That Which My Eyes See: Words & pictures from Hans Heysen's The Cedars

By Kevin Stead

This delightful compilation of poems by the South Australian Ginninderra Poets serves to continue the acknowledged presence of poetry as an identified and treasured element of family life at The Cedars. The works selected, along with Kevin Stead’s drawings, capture the unique spirit of this very special place. 

Allan Campbell, C

• Language: English
• Publisher: Debbie Lee
• Release date: Apr 19, 2016
• ISBN: 9781760411367

Book preview

That Which My Eyes See

That Which My Eyes See

Words & pictures from Hans Heysen’s The Cedars

Ann Nadge

Illustrated by

Kevin Stead

Ginninderra Press

Contents

Copyright

Preface

Introduction

That Which My Eyes See

Contributors

That Which My Eyes See: Words & pictures from Hans Heysen’s The Cedars

ISBN 978 1 76041 136 7

Copyright © poems individual poets 2011

Copyright © this collection Ginninderra Press 2011

Copyright © cover image and internal illustrations Kevin Stead 2011

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All rights reserved. No part of this ebook may be reproduced, distributed or transmitted in any form or by any means without the prior written permission of the copyright holder. Requests for permission should be sent to the publisher at the address below.

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Print edition (978 1 74027 655 9) published 2011

Ebook edition published 2016

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Ginninderra Press

PO Box 3461 Port Adelaide SA 5015

www.ginninderrapress.com.au

Preface

Hans Heysen has been referred to as both ‘a poet of the saplings’ and ‘the Wordsworth of the palette’. Indeed, the artist's superb rhythmic compositions of the Arcadian bush identify his most favoured and admired subject. He was to refer to the gum as ‘a poet’s tree, a painter’s tree’ and his fascination for this subject conveyed a genuine respect and admiration for the dignity of his environment and his complete reverence for nature in all its beauty.

The Cedars has a long history of a dedicated appreciation of poetry. The shelves of the library are richly endowed with the classic works of Tennyson, Scott, Shelley, Milton and Keats, together with the Antipodean verse of Hugh McCrea, Christopher Brennan, Adam Lindsay Gordon, Henry Kendall, Kenneth Slessor, Henry Lawson and A.B. Paterson. Sally Heysen’s great love of poetry orchestrated intimate family gatherings to enjoy and discuss readings of selected verse by these well known poets.

This delightful compilation of poems by the South Australian Ginninderra Poets serves to continue the acknowledged presence of poetry as an identified and treasured element of family life at The Cedars. The works selected, along with Kevin Stead’s drawings, capture the unique spirit of this very special place.

Allan Campbell, Curator of The Cedars

Introduction

In 1912, Hans Heysen purchased The Cedars, near Hahndorf in South Australia. As well as his art, his vision of conserving the gum-studded landscape which inspired so much of his work provides us, almost a century later, with a unique opportunity to enter some aspects of his creative world.

The poets whose work is represented in this volume congregated at The Cedars in July 2010 to reacquaint themselves with Hans and Nora Heysen’s work and the inspirational setting. This collection captures the environment through the lenses of the poets’ own perceptions and a fresh understanding of the Heysen vision.

Heysen wrote of his purpose,

I am only trying to paint as truthfully