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David Malouf: Selected Poems
Selected poems, 1959-89
- GenresPoetry
114 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1981
20 people want to read
About the author
David Malouf
82 books305 followersDavid Malouf is a celebrated Australian poet, novelist, librettist, playwright, and essayist whose work has garnered international acclaim. Known for his lyrical prose and explorations of identity, memory, and place, Malouf began his literary career in poetry before gaining recognition for his fiction. His 1990 novel The Great World won the Miles Franklin Award and several other major prizes, while Remembering Babylon (1993) earned a Booker Prize nomination and multiple international honors.
Malouf has taught at universities in Australia and the UK, delivered the prestigious Boyer Lectures, and written libretti for acclaimed operas. Born in Brisbane to a Lebanese father and a mother of Sephardi Jewish heritage, he draws on both Australian and European influences in his work. He is widely regarded as one of Australia's most important literary voices and has been recognized with numerous awards, including the Neustadt International Prize for Literature and the Australia Council Award for Lifetime Achievement in Literature.
Malouf has taught at universities in Australia and the UK, delivered the prestigious Boyer Lectures, and written libretti for acclaimed operas. Born in Brisbane to a Lebanese father and a mother of Sephardi Jewish heritage, he draws on both Australian and European influences in his work. He is widely regarded as one of Australia's most important literary voices and has been recognized with numerous awards, including the Neustadt International Prize for Literature and the Australia Council Award for Lifetime Achievement in Literature.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
July 14, 2020
It's evident Malouf went through multiple stages of his writing to get to his more contemporary work. This selection of poems isn't particularly strong but has many standout phrases and lines, foreshadowing his future great works certainly. The one thing I enjoyed the most is the carefree nature of his writing back then compared to now. Malouf's words are much more disciplined these days but these poems were evidently written by a young man with tumultuous thoughts and feelings. The sporadic nature of his writing within these pages was oddly comforting. I'm keen to read more of his work and of writers' earlier work in general.
---
A frog gulps on the path, earth-bubble green, deep water
speaks in its throat.
And revenant at dawn a pale fog ghosts among
wrough-iron furniture a shoal
of vanished lily ponds. I walk
on their clear light again and will not sink,
not this time. The garden
glows. Earth holds firm under my heel.
---
I miss you still. Old friends like ghosts step through us.
My mind’s so often ajar these days, who knows
who might venture in? And though I don’t expect replies
to letters I don’t send, still something passes
between us: a space long empty suddenly glows.
---
Only
our breath, only our need
for the next breath constrained us.
It was our other selves
that tried it,
in sleep. And arrived
safely. And never did
get back.
---
Out here wheat breathes and surges, poplars flare. On the highway lorries
throb towards city squares. High in the blue a Cessna bi-plane
cropdusting lucerne turns to catch the sun. The brilliant granule
of dust climbs out of sight. Its shadow dances in my palm.
---
We are gathered here:
out of marriages and houses towards which
we scattered, home from business-trips and wars. Sleeping under
the same room, as if childhood had not ceased
to shelter us - rain whispering on tin, ripe melons creaking,
the iron tank booming with half a year
of good rain already, at ease with power-lines and frogs.
---
And the stopped watch is not wrong
exactly, but dead
right on two occasions
at least in every day.
---
A frog gulps on the path, earth-bubble green, deep water
speaks in its throat.
And revenant at dawn a pale fog ghosts among
wrough-iron furniture a shoal
of vanished lily ponds. I walk
on their clear light again and will not sink,
not this time. The garden
glows. Earth holds firm under my heel.
---
I miss you still. Old friends like ghosts step through us.
My mind’s so often ajar these days, who knows
who might venture in? And though I don’t expect replies
to letters I don’t send, still something passes
between us: a space long empty suddenly glows.
---
Only
our breath, only our need
for the next breath constrained us.
It was our other selves
that tried it,
in sleep. And arrived
safely. And never did
get back.
---
Out here wheat breathes and surges, poplars flare. On the highway lorries
throb towards city squares. High in the blue a Cessna bi-plane
cropdusting lucerne turns to catch the sun. The brilliant granule
of dust climbs out of sight. Its shadow dances in my palm.
---
We are gathered here:
out of marriages and houses towards which
we scattered, home from business-trips and wars. Sleeping under
the same room, as if childhood had not ceased
to shelter us - rain whispering on tin, ripe melons creaking,
the iron tank booming with half a year
of good rain already, at ease with power-lines and frogs.
---
And the stopped watch is not wrong
exactly, but dead
right on two occasions
at least in every day.
August 7, 2023
Conversational. Lively. Forlorn. That’s the three words I’d use to try and describe this collection.
This collection is a really holistic perspective on David’s early work and I’m upset that he isn’t a more well known poet after finishing them.
I think another review describes it as not ‘particularly strong’ and I’d challenge that by saying that he has a gentle style, at least to my mind. No poem feels forceful. I know that they perhaps mean that this selection isn’t his best... that’s hard to judge... but I think it made me consider the tone of the poems.
The poetry here feels more casual, sketched rather than composed. I enjoyed them a lot.
It by no means sums up the poetry of David Malouf, because his poems and their style shifts subtly like sandbanks through the decades of his working life and I think that his later work is a different beast entirely. And I think... if I’m pushed... he’s a better essayist.
But I recommend picking this one up for a nose through, if you get a chance.
This collection is a really holistic perspective on David’s early work and I’m upset that he isn’t a more well known poet after finishing them.
I think another review describes it as not ‘particularly strong’ and I’d challenge that by saying that he has a gentle style, at least to my mind. No poem feels forceful. I know that they perhaps mean that this selection isn’t his best... that’s hard to judge... but I think it made me consider the tone of the poems.
The poetry here feels more casual, sketched rather than composed. I enjoyed them a lot.
It by no means sums up the poetry of David Malouf, because his poems and their style shifts subtly like sandbanks through the decades of his working life and I think that his later work is a different beast entirely. And I think... if I’m pushed... he’s a better essayist.
But I recommend picking this one up for a nose through, if you get a chance.
February 11, 2022
Really interesting to see the subtle changes in style over the decades. Such an underrated poet. He is beautiful to read
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews