Captain Dobbin

"Captain Dobbin" (1932) is a poem by Australian poet Kenneth Slessor.

It was originally published in the poet's collection Cuckooz Contrey, and was subsequently reprinted in the author's single-author collections and a number of Australian poetry anthologies.

The poem "is based partly on a Captain Bayldon, retired sea captain and uncle of Slessor's first wife, Noela".The Oxford Companion to Australian Literature edited by Wilde, Hooton and Andrews, 2nd edition, 1986, p142-143. Accessed: 13 January 2026

Synopsis "The poem describes an eccentric old seaman who has enshrined in his cottage by the harbour the treasures of his seafaring days."

Critical reception

In his review of the poet's collection Poems in The Bulletin, critic and poet A. D. Hope wrote: "'Captain Dobbin' and 'Five Visions of Captain Cook' are his outstanding successes, in what is very close to the art of Browning, the Browning of Men and Women and the dramatic monologues."

The Oxford Companion to Australian Literature called this poem "a fine piece of characterisation with the Slessor penchant for lavish and colorful imagery".

A. K. Thompson commented that "The brilliance of some of the descriptions diverts the attention from the subject-matter of the poem to the illustration of the subject-matter. The whole is neglected while the detail compels scrutiny."UQP Studies in Australian Literature : Kenneth Slessor : Critical Readings edited by Philip Mead, University of Queensland Press, 1997; Chapter 6: "Kenneth Slessor: An Essay in Interpretation"" by A. K. Thompson, p85

Publication history

After the poem's initial publication in Cuckooz Contrey in 1932 it was reprinted as follows:

One Hundred Poems : 1919-1939 by Kenneth Slessor, Angus and Robertson, 1944 Poems by Kenneth Slessor, Angus and Robertson, 1957 The Penguin Book of Australian Verse edited by John Thompson, Kenneth Slessor and R. G. Howarth, Penguin Books, 1958 The Penguin Book of Australian Verse edited by Harry Heseltine, Penguin Books, 1972 Australian Verse from 1805 : A Continuum edited by Geoffrey Dutton, Rigby, 1976 Australian Poems in Perspective : A Collection of Poems and Critical Commentaries edited by P. K. Elkin, University of Queensland Press, 1978 The Golden Apples of the Sun : Twentieth Century Australian Poetry edited by Chris Wallace-Crabbe, Melbourne University Press, 1980 The Illustrated Treasury of Australian Verse edited by Beatrice Davis, Nelson, 1984 The Sea Poems of Kenneth Slessor by Kenneth Slessor, Brindabella Press, 1990 Kenneth Slessor : Poetry, Essays, War Despatches, War Diaries, Journalism, Autobiographical Material and Letters edited by Dennis Haskell, University of Queensland Press, 1991 Australian Poetry in the Twentieth Century edited by Robert Gray and Geoffrey Lehmann, Heinemann, 1991 Kenneth Slessor : Collected Poems by Kenneth Slessor, Angus and Robertson, 1994 The Puncher & Wattmann Anthology of Australian Poetry edited by John Leonard, Puncher & Wattmann, 2009 Australian Poetry Since 1788 edited by Geoffrey Lehmann and Robert Gray, University of NSW Press, 2011

Notes You can read the full text of the poem on the All Poetry website.

Captain Dobbin

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