Tag Archives: Frank Sargeson
“Stellar Tapers in the Night” — Stanzas 235 to 242
Res Publica, Book One, Canto the Third 235. My eyes were stunned. My ears heard blister! Raw-pain! Sun! ‘Was someone there?’ ‘Indeed there was! And dying for air!’ As it turned out, a dock-mate’s sister’s brother-in-law – a friend in … Continue reading
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Arrival of the Muse — Stanzas 144 to 149
Res Publica, Book One, Canto the Second 144. I watched Meg sleep – and felt the world reposeful too: the gurgling tide, the lips of stratus spreading wide, a tongue of moist blue sky unfurled. Deep breath! A nose full … Continue reading
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The Writer’s Price — Stanzas 123 to 129
Res Publica, Book One, Canto the Second 123. I feel death’s firm finality; my absence from this world; and it from me. I am, I must admit, enamored of mortality. That’s not the case with my poor guest (whose home … Continue reading
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I Write! I Build! — Stanzas 117 to 122
Res Publica, Book One, Canto the Second 117. But beauty bejeweled is beauty matured! Just look at Keisha Castle-Hughes.71 ’Twas Oscar’s gild that made her lose her youth – and made her fame assured. Or look at Van Gogh. Who … Continue reading
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To Loneliness! — Stanzas 103 to 108
Res Publica, Book One, Canto the Second In which our narrator muses about what it means to be a writer in New Zealand . . . 103. A brief aside: I’m hungry and tired. The following lines may have to … Continue reading
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A Fearful, Priceless Thing — Stanzas 58 & 59
Res Publica, Book One, Canto the First 58. For part of me enjoys such places. And part of me would rather play the dreamer than the writer – and stay there in my thoughts . . . My writing space … Continue reading
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Protected: The Beach is Best for Bonkin’
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“99 Ways” — The A-to-Y of New Zealand Poetry
99 Ways Into New Zealand Poetry Paula Green, Harry Ricketts and poets as credited Vintage, Random House 624 pages, NZ$46.00 New Zealand! How much I love you! And how much more I’d love you all to myself. But let’s … Continue reading
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NZ Poetry Day: Lines from Res Publica, Book One
The narrator in this scene is hiding out at writer Frank Sargeson’s bach in Takapuna, on Auckland’s North Shore. As he writes his epic story, he takes a moment to contemplate New Zealand’s literature. Lines from Res Publica, Book One … Continue reading
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