England, describing it later as "a four-year prison sentence". He withdrew socially and had a limited circle of acquaintances. Occasionally, he would holiday with his parents at European locations, but their relationship remained distant. However he did spend time with his cousin Jack Withycombe during this period, and Jack's daughter Elizabeth Withycombe became a mentor to him while he was writing his first book of poems, Thirteen Poems between the years 1927–29. While at school in London, White made one close friend, Ronald Waterall, an older boy who shared similar interests. White's biographer, David Marr, wrote that "the two men would walk, arm-in-arm, to London shows; and stand around stage doors crumbing for a glimpse of their favourite stars, giving a practical demonstration of a chorus girl's high kick... with appropriate vocal accompaniment". When Waterall left school, White withdrew again. He asked his parents if he could leave school to become an actor. The parents compromised and allowed him to finish school early if he came home to Australia to try life on the land. His parents felt that he should work on the land rather than become a writer and hoped that his work as a jackaroo would temper his artistic ambitions. White spent two years working as a stockman at Bolaro, a station near Adaminaby, on the edge of the Snowy Mountains, in southeastern Australia. Although he grew to respect the land and his health improved, it was clear that he was not suited to it. Travelling the world From 1932 to 1935, White lived in England, studying French and German literature at King's College, Cambridge University. During his time at Cambridge he developed a romantic attraction to a young man who had come to King's College to become an Anglican priest. White dared not speak of his feelings for fear of losing the friendship and, like many other gay men of that period, he feared that his sexuality would doom him to a lonely life. Then, one night, the student priest, after an awkward liaison with two women, admitted to White that women meant nothing to him sexually. That became White's first love affair. In 1934, White published a collection of poetry titled The Ploughman and Other Poems. The volume was published by P. R. Stephenson and Co., a newly established publishing firm in which his parents had invested £300 (). He also wrote a play named