Interview With Slessor Analysis
Television Interview with Kenneth Slessor 8:00a.m, Friday morning on ‘Groovy Artist in the Big West’ with James Baxter.
Theme tune music plays. Singular light appears on host, James Baxter, standing centre stage, camera zooms in mid-shot of Baxter. Music fades.
JB: Good morning Australia and greetings to Groovy Artists in the Big West. Today we are honoured to welcome a very special guest on the show. He is arguably the most beloved Australian poet; his works are renowned for their vivid sensory imagery and iconic locations. He began writing at the young age of 16, went on to write for a number of magazines and newspapers and also became a WWII correspondent. This man has heavily influenced modern Australian writing through his …show more content…
highly distinctive and evocative poetry. Please welcome, the wonderful, Mr Kenneth Slessor. Audience applauds. Tracking shot of Slessor walking on stage
KS: I appreciate the introduction, James. Thanks for having me.
JB: My pleasure! (Energetically) I have long been a fan of your work. One of the things that I find most striking about your poetry is the way you create such vivid imagery of your settings. Take for instance your charming poem Country Towns. In this poem, you have conjured such a perfect image of a setting any Australian can relate to. I particularly love the way you have employed such strong imagery, awakening the responder to the quaint atmosphere of the recognisable country town. In the line “Verandas baked with musky sleep,” you’ve captured the charmingly sleepy atmosphere caused by our good old Australian heat!
KS: (laughs) I am very honoured to have such an appreciative fan! In Country towns I attempted to affectionately capture the sleepy and drowsy atmosphere of quaint Australian rural towns, which is something most Australians can relate to. Through the line you mentioned, the verandas being ‘baked’ in oven-like heat, the air thick and ‘musky, inducing ‘sleep’. I truly believe that poetry enables deeper understanding, that it can be more than just ‘the best words in the best order’, as someone once said, but instead can be more like a striking and ‘eye catching’ painting!
(Audience applauds)
JB: Ah, I see. I find it most remarkable how you approach your work in such a way it almost comes across as a humours image. For instance you quote in the 1st stanza ‘bouncing’ on ‘barrel mares,’ conveys a great passage to the feel or energy of a poem, that consist nostalgic charm and carelessness. I find myself imaging a fat sturdy little horse; which farmers still ride through the pub, leaving the impression ‘nothing has changed in this town.’ This truly makes me giggle at the fact you’ve incorporated the nationalistic pride, that in fact Australians will always follow a certain quirk through there mentality.
KS: Yeah definitely.
I generally feel that there is a certain charm in the poem Country Towns; you’ve mentioned that it carries a nationalistic pride with our village squares and fairs. However having that said, the setting is most empathised to be a rural and isolated place. I believe the poem also devotes carelessness showing that without care it employs a lack of sensory imagery that induces a strong flare of sleepy atmosphere. Without this charm I feel as though, there’s an immediate sense politeness instead of carelessness, for example the town doesn’t want to offend anyone by taking down the posters. As I quote; “Of Entertainers Here To-night"– Dated a year and a half ago, but left there, less from ‘carelessness’ than from a wish to seem polite.” This also implies that the usage of capital letters and inverted commas that quote from poster, as well the dash at the end of the 4th line which makes us pause to consider what has been said, and realise that the broadsheet does lie; makes us see the amusing side to it, as you’ve also mentioned before about humours inputs.
JB: That’s quite marvellous that the poem has indicated a sense of preciousness and appreciation for the “politeness,” that the town has to offer each other. These techniques do complement one another which truly convey the consistent, humours and laid- back flow of the poem. I have also notice that many of your work compose a sudden effect of rhythm, how does this corresponds with the very visual texts that’s discussed in the
stanzas?
KS: Well that’s a very interesting question, because I find that rhythm is defiantly a great passage to grasp energy of a poem and so this technique is expressed through the visual text. In my poem Country Town nods to the very slow and drifty passage, enabling the rhythm to have a respective poetic component which I tend to play around with the words like many of my poems. Country Towns is familiarised by the classic adventures that is referred to in the 1st stanza, where it’s described that ‘public-houses of yellow,’ depicts age and how I deliberately used old terminology creating a quite lazy rhythm which fits with old Australian terms. Generally you see that the stanzas deliver its own independent structure, as I identify the first line to begin with motion before coming back to the original sleepy atmosphere that refers to visual language and metaphors such as ‘Mulberry faces’ and ‘schooner bees,’ that go hand to hand, showing the “drunken bees” and the slow momentum of the poem.
