Wright, David McKee.
Born in Co. Down, Ireland, 6th August, 1869; son of Rev. W. Wright,
author of "The Brontes in Ireland", etc. Arrived in New Zealand, 1887.
Entered Congregational Ministry, 1898. Now stationed at Nelson, N.Z.
`Aorangi, and other Verses' (1896).
`Station Ballads, and other Verses' (Dunedin, 1897).
`Wisps of Tussock' (Oamaru, 1900).
`New Zealand Chimes' (Wellington, 1900).
Some Notes on this Etext:
The poems in this etext by Gordon, Kendall, Paterson, and Lawson were compared to other texts, and it should be noted that a series of dots (. . . . .) sometimes indicates (here and elsewhere) that some lines or stanzas have been omitted. The selections from these poets indicates that Stevens was aware of their importance, but he seems to have missed the mark with regards to Paterson — and (in the original) doesn't even mention his well-known pseudonym, "Banjo". Excepting "Clancy of the Overflow", Stevens neglects Paterson's best work. There could be many reasons for this, perhaps beyond his control, ("Waltzing Matilda", for example, was not widely published until 1917), but "The Man from Snowy River" (which the movie of the same name is loosely based upon) should certainly have been included. "The Man from Ironbark", "A Bush Christening", and "Conroy's Gap" would also be good choices, and are fortunately available online in "The Man from Snowy River, and other Verses".
Other than adding "Banjo" to the lines containing Paterson's name, the only noteworthy changes made to the text were in format, including standardizing the names and titles in the table of contents with those in the text; and in the "Notes" section, where references to page numbers have been replaced with the name of the poet and poem to which the notes refer. This anthology was first published in 1907.
Accents were necessarily removed as follows:
Parkes, "The Buried Chief":
Or winge\d chariot rolling past?
Domett, "A Maori Girl's Song":
On Arapa/ I'll launch my skiff, and soon be borne away
Foott, "New Country":
Conde\ had come with us all the way —
Evans, "A Pastoral":
Darkly, like an arme\d host
Colborne-Veel, "Distant Authors":
"Aqu/i esta\ encerrada el alma licenciado Pedro Garcias."