Victor Daley (1858-1905)

Brief Biography

Victor James Daley was born at Creeveroe, County Armagh, Ireland, in 1858 and emigrated to Australia at the age of twenty. He undertook various jobs across southern Australia and began to establish himself as a poet from 1882. He published the bulk of his work in such magazines as Punch and The Bulletin. He published under his own name and the pseudonym "Creeve Roe" - a name adapted from the Gaelic meaning "Red Branch". He died of tuberculosis in 1905. It was only after his death that his work was collected, starting in 1908 with Poems, and then Wine and Roses in 1911, and Creeve Roe in 1947. His work is little known, but he represents a lyric alternative in the late 1800s to the predominant bush ballads of the time.

Bibliography

Poetry Collections
At Dawn and Dusk 1898
Poems 1908
Wine and Roses 1911, edited by Bertram Stevens
Creeve Roe 1947, edited by Muir Holburn and Marjorie Pizer
Victor Daley 1947, edited by H.J. Oliver

Biographies
Victor Daley 1905, by A.G. Stephens

Selected Poetry

You can read the full text of the following Daley poems:

Desire
The Dove
Dreams
Eureka
Mother Doorstep
Muses
Omarism
Our Mæcenas
"Poor John Farrell"
The Three Roads
A Vision Splendid
When London Calls
The Woman at the Washtub
Wrecked Illusions

This page and its contents are copyright ©2003-07 by Perry Middlemiss, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.

Last modified: July 3, 2007.