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Snowdrops


The Snowdrop Girl in fields of snowdrops walks,
Whiter than foam, deeper than waters flowing,
Flakes of wild milk gone blowing,
Snowing on cloudy stalks.
The Snowdrop Girl goes picking flowers of snow,
Blossoms of darkness bubbling into dreams,
In a strange country, by the shadowy streams
Where the cruel petals of the Coke-tree grow.

From the smoke and the fume of the backyard room,
Where poverty sits and gloats,
On runaway feet from a dirty street
To a field of snow she floats;
And tickets to Hell have a curious smell
And a dangerous crystal whiff,
Where men hawk Death in a snowdrops’s breath
At a couple of shillings a sniff.

Notes

Slessor’s light verse must be counted among the most impressive achievements in Australian poetry from the 1930s. He contributed a series of these slight, but perfectly-formed, poems to Smith's weekly where, accompanied by Virgil Reilly’s highly evocative and realistic illustrations, they opened a window onto inner-city Sydney during the early 1930s. Image - Sydney Harbour Bridge during construction in 1930 Cocaine was the drug of choice then. Slessor writes about it in "Snowdrops",

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Comments


  • March 27, 2007
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    slessor's Snowdrops

    From guest ray (contact)
    an interesting and dense piece by slessor, on the surface is suggests a concern with drug addiction but touches on various other aspects of living in the 1930's- socioeconomics, passage of time and the shortlived beauty of youth... i've never been a big on illustrations however and i don't believe in this instance they do it justice...


  • rufina caraid Moderators member
    November 6, 2004
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    A poem based on early 1930's life in Sydney, one of the poems published by 'Smith's' weekly where, together with realistic illustrations, they opened up to the locals a new era of inner-city Sydney.
    Snowdrops refers to cocaine and this poem reflects the seemier side of life prior to WW2.
    the visuals I received as 'poverty gloats' were chilling. Incredible, descriptive poem.
    ~Von~

    Edited on Nov 06, 1:06 because ''.