(Camera zooms out of stage, Ad-break commence)
JB: Welcome back to Groovy Artists in the Big West! Now we were just talking about your last poem Country Towns, which was really breath taking in my opinion, I couldn’t get enough, I would have talked about it all day long but we must move on to another poem. With simular quality to Country Towns, it defiantly comes across of having a different atmosphere amongst urban places. You could argue that this particular poem depicts sleazy and underbelly altitude, but still holds the nationalistic pride, is one of my personal favourite William Street. Now this poem takes my interest on its unconventional beauty found in dark or otherwise seen to be unfortunate environment. Could you explain, regardless of the gritty setting in William Street, you still repeated the words in every stanza, ‘You find this ugly, I find it lovely.’
KS: Of course James. I understand this topic can come across complex, I mean it’s strange to believe that a street with blinding lights and crowded space is considered to be lovely, but these views change. I think when you’re raised in the city like I was most of my life you tend to build up a relationship with your surroundings, and so you develop a sense of beauty that have a particular fondness, allowing you to see beauty within the disinvite features of what is familiar to you; similar to Country Towns, depicts an unusual liking to what is around you, people may be close minded and never believe that you could find comfort from the materials that are giving to you. Such as country-raised children might have a different perspective to the eye and takes what they are offered, devoting it to be the best it can. The 1st stanza in William street comments on the harsh and striking neon lights ,‘The red globes of light’ and the ‘liquor – green,’ confirms that even the most un-seemed pleasurable places will always be found beautify to those who are raised in these environments. This is why I have used a constant repetition of the line, ‘You find this ugly, I find it lovely.’
JB: I agree that people are notorious for judging to quickly when it’s devoted on the physical appeal of a place that comes across unattractive and seems unworthy because of its appearance. William Street truly focuses on this matter of perception and creates another argument on what is beauty, as the repetition of “I find it lovely” is a challenge to the audience. Despite its non-desirable features, William Street still carries a sense of affection amongst ‘ugly’ but secretly ‘lovely’ places.
KS: Yes this poem defiantly does take on a kind of sad imagery, but will always remain in my heart to be beautiful.
JB: That’s very deep… I also realise that another strong quality in William Street is the usage of sensory language, for me is one of the most striking element in your poetry. Why is it that you employ such vivid descriptions that appeal to not only sight but also smell and sound?
KS: Well that is very thought-provoking question why you must merely stop
JB: Its’ quite magnificent how you deliver yourself through your poems! I’m truly fascinated how you miraculously approach your poems to really speak out to the audience and to provoke their senses. Now what I’ll like to know is that with your most beloved poem, most Australians can agree on, is one that explores the emotion of life and loss, dealing with the concept of time and memory and of course the harsh imagery of water is spoken throughout this poem.
KS: were not talking about Beach Burial, are we?
(Audience laugh)
JB: No, but even better Five Bells! Like many Australians, Five Bells would have to be my favourite poem, not only of yours but of all Australian poets. Why is it, that your work has such wide-spread appeal?
KS: If you have read my poem, Five Bells (looks at audience) you would be familiar to the concepts. My work expresses the death of once a good friend of mine, Joe Lynch, who drowned in Sydney Harbour. Perhaps this is the reason for its wide-spread appeal, as it focuses much on iconic gestures, such as the Harbour and the tormenting bells that struck time, slowly forgetting the memories I held of Joe; time has certainly robed me of this.
JB (looking serious) I understand that Five Bells has a significant difference between time into two different kinds; that of clock time and that of memory. Could you elaborate?
KS: This is true. I believe that memory has the power to hold out images that are or once significant against the destructive force of oblivion. Through the line I mention, “Your echoes die, your voice is drowsed by life,” almost refers life to be a thief who also steals memories. Described as a crime, I ponder about his death, but I am forbid to remember his voice that has been washed and erased by time. I no longer recognise Joes’ memories to be precious themselves for they are described in the 3rd stanza to be ‘flukes’ and in other metaphors that described as ‘profitless lodgings,’ I think of Joe as the dead man, ‘gone from the earth,’ ‘gone even from the meaning of a name.’ In this same stanza, defines a memory of Joe to be a metamorphosed as a mysterious entity that I once referred as a men, he no longer carried out to be, but now is suggested as a ‘it.’ In other words I mention that it’s trying to, ‘make its fury heard,’ I saw it as an entity still attempting to be heard but is defeated by the futility of death and can’t ever be felt by the living again.
