The Bulletin Reciter. Bulletin Newspaper Co. Ltd., Sydney., 1901

Component identifier:

Item 10

Content Summary:

First edition. Original decorated cloth. This contains Marian's Child, reprinted from the issue of the Bulletin, 4 May 1895 - perhaps Shaw Neilson's first appearance in a book.

This grim poem is a recital by a young woman, of the murder and burial by her, of a sister's illegitimate child. It has been excluded from all the published editions of Neilson's poems. The poet makes no reference to these verses in his Autobiography. He writes at length of sending Polly, and Dad, and the Spring Cart to the Bulletin and gives the impression that this set of verses was his first appearance in that paper (December 1896). As Marian's Child had appeared eighteen months before he had either forgotten this fact, or chose to ignore it. Perhaps the latter, for on matters of detail and dates, Neilson's memory was remarkably good and many of his related facts are confirmed by letters and other papers contained in the H.F. Chaplin collection. James Devaney does not make any mention of this poem, either, in his biography of Neilson.

Writing in the Bread and Cheese Memorial Booklet (Melbourne 1942) Mary Gilmore says that this poem was written by Neilson when he was only fourteen years old, also that the poet did not know that his script had been sent to the Bulletin, learning of it only when the poem appeared in the paper. Frank Neilson however, has written that his brother was nearer to twenty-five years old when he wrote the poem, which was inspired by the reading of Adam Bede by George Eliot, and the impression made upon him by the sad experience of Hetty Sorrel in this story.

See Southerly, Item No.55, for annotation by Frank Neilson upon this poem. Other references are to be found in Frank Neilson's letters to James Devaney. See Item No.54.

Names:

John Shaw Neilson

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