Gilmore, Dame Mary (1865-1962), was an Australian poet. Her poetry reflected her socialist principles, sense of history, love of country, and hatred of war. Her verse is distinguished by its simple language, freshness of vision, and emotional appeal. Her pleasant and readable verse has assured her a wide reading public.
Mary Gilmore was a prolific writer. Her most important verse includes The Passionate Heart (1918), The Wild Swan (1930), The Rue Tree (1931), Under the Wilgas (1932), The Disinherited (1941), Pro Patria, Australia (1945), and Fourteen Men (1954). Her autobiographical prose writings were collected in Old Days: Old Ways (1934) and More Recollections (1935).
In both her prose and verse, Mary Gilmore was an advocate for women’s rights. She was also one of the earliest Australian poets to recognize the rights of the Aboriginal peoples of Australia. Her lyrics reflect her close contact with Australian life and her concern with its problems through the years.
Mary Jean Cameron was born on Aug. 16, 1865, near Goulburn, in New South Wales. She worked as a schoolteacher from 1888 to 1895. In 1896, she joined the Australian labor leader William Lane in a socialist community he set up in Paraguay. She married William Alexander Gilmore in Paraguay in 1897. She returned to Australia in 1902. She edited the women’s page of the Australian Worker in Sydney from 1908 to 1931. Her first book, Marri’d and Other Verses, was published in 1910. She was created a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1936. Gilmore died on Dec. 3, 1962, and was given a state funeral.
