An Awakening single work   poetry   "Spirit of better days"
Issue Details: First known date: 1835... 1835 An Awakening
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Notes

  • Published under the header 'Original Poetry'.

    Poem dated June 10th 1835

  • In Diary of Ten Years of an Eventful Life of an Early Settler in Western Australia (1884) Moore writes: 'The following lines were specially addressed to my sisters in the journal of 5th June 1835. I cannot call to mind now any particular reason for such an outburst upon myself ...' (294) However, J. M. R. Cameron notes in The Millendon Memoirs (2006) that a 'major test of the justice system' involving indigenous and white relations in Perth in 1835, with Moore acting as an important mediator and conciliator between the two, was the reason behind the writing of the poem. (380)

Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of

  • Appears in:
    y separately published work icon The Perth Gazette and Western Australian Journal vol. 3 no. 129 20 June 1835 Z1569480 1835 newspaper issue 1835 pg. 516
    Note: Written as G.
  • Appears in:
    y separately published work icon Diary of Ten Years Eventful Life of an Early Settler in Western Australia; and, Also a Descriptive Vocabulary of the Language of the Aborigines George Fletcher Moore , London : M Walbrook , 1884 Z844670 1884 selected work diary criticism poetry

    In his 'Preface: Introductory and Explanatory' to this 1884 version of his Diary, Moore describes 'the "Diary or Journal" herinafter contained ... It was commenced soon after my embarcation from Dublin ... for the space of ten years in the colony, until my first return home on leave of absence. It was not continued after that time. ' (vi) The 'original letters' were first 'carefully preserved by those to whom they were sent in [Ireland]' and later 'confided to the care of a near relative in the colony, who had expressed a great desire to see them.' (vii). They were shown to Thomas Cockburn-Campbell, half owner and editor of the West Australian newspaper who requested permission from Moore to 'publish extracts from them seriatim in his paper, according as space would admit of.' (vii). Cockburn-Campbell sent Moore 'a copy of each paper which contained an extract.' Moore 'cut out those extracts and gummed them into an album ... enabl[ing] me to publish them all here afresh.' (vii)

    With the Diary of Ten Years, Moore added 'a "Descriptive Vocabulary" of the language of the Aborigines...' (vii) originally published in 1842 and 'long out of print'. (ix)

    J. M. R. Cameron in his introduction to The Millendon Memoirs (2006) notes that the Diary 'brought together the 1834 Extracts as they appeared originally, edited by Doyle not Campbell, and Campbell's edited excerpts for the later period.... [However] Moore deleted entries for the period from 10 April to 11 June 1836 which had appeared in the [West Australian] newspaper on 4 April 1882. (viii-ix)

    London : M Walbrook , 1884
    pg. 294-296
    Note: Written as: G. F. M.
Last amended 30 Jun 2014 10:21:00
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