In “Under the Summer Leaves” (1988), one of his many poems in which an isolated figure, walking through a landscape, vividly registers the details of the natural world, Robert Gray, one of Australia’s most renowned poets, glances at “saplings from Tom Roberts, / and paperbarks that Nolan has taught us to see” (
New Selected Poems204). By acknowledging the influence of these painters on the way Australians “see” their environment, Gray makes us aware of the nature of his own task, one he has pursued through seven volumes of verse and numerous selected editions during a career spanning more than 30 years.
On the surface this task is a simple one: to present, detail by detail, those elements of a setting which combine to influence the mood of its human observer, and to bring to
1946 words
Citation: McInerney, Stephen. "Robert Gray". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 12 April 2006 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=1849, accessed 04 May 2024.]
