Eileen Duggan
Poet
1894—1972
My quiet morning hill
Stands like an altar drawn
Whereon hushed hands shall lay
The shining pyx of dawn.
With penitence and stir,
And drowsy flurry by,
The wind, a shamefaced serving-boy,
Comes running up the sky.
From 'The Acolyte' in Selected Poems: Eileen Duggan, ed. Peter Whiteford, Victoria University Press, 1994
Where to find it
Queens Wharf, near the East by West Ferries; down a flight of steps or view from the top.
- Steps
About the author
Eileen Duggan earned her living writing poetry, essays and reviews, and as a journalist. Her volumes of poetry sold well and were widely admired. For a time, she was New Zealand’s best-known poet, internationally.
Duggan was noted for her lyricism, but as this style went out of favour her popularity declined. However, she pursued her own path, with her Catholic faith a vital part of her life, and her post-war poems continue to resonate as expressions of moral and religious experience.
With thanks to Community Trust of Wellington
