Petit Testament single work   poetry   "In the twenty-fifth year of my age"
Alternative title: Le Petit Testament
  • Author:agent 'Ern Malley' http://www.poetrylibrary.edu.au/poets/mcauley-james
Issue Details: First known date: 1944... 1944 Petit Testament
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Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of

  • Appears in:
    y separately published work icon Angry Penguins no. [6] Autumn 1944 Z600031 1944 periodical issue 1944 pg. 31-33
  • Appears in:
    y separately published work icon The Darkening Ecliptic 'Ern Malley' , Melbourne : Reed and Harris , 1944 Z339108 1944 collected work poetry (taught in 4 units) Melbourne : Reed and Harris , 1944 pg. 42-45
  • Appears in:
    y separately published work icon Two Centuries of Australian Poetry Mark O'Connor (editor), Melbourne : Oxford University Press , 1988 Z322247 1988 anthology poetry criticism Contains poems grouped into 18 thematic sections (19 in 2nd. ed.) ; each section has an introduction, notes and suggestions for study activities and further study. Biographical notes on authors and indexes also included. Melbourne : Oxford University Press , 1988 pg. 145-146
  • Appears in:
    y separately published work icon The Penguin Book of Modern Australian Poetry John Tranter (editor), Philip Mead (editor), Ringwood : Penguin , 1991 Z151302 1991 anthology poetry Ringwood : Penguin , 1991 pg. 99-100
  • Appears in:
    y separately published work icon Jacket no. 1 October 1997 Z893629 1997 periodical issue 1997
  • Appears in:
    y separately published work icon Australian Verse : An Oxford Anthology John Leonard (editor), Melbourne : Oxford University Press , 1998 Z461207 1998 anthology poetry (taught in 1 units) A thorough survey of poetry by Australians in English, beginning with a selection of contemporary work by younger poets, and going backward in time to the early colonial period. In addition to poems in the literary tradition, it indudes performance poetry, convict songs and old bush ballads. An extensive selection has been provided from the work of five major twentieth-century poets: Les Murray, Gwen Harwood, Judith Wright, A.D. Hope and Kenneth Slessor. Several features are provided to assist the reader: the date of first publication of each poem is provided; footnotes explain unfamiliar words and allusions; and brief biographical notes assist in locating each poet in his or her place in time. Melbourne : Oxford University Press , 1998 pg. 197-199
  • Appears in:
    y separately published work icon A Return to Poetry 2000 Michael Duffy (editor), Potts Point : Duffy and Snellgrove , 2000 Z668260 2000 anthology poetry Ten Australian poetry-lovers, Peter Coleman, Rosemary Dobson, Peter Goldsworthy, Jamie Grant, Marion Halligan, Ashely Hay, David Malouf, Richard Tognetti, Robyn Williams and Salvatore Zofrea, present their favourite poems. Each selector was asked to choose ten of their favourite poems, with the condition that half the poems be written by Australians. Potts Point : Duffy and Snellgrove , 2000 pg. 162-163
  • Appears in:
    y separately published work icon Jacket no. 17 June 2002 Z1040748 2002 periodical issue Special Hoax Issue 2002
  • Appears in:
    y separately published work icon The Penguin Anthology of Australian Poetry John Kinsella (editor), Camberwell : Penguin , 2009 Z1553543 2009 anthology poetry (taught in 16 units)

    'This is a comprehensive survey of Australian poetic achievement, ranging from early colonial and indigenous verse to contemporary work, from the major poets to those who deserve to be better recognised.' (Provided by the publisher).

    Camberwell : Penguin , 2009
    pg. 193-195
  • Appears in:
    y separately published work icon Macquarie PEN Anthology of Australian Literature Nicholas Jose (editor), Kerryn Goldsworthy (editor), Anita Heiss (editor), David McCooey (editor), Peter Minter (editor), Nicole Moore (editor), Elizabeth Webby (editor), Crows Nest : Allen and Unwin , 2009 Z1590615 2009 anthology correspondence diary drama essay extract poetry prose short story (taught in 23 units)

    'Some of the best, most significant writing produced in Australia over more than two centuries is gathered in this landmark anthology. Covering all genres - from fiction, poetry and drama to diaries, letters, essays and speeches - the anthology maps the development of one of the great literatures in English in all its energy and variety.

    'The writing reflects the diverse experiences of Australians in their encounter with their extraordinary environment and with themselves. This is literature of struggle, conflict and creative survival. It is literature of lives lived at the extremes, of frontiers between cultures, of new dimensions of experience, where imagination expands.

