[Editor: This book of poetry, by Barcroft Boake, was published in 1897. The book was published after his untimely death in 1892; its publication was arranged by A. G. Stephens, who edited the book as well as writing a memoir of Boake as an appendix (the latter was largely based upon information supplied by Boake’s father).]
Where
the
Dead Men Lie
and
Other Poems
By
Barcroft Boake
Edited, with notes and memoir, by A. G. Stephens
and thirty-two illustrations
by Mahony, Lambert and Fischer
Contents
Preface
Introductory Verses [The Land of Dumb Despair]
From the Far West
Jack’s Last Muster
A Memory
Josephus Riley
A Vision Out West
Jim’s Whip
The Demon Snow Shoes
A Valentine
The Box Tree’s Love
A Wayside Queen
Fogarty’s Gin
A Song from a Sandhill
The Babes in the Bush
The Digger’s Song
How Polly Paid for Her Keep
An Allegory
Kitty McCrae
’Twixt the Wings of the Yard
A Song
Skeeta
On the Boundary
Babs Malone
At the ‘J.C.’
Jack Corrigan
Down the River
Kelly’s Conversion
On the Range
At Devlin’s Siding
Fetherstonhaugh
Desiree
Where the Dead Men Lie
Notes
Memoir
* [Section 1: Barcroft Boake’s early years]
* [Section 2: Barcroft Boake writes from Rocklands (Adaminaby, NSW)]
* [Section 3: Barcroft Boake’s mock hanging]
* [Section 4: Goodbye to Rosedale]
* [Section 5: From Adaminaby to Trangie]
* [Section 6: Writing from Mullah]
* [Section 7: Letters from Currawilla and Windorah]
* [Section 8: Writing from Burrenbilla and Yowah]
* [Section 9: Letters from Cunnamulla (Banana-land)]
* [Section 10: Reminiscences regarding Barcroft Boake]
* [Section 11: Accepted by The Bulletin]
* [Section 12: The floods of 1891]
* [Section 13: Poetry and star-gazing]
* [Section 14: The last days of Barcroft Boake]
* [Section 15: Some final words]
* [A Few Verses]
Sydney
Angus and Robertson
1897
Copyright, 1897, The Bulletin Newspaper Company, Limited, Sydney, Australia
Source:
Barcroft Boake, Where the Dead Men Lie and Other Poems, Sydney (NSW): Angus and Robertson, 1897 [the 1897 (first) edition and the 1913 (second) edition are available at the Internet Archive]
Editor’s notes:
The Contents list was published on pages xii-xiv.
The Preface, Notes, and Memoir were written by A. G. Stephens. The Memoir is quite lengthy, so therefore it has been split here into several sections, with relevant titles being assigned to each section. The section titles have been added to the Contents list (in square brackets), so as to enable easier access.
Regarding the Memoir:
Section 4 includes the poem “Good-bye”, by Barcroft H. Boake.
Section 13 includes extracts from the poem “To “Rolf Boldrewood””, by Barcroft H. Boake.
Section 14 includes the poem “An Easter Rhyme”, by Barcroft H. Boake.
Section 15 includes an untitled poem by A. G. Stephens.
The poem by W. H. Ogilvie was only listed in the Contents as “Introductory Verses”, so its title has been included here in square brackets: [The Land of Dumb Despair].
On page 29 the poem title is given as “The Demon Snow-Shoes” (with a hyphen); however, in the Contents list and in the “Notes to poems” section, the title is given as “The Demon Snow Shoes” (without a hyphen). When the poem was originally published in The Bulletin (10 October 1891), the title included a hyphen.
On page 136 the poem title is given as “Désirée” (with accents, as part of the title graphic); however, in the Contents list and in the “Notes to poems” section, the title is given as “Desiree” (without accents). In the “Notes to poems” section, it is acknowledged that the poem was spelt “Désirée” in its manuscript form.
The poem “A Few Verses” was printed on page 175 (in the “Memoirs” section). It did not appear in the book’s Contents list; it has been included here in the Contents list, so as to enable easier access.
The frontispiece photo of Barcroft Boake appears to have been taken when he was in his early twenties.
A 2nd edition of Where the Dead Men Lie and Other Poems was published in 1913 by Angus and Robertson (London, UK); it included four additional poems. “The Phantom Moorings” was included in the Contents list, whilst the other three poems were not (the extra three poems were placed in an appendix at the back of the book). The four additional poems were (in order of appearance):
1) The Phantom Moorings, pp. 140-155; previously published in The Sun, December 1903.
2) A Bush School-Girl, pp. 219-220; previously published in Australia (Sydney, NSW), 11 July 1907.
3) Jimmy Wood: A Bar-Room Ballad, pp. 221-222; previously published in The Bulletin (Sydney, NSW), 7 May 1892.
4) A Bushman’s Love (A Fragment), pp. 222-223; previously published in The Bulletin (Sydney, NSW), 16 January 1897.
A 3rd edition of Where the Dead Men Lie and Other Poems was published in 1981 by Currey O’Neil (South Yarra, Vic.), under the title of Jack’s Last Muster [see the NLA catalogue entry].
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