Henry Lawson The Bush Poet

by Miroslava Jurcik

Title

Henry Lawson The Bush Poet

Artist

Miroslava Jurcik

Medium

Photograph - Photograph

Description

Wax figure at the Sydney wax museum, Australia. Henry Lawson was born on June 17, 1867, in Grenfell, Australia.
Henry Lawson is remembered today as Australia's poet of the people. His difficulties in life shaped his writings and are what makes them an inspiration to many Australians. He wrote short stories and ballad-like poems, illuminating the lives of rural, working Australians. Lawson is often called "Australia's greatest writer." During the colonial period, he traveled extensively, and was frequently published in the Bulletin. He died impoverished in 1922.
It's people and situations that make his writing, and the key was his genius as an observer of human interaction. He caught the subtleties of behaviour and effort, dreams and despair, character and atmosphere.
Henry fell in love with Mary Gilmore, a fellow writer, but she refused his marriage proposal. Years later in 1896 he married Bertha Bredt and had two children. Seeking a wider audience, the family sailed to England in 1900 where he did some of his best writing. Illness, bankruptcy and the English weather among other reasons caused the Lawsons to return to Australia in 1902.
In an unhappy marriage, Henry and Bertha separated and he started drinking heavily. Lawson's life was filled with disappointments and he became a bitter man. During the years 1905 to 1910 he was in and out of prison for inebriation and non-payment of maintenance. Henry's sadness became a theme in many of his poems. It was through his writing that he was able to express his feelings about the hardships of bush life, love won and lost, and living in a world that often confused him.
However, his life was not all sadness. He valued the friendships he made while talking to his mates over a beer. He was also known for his kindness to homeless people down on their luck. It was because he felt he didn't have much luck in his own life that he felt a connection to them.
At the end of his life Lawson became physically and mentally ill. Although he spent time in mental hospitals and rehabilitation sanatoriums, he never really recovered from his problems. Henry Lawson died 2 September 1922, at the age of 55, in Abbotsford, NSW.
Despite his problems, he never lost the people's admiration. As a sign of respect, the Australian government gave him a state funeral - the first for a writer.
http://www.alldownunder.com/australian-authors/henry-lawson/
https://www.poemhunter.com/henry-lawson/

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July 11th, 2018

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