| "A Storm in the Mountains" | |
|---|---|
| by Charles Harpur | |
| Written | 1856 |
| First published in | The Empire |
| Country | Australia |
| Language | English |
| Full text | |
 A Storm in the Mountains at Wikisource | |
"A Storm in the Mountains" (1856) is a poem by Australian poet Charles Harpur. [1]
The poem was originally published in The Empire on 15 July 1856 and subsequently reprinted in the author's major collections as well as other poetry anthologies. [1] It is also known under the title "A Storm on the Mountains".
While reviewing Harpur's Poems in 1883 a writer in the Adelaide Observer observed that while "Charles Harpur had not the dash and verve of Gordon, the rich vein of humour of Brunton Stephens, or such accurate and vivid descriptive powers as Kendall but still there is much ... that touches the heart and the imagination." They went on: "we seem to see the scenes, to hear the sounds, to watch the movements he describes." [2]
Michael Ackland, writing about the sublimity of the poem, noted that its "concern with the interplay of natural, mental and supernatural elements is raised in purely physical terms through the employment of surrogate figures to express man's imminent peril. Nature provides the raw materials of elemental force and victim, but it is cognitive intelligence which discerns in events the sublime of terror, and their relevance to our social and spiritual preoccupations." He concluded "Charles Harpur turned depiction of the Australian countryside into an occasion for humane and religious meditation. In his works, landscape becomes instinct with spiritual purpose, and ordinary, honest folk the heroes of elemental encounters projected on an epic scale." [3]
After the poem's initial publication in The Empire [1] it was reprinted as follows:
"This is only partially an after-thought — or only an after-thought in the ripeness of its expression, it being founded on the circumstance, that the author, young as he was, and from the very coming on of the storm, became possessed with the feeling that it was for him eventually to make a poem of it, and was thereby led to observe its startling and dangerous manifestations throughout, with a singularly daring attention. And in this way, the conception, which is here elaborated, was crudely stirring within him, I say, even then." (Mitchell Library MS A93)
"The Man From Ironbark" is a poem by Australian bush poet Banjo Paterson. It is written in the iambic heptameter.
"Saint Peter" is a well-known poem by iconic Australian writer and poet Henry Lawson. It was first published on 8 April 1893 in The Bulletin.
"Up The Country" is a popular poem by iconic Australian writer and poet Henry Lawson. It was first published in The Bulletin magazine on 9 July 1892, under the title "Borderland." Its publication marked the start of the Bulletin Debate, a series of poems by both Lawson and Andrew Barton "Banjo" Paterson asserting contrasting views of the true nature of life in the Australian bush.
Charles Harpur was an Australian poet and playwright. He is regarded as "Australia's most important nineteenth-century poet."
The City Bushman is a poem by iconic Australian writer and poet Henry Lawson. It was first published in The Bulletin magazine on 6 August 1892, under the title In Answer to "Banjo", and Otherwise. It was the fourth work in the Bulletin Debate, a series of poems by both Lawson and Andrew Barton "Banjo" Paterson, and others, about the true nature of life in the Australian bush.
"The Creek of the Four Graves" is a poem by Australian writer Charles Harpur that was first published in three parts in The Weekly Register of Politics, Facts and General Literature on 9 August, 16 August and 23 August 1845.
The Poets of the Tomb is a poem by Australian writer and poet Henry Lawson. It was first published in The Bulletin magazine on 8 October 1892 in reply to fellow poet Andrew Barton "Banjo" Paterson's poem, In Answer to Various Bards.
Saltbush Bill is a humorous poem by Australian writer and poet Andrew Barton "Banjo" Paterson. It was first published in The Bulletin magazine on 15 December 1894, the Christmas issue of that publication.
A Mid-Summer Noon in the Australian Forest is a poem by Australian poet Charles Harpur. It was first published in The Empire magazine on 27 May 1851, and later in the poet's collection titled Poems (1883).
This article presents a list of the historical events and publications of Australian literature during 1883.
"A Death in the Bush" (1868) is a long narrative poem by Australian poet Henry Kendall. It was originally published in the 1868 edition of Williams's Illustrated Australian Annual, and later appeared in the author's collection Leaves from Australian Forests (1869).
"The Never-Never Country" (1901) is a poem by Australian poet Henry Lawson. It is also known by the title "The Never-Never Land".
"The Song of Old Joe Swallow" (1890) is a poem by Australian poet Henry Lawson.
"The Old Bush Road" (1892) (aka is a poem by Australian poet Jennings Carmichael.
"The Buried Chief" (1886) is a poem by Australian poet Henry Parkes.
"The Crane is My Neighbour" (1938) is a poem by Australian poet John Shaw Neilson.
"How M'Dougal Topped The Score" (1898) is a poem by Australian poet Thos. E. Spencer.
"The Fire at Ross's Farm" (1890) is a poem by Australian poet Henry Lawson.
"A Bushman's Song" (1892) is a poem by Australian poet A. B. Paterson.
"The Roaring Days" (1889) is a poem by Australian poet Henry Lawson.