Well, our month of looking at George MacDonald is now finished, and to conclude it here is an essay I have written on MacDonald’s work. We have been focusing here through August on MacDonald’s poetry, but his work was far broader than that, so this essay considers not only his poetry but also his manyContinue reading “George MacDonald and the Regenerated Imagination”
Author Archives: Matthew Pullar
Run Run Ever (After George MacDonald’s “No End of No-Story”)
The first thing I ever read by George MacDonald was his most dreamy children’s novel, At the Back of the North Wind, a book which compelled me as much as it mystified me. I remember vividly the moment that I encountered the poem, sometimes entitled “No End of No-Story”, which appears in the novel – aContinue reading “Run Run Ever (After George MacDonald’s “No End of No-Story”)”
Memento Mori
Tenth birthday, and the Titanic sinks On a screen, the largest in The southern hemisphere, Drifting down beneath the waves, Wreckage waiting, submarines Plumbing depths to find its jewels, Then sunlight after deep marine, The exit into daylight scenes And Dreamworld rides and cake, With me, crestfallen, eagerness Sublimated in this breeze, This vapour recognition.
Sowing (After George MacDonald’s “Better Things”)
Like many Victorian poets, George MacDonald often wrote poems which were far longer than they needed to be and far more flowery than readers today are comfortable with. But when he succeeded with a poem, he really succeeded, at his best when his form allowed for a simplicity and crispness of language and imagery thatContinue reading “Sowing (After George MacDonald’s “Better Things”)”
Nature Boy
They say he wandered very far And left his home behind; They say he gave up kings for fools And land for tides and sea. They say he wandered ‘til he found A tree to make his throne And searched for friends who would betray And lost ones who would run. They sayContinue reading “Nature Boy”
Fragments of a Prayer (After George MacDonald’s “A Broken Prayer”)
I’ve been slipping behind a bit in my poetry project this month. There’s been a lot going on in my life! But it’s time to start catching up. So today I’m looking at one of George MacDonald’s most complex but also compelling poems, “A Broken Prayer”, a poem written in a hybrid of free andContinue reading “Fragments of a Prayer (After George MacDonald’s “A Broken Prayer”)”
Australian Christian Literature Awards
Last night SPCKA (Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge Australia) hosted the annual Australian Christian Literature Awards, which I had entered this year, submitting a collection of my poems for the Young Australian Christian Writer Award. Amazingly, I won! It was a truly humbling experience to receive the award, and I’d just like to publicly thankContinue reading “Australian Christian Literature Awards”
The Fledgling (After George MacDonald’s “Diary of an Old Soul”)
One of the most powerful and touching works that George MacDonald wrote, although also one of his least known, is his sequence of poems entitled, a little awkwardly, “A Book of Strife in the Form of the Diary of an Old Soul”. The book includes a poem for each day of the year, each oneContinue reading “The Fledgling (After George MacDonald’s “Diary of an Old Soul”)”
The Crowd Is Unbelief
For up they looked and on they walked, straight to Horizons which the world, too blind to see, All mocked and doubted; yet the endless view Of cities yet to come, lives yet to be Still drove them on, amidst the scornful crowd. The leap of faith, the movement and the dance, The downwards stabContinue reading “The Crowd Is Unbelief”
12 Poets #5: George MacDonald
Well, it’s time sadly to say goodbye to Christina Rossetti, but also time to say hello to a new poet. This month we will be looking at another great Victorian writer, the Scottish novelist, preacher and poet George MacDonald. MacDonald is more famous perhaps for his fantasy novels for children, but he was, like mostContinue reading “12 Poets #5: George MacDonald”
The Consolations of Writing 