Sea Spray and Smoke Drift

Reviewing a reissue of the collection in 1909 The Australasian found: "If Gordon is the poet of the horse, he may also be called the poet of the golden wattle. Considering how genuinely poetical and distinctive in tone is much of the contents of this volume, it seems strange that the book was so entirely ignored by the Australian public. But Gordon's fate was that of many another poet, cut off in his prime, and not properly estimated until appreciation was too late to be of much value."^[2]

In 1994 The Oxford Companion to Australian Literature noted "There are several ballads, e.g. 'The Roll of the Kettledrum', and some melancholy poems in which Gordon regrets his youthful follies and wasted opportunities. 'Hippodromania', a poem in five parts, is an indication of the importance of horses and horse-racing both to Gordon and to Australia."^[3]

• Full text of the 1867 edition at the State Library of Victoria^[4]
• 1867 in Australian literature
• 1867 in poetry