    'This rich, informative and entertaining collection charts the formation of an Australian voice that draws inventively on Indigenous words, migrant speech and slang, with a cheeky, subversive humour always to the fore. For the first time, Aboriginal writings are interleaved with other English-language writings throughout - from Bennelong's 1796 letter to the contemporary flowering of Indigenous fiction and poetry - setting up an exchange that reveals Australian history in stark new ways.

    'From vivid settler accounts to haunting gothic tales, from raw protest to feisty urban satire and playful literary experiment, from passionate love poetry to moving memoir, the Macquarie PEN Anthology of Australian Literature reflects the creative eloquence of a society.

    'Chosen by a team of expert editors, who have provided illuminating essays about their selections, and with more than 500 works from over 300 authors, it is an authoritative survey and a rich world of reading to be enjoyed.' (Publisher's blurb)

    Allen and Unwin have a YouTube channel with a number of useful videos on the Anthology.

    Crows Nest : Allen and Unwin , 2009
    pg. 628-629
  • Appears in:
    y separately published work icon The Puncher & Wattmann Anthology of Australian Poetry John Leonard (editor), Glebe : Puncher and Wattmann , 2009 Z1674214 2009 anthology poetry (taught in 16 units) Glebe : Puncher and Wattmann , 2009 pg. 257-258
  • Appears in:
    y separately published work icon Australian Poetry Since 1788 Geoffrey Lehmann (editor), Robert Gray (editor), Sydney : University of New South Wales Press , 2011 Z1803846 2011 anthology poetry (taught in 1 units) 'A good poem is one that the world can’t forget or is delighted to rediscover. This landmark anthology of Australian poetry, edited by two of Australia’s foremost poets, Geoffrey Lehmann and Robert Gray, contains such poems. It is the first of its kind for Australia and promises to become a classic. Included here are Australia’s major poets, and lesser-known but equally affecting ones, and all manifestations of Australian poetry since 1788, from concrete poems to prose poems, from the cerebral to the naïve, from the humorous to the confessional, and from formal to free verse. Translations of some striking Aboriginal song poems are one of the high points. Containing over 1000 poems from 170 Australian poets, as well as short critical biographies, this careful reevaluation of Australian poetry makes this a superb book that can be read and enjoyed over a lifetime.' (From the publisher's website.) Sydney : University of New South Wales Press , 2011 pg. 466-467
    Note: With title: Le Petit Testament

Works about this Work

Ern Malley and the Art of Life Amelia Walker , 2010 single work criticism
— Appears in: Cordite Poetry Review , December vol. 34 no. 2010;
'During a panel at the 2010 Salt on the Tongue poetry festival in Goolwa, SA, one audience member slammed performance poetry as being ‘more about the poet than the poetry’. Their intention was to damn performance poetry as an inferior genre – the undereducated, overcelebrated, buck-toothed cousin of real literature. Inadvertently, though, the comment hit upon a much bigger issue than that same tired line in the sand. As a sometimes performance poet sitting just a few rows back, I was not so much insulted as amused by the attack. Yes, I thought to myself, there’s a grain of truth in that – perhaps not more, but often as much – but how is page poetry any different?'
'Petit Testament' : A Reading (from: The Collected Works of Ern Malley and Adore Floupette, a work-in-progress) David Brooks , 2006 extract criticism
— Appears in: Jacket , April no. 29 2006;
The Well-Wrought Ern Carl Harrison-Ford , 1994 single work criticism
— Appears in: Southerly , September vol. 54 no. 3 1994; (p. 84-100)
The Sole Arabian Tree Sidney Nolan , 1944 single work art work
The Sole Arabian Tree Sidney Nolan , 1944 single work art work
'Petit Testament' : A Reading (from: The Collected Works of Ern Malley and Adore Floupette, a work-in-progress) David Brooks , 2006 extract criticism
— Appears in: Jacket , April no. 29 2006;
Ern Malley and the Art of Life Amelia Walker , 2010 single work criticism
— Appears in: Cordite Poetry Review , December vol. 34 no. 2010;
'During a panel at the 2010 Salt on the Tongue poetry festival in Goolwa, SA, one audience member slammed performance poetry as being ‘more about the poet than the poetry’. Their intention was to damn performance poetry as an inferior genre – the undereducated, overcelebrated, buck-toothed cousin of real literature. Inadvertently, though, the comment hit upon a much bigger issue than that same tired line in the sand. As a sometimes performance poet sitting just a few rows back, I was not so much insulted as amused by the attack. Yes, I thought to myself, there’s a grain of truth in that – perhaps not more, but often as much – but how is page poetry any different?'
The Well-Wrought Ern Carl Harrison-Ford , 1994 single work criticism
— Appears in: Southerly , September vol. 54 no. 3 1994; (p. 84-100)
Last amended 17 Jun 2013 12:02:24
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