A Strange Dream

words Jim Harper, music Jim Low

In the poem A Strange Dream, the narrator dreams he is searching for a deceased friend named Mulga Mick. Believing Mick to be of a similar nature to himself, he heads for the Gates of Hell, only to learn that his friend is too sinful for Hell. According to the Devil, the only fit place for Mulga Mick is Angledool, to which he is quickly directed. 

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Myall Grove

words Jim Harper, music Jim Low

Not everybody could live in town. By necessity, many settlers lived and worked far away from the townships. They were constantly confronted by the loneliness of their existence. Many of the jobs on the frontier were of a solitary nature too, such as boundary riding, fencing and shepherding. How one coped with the solitude faced in frontier regions is the subject of Harper’s poem Myall Grove.

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The Blind Teacher

© Jim Low

Thomas James was known as The Blind Teacher. For over thirty years, he travelled many kilometres throughout Victoria, despite having never seen the Australian landscape through which he travelled. Whether negotiating his way along suburban streets and laneways, or along country roads and dirt tracks, he travelled with a faithful companion, a dog which he had trained to guide him safely.

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