Henry Lawson

A detailed Summary of Henry Lawson

Henry Lawson, also referred to as 'the peoples person', was one of Australia's best well-known and respected poets. His works have been said to be an integral part of our national identity and culture and reflect the current events that were occurring at a time during his life. These influences were the Asianisation of Australia, the bush and it's people, his feelings, thoughts and emotions.

Lawson was born on the goldfields of Grenfell, New South Wales in 1867 and later passed away in 1922. As a young child Lawson was faced with the problem of limited resources and it was because of this that all of his education was taught by his very independent and influential mother, Louisa. At only nine years of age Lawson was struck down with an ear infection that left him partly deaf. Due to this problem by his fourteenth birthday Lawson was diagnosed completely deaf. This is the reason that he obtained a great talent for observing people and the way in which they acted. This is seen in the following verse:

"I look in vain for traces of the fresh and fair and sweet,

In swallow, sunken faces that are drifting through the street,

Drifting on, drifting on, to the scrape of restless feet,

The world through Henry Lawson's eyes was one of which all Australians could understand and relate to. His poetry held emotions of all different kinds but the strongest one you felt when reading the poem 'Eureka' published in 1889 is one of horrific reality and truth to what was occurring in this period of time. During the time that Lawson wrote this poems Australia was facing many challenges to stay as an independent country and not follow the influences of other countries. This poem relates to the envisage revolutionary change that Lawson wanted and he wanted his readers far and wide to understand this. This is shown in the last verse of 'Eureka';

Read dominantly this poem is similar in context to Lawson's other poems by means of how in depth he relates a story to us and the truth of his words about banning together and fighting for justice.

In the early 1900's Henry Lawson became all but too aware of the Asianisation of Australia and his works began to reflect his political ideology of which three major subjects kept on constantly appearing in his writings. These are, the promotion of a republic, the belief in a European Australia and the last, the desire for social justice. This appears in the poem 'To be Amused' written in 1906 with the verses:

"In the roll-up of Australians on our darkest, grandest day!"

Some common words found in the essay are:
Henry Lawson's, South Wales, South South, Henry Lawson, Asianisation Australia, European Australia, Australia Australian's, China Japan, revolutionary change, henry lawson, purpose poem, poem 'eureka', lawson wrote, reading poem 'eureka', future australia, reading poem, feelings emotions, lawson born, darkest grandest, integral national identity, darkest grandest day, national identity culture,

Approximate Word count = 1541
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: People

join now Save Paper

Saved Paper

Save your papers so you can locate them quickly!

Newest Essays

Testimonials

"Thank You So Much!!! You have saved me once again!!!"
Jack M.
"With so many papers to chose from, I was able to get ideas to help me with all of my classes. Thank You!"
Brian P.
"I've used this site for the last 3 years to help me come up with ideas for my papers."
Sara J.
"I use this site every week to help me write my own papers!"
Rachel W.
"I love this site!!!"
Marie N.

Henry Lawson

Related Essays

Professional Essays

Saved Paper

Newest Essays

Testimonials