THOMAS BRACKEN

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 83, Issue 37, 14 February 1939, Page 6

THOMAS BRACKEN

ANNIVERSARY OF DEATH WROTE “NOT UNDERSTOOD” Not understood, we move along asunder, Our paths grow wider as the seasons creep Along the years; we marvel and we wonder Why life is life? And then we fall asleep— Not Understood! It will be 41 years on Thursday since Thomas Bracken, the poet whose lines "Not Understood” live so vigorously still, died in humble circumstances at the Dunedin Hospital. Bracken was a poet, journalist and legislator, but will be remembered best as a poet. His tombstone in the Northern Cemetery, Dunedin, bears the following inscription: Sacred to THOMAS BRACKEN Poet, Journalist, Legislator. Born in Ireland 1843. Died in Dunedin 1898. Not understood. How many breasts are aching For lack of sympathy! Ah! day by day, How many cheerless, lonely hearts are breaking! How many noble spirits pass away Not Understood! Oh, God! that men would see a little clearer, Or judge less harshly where they cannot. see; Oh, God. that men would draw a littl** nearer To one another, they’d be nearer Thee. And understood! Thomas Bracken

*> Born in Ireland 1 Bracken was born in Ireland an-l I went out to Victoria at the age of I twelve. For several years he expertr enced the uncertainty and hardship ? of early colonial life, and it was durt ing this period of trouble and stress ? that he discovered within himself a _ dormant spirit of poetry and whimsi- _ cal humour. At first his writing met . with little success. Few people under- ? stood the man, and the great forceful spirit which prompted him. Thomas I Bracken learned that life could be 1 harsh and cruel, but through his trials • and tribulations he gained character, i and a deep insight into human nature. I At the time of the gold rush in ' Victoria, the poet went to Bendigo, ? and here his highly sensitive nature . made him the butt of all and sundry. . Still, he kept on writing—the beautiful spontaneity of expression in his I soul refusing to be crushed. When Thomas Bracken crossed th? Tasman and sailed up the Harbour of Otago his artistic temperament was inspired by the beauty of the velvetgreen fields, the purple-shadowed mountains —the distant snow-capped peaks—and from this inspiration was created one of his finest and bestknown poems, “Dunedin from th? Bay.” He paints a vividly beautiful picture as he writes: “Yellow beams that darted From the sinking King of Day And bathed in a yellow flood Dunedin from the Bay." The poet made his home in Dunedin, ana entered the profession of journalism Here he found his forte. For the first two years of its existence th? young man edited the Saturday Advertiser. His (iligence was remarkable, and in partnership with the Honourable John Bathgate achieved considerable success. Forsaking journalism for politics, Bracken, in 1881. was elected as a member for Dunedin Central in the House of Representatives. He lost his seat, however, at th-' 1884 election, but three years later regained his membership in Parliament. Did Poem Win an Election? Many Wanganui people have cau'-e to remember Bracken. His poem, "Not Understood” was often recitea by Mr. J. T. Hogan, during a successful election campaign when he defeated the sitting Liberal member .‘or Wanganui, the late Mr. A. D. Willis. Many people to this day hold that that poem formed a strong basis for Hr. Hogan’s success.