John Shaw Neilson is commonly held to be Australia's finest lyric poet. Many regard him as Australia's finest writer of verse. Writing at a time when the muscular bush balladry of the Bulletin (Sydney) was in vogue, Neilson went his own way and created a subtle, individual, highly personalized, and intimate view of Australian bush and city life based on his personal experiences. No other poet has written so confidently and so intimately of the Australian bush, its flora and fauna. Although Neilson is regarded chiefly as a lyricist, he was also a skilled balladist and experimented with poetic forms throughout his life. While there has been no Neilson school of poetry as such, he influenced many later writers, most notably Judith Wright, James McAuley, and Alec Hope. Hope called Neilson "my beacon." Many of his contemporaries regarded him with awe, even reverence. In a letter to Neilson...