A CRITICAL BIOGRAPHY OF EDWIN JAMES BRADY - Mallacoota ...

And in this rather aptly named “Psychopathic Lyres”, Brady had this to say about the
function of poetry:
In the magical mirror of poesy, humanity will continue to behold, not a
caricature of life, but a reflection of the truth that within it lies. Nature is
impersonal. Beauty was born in the consciousness of man by the action of
light on the retina of the eye. It was a child of impression wedded to
expression at the dawn of progress. 1
This is not far from Lindsay’s dictum in Creative Effort, that life can only be lived to
the fullest through creative achievement. 2
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From literary associations ranging from Ernest Blackwell of The Centennial
Magazine in 1890 through an interesting and productive period of Australian
literature at the end of the last century [19 th ] and extending over the first half of this
[20 th ], Brady was on familiar terms with many, if not most, of the main literary
figures. Writing in 1949, W.E. FitzHenry of The Bulletin stated that for years he had
urged Roderic Quinn to set down his reminiscences. He dismissed the books of Jose
and Taylor as not covering the period effectively and regretted that Quinn, Boomfield
or Stephens had not left a complete record. He concluded: “Only Ted Brady could do
it now.” 3 But Ted Brady did not do it in the consistent manner needed. He left many
bits and pieces of reminiscence; added to those extant from other sources they help to
fill in our views of the period. One regrets that Brady’s oral recollections could not
have been taped, for the story of those sixty years would have been very valuable.
In his history of the Labor Party, Brady wrote:
There is patriotic work for the Australian intellectual to do in pointing
Australia towards true democracy. They have the genius – let them cultivate
the will. There is no finer form of service, no mission of life more important,
no quest nobler, no better task for any man or woman in whose mind had been
reflected the light, however bright or dim, that Light of Inspiration which is
truly the “gift of God”.
To apply that gift not for the expression of oneself alone, but for the benefit of
all – is not that the purpose and the meaning of its bestowal? Not only may
men use the stepping-stones of self denial to higher artistic production. It is
for the Intellectuals to guide the masses to a fuller appreciation of Beauty and
Goodness. Art, Literature, and Poetry are a common heritage. The sense of
beauty is a faculty active in some but present, dormant, in thousands for lack
of cultivation or need to opportunity. 3
In his own work and in his relationships with others of similar pursuits, Brady
endeavoured to attain this goal. He worked “to divest social form of unreality, to
remove the dark cloak of dissimulation from Truth’s forever beautiful body, and assist
her to stand naked and unashamed before the altar of life.” 4 His own working towards
this goal, which he advised young poets to accept as their own, were not always
direct; they suffered from a general imprecision of method and judgment, but they
were always sincere and aimed ultimately at what he regarded as a better way of life
for all. Society might not appreciated what he was trying to do, but he saw his
obligations still as very real.
1 Focus, February 1947, p.11.
2 N. Lindsay, Creative Effort (London, 1924).
3 “The Intelligentsia”, The Red Objective.
4 Foreword to E. Harrington, Boundary Bend (Melbourne, 1936), p.7.