Charles Harpur is now widely regarded as Australia's most important nineteenth-century poet, and he will probably be classed one day among the major thinkers of the pre-Federation period. The scope and volume of his writings are impressive,...

Born in Australia , Charles Harpur (1813-1866) was the first important Australian poet and wrote the first sonnet sequence ever published in Australia. In addition, The Bushrangers was the first play by a native-born Australian both to be performed and...

NOTIONS OF PLACE have been central in the cultural self-definition of settler colonies like Australia, since difference in place is the most visible marker distinguishing the colony from the imperial motherland.(1) In Australian literary discourses, place is very much tied up with landscape,...

Compiled and edited by Elizabeth Holt and Elizabeth Perkins. Canberra Australian Scholarly Editions 2002. Occasional Publications Series No 2 ISBN 0 7317 0371 5 Charles Harpur is the most important Australian poet to emerge in the first half of the nineteenth century....

In the following excerpt, Perkins details Harpur's education, family circumstances, and controversial episodes in the poet's youth. Perkins then balances an explanation of Harpur's weaknesses as a lyricist with his originality, spirit, and narrative skill.

In the following excerpt, Wright addresses Harpur's family background, early employment, and the unprofessional editing of a posthumous edition of his works. The essay concludes with an attempt to summarize the importance of Harpur's work in Australia's literary canon.

In the following essay, originally delivered as a lecture in 1992, Mitchell considers the reasons and methods for reading Australian colonial poetry and focuses on Harpur's efforts to combine new experiences and expressions of thought with a sense of the familiar.