Clive James
Books, Arts & Letters
Nobel Calling: Les Murray's 'Taller When Prone'
Clive James
In the majesty of his years and accomplishments, Les Murray, sole author of the several increasingly massive editions of his Collected...
More ...Poem
Beachmaster
Clive James
Scanning the face of a crestfallen waveHe sees his life collapsing to a close,A foaming comber racing to its grave.But after that one,...
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Numismatics
Clive James
Merely a planchet waiting to be struck,The poem shapes up but is not a coinUntil, by craft, and then again by luck,He fashions clean...
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The Nation Reviewed
The Perfectly Bad Sentence
Clive James
In writing, to reach the depths of badness, it isn't enough to be banal. One must strive for lower things. Almost five years have gone by...
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The Velvet Shackles of a Reputation
Clive James
In Dr Johnson's little novel Rasselas, the Poet tells the Prince about the psychological requirements of a poetic career. The poet,...
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The Nymph Calypso
Clive James
Planning to leave Calypso in the lurch,Odysseus snuck off to build a ship.He found the right-shaped boughs of larch or birch Or spruce, for...
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The Nation Reviewed
Saying Famous Things
Clive James
In Hollywood, "The son-in-law also rises" is a remark that was already part of the culture before World War II. Like the original author of...
More ...Happiness Writes White
Clive James
Usually attributed to that prolific aphorist Anonymous, the sadly true notion that "Happiness writes white" probably emerged from Tin Pan...
More ...Language
The Continuing Insult to the Language
Clive James
In which English-speaking country is the English language falling apart most quickly? Britain. Are things as bad in Australia? I hope not....
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Windows is Shutting Down
Clive James
Windows is shutting down, and grammar are On their last leg. So what am we to do?A letter of complaint go just so far,Proving the only one...
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