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The Oxford Book of Australasian Verse

The Oxford Book of Australasian Verse (1918) is anthology of poems by Australian and New Zealand poets edited by Walter Murdoch. It was published in hardback by Oxford University Press in London in 1918.[1]

The Oxford Book of Australasian Verse
EditorWalter Murdoch
CountryU.K.
LanguageEnglish
PublisherOxford University Press
Publication date
1918
Media typePrint (Hardback)
Pages294 pp.

The anthology includes 192 poems by various authors.[1]

Contents edit

Critical reception edit

A writer in the The Sydney Morning Herald (Melbourne) noted: "The inclusion of Australia in the Oxford' series is welcome, and no better editor than Professor Walter Murdoch could have been found for the Oxford Book of Australasian Verse. The name of our poets is legion, their fertility is enormous, and perhaps for that very reason Australian poetry shows to better effect in an anthology than in a library. Professor Murdoch has been wide in his range and judicious in his choice...Professor Murdoch is as discriminating in his selection from those whose names are household words with us. But this anthology has one disability which, though he is not responsible for it, prevents it from being wholly representative of Australian poetry. The 'inexorable necessities of copyright' have compelled him to omit many flowers from his garland. An anthology which contains nothing of the work of Daley, Brunton Stephens, Essex Evans, John Farrell, Barcroft Boake, Major Paterson, Mr. Henry Lawson, Mr. W. M. Ogilvie, and Miss Zora Cross, to name only a few, does not give to the world the best fruits of Australian poetry."[2]

In The Argus, from Melbourne, a reviewer stated: "Those who have an intimate knowledge of Australian verse will as he expects miss some poems and wonder why others were included but many beautiful things will be found and for its purpose of making Australian verse better known in Great Britain the book deserves the success which it is likely to find."[3]

Publication history edit

After the original publication by Oxford University Press in 1918,[4] the anthology was reprinted in 1924,[5] 1928[6] and 1945.[7] The contents were changed with each edition.

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ a b "The Oxford Book of Australasian Verse". Austlit. Retrieved 15 June 2023.
  2. ^ "Australasian Verse". The Sydney Morning Herald, 5 October 1918, p8. Retrieved 21 June 2023.
  3. ^ "New Books". The Argus, 19 October 1918, p6. Retrieved 21 June 2023.
  4. ^ "The Oxford Book of Australasian Verse (1918)". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 21 June 2023.
  5. ^ "The Oxford Book of Australasian Verse (1924)". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 21 June 2023.
  6. ^ "The Oxford Book of Australasian Verse (1928)". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 21 June 2023.
  7. ^ "The Oxford Book of Australasian Verse (1945)". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 21 June 2023.
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