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 ...
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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 ...
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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...
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In the following excerpt, Elliott establishes Harpur as an original, impressionist landscape poet whose works, although flawed, are perceptive and poignant.
… The first poet who may be consi...
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In the following essay, Mishra surveys the early responses to Harpur's poetry, concluding that the lavish praise Harpur received comments more upon the reviewers than on the poet himself.
Th...
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In the following essay, Macainsh analyzes repetition, rhyme schemes, and allegory in Harpur's “Midsummer Noon” to emphasize its value as structurally sound poetry.
Charles Harp...
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In the following essay, Mishra analyzes the changes in Harpur's literary reputation during a period of intense self-examination by the Australian literary community of the mid-nineteenth centur...
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In the following essay, Kramer highlights word choice and construction in Harpur's poetry to address early influences on his work. Kramer also analyzes the poet's later attempts to merge...
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In the following essay, Ackland compares Harpur's treatment of the union of man, nature, and God in “The Creek of the Four Graves” with that of poet John Milton.
‘The Cr...
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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'...
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In the following essay, Ackland demonstrates Harpur's linking of the possibility of redemption for man with the relatively untouched Australian landscape.
Charles Harpur, it is now agreed, i...
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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 n...
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In the following essay, Krahn explores the techniques that Harpur and Peter Skrzynecki employ to express ownership of the culture and landscape of Australia.
Notions of place have been central in t...
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Charles Harpur
Charles Harpur
Critical Essay by Judith Wright
