Summary

Patriotic poem of four stanzas titled 'Sonnet to the Rising Sun'. Printed during World War I, the poem was written 'By the Signaller' in Durban, South Africa, and is signed by the author, Ethel M. Campbell, possibly around 1917.

Ethel Campbell (1866-1954) was known for her enthusiastic greetings and farewells of Australian troopships in Durban during World War I. In 1923 she visited Australia to dedicate a memorial to Australian soldiers. She faced a 'formidable list of engagements' in Melbourne, including visits by 'several limbless men' who had 'first made her acquaintance at Durban in the war years'. (The Australasian, 7 July 1923). She later became a well-known poet and author in South Africa. While the provenance of this war-time poem by Ethel Campbell, acquired with a collection of similar poems, is unknown, the collection includes two poems which have been signed, possibly during her visit to Australia.

Physical Description

Poem of four stanzas, printed in black in single column on coarse orange stock. Creased horizontally at centre. Printed on one side only.

More Information

  • Collecting Areas

    Public Life & Institutions, Home & Community

  • Author

    Ethel M. Campbell, Durban, South Africa, circa 1917
    The date of circa 1917 is provided by the NLA, SLNSW and SLV, which all hold copies of the poem.

  • Inscriptions

    Printed: 'Sonnet to the Rising Sun. / (Written at dawn on the North Pier, with Australians / nearing from the East.) / Steams, silhouetted 'gainst the rising sun, / A great black transport out of steep beyond / Upward she steers till the horizon fond, / Which held her from my sight so long, is won.' Three stanzas follow. Final lines: 'DURBAN. / BY THE SIGNALLER. / [signed] Ethel Campbell'.

  • Classification

    Military history, Civilian life, Souvenirs

  • Category

    History & Technology

  • Discipline

    History

  • Type of item

    Document

  • References

    THE GIRL WITH THE FLAGS. (1919, March 17). The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 - 1954), p. 8. Retrieved January 15, 2015, from [Link 1] MISS ETHEL CAMPBELL. (1919, April 26). Observer (Adelaide, SA : 1905 - 1931), p. 39. Retrieved January 15, 2015, from [Link 2] MISS ETHEL CAMPBELL. (1923, July 7). The Australasian (Melbourne, Vic. : 1864 - 1946), p. 40. Retrieved January 15, 2015, from [Link 3] Ethel M. Campbell, Rare Books - Important Acquisitions, National Library of Scotland, [Link 4] accessed 15 Jan 2015

  • Keywords

    World War I, 1914-1918, Music, Poems