The Balance of Pain and Other Poems


The Balance of Pain and Other Poems is a collection of poems by Australian poet Emily Manning, published by George Bell and Sons in London in 1877.
The collection contains 33 poems from a variety of sources, mainly Australian newspapers.

Contents

  • "The Balance of Pain"
  • "The Explorer's Message"
  • "Two Children and Two Fates"
  • "From the Clyde to Braidwood"
  • "The Emigrants : A Cantata"
  • "Lost in the Bush, or, The Shepherd's Blessing"
  • "The Emigrant's Plaint"
  • "The Sweeping Tide"
  • "The Weatherboard Fall"
  • "Bodalla : A Glimpse of England Amid Australian Hills"
  • "The Two Beaches : Manly"
  • "The Two Selves, or, The Angel and the Demon of the Soul"
  • "The Beacon Child, or, The Angel of the Tempest"
  • "The Quiet Dust"
  • "The Rising Wind"
  • "Nearly"
  • "Morning, Night and Endless Morning"
  • "The Angel's Call"
  • "In Memoriam : Commodore Goodenough"
  • "A Plea for the Ragged Schools"
  • "Funereal Rites"
  • "The Buddawong's Crown : A True Parable"
  • "Blind Little Joe : The Unconscious Missionary"
  • "Mourning and Unmourned"
  • "The Old Path and the New : A Serio-Satire"
  • "The King's Highway : "
  • "The Army of Unknown Martyrs"
  • "Evening Hymn at Sea"
  • "Good Friday"
  • "Easter Eve"
  • "Easter Day"
  • "Whitsuntide"
  • "Watch and Pray"

Critical reception

A reviewer in The Illustrated Sydney News noted that the author "undoubtedly possesses the true poetic instinct" before continuing: "Her poems are characterised by great purity of tone and loftiness of purpose, while many of the pieces breathe a touching sentiment and earnest sympathy for the sufferings and trials that frequently beset the path of humanity."
Reviewing the collection for The Queenslander, a writer commented that the poems showed "considerable power of landscape painting, and keen sensitiveness to all natural beauty."