Right now I’m at camp with extended family… and that means beach, sports, games, sleeping bags, mosquitoes, and of course s’mores. For a quick post I thought I’d share a camping poem. The one I found isn’t the same type of camping, but I like the way it strings words together and it’s an opportunity to learn something I didn’t know about Australian literature.
“Shifting Camp” by Rex Ingamells
Glint of gumtrees in the dawn,
so million coloured: bush wind-borne
magpie-music, rising, falling;
and voices of the stockmen calling.
Bellowing of cattle: stamping,
impatient of the place of camping:
bark of dogs, and the crack-crack-crack
of stockwhips as we take the track.
Neighing of night-rested mounts…
This is a day that really counts:
a day to ride with a hundred head,
and a roll of canvas – that’s my bed.
The Poet
Rex Ingamells was born Reginald Charles Ingamells in Orroroo, South Australia in 1913. His father was a Methodist minister and the family moved around often. Ingamells majored in history at the University of Adelaide, graduating in 1934. The following year he published his first book of poetry. He also worked as a journalist, publisher’s representative and a commercial traveler. Sadly, Ingamells died in a car accident in 1955.
The Movement
Rex Ingamells was one of the founders of the Jindyworobak Movement, named after an Aboriginal word meaning “to join.” According to the All Down Under website, this literary movement aimed “to portray Australian people and nature the way they truly are in Australia, not as seen from a Europeans perspective. An emphasis was placed on promoting Aboriginal culture and their relationship with the land as a way to recognize the importance of environmental values to Australia.” The site also states that “[b]etween 1938 and 1953… as an editor and publisher [Ingamells] was responsible for over forty volumes of poetry and literary comment.”
Obviously there is a lot more to learn about the Jindyworobak Movement, its members, style, and influence, but that will have to be left for another day!