A Nation of trees, drab green and desolate grey
In the field uniform of modern wars,
Darkens her hills, those endless, outstretched paws
Of Sphinx demolished or stone lion worn away.
They call her a young country, but they lie:
She is the last of lands, the emptiest,
A woman beyond her change of life, a breast
Still tender but within the womb is dry.
Without songs, architecture, history:
The emotions and superstitions of younger lands,
Her rivers of water drown among inland sands,
The river of her immense stupidity
Floods her monotonous tribes from Cairns to Perth.
In them at last the ultimate men arrive
Whose boast is not: "we live" but "we survive",
A type who will inhabit the dying earth.
And her five cities, like five teeming sores,
Each drains her: a vast parasite robber-state
Where second hand Europeans pullulate
Timidly on the edge of alien shores.
Yet there are some like me turn gladly home
From the lush jungle of modern thought, to find
The Arabian desert of the human mind,
Hoping, if still from the deserts the prophets come,
Such savage and scarlet as no green hills dare
Springs in that waste, some spirit which escapes
The learned doubt, the chatter of cultured apes
Which is called civilization over there.
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hmmm
From guest mik (contact)
i dont understand this poem well i do but thats only cause i read the comment i need someone to explain it more to me. im 13. xox -
RE: The Poem
From guest Ryan (contact)
Hope insinuates in his poem the spiritual poverty of Australia by reminding the reader of the country’s lack of cultural identity. Most of his many criticisms are portrayed in the first 7 stanzas. The sombre images of “a nation of trees, drab green and desolate grey … field uniform of modern wars” indicate that Australia is a monotonous and cheerless place. Through his poem Hope also describes the country as “a woman beyond her change of years, a breast still tender but within the womb is dry”. A woman beyond her change of years” indicates a woman who has gone through menopause, unable to bear children. “A breast still tender but within the womb is dry” supports the poets belief that Australia is able to sustain life but unable to produce it. The latter “womb is dry” further insinuates menopause further. This means that to the poet, Australia is an infertile and depleted source, a barren and empty land. The lines “without songs, architecture, history: The emotions and superstitions of younger lands” is used to suggest that Australia doesn’t have an identity as unique songs, architecture and history are absent. The “emotions” and “superstitions” are Australia’s beliefs and imply that they have been borrowed from other countries. These criticisms are used by the poet to emphasise to the reader Australia’s flaws.
The poet offers the reader hope within the 2 closing stanzas through the statement “yet there are some like me turn gladly home from the lush jungle of modern thought to find the Arabian desert of the human mind, hoping, if still from the deserts the prophets come”
NO WW2 insinuated or mentioned AT ALL. NO DEMON OF WAR. IT IS NEGATIVE. Hills are darkend by a cover of trees of brown khaki camo colour which is common among the new uniforms of modern soldiers. The outstretched paws are of the sphinx, not a demon, insinuating that Australia's hills were carved afrom a larger more magnificent landscape "worn away from a Sphinx, symbolising the once great mountains, now hills" -
The Poem
From guest Will (contact)
This poem is about the participation of the WW2 and how terrible it is. He tells of the war like a demon or something, with outstretched paws and darkening of her hills. If you read it closely it is all not negative. Second last stanza. READ IT. Its a great poem though. -
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Hope himself claimed that 'Australia' was written in 1939 (the date is given in his Collected Poems of 1971).
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At first i was very defensive of this poem, but some how Alec replenishes himself in the final two stanza's. I applaud Alec on to being able to give constructive criticism on our amazing country. However Alec did go over the top with his comments on what our country is. 15 - 04 - 2005
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what is the meaning of this poem. it is very weird and unusual but um sure i will appreiciate it more when i fully grasp its meaning.
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I have checked many points of reference for this poem and can tell you that it was written before 1951 as it was left out of the selection for his Collected Poems of 1951. I cannot at this point in time define the written date.
Von
Oldpoetry -
when was this poem written? what was the date?
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Can some1 help me fully understand this poem and possibly give me some info on when it was written ect.
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An Australian who see the faults but also the beauty and was happy to turn toward the shores of home.
The first stanza, like most Australians made my feel defensive about my own country, the third annoyed me, the fifth I was ready to move on but I stayed and was glad I did as the author, in my eyes redeemed himself.
~Von~
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