亚当·林赛·戈登传记

诗人的传记

亚当·林赛·戈登于1833年10月19日出生在亚速尔群岛的费亚尔，1870年6月24日死于澳大利亚的新布莱顿。他在英国切尔滕纳姆学院、皇家军事学院、伍尔维奇和皇家伍斯特文法学校接受教育。作为一个年轻人，他非常狂野和鲁莽，他的父亲决定把他送到南澳大利亚。1853年，20岁的他来到阿德莱德，没过几天就加入了南澳大利亚骑警。两年后的1855年，他辞职，成为了一名赛马骑手和障碍赛骑手。他很快就赢得了殖民地最优秀、最大胆的非专业障碍赛骑手的声誉。1859年和1857年他父母去世两年后，他从母亲的遗产中得到了7000英镑。1862年不久，他娶了玛格丽特·帕克，一个17岁的女孩，他在南澳大利亚买了一间小别墅。1864年8月，他的第一首诗《世仇》于1865年3月发表。在这个时候，他被选为南澳大利亚议会议员，但后来辞职，因为他在西澳大利亚买了土地。 The venture failed and he returned in 1867 and settled in Mount Gambier. During this time he was contributing verse to the Australian and Bell's Life in Victoria. The years from 1867 to 1870 were not good years for Gordon in fact they were disastrous. He decided to embark on yet another business venture and rented livery stables at Ballarat in Victoria. He had poor business sense and the venture failed. In 1868 he had a bad riding accident and worse still his only child Annie died at 11 months of age and his wife left Ballarat. During this time Gordon apparently had many debts and fortunately a small legacy arrived just in in the nick of time for him to settle them. Also at this time he went to Melbourne and created a record at Flemington by winning three steeplechase races in one afternoon two of them on his own horses. In 1869 he moved to Brighton and his wife rejoined him. But events were stacking up against him and in March 1970 he fell badly in a steeplechase and sustained a serious head injury from which he never fully recovered. He became very depressed and more so when he learned that a legacy he was expecting from a Gordon estate in Scotland was not valid due to a change of law. He was hoping to pay for the printing costs for Bush Ballads and Galloping Rhymes which were published on the 23rd June 1870 the day before he died. He was warmly congratulated by other well known poets of the day with whom he was friendly including Henry Kendall. Nevertheless for Gordon his future seemed very bleak and dismal. Early on June 24, 1870 he shot himself on the beach at Brighton. He was just 37 years of age. How sad that someone with his dashing good looks and wonderful talent ended his life this way. It is interesting to note that in 1932 a statue of Gordon was unveiled at Parliament House in Melbourne and in 1934 his bust was placed in Westminster Abbey.