To a child born in a marvelous year...

[errantmeme]

My favourite NZ poet, Allen Curnow, would have turned 100 today.  Russel Brown wrote a really nice tribute to him here

The last two lines of this poem haunt me, too, but I think of it as much as being about a new person in a new part of the world.  Curnow is pretty much the most antipodean poet we have.  Everything is backing away.

The Skeleton of

Comments

[infloresence]

Beautiful poem. It was referenced by contemporary NZ poet Glenn Colquhoun in the title of his book 'The Art Of Standing Upright'.

A really nice book, worth acquiring. More about it here:

http://www.abc.net.au/rn/poetica/stories/2011/3241344.htm?site=brisbane

[errantmeme]

Yeah, I know Glenn Colguhon. I am wondering if his particular use of that line particularly gestures towards the evolution/religion thing, since he's Christian. There's also a band who has a line from this poem as their album title... those two lines are deep, deeply embedded in the NZ consciousness. Love it.