THE DAYLIGHT MOON A film about the poet Les Murray

A profile of Australia’s leading poet which takes a biographical route. The film opens in a small rural township 150 miles north of Sydney where Les Murray was born to a family of dairy farmers and timber cutters who arrived form Scotland in the 1840’s. It follows his journey to Sydney where he discovered a talent for verse, slept rough on Bondi golf course, married and produced a large family and eventually returned to the farm. The narrative is interspersed with dramatisations of Murray’s isolated childhood, family photographs and the poet reading his works. His poems record the journey at every stage enabling the footage of places and people to evocatively match Murray’s verse. Murray says poems often come to him like a tune and he tries to write them in his head first before settling into the typewriter and committing the words to paper with a single finger.

[@robsherlock9774]

Thank you Don and thank you to the film makers who had the good sense to include Les Murray reading some of his poetry.

[@larkascending100]

Thank you so much for posting this wonderful film. The peacefulness and wonderful insights about finding yourself in a timeless landscape, and being able to think and appreciate the world without and within is so appealing. 😀🙏

[@jug6760]

brilliant, and what a wonderful poet

[@jonharrison9222]

Thanks for posting. Seamus Heaney thought highly of Les and vice versa.

[@kevindoran9031]

Watched this 3 times and counting.

[@quagapp]

Just picked up (in NZ) 'On Bunyah' by Les Murray. I was curious as I had read a lot of Australian poets and heard of Murray so looked on TH-cam. Thanks for this. Great insight into this great poet, working in the way he does. And sometimes some very 'deep' poems. Fascinating experience watching and hearing this.

[@Wrenasmir]

Nice one Don, I was reading about this documentary again in a biography of Les, he was so happy about the reception it garnered him in London when he visited.