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| ANZAC BEACH, GALLIPOLI. 1915. PHOTOGRAPH SHOWING TROOPS AND STORES ON THE BEACH WITH BOATS IN THE BACKGROUND AND SOME MEN BATHING. Source: Australian War Memorial. |
There is something of a tradition in posting something ANZAC related on this blog during the ANZAC period. This year I am publishing a poem which found its way into a significant number of newspapers in 1915 (see list after the poem).
Ethel L. Newcombe contributed a number of other poems to newspapers over the years. I have also listed these after the poem, of the 35 articles that the search term "Ethel L. Newcombe" yields on Trove, all of them are related to poetry, either publishing a work or referencing collections of poetry that include her verse. 13 of them reprint the work presented here. There is nothing biographical on Trove with the name she used for her poetry. Ethel released a book in 1941 entitled 'A Southern voice verses by Ethel L Newcombe', followed by "Songs of Australian Trees" in 1945, from which the poem "White Gum" is taken (links take you to a digitised copy of the books at the State Library of Victoria. The Herald quotes Dr. F. W. Boreham with regard to Songs of Australian Trees "[she] has set to music feelings that, at some time or other, have surged through our hearts." As a person who has attempted a couple of poems about trees, I like how Boreham appreciated her work.
The poem consists of four verses, each of 12 lines with and AABB structure. The opening words of each verse being the emphasised "Gallipoli, Gallipoli" and the final line, always ending with "Gallipoli" ... the repetition speaks of sacredness. For at least the first three verses, the closing couplet uses the word 'alone'. It is a grief signal, men who have died in places where their bodies are far from family. The youth of these men is hinted at with the 'beardless lip', 'the radiant face', 'the stalwart arm'. They die in Gallipoli, and in the process the land becomes the mother to them, holding them as a mother would. This is an early sign of the sacredness with which Australia reveres this Turkish soil.
Pay attention to the timeline. The key moment in the Gallipoli campaign is the landing of the allied forces on 25 April 1915, and the order to extract the forces is not enacted until December of that year. But here is Ethel L. Newcombe chronicling the narrative we know today - sons who participate in a noble quest, being made men in a land made sacred because of their sacrifice - as early as October of 1915.
Her poem is almost a prefiguring for the words attributed to Ataturk, the Ottoman commander at the Dardanelles during the Gallipoli campaign, from 1934.
When You, the mothers, who sent their sons from far away countries, wipe away your tears. Your sons are now lying in our bosom and are in peace. After having lost their lives on this land they have become our sons as well.”
BECAUSE OF THEE, GALLIPOLI
Gallipoli, Gallipoli!
I dare not take mine eyes from thee;
Thou hold'st the darling of my race,
The beardless lip, the radiant face,
The stalwart arm, no swift to do,
The eyes and heart, that follow, too.
There—lay them, mother, deep to rest,
Yes, rock them to thy heaving breast,
No mothers' arms, with soft caress;
No mothers' lips are near to bless;
Alone they lie, beside the sea,
Because of thee, Gallipoli!
Gallipoli, Gallipoli!
How can we show our love to thee?
Who took us from our baby's place,
And made a king—a new-old race,
Content to live and love and fight.
For God and duty, home and right;
We drop them, mother, at thy feet,
This wreath of manhood, crushed but sweet;
The mothers' prayers blow round to bless,
The lovers waft a mute caress,
Alone—but happy let them be
Within thine arms, Gallipoli.
Gallipoli, Gallipoli!
It means that Christ will come to thee
And walk upon thy waters blue.
To raise a Cross, where crescent flew,
That He will sit with Greek and Turk,
When these, who sleep, have done their work.
Accept them, mother, let them lie;
The Christ, Himself, could choose to die—
The mothers all will pause and bless
The Angels stoop, in deep caress,
With God and glory, let them be,
Alone with thee, Gallipoli!
Gallipoli, Gallipoli!
How can we keep our best from thee?
These sleeping sons, whose smiles of light,
Beckon each brother to the fight,
These mothers, pouring heart-blood free,
Have lost—and won—for you and me.
Strange mother of our wondrous dead;
Cast forth thy halo, o'er each head;
That women all will rise and bless,
And say, "We cannot give thee less."
Triumphant shall Australia be,
Because of thee, Gallipoli!
—Ethel L. Newcombe.
List of Newspapers in which this poem was published.
Link will take you to the Trove record in the appropriate newspaper.
Port Fairy Gazette (18 October 1915) ... http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article94720936
Malvern News (6 November 1915) ... http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article154358203
The Ballan Times (11 November 1915) ... http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article119549731
Snowy River Mail (12 November 1915) ... http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article89264551
The Lilydale Express (12 November 1915) ... http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article74596263
Ringwood and Croydon Chronicle (12 November 1915) http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article92086118
Mortlake Dispatch (13 November 1915) ... http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article130001103
Colac Reformer (13 November 1915) ... http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article154236372
Cressy and Lismore Pioneer and Western Plains Representative (17 November 1915) ... http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article132677918
The Yackandandah Times (18 November 1915) ... http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article144936428
Omeo Standard and Mining Gazette (23 November 1915) ... http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article130131210
Maryborough and Dunolly Advertiser (24 November 1915) ... http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article93796543
Clunes Guardian and Gazette (4 January 1916) ... http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article119484027
Other poems by the author
Below is a list of more poems by the same author that appear in newspapers. I suspect some were written prior to the newspaper publication, as the later mentions have a sense of someone bringing forward a well loved poem for consideration by others.
The Doctor (1911)
Because of Thee, Gallipoli (1915)
Memory (1929)
The Baby (1929)
Springs Venite (1936)
The Old and the New (1938)
Pansy Face (1938)
Peace (1938)
Daffodils (1941)
A seasonal Message (1943)
White Ships of Fancy (1945)
A Rainy Day (1945)
The White Gum (1945)
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