Astral Sea is a collection of poems by Australian poet Alan Gould, published by Angus and Robertson in Australia in 1981.
The collection contains 43 poems from a variety of sources, with some published here for the first time.
The collection won the 1981 NSW Premier's Literary Award – Kenneth Slessor Prize for Poetry.
Contents
"Batu Caves" "The Coral" "Energies (Energies)" "Two Sea Eagles (Northwest Island, Capricornia Group)" "The Heartland" "The Barbarians" "The Regulars" "From Pozieres" "The Vinlanders : Erik Thorvaldsson" "The Vinlanders : Leif the Lucky (The Vinlanders : Leif Eriksson)" "The Vinlanders : Thorgisl Orrabeinsfostri" "The Vinlanders : Thorfinn Karlsefni" "The Vinlanders : Gudrid Thorbjornsdaughter" "The Vinlanders : Thorhall the Hunter" "The Vinlanders : Thorvald Eriksson" "The Vinlanders : Freydis Eriksdaughter" "The Vinlanders : Herjolfsness, Greenland, 1540" "The Songs of Ymir : Birth" "The Songs of Ymir : First Dream" "The Songs of Ymir : Buri" "The Songs of Ymir : Man / Woman" "The Songs of Ymir : Second Dream" "The Songs of Ymir : Death" "The Tarantella" "Marco Polo Remembers the Province of Kamul" "Suite Irlondaise" "The Grand Economy : Four Ghazals" "Marine Photographs : The Sea Herself" "Marine Photographs : Still Lives (Ariel, Thermopylae, 1872)" "Marine Photographs : Port of Melbourne Song" "Marine Photographs : Valparaiso Song" "Marine Photographs : Krakatoa (Charles Bal, 1883)" "Marine Photographs : Their Luck (The Dundee, 1827)" "Marine Photographs : Australian Negative (Torrens, 1883, Recalled 1920)" "Any Two Pictures (Shomberg, 1855) (Marine Photographs : Any Two Pictures (Shomberg, 1855))" "The Wave (Blackadder, 1873) (Marine Photographs : The Wave (Blackadder, 1873))" "Recalling Her Launching (Cutty Sark, November 23rd 1869) (Marine Photographs : Recalling Her Launching (Cutty Sark, November 23rd 1869))" "Marine Photographs : Ice (Cromdale, 1892)" "Marine Photographs : Port of Melbourne (Mermerus and Others, 1896)" "Marine Photographs : 35 Degrees S 5 Degrees W (Sobraon, 1883)" "Marine Photographs : Tropic (Harbinger, 1880s)" "Marine Photographs : The Custom (Arctic Whaler, 1820 Approx)" "Marine Photographs : Ship in a Bottle (Loch Ard, 1878)"
Critical reception Writing in The Age Thomas Shapcott noted Gould's Icelandic ancestry and commented: "The two major sequences 'The Vinlanders' and 'The Songs of Ymir' are undoubtedly the core of this collection. 'The Vinlanders' is a set of nine Sestinas – which must make Alan Gould the most determined practitioner of this form in Australia. Determined – and successful."
In a review of a number of different poetry collections in The Sydney Morning Herald poet Jennifer Maiden noted: "Alan Gould writes formidable poems about heroism and the warriors of Norse mythology. The work has a fatalism and spiritual resonance that reminds me of Joseph Conrad."
Awards 1981 NSW Premier's Literary Award – Kenneth Slessor Prize for Poetry, winner
See also 1981 in Australian literature
References