Woman to Child

"Woman to Child"
by Judith Wright
Written	1946
First published in	Meanjin Papers vol. 5 no. 1 [Autumn] 1946
Country	Australia
Language	English
Publication date	Autumn 1946

"Woman to Child" (1946) is a poem by Australian poet Judith Wright. ^[1]

It was originally published in Meanjin Papers in Autumn 1946, ^[2] and was subsequently reprinted in the author's single-author collections and a number of Australian poetry anthologies. ^[1]

Synopsis

The poem continues Wright's examination of a woman's role as mother. Here she talks directly to the child who she has helped create but who, in time, will "escape and not escape."

Critical reception

In her 1995 critical discussion of the work of Judith Wright for Oxford University Press Jennifer Strauss noted: "The imagery of the poem virtually projects the mother as Creator of the universe – but in a way that mirrors the paradox of the child as 'the maker and the made' in "Woman to Man", because it is the child who makes this Maker of its mother." ^[3]

In her commentary on the poem in Australian Classics : Fifty Great Writers and Their Celebrated Works Jane Gleeson-White called this poem "powerful and taboo-breaking". She continued: "The poem forcefully captures in Wright's lucid, ecstatic images and sure rhythms the mystery of this [pregancy] and this unique love." ^[4]

Publication history

After the poem's initial publication in Meanjin Papers in 1946 it was reprinted as follows:

• Voices : A Quarterly of Poetry no. 133, Spring 1948 ^[1]
• Woman to Man by Judith Wright, Angus and Robertson, 1949 ^[5]
• Five Senses: Selected Poems by Judith Wright, Angus and Robertson, 1963 ^[6]
• Judith Wright : Selected Poems by Judith Wright, Angus and Robertson, 1963 ^[7]
• Six Voices: Contemporary Australian Poets edited by Chris Wallace-Crabbe, Angus and Robertson, 1963 ^[8]
• On Native Grounds : Australian Writing from Meanjin Quarterly edited by C. B. Christesen, Angus and Robertson, 1967 ^[9]
• Poetry from Australia : Judith Wright, William Hart-Smith, Randolph Stow edited by Howard Sergeant, Pergamon Press, 1969 ^[10]
• Judith Wright : Collected Poems, 1942-1970 by Judith Wright, Angus and Robertson, 1971 ^[11]
• Judith Wright : Collected Poems 1942-1970 by Judith Wright, Angus and Robertson, 1971 ^[12]
• The Penguin Book of Women Poets edited by Carol Cosman, Joan Keefe, and Kathleen Weaver, Penguin Books, 1978 ^[13]
• Cross-Country : A Book of Australian Verse edited by John Barnes and Brian MacFarlane, Heinemann, 1984 ^[14]
• Two Centuries of Australian Poetry edited by Mark O’Connor, Oxford University Press, 1988 ^[15]
• Five Senses: Selected Poems by Judith Wright, Angus and Robertson, 1989 ^[16]
• A Human Pattern : Selected Poems by Judith Wright, Angus and Robertson, 1990 ^[17]
• Collected Poems 1942-1985 by Judith Wright, Angus and Robertson, 1994 ^[18]
• Australian Verse : An Oxford Anthology edited by John Leonard, Oxford University Press, 1998 ^[19]
• Poems for All Occasions edited by Ron Pretty, Five Islands Press, 2002 ^[20]
• Grace and Other Poems by Judith Wright, Picaro Press, 2009 ^[21]
• Motherlode : Australian Women's Poetry 1986 - 2008 edited by Jennifer Harrison and Kate Waterhouse, Puncher and Wattmann, 2009 ^[22]
• The Puncher & Wattmann Anthology of Australian Poetry edited by John Leonard, Puncher & Wattmann, 2009 ^[23]
• Hook and Eye : A Selection of Poems edited by Judith Beveridge, George Braziller, 2014 ^[24]
• Love is Strong as Death edited by Paul Kelly, Hamish Hamilton, 2019 ^[25]

See also

• "Woman to Man" by Judith Wright, 1946
• 1946 in Australian literature
• 1946 in poetry

References

1. "Austlit — "Woman to Child" by Judith Wright". Austlit. Retrieved 9 December 2025.
2. ""Woman to Child"". Meanjin, Vol 5 No 1, Autumn 1946, p24. Retrieved 9 December 2025.
3. Judith Wright by Jennifer Strauss, Oxford University Press, 1995, pp28-29. Accessed: 9 December 2025
4. Australian Classics : Fifty Great Writers and Their Celebrated Works edited by Jane Gleeson-White, Allen & Unwin, 2007, p180. Accessed: 9 December 2025
5. "Woman to Man by Judith Wright". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 9 December 2025.
6. "Five Senses: Selected Poems by Judith Wright". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 9 December 2025.
7. "Judith Wright : Selected Poems by Judith Wright". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 9 December 2025.
8. "Six Voices: Contemporary Australian Poets edited by Chris Wallace-Crabbe". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 9 December 2025.
9. "On Native Grounds : Australian Writing from Meanjin Quarterly edited by C. B. Christesen". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 9 December 2025.
10. "Poetry from Australia : Judith Wright, William Hart-Smith, Randolph Stow edited by Howard Sergeant". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 9 December 2025.
11. "Judith Wright : Collected Poems, 1942-1970 (A&R)". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 9 December 2025.
12. "Judith Wright : Collected Poems 1942-1970 by Judith Wright". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 9 December 2025.
13. "The Penguin Book of Women Poets edited by Carol Cosman, Joan Keefe, and Kathleen Weaver". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 9 December 2025.
14. "Cross-Country : A Book of Australian Verse edited by John Barnes and Brian MacFarlane". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 9 December 2025.
15. "Two Centuries of Australian Poetry edited by Mark O'Connor". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 9 December 2025.
16. "Five Senses: Selected Poems by Judith Wright". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 9 December 2025.
17. "A Human Pattern : Selected Poems by Judith Wright". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 9 December 2025.
18. "Collected Poems 1942-1985 by Judith Wright". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 9 December 2025.
19. "Australian Verse : An Oxford Anthology edited by John Leonard". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 9 December 2025.
20. "Poems for All Occasions edited by Ron Pretty". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 9 December 2025.
21. "Grace and Other Poems by Judith Wright". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 9 December 2025.
22. "Motherlode : Australian Women's Poetry 1986 - 2008 edited by Jennifer Harrison and Kate Waterhouse". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 9 December 2025.
23. "The Puncher & Wattmann Anthology of Australian Poetry edited by John Leonard". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 9 December 2025.
24. "Hook and Eye : A Selection of Poems edited by Judith Beveridge". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 9 December 2025.
25. "Love is Strong as Death edited by Paul Kelly". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 9 December 2025.