Issue Details: First known date: 1963... 1963 A Beachcomber's Diary : Ninety Sea Sonnets
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Contents

* Contents derived from the Sydney, New South Wales,:Angus and Robertson , 1963 version. Please note that other versions/publications may contain different contents. See the Publication Details.
The Rocksi"It is the sea, and not this snarl of rocks, that is angry", John Blight , single work poetry (p. 1)
The Wavei"The wave is something, yet - nothing.", John Blight , single work poetry (p. 2)
The Islandi"The island is lost ground; an acre or two", John Blight , single work poetry (p. 3)
Low Tidei"The slavishly hidden sands... I remember", John Blight , single work poetry (p. 4)
Sea Leveli"Over this flat-pan sea, this mud haven,", John Blight , single work poetry (p. 5)
Cormorantsi"The sea has it this way : if you see", John Blight , single work poetry (p. 6)
Mangrovei"I saw its periscope in the tide;", John Blight , single work poetry (p. 7)
The Jellyfishi"In lewd imitation of woman, heavy upon the tide,", John Blight , single work poetry (p. 8)
Beach Floweri"I looked at that plant flowering yellow", John Blight , single work poetry (p. 9)
The Dead Fishi"A flat papery fish, like a cured head,", John Blight , single work poetry (p. 10)
Porpoisesi"Porpoises, so far from their green, salt garden;", John Blight , single work poetry (p. 11)
Seaweedi"There is the brown dress, tattered, in shreds,", John Blight , single work poetry (p. 12)
Small Fryi"I saw such tiny fish: they'd take a year", John Blight , single work poetry (p. 13)
The Lighthousei"The lighthouse stands nipple-raised in the wind", John Blight , single work poetry (p. 14)
Stonefish and Starfishi"These are the first shapes: stonefish and starfish.", John Blight , single work poetry (p. 15)
Sea Waspi"I know the animals with heads and eyes", John Blight , single work poetry (p. 16)
Dinghiesi"Dinghies, those disreputable carts of the sea,", John Blight , single work poetry (p. 17)
Death of a Whalei"When the mouse died, there was a sort of pity:", John Blight , single work poetry (p. 18)
Beaconi"This man in the blue-striped guernsey, this semaphore,", John Blight , single work poetry (p. 19)
Crabi"Shellfish and octopus and all the insane", John Blight , single work poetry (p. 20)

Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of

Works about this Work

The Sea Will Be There: John Blight's Beachcombing Days Kay Ferres , 2017 single work criticism
— Appears in: Queensland Review , December vol. 24 no. 2 2017; (p. 215-228)

'According to Judith Wright, John Blight's best poems were about the sea. From the 1940s, when he lived around the Sunshine Coast, he wrote about the rhythms of life by the sea and about human relationships with the more than human world. In the 1960s, he published 180 sonnets in two volumes, A Beachcomber's Diary and My Beachcombing Days. The sonnet form, he said, cut him down to size. This paper considers Blight's work and its engagement with the littoral zone: the seascapes and ecology of the Sunshine Coast. It attempts to hear the sea's voices — muffled, indistinct — and to illuminate Blight's ideas about its alien nature.' (Abstract)

'Poets are Always Writing About the Sea...' Stephany Steggall , 2011 single work criticism
— Appears in: Fryer Folios , June vol. 6 no. 1 2011; (p. 11-13)
Stephany Steggall writes about the papers of poet John Blight in Fryer Library, particularly his correspondence with Judith Wright.
Two Views of the Poetry of John Blight : II David Malouf , 1976 single work criticism
— Appears in: Southerly , March vol. 36 no. 1 1976; (p. 56-70)
Two Views of the Poetry of John Blight : I Bruce Beaver , 1976 single work criticism
— Appears in: Southerly , March vol. 36 no. 1 1976; (p. 50-56)
Untitled Kenneth Slessor , 1970 single work criticism
— Appears in: Bread and Wine : Selected Prose 1970; (p. 185-86)
Quotes 'Death of a Whale' and makes a brief critical comment.
Untitled Flexmore Hudson , 1964 single work review
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , May vol. 3 no. 7 1964; (p. 132)

— Review of A Beachcomber's Diary : Ninety Sea Sonnets John Blight , 1963 selected work poetry
Untitled A. A. Phillips , 1968 single work review
— Appears in: Overland , March 1968; (p. 28)

— Review of A Beachcomber's Diary : Ninety Sea Sonnets John Blight , 1963 selected work poetry
Reviews Peter Jeffery , 1964 single work review
— Appears in: Westerly , no. 4 1964; (p. 55,57,59)

— Review of In Light and Darkness Chris Wallace-Crabbe , 1963 selected work poetry ; A Beachcomber's Diary : Ninety Sea Sonnets John Blight , 1963 selected work poetry ; Poems [Volume 1] Gwen Harwood , 1963 selected work poetry
Among the Minors : A Review of Australian Poetry Published in 1963 S. E. Lee , 1964 single work review
— Appears in: Southerly , vol. 24 no. 2 1964; (p. 131-137)

— Review of In Light and Darkness Chris Wallace-Crabbe , 1963 selected work poetry ; Forty Beads on a Hangman's Rope : Fragments of Memory Rodney Hall , 1963 sequence poetry ; A Beachcomber's Diary : Ninety Sea Sonnets John Blight , 1963 selected work poetry ; Eight by Eight : Poems David Martin , Vincent Buckley , Alexander Craig , Laurence Collinson , Max Dunn , R. A. Simpson , Noel Macainsh , Chris Wallace-Crabbe , 1963 anthology poetry ; Poems [Volume 1] Gwen Harwood , 1963 selected work poetry ; Australian Poetry 1963 1963 anthology poetry ; Selected Lyrics A. Evan Williams , 1963 selected work poetry ; The North-Bound Rider Ian Mudie , 1963 selected work poetry ; Aurora Australis F. J. H. Letters , 1963 selected work poetry ; Pistils for Two Pat Flower , 1963 selected work poetry ; Red Scarf Grace Perry , 1963 selected work poetry
Slim Volumes Flexmore Hudson , 1964 single work review
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , May vol. 3 no. 7 1964; (p. 132)

— Review of In Light and Darkness Chris Wallace-Crabbe , 1963 selected work poetry ; A Beachcomber's Diary : Ninety Sea Sonnets John Blight , 1963 selected work poetry ; Poems [Volume 1] Gwen Harwood , 1963 selected work poetry
Untitled Kenneth Slessor , 1970 single work criticism
— Appears in: Bread and Wine : Selected Prose 1970; (p. 185-86)
Quotes 'Death of a Whale' and makes a brief critical comment.
Two Views of the Poetry of John Blight : I Bruce Beaver , 1976 single work criticism
— Appears in: Southerly , March vol. 36 no. 1 1976; (p. 50-56)
'Poets are Always Writing About the Sea...' Stephany Steggall , 2011 single work criticism
— Appears in: Fryer Folios , June vol. 6 no. 1 2011; (p. 11-13)
Stephany Steggall writes about the papers of poet John Blight in Fryer Library, particularly his correspondence with Judith Wright.
Two Views of the Poetry of John Blight : II David Malouf , 1976 single work criticism
— Appears in: Southerly , March vol. 36 no. 1 1976; (p. 56-70)
John Blight's Earlier Poetry Alan Frost , 1965 single work criticism
— Appears in: Makar , August no. 22 1965; (p. 18-26)
Last amended 26 Jul 2006 12:00:46
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