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Adam Lindsay Gordon

Born

in Fayal, Portugal

October 19, 1833

Died

June 24, 1870

Genre

Poetry

Influences

Robert Browning, Charles Kingsley, George Whyte-Melville, Lord Byron, ...more

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Adam Lindsay Gordon was an Australian poet, jockey and politician, born in the Azores. The son of an English army captain, Gordon went to school in Cheltenham, before leaving for Australia shortly before his 20th birthday. A dreamy athlete, Gordon preferred horse riding and quoting lengthy reams of Greek and Latin poetry to any kind of hard work.

In Australia, Gordon spent some time in the South Australian police force and then as a member of parliament, but wasn't well suited to either task. He made his fame as a horse rider, winning countless derbies and becoming known for his carefree, risky approach to riding. Always poetically inclined, Gordon had published several pieces in popular South Australian magazines, and finally had his first Adam Lindsay Gordon was an Australian poet, jockey and politician, born in the Azores. The son of an English army captain, Gordon went to school in Cheltenham, before leaving for Australia shortly before his 20th birthday. A dreamy athlete, Gordon preferred horse riding and quoting lengthy reams of Greek and Latin poetry to any kind of hard work.

In Australia, Gordon spent some time in the South Australian police force and then as a member of parliament, but wasn't well suited to either task. He made his fame as a horse rider, winning countless derbies and becoming known for his carefree, risky approach to riding. Always poetically inclined, Gordon had published several pieces in popular South Australian magazines, and finally had his first book publication - "Ashtaroth: A Dramatic Lyric" - in 1867. This was quickly followed by "Sea Spray and Smoke Drift" (1867). Neither of the works sold very well, from initial print runs of 500 each.

That year, Gordon moved with his wife and infant daughter to Ballarat, Victoria. When their daughter died aged 11 months, Gordon began to sink into a depression from which he would never fully recover. Moving to Melbourne, where he lived near Brighton Beach, Gordon became involved with the Yorick Club, a group of bohemian young writers which included future celebrities Marcus Clarke and Henry Kendall. However, faced with money troubles, the young poet found himself deeper and deeper in debt, prone to mood swings, and hanging all of his hopes on a potential large inheritance he was expecting from his ancestral Scotland.

In June 1870, Gordon received the news that he would not inherit the Scottish estate, due to some problems in the line of inheritance. On the 23rd of that month, he published his final volume, "Bush Ballads and Galloping Rhymes". In mounting debt and suffering depression, Gordon walked home that night aware that this volume would probably also not sell very well, and it certainly wouldn't make him famous, or solve his money troubles.

The following morning, he kissed his wife goodbye, and walked down to Sandringham Beach, where he shot himself in the head. Gordon was memorialised in verse, and a statue was erected near Melbourne's Parliament House in his honour. He is the only Australian poet to be commemorated with a bust in Westminster Abbey. (Both of these memorials were installed many years later, on the centenary of his birth, as part of a public campaign.) ...more

Combine Editions
Adam Lindsay Gordon’s books

Average rating: 3.39 · 38 ratings · 6 reviews · 93 distinct works

	Bush Ballads and Galloping Rhymes 3.80 avg rating — 10 ratings — published 1870 — 15 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Poems by Adam Lindsay Gordon by Adam Lindsay Gordon, Marcus Clarke (Editor) 3.30 avg rating — 10 ratings — published 1893 — 136 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Poetical Works of Adam Lindsay Gordon 3.25 avg rating — 8 ratings — published 1913 — 18 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Selected Poems of Adam Lindsay Gordon 3.33 avg rating — 6 ratings — published 1979 — 7 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Sea spray and smoke drift liked it 3.00 avg rating — 2 ratings — published 1867 — 19 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Feud by Adam Lindsay Gordon, Hugh Anderson (Contributor), Noel Paton (Illustrator) it was amazing 5.00 avg rating — 1 rating — published 1864 — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Ashtaroth; a dramatic lyric did not like it 1.00 avg rating — 1 rating — published 1867 — 22 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Adam Lindsay Gordon Favourites 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings — 4 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Adam Lindsay Gordon's Australian Poems 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings — published 2015 — 11 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Racing Rhymes & Other Verses by Adam Lindsay Gordon (Creator), T.O. Guen (Creator) 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings — published 2015 — 29 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

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Quotes by Adam Lindsay Gordon (?)

“Life is mostly froth and bubble,
Two things stand like stone.
Kindness in another's trouble,
Courage in your own.”
― Adam Lindsay Gordon

tags: courage, kindness, ye-weary-wayfarer

1958 likes

“Question not, but live and labour
Till yon goal be won,
Helping every feeble neighbour,
Seeking help from none;
Life is mostly froth and bubble,
Two things stand like stone,
Kindness in another's trouble,
Courage in your own.”
― Adam Lindsay Gordon

tags: australia, philosophy, poet

7 likes

“So the coward will dare on the gallant horse
What he never would dare alone,
Because he exults in a borrowed force,
And a hardihood not his own.”
― Adam Lindsay Gordon, Selected Poems of Adam Lindsay Gordon

tags: courage-cowardice

3 likes

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