Elegy in a Botanic Gardens

"Elegy in a Botanic Gardens"
by Kenneth Slessor
First published in	Cuckooz Contrey
Country	Australia
Language	English
Publication date	1932
Lines	27

"Elegy in a Botanic Gardens" (1932) is a poem by Australian poet Kenneth Slessor. ^[1]

It was originally published in the poet's collection Cuckooz Contrey , and was subsequently reprinted in the author's single-author collections and a number of Australian poetry anthologies. ^[1]

Synopsis

The poet returns to the Botanic Gardens in Autumn, remembering that he was there in Spring with his lover. Now that affair is over and all that is left for him are the trees, the memories and the institutional signs.

Critical reception

In his study of the poet for Oxford University Press, critic Adrian Caesar noted the poem shows a "lack of vitality, world-weariness, a feeling of middle-aged ennui.” It is a lament for a love affair in which the poet visits in autumn the gardens where spring is said to have 'used him better'." ^[2]

Andrew Taylor commented that the poem "narrates, retrospectively, the course of a romance and its apparent termination. No cause is given for the death of the romance, but its effect has been to relocate the subject's consciousness from Wagner and memories of his springtime romance to Latin and botany." ^[3]

Publication history

After the poem's initial publication Cuckooz Contrey in 1932 ^[1] it was reprinted as follows:

• One Hundred Poems : 1919-1939 by Kenneth Slessor, Angus and Robertson, 1944 ^[4]
• Poems by Kenneth Slessor, Angus and Robertson, 1957 ^[5]
• The Penguin Book of Australian Verse edited by Harry Heseltine, Penguin Books, 1972 ^[6]
• Kenneth Slessor : Poetry, Essays, War Despatches, War Diaries, Journalism, Autobiographical Material and Letters edited by Dennis Haskell, University of Queensland Press, 1991 ^[7]
• Kenneth Slessor : Collected Poems by Kenneth Slessor, Angus and Robertson, 1994 ^[8]
• Fivefathers : Five Australian Poets of the Pre-Academic Era edited by Les Murray, Carcanet, 1994 ^[9]
• An Anthology of Australian Literature edited by Ch'oe Chin-yong and Cynthia Van Den Driesen (editor), Hansin Munhwasa, 1995 ^[1]
• A Return to Poetry 2000 edited by Michael Duffy (2000) ^[10]
• 100 Australian Poems of Love and Loss edited by Jamie Grant, Hardie Grant Books, 2011 ^[11]

Notes

• You can read the full text of the poem on the All Poetry website. ^[12]

See also

• 1932 in Australian literature
• 1932 in poetry

References

1. "Austlit — "Elegy in a Botanic Gardens" by Kenneth Slessor". Austlit. Retrieved 12 January 2026.
2. Oxford Australian Writers : Kenneth Slessor by Adrian Caesar, Oxford University Press, 1995, p61
3. UQP Studies in Australian Literature : Kenneth Slessor : Critical Readings edited by Philip Mead, University of Queensland Press, 1997; Chapter 8: "Kenneth Slessor's Approach to Moderism"" by Andrew Taylor, p142
4. "One Hundred Poems : 1919-1939 by Kenneth Slessor". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 12 January 2026.
5. "Poems by Kenneth Slessor". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 12 January 2026.
6. "The Penguin Book of Australian Verse edited by Harry Heseltine". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 12 January 2026.
7. "Kenneth Slessor : Poetry, Essays, War Despatches, War Diaries, Journalism, Autobiographical Material and Letters edited by Dennis Haskell". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 12 January 2026.
8. "Kenneth Slessor : Collected Poems by Kenneth Slessor". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 12 January 2026.
9. "Fivefathers : Five Australian Poets of the Pre-Academic Era (Carcanet)". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 12 January 2026.
10. "A Return to Poetry 2000 (Duffy and Snellgrove)". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 12 January 2025.
11. "100 Australian Poems of Love and Loss edited by Jamie Grant". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 12 January 2026.
12. ""Elegy in a Botanic Gardens" by Kenneth Slessor". AllPoetry. Retrieved 12 January 2026.