SOURCE: Cox, P. B. “Charles Harpur and the Early Australian Poets, 1810-1860.” Journal of the Royal Australian Historical Society 25, no. 4 (1939): 249-67.

In the following essay, Cox discusses several of the most significant Australian poets from the first half of the nineteenth century.

I am privileged this evening to address you on the subject of “Charles Harpur and the Early Australian Poets.” My talk will cover a period of fifty years, and I propose to deal with all the principal poets within these limits. I shall, therefore, traverse the poetical work in New South Wales from the humble beginnings down to the period of which Gordon, Kendall and Brunton Stephens are the outstanding figures. Neither the quantity nor the quality of the work produced at this time is especially noteworthy, judged by the best standards. It may be, however, that it is remarkable that there was so much work...