[Editor: This review of Heart of Spring (by John Shaw Neilson) was published in The Bulletin (Sydney, NSW), 6 November 1919.]
Neilson
In Heart of Spring (The Bookfellow, Sydney) Shaw Neilson collects many of his scattered verses into a little book that is full of delicate charm. His is not the strong, clear note of a master singer; his themes are often of the slightest and his craftsmanship enables him to miss the commonplace by a very narrow margin; but the work will please the literary reader, while, by a certain gentle force which it possesses, it may reach many to whom much modern poetry is a thing strange and incomprehensible. Neilson shows a fine feeling for words and phrases; and though it can hardly be said that it is the inevitable music he gives us, there is quality and distinctive style in his verses. He has a keen sympathy, too, which makes him very lovable, even if he does not often get to the heart of things or touch the deeps within deeps.
Heart of Spring can go on its own merits as a valuable addition to the Australian library; but it is handicapped by the preface which “A.G.S.” contributes. To call Shaw Neilson “first of Australian poets” is to invite ridicule. It cannot be fairly said that he is even in the front rank; and to place his little book beside those of Henry Lawson, Roderic Quinn, Henry Kendall, G. J. Brennan, Zora Cross or Mary Gilmore — all of them Australians by birth — would be merely to make the new volume feel thin and uncomfortable. Still there is much in it to be thankful for. Here is “Pale Neighbor,” a poem which shows the author’s limitation as well as his strength:—
Over the road she lives not far,
My neighbor, pale and thin.
“Sweet is the world!” she cries. “How sweet
To keep on living in!”
Her heart it is a right red heart
That cannot stoop to pine;
Her hand-clasp is a happiness,
Her welcome is a wine.Love, she will have it, is a lilt
From some lost comedy
Played long ago when the white stars
Lightened the greenery.Ever she talks of earth and air
And sunlit junketing;
Gaily she says, “I know I shall
Be dancing in the Spring!”Almost I fear her low, low voice
As one may fear the moon,
As one may fear too faint a sound
In an old uncanny tune.Over the road ’twill not be long —
Clearly I see it all. …
Ere ever the red days come up
Or the pale grasses fall.There will be black upon us, and
Within our eyes a dew:
We shall be walking neighborly
As neighbors — two and two.
Nobody can deny that there is skill there; and nobody could assert that the verse shows any remarkable insight or feeling. It is delicate and tender, but superficial. The dying girl does not interest the reader enough to make the suggestion of the last stanzas much more than the commonplace spoken every day about death. Not much more — but just in the mild qualification you get Shaw Neilson.
But “Pale Neighbor” is a good deal above this author’s average work, both in manner and in thought. The verses called “Little White Girl” give a fair idea of a good deal the book contains:—
Fears are mine for a face so pretty!
Violets perish, lilies are few:
There is an ache in my heart for you.
In all the tawdry, treacherous city
You are the one thing white and clean,
The only riches where all is mean,
Little white girl so pale and pretty!Fears are mine for a face so pretty!
I have been lover of lips and chins,
And a listener to violins
Crying for love and calling for pity;
And it all comes back with your eyes and hair…
But the darkness threatens you everywhere,
Little white girl, so pale and pretty.
That might easily have been just album-verse — but it isn’t by a long, long way. And for another sample — one of the best things in the book:—
Speak not to me, old violin!
Mock not this heart of mine!
Thou mummy with the glistening skin
Speak not to me, old violin!
For the dead men have shadows thin,
And all their sobs are thine —
Speak not to me, old violin!
Mock not this heart of mine.
“Thou mummy with the glistening skin” is just about as poor as all the rest is fine.
Heart of Spring contains a great deal that must please and very little than can jar on the most sensitive soul. If Shaw Neilson were a very young man the promise would be remarkable.
Source:
The Bulletin (Sydney, NSW), 6 November 1919, The Red Page (column 2)
Editor’s notes:
Although this review gives some praise, as well as criticism, to Neilson’s work, it is overall a rather negative piece. It should be remembered that Heart of Spring was published by A. G. Stephens, who — as a literary critic and editor — had made himself some long-lasting enemies in the Australian literary world. Also, when Stephens left the The Bulletin (he used to be its literary editor), there was some bad blood between AGS and the proprietor. It is true that AGS calling John Shaw Neilson “first of Australian poets” seemed a bit over-the-top, and it would be fair to regard that description as over-blown praise or hyperbole (although, that is a matter of opinion); however, the ill-will of the reviewer can be seen, not only in his comments about Neilson, but in the reference to “the preface which “A.G.S.” contributes” — the use of quotation marks apparently implying that A.G.S. was some unknown person, when everyone in the Australian literary scene of that period was well aware of who A.G.S. was. It seems likely that the writer of this article nursed a grudge against A. G. Stephens; the review reads more like a bit of snarky writing (with an attempt to appear even-handed), rather than a professional piece of literary criticism. [It should be stressed that the foregoing is an opinion (albeit one based upon historical literary knowledge), rather than an established fact.]
A.G.S. = Alfred George Stephens (1865-1933), an Australian editor, publisher, author, literary critic, and poet
See: “A. G. Stephens”, The Institute of Australian Culture
ere = (archaic) before (from the Middle English “er”, itself from the Old English “aer”, meaning early or soon)
thou = (archaic) you
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