Goldfields Spring
- Nearly a Pessimist
- Hell for Leather
- Scratchin’ for a Crust
- A Beer Boost
- The Curse of the Laundried Shirt
- Old Bill Bates
- We Took the Pledge till May
- Too Old
- Dan the Hatter
- By a Kopi Hill
- At Bummer’s Creek
- At Pennyweight Flat
- I Haven’t the Guts to Go
- Another Song of the Stamps
- A Wish—for Sydney-side
- Amongst the Ricks of Hay
- Kildea’s Flower Farm
- His Letter from W.A.
- Answer to “His Letter from W.A.”
- A-Whizzing Towards hte East
- The Old Farm Gate
- To those who love us most
- Beer is Enough
- A Bunch of Violets
- Behind M‘Whalan’s Bar
- Will You Love Me Then?
- Differences
- The Drunk’s Rubáiyát
- A Bloke from Mullingar
- Only a Kiss
- A Bender and some of the Moods that Lead up to it
- Wild Cats and Houris
- The Last Sprat
- What do you Think of it Now?
- The Western Writer to his Muse
- The Man who “Can Take it or Leave it Alone”
- When Susy makes the Duff
- A Drunk’s Defiance
- Between Two Gates
- A Lass, a Loaf, and a Good Cigar
- I Promised Sue
- Churning “Copy” for the Press
- Star Gazing
- Rhymes and Rhymers
- A Song of Compromise
- A Shattered Illusion
- No more Verses in Praise of Wine!
- Our Limitations
- Your Level Best
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