The Poetry of Rosemary Dobson

Abstract

In some poetry the sense of the fineness of artistic organization is a particularly important part of what is conveyed. Among Australian poets Rosemary Dobson's work has always attracted me by this aesthetic quality. I have found more enjoyment in reading and re-reading it than in read ing most of my Australian contemporaries. This is true, I know, for quite a number of people besides myself. But wide appreciation of her work has not resulted in many critical essays about her. It isn't easy in fact to write about her work. It speaks for itself: not only in what it explicitly says, but also in what it elusively suggests. In spite of this, I am determined to try to act as an interpreter, to quicken further appreciation. But this is not a comprehensive treatment, merely a response to certain aspects.