Kenneth Slessor’s Collected Poems brings together for the first time the diverse poetic achievements of one of Australia’s finest and most accomplished poets. Slessor’s work takes the reader on an imaginative journey from the satiric to the lyrical, from the tragic to the the light-hearted, from the back streets of Sydney to the battlefields of World War II.
These are poems rich with image and intelligence, flooded with a heightened sensory awareness and a strong power of rhythm, music and sound in language. Collected Poems reveals the range, power and flexibility of this exceptional poet, and the comprehensive notes in the is edition make his fully accessible.
By 1957 Slessor had long ceased to publish any new poetry … Slessor’s silence when at the height of his powers has been one of the great mysteries and disappointments of Australian literature … Collected Poems provides a picture of Slessor’s whole poetic output.
Dennis Haskell and Geoffrey Dutton, from the Preface
Contents: Collected Poems
