| "The Surfer" | |
|---|---|
| by Judith Wright | |
| Written | 1945 |
| First published in | The Bulletin |
| Country | Australia |
| Language | English |
| Publication date | 21 March 1945 |
"The Surfer" (1945) is a poem by Australian poet Judith Wright. [1]
It was originally published in The Bulletin on 21 March 1945, [2] and was subsequently reprinted in the author's single-author collections and a number of Australian poetry anthologies. [1]
The poet observes a surfer at sea and compares him, in the water, with the gulls in the air. But as night falls he needs to be mindful of the sea's power and danger.
Reviewing the poet's collection A Human Pattern : Selected Poems for The Canberra Times Alan Gould noted that "Like some of Arthur Boyd's paintings, the forces on her canvas are elemental from which individual creatures like the stallion (in 'Blue Arab'), the surfer, the snake, leap into metaphysical focus." [3]
In his essay "Adapted for land : a lungfish writes the sea", in the Plumwood Mountain Journal, Brook Emery notes that Wright adopts the "position of observer' in this poem, and while it "comes closest to catching the experience of being in the sea" its use of emotions "feel like imposed abstractions rather than experiences which grow from the poem". Emery notes a liking for the poem even though it bears the signs of "poem-making". [4]
After the poem's initial publication in The Bulletin it was reprinted as follows: