Hearts and masks

Press, 7 August 1982, Page 16

Hearts and masks

Solo Lovers: Three Sequences of Poems. By Rob Jackaman. South Head Press, 1982. 36 pp. $8.50. (Reviewed by John Newton) Max Hailstone's cover for . this attractive book shows three hearts, two of them partially concealed behind a kind of newsprint effect, while the third is not. It could be a description of the book's contents. "Solo Lovers." Rob Jackaman’s third book-length publication, is made up of three poem sequences. While a sexual relationship is at the centre of each, the subject is presented in an oblique manner in the first two sections, and directly only in the third. "Fate of Franklin" and "Crowhurst," the opening sequences, are based on the stories of two "solo lovers" whose lives are sketched in with the help of copious epigraphs, as well as posters, log-book entries and other “primary source material." The poet addresses readers in the voices of Franklin and Crowhurst, each serving as a "persona." or mask. The lives are historical, but the concerns are the poet's bwn, and in his characters' lovings and explorations Jackaman finds subtle metaphors for his own experience. It is a technique he uses well, particularly in "Fate of Franklin." A biographical note informs us that John Franklin was an Arctic explorer, who served a stint as Governor of the penal colony in Tasmania, and died in 1848 on his third expedition in search of the North-West Passage. Franklin is presented as a man haunted not only by the frozen wastes, but also (and perhaps inseparably) by a past love. In addition, he is obsessed with filling "the blank map.” When the poet's own voice is allowed to

break through and remind us of his presence behind the mask. Franklin's geographical mission, and the process of map-making through poetry, are seen to involve the same quest for “an image up there,'At the top of the world to embrace And understand," Franklin's explorations, and his time in Australia, offer several rich veins of imagery, and these are exploited ably in what is for the most part an impressive performance.

It is in the volume's third section. "Love-Rite: Some Poems for Mary," that the mask comes off. The poet calls on some rather tired Christ imagery, but writes in his own voice. The result is much less satisfactory. One gets the sense of a personal experience which has not been worked over with enough imaginative and linguistic muscle for it really to engage the readers attention. Instead we get writing which is disturbed, and yet trite.

It is really only in the final two poems that Jackaman reminds us how much more interesting he can be. In "Gorse," and again in “Love-Rite," his presentation of personal experience draws life and shape from a landscape in front of him. He is at his best, it seems, when his imagination can feed most vigorously on external material, as in these poems, or when writing through a mask in the first two sequences.

Despite the unevenness of quality. "Solo Lovers" is a cohesive book, with a much more solid feel to it than either of his previous efforts. "Fate of Franklin." for my money, is Jackaman’s best piece of work so far.