Suburban Sonnet

"Suburban Sonnet"
by Gwen Harwood
First published in	The Bulletin
Country	Australia
Language	English
Publication date	1963
Lines	14

"Suburban Sonnet" is a poem by Australian poet Gwen Harwood. ^[1]

It was first published in The Bulletin on 12 January 1963, ^[2] under the author's pen-name of "Miriam Stone", and later in several of the author's collections and in other Australian poetry anthologies.

Outline

While caring for her children a "suburban housewife" remembers the time when she was a pianist who once played for Rubinstein.

Analysis

While reviewing the poet's Poems: Volume Two collection the reviewer Geoffrey Lehmann commented that "Her poems about bluestockings and critics indicate perhaps an overconsciousness of possible critical reaction." As an example of this analysis he quoted a line from this poem: "Once she played for Rubinstein, who yawned." He went on to say that "Her ingenuity in avoiding obvious phrases is one of the pleasures of her work, but sometimes this makes her poetry excessively cerebral." ^[3]

In his commentary on the poem in 60 Classic Australian Poems Geoff Page noted there "is a rich vein of 'suburban disillusionment' running through our poetry and [this poem] by Gwen Harwood is its definitive expression.” ^[4]

Further publications

After its initial publication in The Bulletin magazine in 1963, the poem was reprinted as follows:

• Australian Poetry 1964 edited by Randolph Stow, Angus and Robertson, 1964 ^[5]
• Poems: Volume 2 by Gwen Harwood, Angus and Robertson, 1968 ^[6]
• Selected Poems by Gwen Harwood, Angus and Robertson, 1975 ^[7]
• Australian Verse from 1805 : A Continuum edited by Geoffrey Dutton, 1976 ^[8]
• The Wild Girl in the Heart by Robyn Archer, Larrikin Records, 1978 ^[1]
• The Collins Book of Australian Poetry edited by Rodney Hall, Collins, 1981 ^[9]
• Cross-Country : A Book of Australian Verse edited by John Barnes and Brian MacFarlane, Heinemann, 1984 ^[10]
• Selected Poems by Gwen Harwood, Angus and Robertson, 1985 ^[11]
• My Country : Australian Poetry and Short Stories, Two Hundred Years edited by Leonie Kramer, Lansdowne, 1985 ^[12]
• Inner Cities: Australian Women's Memory of Place edited by Drusilla Modjeska, Penguin, 1989 ^[13]
• Selected Poems by Gwen Harwood, Angus and Robertson, 1990 ^[14]
• Selected Poems: A New Edition by Gwen Harwood, Halcyon Press, 2001 ^[15]
• The Indigo Book of Modern Australian Sonnets edited by Geoff Page, Indigo, 2003 ^[16]
• 80 Great Poems from Chaucer to Now edited by Geoff Page, University of NSW Press, 2006 ^[17]
• The Penguin Anthology of Australian Poetry edited by John Kinsella, Penguin, 2009 ^[18]
• 60 Classic Australian Poems edited by Geoff Page, University of NSW Press, 2009 ^[19]
• Australian Book Review June 2022 ^[1]

See also

• 1963 in poetry
• 1963 in literature
• 1963 in Australian literature
• Australian literature

References

1. ""Suburban Sonnet" by Gwen Harwood". Austlit. Retrieved 17 December 2024.
2. ""Suburban Sonnet"". The Bulletin, 12 January 1963, p36. Retrieved 17 December 2024.
3. ""Poets and Chaos"". The Bulletin, 17 August 1968, p82. Retrieved 17 December 2024.
4. 60 Classic Australian Poems edited by Geoff Page, University of NSW Press, 2009, pp 116-118
5. "Australian Poetry 1964 edited by Randolph Stow". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 17 December 2024.
6. "Poems: Volume 2 by Gwen Harwood". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 17 December 2024.
7. "Selected Poems by Gwen Harwood (1975)". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 17 December 2024.
8. "Australian Verse from 1805 : A Continuum edited by Geoffrey Dutton". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 17 December 2024.
9. "The Collins Book of Australian Poetry edited by Rodney Hall". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 17 November 2024.
10. "Cross-Country : A Book of Australian Verse edited by John Barnes and Brian MacFarlane". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 17 December 2024.
11. "Selected Poems by Gwen Harwood (1985)". Austlit. Retrieved 17 December 2024.
12. "My Country : Australian Poetry and Short Stories, Two Hundred Years edited by Leonie Kramer". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 17 December 2024.
13. "Inner Cities: Australian Women's Memory of Place edited by Drusilla Modjeska". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 17 December 2024.
14. "Selected Poems by Gwen Harwood (1990)". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 17 December 2024.
15. "Selected Poems: A New Edition by Gwen Harwood". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 17 December 2024.
16. "The Indigo Book of Modern Australian Sonnets edited by Geoff Page". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 17 December 2024.
17. "80 Great Poems from Chaucer to Now edited by Geoff Page". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 17 December 2024.
18. "The Penguin Anthology of Australian Poetry edited by John Kinsella". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 17 December 2024.
19. "60 Classic Australian Poems edited by Geoff Page". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 17 December 2024.