Sweet William single work   poetry   "I have avoided your wide English eyes:"
  • Author:agent 'Ern Malley' http://www.poetrylibrary.edu.au/poets/mcauley-james
Issue Details: First known date: 1944... 1944 Sweet William
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Notes

  • 'Sweet William' is one of seven poems from The Darkening Ecliptic that was cited during the Angry Penguins obscenity trial. The trial was conducted in Adelaide in September 1944. Although the poem can be understood to contain allusions to rape, Max Harris testifed that the poem's intent was to depict a man 'at conflict with himself, without reference to anything else beside his mental condition'.

    (Source for Harris' testimony: The Ern Malley Affair by Michael Heyward. St Lucia: University of Queensland Press, 1993)

Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of

Works about this Work

Angry Penguins Prosecution 1944 single work criticism
— Appears in: Angry Penguins , December no. [7] 1944; (p. 103-105)
Angry Penguins Prosecution 1944 single work criticism
— Appears in: Angry Penguins , December no. [7] 1944; (p. 103-105)
Last amended 30 Jul 2003 16:42:48
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