Denis Glover
Encyclopedia
Lieutenant Commander
Lieutenant Commander is a commissioned officer rank in many navies. The rank is superior to a lieutenant and subordinate to a commander...
Denis James Matthews Glover DSC
Distinguished Service Cross (United Kingdom)
The Distinguished Service Cross is the third level military decoration awarded to officers, and other ranks, of the British Armed Forces, Royal Fleet Auxiliary and British Merchant Navy and formerly also to officers of other Commonwealth countries.The DSC, which may be awarded posthumously, is...
(9 December 1912-9 August 1980) was a New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
poet
Poet
A poet is a person who writes poetry. A poet's work can be literal, meaning that his work is derived from a specific event, or metaphorical, meaning that his work can take on many meanings and forms. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary...
and publisher.
Well-known for radical leftist opinions, he was often in trouble with authorities. In 1935 he founded the Caxton Press
Caxton Press (New Zealand)
Caxton Press is a printing company founded in 1935 in a partnership between Denis Glover and John Drew. The press printed the work of many New Zealand writers who have since become familiar names in New Zealand literature....
, which he used to encourage a less sentimental style of poetry in New Zealand than was being published prior to this time. His work at the Press was interrupted by service in the Navy in World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, in which he rose to the rank of Lieutenant Commander and received a Distinguished Service Cross
Distinguished Service Cross (United Kingdom)
The Distinguished Service Cross is the third level military decoration awarded to officers, and other ranks, of the British Armed Forces, Royal Fleet Auxiliary and British Merchant Navy and formerly also to officers of other Commonwealth countries.The DSC, which may be awarded posthumously, is...
for bravery.
His best-known works are the Sings Harry sequence, "Arawata Bill", and "The Magpies
The Magpies
For disambiguation see Magpie The Magpies is the most famous poem by New Zealand poet Denis Glover . It helped define New Zealand's distinctive style of poetry...
". The refrain of the latter ("Quardle oodle ardle wardle doodle", imitating the sound of the Australian magpie
Australian Magpie
The Australian Magpie is a medium-sized black and white passerine bird native to Australia and southern New Guinea. A member of the Artamidae, it is closely related to the butcherbirds...
) is one of the most famous lines in New Zealand poetry.
Playwright Roger Hall
Roger Hall
Roger Leighton Hall, CNZM, QSO is a British born New Zealander actor and playwright, known for his comedies that carry a serious vein of social criticism and feelings of pathos.-Early years:...
wrote a play called Mr Punch about Glover's life. Douglas Lilburn
Douglas Lilburn
Douglas Gordon Lilburn ONZ FRCM was a New Zealand composer.-Early life:Lilburn was born in Wanganui. He attended Waitaki Boys' High School from 1930 to 1933, before moving to Christchurch to study journalism and music at Canterbury University College...
set some of his poems to music, and later used a theme from his setting of "Sings Harry" in his Third Symphony
Symphony No. 3 (Lilburn)
The Symphony No. 3 of Douglas Lilburn was completed in 1961, in response to a sabbatical from Victoria University of Wellington. It was given its premiere the following year....
.
External links
- Biography at NZ Book Council site
- Works in The New Zealand Railways Magazine (etexts)
- Denis Glover on Zealandia, Britannia's daughter, the woman symbolising New Zealand (particularly in the early twentieth century).