Wednesday, February 03, 2016

A New Poet (at least to me)

An oldie of mine--
a shrimp trawler working off Carolina Beach
During the Australian Open this year, there was a commercial advertising Melbourne as a travel destination.  The commercial showed scenes from around that part of the island continent, as a woman read from a poem by E. J. Brady titled: “Far and Wide.”  I’d never heard of Brady, but I liked the poem and though the advertisement was wonderful (except that they over played it, as it seemed to run several times every set).  Wanting to know more, I goggled E. J. Brady and learned that he was an Australian, the son of Irish immigrants, who was born in New South Wales.  He started to work as a clerk on the wharves in Sydney, but lost his job in a strike due to his labor activities.  But it was there, as he encountered seamen from all over the world, that he developed a love for the sea.  After leaving the wharf, he held a variety of positions writing and editing for newspapers, many that supported labor politics.  His poetry captures the love of the ocean and the challenge of the seas as he utilizes the slang of the seamen.  He is also known for his love for the Land Down Under.  

In “With Coal to Calloa,” he writes about a young seaman leaving his lover on the docks, but a fire breaks out in the ship and it burns and is destroyed just ten days from its destination.  In “The Blazing Star,” he writes about a solid brigantine sailing the seas out of Boston, around the horn, to the North Pacific whaling waters and makes good time like the Flying Dutchman.  But probably my favorite song is “Coast of Dreams,” as it speaks to me in my current condition.  Brady died in 1952.

Here are some excerpts of “Coast of Dreams.”  The poem begins:

The window of my sick room fronts
                A screw-tormented bay,
When porcine Commerce squeals and grunts,   
                And wallows day by day.

Fat, vulgar tramps, in moving cloud
                Of smoke, encircled round,
With bull-voiced sirens bellow loud
                For pilots-outward bound.

Lately, I know what it is like to be in a “sick room” and long to be on the water, or to be free to travel and explore.  A few verses later, these lines really caught my attention.

The lusts of travel, like a net,
                My sick-bed fancies snare;
My thoughts on outward currents set
                To glories otherwhere.

The liner’s but a huge hotel;
                She holds no charm for me;
My Soul demands the heave and swell
                Of decks that lip the Sea.

Even while laid up, I have thoughts of glories around the globe waiting to be experienced…  and a desire for the heave and swell.  The poem closes:

Aye! Surely as all flesh is grass,
                The far lands fairer seem,
So roving hearts for e’er must past

                Adown the Coasts of Dream.

30 comments:

  1. I'm sorry you are sick and hope you get out on the water again soon. Nice pic of Carolina Beach, which is right down the road from me.

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    1. I don't know if I'd call it sick, it's not like I have the flu. I was referring to an accident with my leg in which I tore my quad tendon and am left with limited mobility. I have four more weeks before they'll start rehab (six weeks from surgery).

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  2. I have always wanted to enjoy poetry but it is a struggle for me. My brain evidently isn't wired for easy comprehension. I remember back in school having to really struggle interpreting Shakespeare when most of my peers seemed to grasp it almost intuitively. Still, I admire those who can craft such poems, even if it takes me longer to grasp their full meaning.

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    1. Brady's poetry is more like a ballad and I find it easier to understand.

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  3. I love poetry for its emotion and prose. Being sick and a traveler/adventurer would be difficult.

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    1. Yeah, it sucks but it also gives me time to dream :)

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  4. I agree. Books, new authors, old true and blue ones, they all make every moment of reading so darn wonderful. I also find your posts always engaging, witty and often funny. Hope things are on a good mend for you too. Of course you can recall all your fond memories of being on the water, just close your eyes and dream!

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    1. Glad you enjoy my posts--I don't have a theme, but try to do all kinds of stuff. And lately I've done some dreaming!

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  5. These are wonderful poems by someone I've never heard of until now. I plan on Googling him.

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    1. He was pretty prolific and at the site I linked to, there are 80 some of his poems available.

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  6. It's very hard to treat with Oz poets before about 1970. Before that they were adjuncts of European trends. New Zealand was the same to some extent but in NZ the native Maori had a greater position.
    You can generally read the Latin poets, Horace mostly in the poems.

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    1. Being Irish, he should have had some good genes for poetry

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  7. First off, I hope you get better soon. Secondly, thanks for the introduction. I enjoyed those excerpts.

    Greetings from London.

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  8. I like the structure and flow to that poem. It's very nice. The photo's gorgeous too, Sage. Thank you for sharing.

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    1. I enjoyed most of his poetry and that is a favorite photo of mine.

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  9. I've been reading more and more poetry over the past year, for the first time in my life. Thanks for sharing.

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  10. I like the poem and LOVE your photo! You are multi-talented my friend.
    The poem really does sound like the lyrics to a ballad.
    Hope your leg is feeling somewhat better.

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    1. My leg is there--three and a half weeks till they start bending it!

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  11. Hope your leg heals quickly!

    It's always nice to find a new poet you enjoy reading!

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  12. That is a beautiful photo. Hope you are healing nicely.

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  13. Rhyming poetry seems very difficult to do but these excerpts are quite nice.

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  14. I like the excerpts of the poem you shared.

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  15. I don't read as much poetry as I did during my college days, but I still enjoy it. I've never read this poet before. Thanks for sharing.

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  16. Ooh, that is lovely. I'm always attracted by sea imagery. I empathise with this especially:
    The liner’s but a huge hotel;
    She holds no charm for me;
    My Soul demands the heave and swell
    Of decks that lip the Sea.

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