The Anabasis of the Alice

The Anabasis of the Alice is a poem written by James Lister Cuthbertson, master of classics at
Geelong Grammar School 1875-1896. The piece describes one of the crews rowing home from Barwon Heads and being met (and raced) along the way by some of the junior crews.






Anabasis is Greek for "going up" (Cuthbertson was after all, the classics master). The above poem was taken from "Barwon Ballads and School Verses" published posthumously by members of the school fraterity in 1912.

2 comments:

  1. This is Gold! What a great influence this man must have been to his students!

    Clear description of a naturalist
    Romantic perspective of a poet
    Powerful urging of an athlete
    Loving encouragement of a leader
    A loyal ode from a naturalized man

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    1. Hi David,
      Only just saw this comment. Yes, it is a fantastic poem, particularly if you know that part of the river and the school too and "Cuthy" loved both. The book I cite at the bottom is available free on line as a pdf download and has some great stuff in it!

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