Obituaries: JAMES R. LAWLER (1929-2013)

Many of my generation discovered the beauty and variety of French verse through an anthology published by Oxford University Press in 1960, which sported unforgettably on its cover a fountain, its water enthusiastically spurting up only to fall neatly back into its vase. The fountain was symbolic of the exuberance of much great poetry, however strictly contained it may be. In addition to the breadth of poetry included in this slim volume, it remarkable for placing the explanatory paragraph about each poem after the piece itself, thus generously allowing the reader to reach his or her own appreciation first. That approach was typical of the anthology's compiler, James R. Lawler - typical of his openness of mind and of the respect with which he treated his students. It also characteristic of his openness of mind about poetry itself. Poetry, he once remarked, is very meaningful to us - it not meant for museums and libraries, but should be brought into our lives. There are plenty of lessons in poetry that are there to be read and discussed in their diversity. There joy in reading and thinking through things in the company of poets. They use the simplest words - bread, trees, sky - yet these little words go to the heart of consciousness. From an early age, Jim was fascinated by that combination of simplicity and depth that marks the greatest poetry: as a twelveyear-old in Melbourne, he wandered into a bookshop and bought a copy of Paradise Lost and poetry remained central to his teaching and research interests throughout his life.Born in 1929, Jim was fortunate enough to have been an undergraduate at the University of Melbourne at one of its finest hours, especially for students of French. At that time the chair of French was held by A. R. Chisholm, whose impact on French studies in Melbourne and in Australia generally was both profound and lasting. A student and life-long friend of the poet Christopher Brennan, one of the first Australians to appreciate the beauty of Stephane Mallarme's poetry, Chisholm went on to publish studies on Mallarme, Rimbaud and Valery, all three of whom would be central to Jim's research. After graduating, Jim went to Paris to prepare a doctorat de l'universite on the then little-known poet, Guillaume Apollinaire. Speaking about that choice of poet, he remarked: Apollinaire had died in 1918, and his widow and many of his friends were still alive. I was able to talk with them, to hear his voice on records, to visit places he had visited. He had come to Paris as a foreigner, as I did, and so he loved French with a freshness that I felt I had as well. He was awarded the doctorate in 1954 and returned to Australia. After teaching at the University of Melbourne, he was appointed Professor of French Studies at the University of Western Australia in 1963, a position he held until 1971. During his time at UWA he founded the highly-respected periodical, Essays in French Literature. From there he moved to the United States, where he was appointed to a post at the University of California (Los Angeles), and then to Nova Scotia, Canada, where he took up a position at Dalhousie University. In 1979, he founded another prestigious review, Dalhousie French Studies. In that year, too, he made his last professional move, to the University of Chicago, where he became Edward Carson Waller Distinguished Service Professor in Romance Languages & Literatures. …

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