Leon Gellert Comments

Born in Adelaide and died there too after so many years of life with poetry, despite his father's abuse and beaten, he became 85 years old. Sad history of this great poet from Aussie

3) on Melbourne Bitter whilst sailing on the Indian Ocean.The sad youth and young years of this great Australian poet

2) James Gellert was thrown on his back. Leon, after leaving school worked for a time as a pupil-teacher until he enlisted as a private in 10th AIF. On October 22 1914, Gellert and the 10th Battalion set off for Egypt. Corporal Gellert became drunk for the first time in his life,

Leon was regularly beaten by his Father James, so at the age of 17 he began a course of self-defence lessons, which were to prove useful when, one day his father attacked him with a heavy piece of timber,

One wonders why this poem is not given prminence by the media on Anzac Day. I learnt it at school 1948.

I remember Leon as an essayist. He had a regular column in the Sydney Morning Herald during the 1950's. I was a regular reader of his thoughtful essays as a school boy. I was astonished to read here of his role on Galipoli. I never came across his poetry and am surprised he was well known for it. Leon deserved to be better known.

I like it, however I do enjoy turnips more