When Francis Brabazon had finished “The Word At Worlds End” in 1963 at Meherazad, Rano was asked to type it up. Just before Rano had finished typing Francis’ book ‘Four and Twenty Blackbirds’ … which she loved. But while typing “The Dreams of Wet Pavements” the opening poem in Francis’ book ‘The Word At Worlds […]
Journey With God – A booklet published in 1954 after Francis’ first trip to India. As with all his work it is written not primarily for devotees but to announce a spiritual reality to the wider world. The Introduction tells of true discipleship, the impulse behind the book. The Poem As is evidenced in the […]
Early Poems – Published in 1953, after Proletarians-Transition, but containing some early poetry from the 1940s or even before. This small book is divided into three sections. Singing Plain The mystery and timelessness of the Australian landscape and the attempt to make a human relationship with it. Basically a call to a mutuality of love. […]
The book, a substantial collection of Francis’ poetry, was published in Sydney in 1956. 7 Stars To Morning is divided into a number of sections, beginning with the longish poem entitled “7 Stars to Morning” The seven stars are the Southern Cross and the two ‘pointers’. A great antipodean prophetic utterance. Even non-Australians can be inspired […]
This small book was published in 1976 in an edition with fine illustrations from Patricia Saunders. The Poem Everybody’s favourite? Unbelievably long out of print. Written in natural speech rhythms but with some regular beats that will be there if you recite candidly. A dynamic opening with the wind sweeping from the desert interior of […]
The East-West Gathering is a book which Francis Brabazon was asked to write by his Master Meher Baba. It records the large gathering of Baba followers from both East and West which was held to receive darshan from Baba in 1962, in Pune. The book was completed at Meherazad in 1963 and published in Australia […]
Its Genesis The story is told con brio in Robert Rouse’s privately printed book The Making of a Book. Francis and Don Stevens as the two Westerners attending the 1955 Sahavas program in India were both handed by Meher Baba the task of commemorating their experience, Don to write Listen, Humanity and Francis Stay With […]
We generally remember nursery rhymes as harmless, reassuring metrical jingles giving babes entertainment, even though many of them like Jack and Jill, Humpty Dumpty and Ring a Roses have quite dark origins and undertones. Francis takes these reassuring rhymes and, it seems to me, deliberately jars us out of our nostalgia for childhood and the […]
Cantos Of Wandering Introduction Ross Keating tells us that this long poem was first written as a verse play called The Great Wall and given a public reading. It was released in its present form in 1957. I can’t help reproducing a review that Ross quotes, a review from a real Australian literature ‘heavy’ of […]