Five Bells
Darker themes – why do you think this poem has such wide-spread appeal? Universal themes
Water imagey
Theme tune music plays. Singular light appears on host, James Baxter, standing centre stage, camera zooms in mid-shot of Baxter. Music fades.
JB: Good morning Australia and greetings to Groovy Artists in the Big West. Today we are honoured to welcome a very special guest on the show. He is arguably the most beloved Australian poet; his works are renowned for their vivid sensory imagery and iconic locations. He began writing at the young age of 16, went on to write for a number of magazines and newspapers and also became a WWII correspondent. This man has heavily influenced modern Australian writing through his …show more content…
highly distinctive and evocative poetry. Please welcome, the wonderful, Mr Kenneth Slessor. Audience applauds. Tracking shot of Slessor walking on stage
KS: I appreciate the introduction, James. Thanks for having me.
JB: My pleasure! (Energetically) I have long been a fan of your work. One of the things that I find most striking about your poetry is the way you create such vivid imagery of your settings. Take for instance your charming poem Country Towns. In this poem, you have conjured such a perfect image of a setting any Australian can relate to. I particularly love the way you have employed such strong imagery, awakening the responder to the quaint atmosphere of the recognisable country town. In the line “Verandas baked with musky sleep,” you’ve captured the charmingly sleepy atmosphere caused by our good old Australian heat!
KS: (laughs) I am very honoured to have such an appreciative fan! In Country towns I attempted to affectionately capture the sleepy and drowsy atmosphere of quaint Australian rural towns, which is something most Australians can relate to. Through the line you mentioned, the verandas being ‘baked’ in oven-like heat, the air thick and ‘musky, inducing ‘sleep’. I truly believe that poetry enables deeper understanding, that it can be more than just ‘the best words in the best order’, as someone once said, but instead can be more like a striking and ‘eye catching’ painting!
(Audience applauds)
JB: Ah, I see. I find it most remarkable how you approach your work in such a way it almost comes across as a humours image. For instance you quote in the 1st stanza ‘bouncing’ on ‘barrel mares,’ conveys a great passage to the feel or energy of a poem, that consist nostalgic charm and carelessness. I find myself imaging a fat sturdy little horse; which farmers still ride through the pub, leaving the impression ‘nothing has changed in this town.’ This truly makes me giggle at the fact you’ve incorporated the nationalistic pride, that in fact Australians will always follow a certain quirk through there mentality.
KS: Yeah definitely.
I generally feel that there is a certain charm in the poem Country Towns; you’ve mentioned that it carries a nationalistic pride with our village squares and fairs. However having that said, the setting is most empathised to be a rural and isolated place. I believe the poem also devotes carelessness showing that without care it employs a lack of sensory imagery that induces a strong flare of sleepy atmosphere. Without this charm I feel as though, there’s an immediate sense politeness instead of carelessness, for example the town doesn’t want to offend anyone by taking down the posters. As I quote; “Of Entertainers Here To-night"– Dated a year and a half ago, but left there, less from ‘carelessness’ than from a wish to seem polite.” This also implies that the usage of capital letters and inverted commas that quote from poster, as well the dash at the end of the 4th line which makes us pause to consider what has been said, and realise that the broadsheet does lie; makes us see the amusing side to it, as you’ve also mentioned before about humours inputs.
JB: That’s quite marvellous that the poem has indicated a sense of preciousness and appreciation for the “politeness,” that the town has to offer each other. These techniques do complement one another which truly convey the consistent, humours and laid- back flow of the poem. I have also notice that many of your work compose a sudden effect of rhythm, how does this corresponds with the very visual texts that’s discussed in the
stanzas?
KS: Well that’s a very interesting question, because I find that rhythm is defiantly a great passage to grasp energy of a poem and so this technique is expressed through the visual text. In my poem Country Town nods to the very slow and drifty passage, enabling the rhythm to have a respective poetic component which I tend to play around with the words like many of my poems. Country Towns is familiarised by the classic adventures that is referred to in the 1st stanza, where it’s described that ‘public-houses of yellow,’ depicts age and how I deliberately used old terminology creating a quite lazy rhythm which fits with old Australian terms. Generally you see that the stanzas deliver its own independent structure, as I identify the first line to begin with motion before coming back to the original sleepy atmosphere that refers to visual language and metaphors such as ‘Mulberry faces’ and ‘schooner bees,’ that go hand to hand, showing the “drunken bees” and the slow momentum of the poem.
