Micheal Dransfield :: essays research papers

Michael Dransfield: A poet you can feel, but never truly understand.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  During a time of great change, both ideally and physically, in Australian history, a young man by the name of Michael Dransfield made his presence known in the highly evolving scene of poetry. Dransfield was an eccentric character, to say the least, and was recognized for his masterful ability of truly capturing the essence of many of life’s situations. Regardless of the â€Å"heaviness† or the difficulties of the subject matter being portrayed throughout his poetry, Dransfield was mentally equipped to fully encompass any life experience and dawn light on some of its â€Å"eternal truths† in the world. Although he tragically died of a heroin overdose in 1973 (he was 24 years old), Dransfield made a lasting impression on Australian poetry; never to be forgotten and to be forever considered â€Å"one of the foremost poets of the ’68 generation of counter-cultural dreamers† (Chan, 2002).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Throughout his brief existence on this earth, Dransfield was able to produce an extensive body of work that ranged from the human act of â€Å"loving† to the dreadful experience of having a drug overdose. His work is â€Å"framed within the literary construct of the ‘Generation of ’68’† because it undeniably challenged the â€Å"literary status quo† during that period of time, and he â€Å"overwhelmed it with sheer talent† (Kinsella, 2002). Dransfield was innovative, unique, and was seen as somewhat a â€Å"global poet, and something of a prophet† (Kinsella, 2002). He existed during a time where poets were more inclined to avoid any mention of what they really did ( in the drug using sense), taking refuge in the socially accepted subject of football, rather than confronting the challenges associated with drug use. Dransfield had no such inhibitions, he was the â€Å"quintessential drug poet† in Australi an literary history, and it was through his drug usage—both the beauty and the destruction of it—that Dransfield was able to fully let his talent and generosity shine for all to see. He blazed the new trails for all those that were to follow him, and successfully created a place for the â€Å"authentic experience† in the realm of poetry.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  It is a shame that it took such a personal tragedy â€Å"for [Dransfield] to engage so definitively with the experience of addiction†¦in such an astonishingly short time† (Armand, 1997). His work can only be marveled at and admired for its â€Å"richly cosmopolitan tone, its urgent sense of possibility, its sheer ‘cannibal energy’, and its persistent attempt to resolve difficult emotional problems† (Armand, 1997).