Sunday, April 21, 2013

THOMAS BRACKEN - WRITER OF OUR NATIONAL ANTHEM

I read an interesting article in the newspaper, yesterday, about the historic buildings in Dunedin and it quoted a poem by Thomas Bracken.



Here's the poem, illustrated by a photo I took of Dunedin city from Anderson's Bay.


Dunedin from the Bay

Go Trav'ler, unto others boast
Of Venice and Rome;
Of Saintly Mark's majestic pile
And Peter's lofty dome;
Of Naples and her trellised bowers,
Of Rhinleand far away: -
These may be grand but give to me
Dunedin from the bay.

Thomas Bracken, 1843-1898




Born in Ireland in 1843 Thomas Bracken immigrated to Australia at the age of 12, then came to Dunedin, New Zealand at age 25. He worked in journalism and politics and was a notable poet of the day, but he is, perhaps, best remembered as the man who penned the words to our National Anthem: God Defend New Zealand.

I'm looking wistfully at the blue sky in the photo. Summer has finally left us on this cold rainy Sunday afternoon! Oh well, it's good for the garden.

Monday, April 8, 2013

WHAT HAVE I BEEN UP TO?

I'm not blogging much this year as I'm trying to cut back on my internet usage and free up some much needed time to concentrate on my writing and other things. And it's working!

So what have been doing with the 'extra' hours?

I'm reading a lot more. Not just novels, but I've been catching up on some non-fiction history books too. All good research for the writing.

Here's a few books I particularly enjoyed:

The Things We Cherished by Pam Jenoff

The Mischief of the Mistletoe by Lauren Willig

Shadows on the Nile by Kate Furnivall

The Unexpected Miss Bennett by Patrice Sarath

I've also just finished reading Alison Stuart's latest release - Secrets of Time. It's a shorter novel of about 40000 words and involves time travel between the time of the English Civil War and 1995. It's light hearted and romantic and fun to read. You can find links to buy it and her other novels (all good reads) here on her Facebook page. She also has a great competition going at the moment too.

I've also been doing some sewing. Here's my latest creation:


This morning I visited our local Spotlight store and brought home a few pieces of interesting fabric. That will keep me busy for a few more weeks!