Michael Dransfield was an Australian poet who is often described as one of the most read poets in Australia. He wrote approximately 1, 000 poems and was active mainly in the 1960s – 1970s.
The majority of poems written by Michael Dransfield address the subject of people who represent the marginalized society; personal identity; the relationship between the inner self and the outside world as well as the relationship between the nature, poetry, human beings and the state of mind. The author first attracted everyone’s attention by his poems in which he presented his ironic commentaries regarding the society he lived in. Michael Dransfield’s poems are full of of excessive imagery and archaic vocabulary which helped him stand out from the rest of Australian poets of that time.
One of Michael Dransfield’s most famous poems is called ‘Bums’ Rush’. It is full of exotic imagery, satirical edge, a passionate personal tone, detailed description of public indifference and hallucinatory loneliness. When first poems by Michael Dransfield were published, they caused a lot of excitement within the poetic community. His poems were like a breath of fresh air for Australia due to the fact that the author offered a very satirical view on the people who were marginalized by the society and its was something very unusual for the poetical world of the country, especially in the 1960s.
Taking everything into consideration, Michael Dransfield was able to attract the attention of the poetic world of Australia right away and the reason for that was his satirical voice, impressive imagery, archaic vocabulary as well as ironic tone which he so often used in his poems so that to reflect on events and situations that occurred in the society he lived in.