Douglas Stewart: Terra Australis

Abstract

This is one of Douglas Stewart's "exploration" poems. Or we can call it one of his "voyager" poems. It depicts an imaginary meeting between the Portuguese navigator Quiros and the Australian socialist William Lane. They meet in the Pacific Ocean, because Quiros is sailing westward in search of the fabled South Land (the Terra Australis of the poem's title), while Lane is sailing eastward to found the colony of New Australia in Paraguay.