Writing poetry is the only form of literary labour which gives me entire satisfaction.

I have no fondness for pure form at all.

Poetry is either language lit up by life or life lit up by language

In other words the pictures are in a kind of relationship with each other which is touching only at points rather than pictures being illustrations of poems or poems extrapolations of the pictures.

Writing poetry is the only form of literary labour which gives me entire satisfaction.

It is Australian innocence to love The naturally excessive and be proud Of a thoroughbred gelding who ran fast.

I started off in England and very few people knew I was Australian. I mean, the clues were in the poems, but they didn't read them very carefully, and so for years and years I was considered completely part of the English poetry scene.