The Literary Reputation of Adam Lindsay Gordon

Abstract

'Whatever a stern criticism may say as to the abiding merit of his work, at least there can be no doubt as to the value which the heart of Australia sets upon it.' These words were spoken by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr John Cosmo Lang, on 11 May, 1934 at the unveiling in Westminster Abbey of a memorial to Adam Lindsay Gordon. A distinguished gathering saw Gordon take his place between Tennyson and Thomas Campbell; some were able to find his situation merited as well as appropriate. On this occasion, over sixty years after his death, Gordon, it seemed, had at last been assigned a place in the literary world.