(Camera zooms out of stage, Ad-break commence)
JB: Welcome back to Groovy Artists in the Big West! Now we were just talking about your last poem Country Towns, which was really breath taking in my opinion, I couldn’t get enough, I would have talked about it all day long but we must move on to another poem. With simular quality to Country Towns, it defiantly comes across of having a different atmosphere amongst urban places. You could argue that this particular poem depicts sleazy and underbelly altitude, but still holds the nationalistic pride, is one of my personal favourite William Street. Now this poem takes my interest on its unconventional beauty found in dark or otherwise seen to be unfortunate environment. Could you explain, regardless of the gritty setting in William Street, you still repeated the words in every stanza, ‘You find this ugly, I find it lovely.’
KS: Of course James. I understand this topic can come across complex, I mean it’s strange to believe that a street with blinding lights and crowded space is considered to be lovely, but these views change. I think when you’re raised in the city like I was most of my life you tend to build up a relationship with your surroundings, and so you develop a sense of beauty that have a particular fondness, allowing you to see beauty within the disinvite features of what is familiar to you; similar to Country Towns, depicts an unusual liking to what is around you, people may be close minded and never believe that you could find comfort from the materials that are giving to you. Such as country-raised children might have a different perspective to the eye and takes what they are offered, devoting it to be the best it can. The 1st stanza in William street comments on the harsh and striking neon lights ,‘The red globes of light’ and the ‘liquor – green,’ confirms that even the most un-seemed pleasurable places will always be found beautify to those who are raised in these environments. This is why I have used a constant repetition of the line, ‘You find this ugly, I find it lovely.’
JB: I agree that people are notorious for judging to quickly when it’s devoted on the physical appeal of a place that comes across unattractive and seems unworthy because of its appearance. William Street truly focuses on this matter of perception and creates another argument on what is beauty, as the repetition of “I find it lovely” is a challenge to the audience. Despite its non-desirable features, William Street still carries a sense of affection amongst ‘ugly’ but secretly ‘lovely’ places.
KS: Yes this poem defiantly does take on a kind of sad imagery, but will always remain in my heart to be beautiful.
JB: That’s very deep… I also realise that another strong quality in William Street is the usage of sensory language, for me is one of the most striking element in your poetry. Why is it that you employ such vivid descriptions that appeal to not only sight but also smell and sound?
KS: Well that is very thought-provoking question why you must merely stop
JB: Its’ quite magnificent how you deliver yourself through your poems! I’m truly fascinated how you miraculously approach your poems to really speak out to the audience and to provoke their senses. Now what I’ll like to know is that with your most beloved poem, most Australians can agree on, is one that explores the emotion of life and loss, dealing with the concept of time and memory and of course the harsh imagery of water is spoken throughout this poem.
KS: were not talking about Beach Burial, are we?
(Audience laugh)
JB: No, but even better Five Bells! Like many Australians, Five Bells would have to be my favourite poem, not only of yours but of all Australian poets. Why is it, that your work has such wide-spread appeal?
KS: If you have read my poem, Five Bells (looks at audience) you would be familiar to the concepts. My work expresses the death of once a good friend of mine, Joe Lynch, who drowned in Sydney Harbour. Perhaps this is the reason for its wide-spread appeal, as it focuses much on iconic gestures, such as the Harbour and the tormenting bells that struck time, slowly forgetting the memories I held of Joe; time has certainly robed me of this.
JB (looking serious) I understand that Five Bells has a significant difference between time into two different kinds; that of clock time and that of memory. Could you elaborate?
KS: This is true. I believe that memory has the power to hold out images that are or once significant against the destructive force of oblivion. Through the line I mention, “Your echoes die, your voice is drowsed by life,” almost refers life to be a thief who also steals memories. Described as a crime, I ponder about his death, but I am forbid to remember his voice that has been washed and erased by time. I no longer recognise Joes’ memories to be precious themselves for they are described in the 3rd stanza to be ‘flukes’ and in other metaphors that described as ‘profitless lodgings,’ I think of Joe as the dead man, ‘gone from the earth,’ ‘gone even from the meaning of a name.’ In this same stanza, defines a memory of Joe to be a metamorphosed as a mysterious entity that I once referred as a men, he no longer carried out to be, but now is suggested as a ‘it.’ In other words I mention that it’s trying to, ‘make its fury heard,’ I saw it as an entity still attempting to be heard but is defeated by the futility of death and can’t ever be felt by the living again.
Five Bells
Darker themes – why do you think this poem has such wide-spread appeal? Universal themes
Water imagey