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Neilsen, Philip (2006) Review of Latecomers. [Composition]

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c Philip Neilsen

Copyright Philip Neilson

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Neilson, Philip (2005) A Review of the Poem Latecomers. Courier Mail: Brisbane.

© Copyright Philip Neilson

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Latecomers Jaya Savige University of Queensland Press (St Lucia, 2005)

This is a most impressive collection by a young poet, which David Malouf has fairly extolled for its “refinement of language and cadence, allusiveness and wit”. Unlike those poets who seem trapped in a safe cave of introspection, much in vogue for some years now, Savige moves easily from the personal and tender to the wider world of nature, city, national myths, the cryptic forms of death, the complexity and richness of Brisbane in the twenty first century.

One of the first casualties of introspective poetry seems to be a sense of wit, as if it is thought that the badge of good poetry is an overarching tone of ueber-sincerity to the point that it can become stifling, sententious and pompous. No wonder it is difficult to obtain a substantial readership for much that is currently published. Another drawback is a tendency to take oneself (rather than the craft) terribly seriously, and to explore every nook and cranny of a poetic persona pulsating with sensitivity. Savige is thankfully not one of that current crop, though he certainly has the courage to negotiate with and explore the emotions, and to tackle serious issues. There is a high intelligence behind his work, and an earthy feel for language that produces his best work, as in „Hamartia‟:

I was so deaf The blood came out like a handkerchief. Shirl was one of the nurses. I clambered up the scrambling net of circumstance, as it were, like I was boarding a mock ship-side.

Or again emerges when his wit is used to build resonance:

What are the best odds you can give me on the west winning back to back millennia?

Savige is clearly influenced by a certain number of poets (such as Robert Adamson) and these influences are perhaps a little too apparent in a number of the poems. One wonders what the impact is of lines so referential to John Tranter or John Forbes that they become parodic:

Spring arrived liker a car accident outside a hospital. I retched upon the golf shoes of Hippocrates.

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Though maybe that was the point – sometimes it is hard to tell with allusions. Savige could well reply that this is homage, or the redactive - but one wonders whether that moment in poetry has pretty much had its day and he should trust his own voice more, no matter how excellent these models, as his own voice is perfectly reliable. The same applies to the classical allusions (Ovid should be rested for a while perhaps by a national consensus of poets) – a sometimes slightly too fine straining after the poetic. Not that I would want to dissuade any young writer from enriching their work with their wide reading – that is definitely a plus.

But his work has most impact when it is most direct in its observation and succinctness, giving us a striking image that keeps growing in resonance – the mark of the best lyrical verse:

No panic in the fruit bat though in its jaws we witness the seed‟s failure.

Savige‟s control of rhythm and tone is often stunning as well, and he easily experiments with a wide range of forms, from the infamous long skinny poem (he handles it well, as his language bears the weight), to more traditional and disciplined forms as in „The Famous Pitch Drop Experiment‟, which brilliantly calls into mental play the university Great Court at St Lucia – a landscape etched on many minds during years of adolescence:

I try to distinguish the physics foyer in the twilight When the fleeting sandstone lintels appear identical An average interval has passed since I was here Even now the sable pitch succumbs

The fleeting sandstone lintels appear identical Within: a deadly black bird, nesting in a glass funnel Even now the sable pitch becomes Proof pending of interminable autumn

The weaving here of abstraction with concrete detail, and the use of disciplined repetition is perfectly calculated in its effect and produces a ravishing poem.

Savige is a good example of the fine writers who can emerge from creative writing courses at universities. Though there is a preponderance of fiction being written in such courses, it is exciting to find that poetry, despite its lesser rewards in the market https://eprints.qut.edu.au/25874/ place, also has its adherents. Here is a poet from which much will now be expected.

Philip Neilsen

Philip Neilsen is Professor of English and Creative Writing at QUT and editor of dotlit: the on- line journal of creative writing.

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