Adam Lindsay Gordon

Poems of Adam Lindsay Gordon (Dodo Press)

Adam Lindsay Gordon (1833-1870) was an Australian poet, jockey and politician. He was just over 20 when he arrived at Adelaide in 1853. He took up horse-breaking and made a reputation as a rider over hurdles. Several times he either won or was placed in local hurdle races and steeplechases. In 1857 he met the Rev. Julian Tenison Woods who lent him books and talked poetry with him. In 1864 he wrote a poem; The Feud, of which 30 copies were printed. In 1865 he received a deputation asking him to stand for parliament and was elected by three votes to the South Australian House of Assembly but resigned his seat in 1866. His time in politics stimulated him to greater activity. He contributed verse to the Australasian and Bell's Life in Victoria. In 1867 he published Ashtaroth: A Dramatic Lyric, and also Sea Spray and Smoke Drift. He had seen his last book, Bush Ballads and Galloping Rhymes, through the press, and it was published in 1870; it was not successful at the time, but is now regarded as one of the most important pieces of Australian literature.