Preface

The Editor has endeavoured to make this selection representative of the best short poems written by Australians or inspired by
Australian scenery and conditions of life, — "Australian" in this connection being used to include New Zealand. The arrangement is as nearly as possible chronological; and the appendix contains brief biographical particulars of the authors, together with notes which may be useful to readers outside Australia.

The Editor thanks Messrs. H. H. Champion, Henry Gyles Turner,
E. B. Loughran, A. Brazier and Walter Murdoch (Melbourne),
Mr. Sydney Jephcott (Upper Murray, Vic.), Mr. Fred. Johns (Adelaide),
Mr. Thomas Cottle (Auckland), Mr. J. C. Andersen (Christchurch),
Messrs. David Scott Mitchell, Alfred Lee, A. W. Jose,
and J. Le Gay Brereton (Sydney), for their generous help.
Mr. Douglas Sladen’s anthologies, Messrs. Turner and Sutherland’s
"Development of Australian Literature", and `The Bulletin’ have also furnished much useful information.