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| George Baldessin Window and Factory Smoke 1968 color aquatint and etching National Gallery of Australia, Canberra |
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| George Baldessin City Monuments 1966 color etching National Gallery of Australia, Canberra |
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| George Baldessin Assemblage of Past Images 1973 color aquatint and etching National Gallery of Australia, Canberra |
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| George Baldessin Personage, Window and Books 1973 color aquatint and etching National Gallery of Australia, Canberra |
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| Ralph Gibson Head 1975 gelatin silver print National Gallery of Australia, Canberra |
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| Ralph Gibson Black Series (#5) 1997 gelatin silver print Beaverbrook Art Gallery, Fredericton, New Brunswick |
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| Ralph Gibson Black Series (#6) 1997 gelatin silver print Beaverbrook Art Gallery, Fredericton, New Brunswick |
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| Ralph Gibson Arm ca. 1974 gelatin silver print National Gallery of Australia, Canberra |
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| James Gleeson Laboratory for the Investigation of Crucifixional Phenomena 1946 gouache on paper (study for painting) National Gallery of Australia, Canberra |
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| James Gleeson The Five Senses Winged 1946 watercolor and gouache on paper National Gallery of Australia, Canberra |
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| James Gleeson The Message Arrives 1995 oil on canvas Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide |
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| James Gleeson The Oracle 1948 oil on canvas Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney |
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| Stephen Benwell Lidded Jar 1977 stoneware National Gallery of Australia, Canberra |
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| Stephen Benwell Sculptural Piece 1979 glazed stoneware National Gallery of Australia, Canberra |
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| Stephen Benwell Seven Miniatures 1990 porcelain National Gallery of Australia, Canberra |
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| Stephen Benwell Paris Exhibition 1985 hand-colored letterpress poster National Gallery of Australia, Canberra |
from Death's Echo
"O who can ever gaze his fill,"
Farmer and fisherman say,
"On native shore and local hill,
Grudge aching-limb or callus on the hand?
Father, grandfather stood upon this land,
And here the pilgrims from our loins will stand."
So farmer and fisherman say
In their fortunate hey-day:
In their fortunate hey-day:
But Death's low answer drifts across
Empty catch or harvest loss
Or an unlucky May.
The earth is an oyster with nothing inside it,
Not to be born is the best for man;
The end of toil is a bailiff's order,
Throw down the mattock and dance while you can.
*
"I see the guilty world forgiven,"
Dreamer and drunkard sing,
"The ladder let down out of heaven,
Dreamer and drunkard sing,
"The ladder let down out of heaven,
The laurel springing from the martyr's blood,
The children skipping where the weeper stood,
The lovers natural and the beasts all good."
So dreamer and drunkard sing
Till day their sobriety bring:
Parrotwise with Death's reply
From whelping fear and nesting lie,
Woods and their echoes ring.
The desires of the heart are as crooked as corkscrews,
Not to be born is the best for man,
The second-best is a formal order,
The dance's pattern, dance while you can.
Dance, dance, for the figure is easy,
The tune is catching and will not stop;
Dance till the stars come down from the rafters;
Dance, dance, dance till you drop.
– W.H. Auden (1936)