The Goose Bath

by Janet Frame

Edited by Pamela Gordon, Denis Harold and Bill Manhire.

"The Goose Bath: Poems" is a whimsical yet skillfully crafted collection of poetry that will cleave open your imagination, letting all its splendor spill out.

"Janet Frame used to keep geese, using the base of an old garden fountain as their bath. In later years the geese went but the bath was brought indoors as a receptable into which Janet piled her jottings as she reworked and developed her poems. Over time the bath overflowed with paper, including hundreds of unpublished poems. By the time Janet died she had named her hoped-for but elusive new selection The Goose Bath." -- Waitakere City Libraries summary

Genres: Poetry

221 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2006

About the author

The fate befalling the young woman who wanted "to be a poet" has been well documented. Desperately unhappy because of family tragedies and finding herself trapped in the wrong vocation (as a schoolteacher) her only escape appeared to be in submission to society's judgement of her as abnormal. She spent four and a half years out of eight years, incarcerated in mental hospitals. The story of her almost miraculous survival of the horrors and brutalising treatment in unenlightened institutions has become well known. She continued to write throughout her troubled years, and her first book (The Lagoon and Other Stories) won a prestigious literary prize, thus convincing her doctors not to carry out a planned lobotomy.

She returned to society, but not the one which had labelled her a misfit. She sought the support and company of fellow writers and set out single-mindedly and courageously to achieve her goal of being a writer. She wrote her first novel (Owls Do Cry) while staying with her mentor Frank Sargeson, and then left New Zealand, not to return for seven years.

Reviews

[Danni · Rating 5 out of 5]

Janet Frame's poetry unlocked a portion of my brain I am sure I never used before. I don't know how I survived without it, or her poems. Janet Frame remains one of New Zealand's irreplaceable treasures.

[Rhett · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this book of poetry. There are plenty of poems in it I would like to teach. My favourite thing about it is that in some ways it ticks a lot of “education” boxes; observational New Zealand poetry, often about the natural world. But, there is a layer of quirky personal voice interwoven throughout which keeps it all interesting.

[CF · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Goose Bath is a collection of leftover poetry, unpublished after Janet Frame's death. It has been sorted into a kind of chronology of life and death. The writing is unparalleled in it's beauty and uniqueness. Frame has an incredible coverage of topics, from the feeling of being in a museum to her elderly cat.

This is not easy to read, however, sometimes I find poetry books skimmable, this takes time. You need to commit to each poem as if it was it's own story, and each inspires thought and wonder.

This would be a brilliant bedside table book, as reading it puts the mind at ease and makes you remember there are things bigger than you in this world. It also doesn't become old and you could read the poems many, many times and they would still be fresh. I plan to read more Janet Frame after this. A gem.

[Joel LeBlanc · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great! Surprisingly readable. Not sure why I was surprised, but Janet Frame is best known for her stories and her autobiography. I wasn't sure what her poetry would be like, but I had a very pleasant day sitting in a cafe taking these in with a few cups of coffee. Much enjoyed !

[Jodie]

beautiful, moving, funny, inspiring.

[Maggie Emmett · Rating 5 out of 5]

Magical, inspiring hours of thinking and feeling everything.