The title of this blog comes from a verse of a poem by the New Zealand poet and pacifist, Basil Dowling (1910-2000).
Between the Lines
You with the normal air
And the unscathed face
Your soul betrays no trace
Of grief or care:
No haggard eyes downcast,
Worn brow or looks aghast,
Or weary walking past.
I read, with no such signs,
Between the lines.
For biographical notes on Basil Dowling and other poems, click on - http://www.basildowling.com/
Comments:
"While remaining constant to his native background, Basil Dowling became increasingly aware of the social and political issues of his time, ever true to his profoundly humane and radical views. He has left a body of carefully constructed poetry, full of sanity and wisdom, which achieves the dimension of ‘verbal magic’ for which he aimed.”
(R. J. Barttelot, The Independent, 9 September 2000)
Otago Daily Times (29 July, 2000): "Allen Curnow said that [Dowling] had a gift ‘for catching a commonplace offguard’ and was ‘a quiet poet of carefully arranged understatements’."
Peter Simpson, Auckland University: “He had a liking for regular metres, tidy stanzas and full rhymes – traditional forms which he handled with grace and ease ... poetry so well made will not easily be forgotten.”
Article by Christopher Burke about New Zealand novelist
James Courage, who was friends with
Basil and Margaret Dowling (see pp.95ff).