The love of field and coppice
Of green and shaded lanes,
Of ordered woods and gardens
Is running in your veins.
Strong love of grey-blue distance,
Brown streams and soft, dim skies
I know, but cannot share it,
My love is otherwise.
I love a sunburnt country,
A land of sweeping plains,
Of rugged mountain ranges,
Of droughts and flooding rains.
I love her far horizons,
I love her jewel-sea,
Her beauty and her terror
The wide brown land for me!
The stark white ring-barked forests,
All tragic to the moon,
The sapphire-misted mountains,
The hot gold hush of noon,
Green tangle of the brushes
Where lithe lianas coil,
And orchids deck the tree-tops,
And ferns the warm dark soil.
Core of my heart, my country!
Her pitiless blue sky,
When, sick at heart, around us
We see the cattle die
But then the grey clouds gather,
And we can bless again
The drumming of an army,
The steady soaking rain.
Core of my heart, my country!
Land of the rainbow gold,
For flood and fire and famine
She pays us back threefold.
Over the thirsty paddocks,
Watch, after many days,
The filmy veil of greenness
That thickens as we gaze…
An opal-hearted country,
A wilful, lavish land
All you who have not loved her,
You will not understand
though Earth holds many splendours,
Wherever I may die,
I know to what brown country
My homing thoughts will fly.
Notes
This cherished timeless poem speaks to the core of the Australian heart with its line "I love a sunburnt country".
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Comments
1 - 38 of 38
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My Country
From guest Ann Parker (contact)
I have found myself repeating lines from this poem over and over as I walk in the bush or see it rain etc. I have also sent it to my daughters temporarily overseas and it always makes them cry. Thanks for having all the words clearly laid out. My favourite line that always catches me in the troat is " Core of my heart, my country" -
Australia, my home
I've always loved hearing this poem recited by Leonard Teale (Australian Actor)The poem describes our country perfectly and a very fitting one to read today (Australia day 2008) I never realized Dorothy Mackeller wrote it, I'll be reading more of her poems.
Joan -
From guest maddie (contact)
i am away currently for three months and reading this poem just reminds of australia and only now that i am away did i realise how much i love australia -
My beautiful country
From guest Carolyn Parfitt (contact)
I thought of this poem when I was in the Kakadu National Park on holiday recently. Trekking across a forested mountain with a deep emerald gorge enticing from below, I said out loud, "I LOVE MY COUNTRY". Thank goodness it is no longer in the hands of those traitors who diminished it. -
Australia I love you
From guest karen (contact)
Thank you for presenting the complete poem. I have never read it completely before. Only up to "her wide brown land for me". We are so lucky to be here. -
CONFUSED
From guest JIM (contact)
I LIKE THE POEM BUT DONT HAVE A CLUE WHAT IT IS ABOUT OR THE RHYMING TECHNIQUES THAT GO WITH IT -
< Parody
Parody of my country is written by Oscar Krahnvohl and is called "my country" -
it was fantastic
From guest sarah (contact)
it was coooooooool :) i enjoyed readin it and i did it 4 my assignment i tink dat dis poem is touchin -
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Homesick
From guest Catherine Clarke (contact)
When I read CathyZ's comment, the ache and the longing for Australia washed over me again - an Aussie on exile in Canada. It is the land, the bush that I miss the most......the sight and smell of the gum trees, the dirt, the "wide brown land" as Dorothea Mackellar writes. The land that my forbears farmed is in my blood forever. -
an australian classic
From guest ben (contact)
this beaut poem belongs besides the likes of the man from snowy river. dorothea mackeller has captured most of what makes this country unique and beautiful. even the most tried hardships of australian life, she delivers it as if a drought is still beautiful. geez its hard to make australia look bad. -
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how great
From guest alanaa (contact)
i chose this for my poetry assignment. i really like it !! thanks -
Homesick
From guest Cathz (contact)
This poem, along with the Peter Allen song, 'I still call Australia home' always makes me cry. After 20 years in New Zealand, lovely though it is, I still miss the wide brown land immensely. By the way, it was 'ragged mountain ranges' when I learned that verse by heart over 40 years ago. Are you certain it was rugged in the original, Vonnie? -
hi!!!
From guest mikayla (contact)
I love this poem... So I chose it for my English Assignment poem...The fluency with-in the wordsd are Fantastic.... -
Thanks
From guest Leanne (contact)
Was looking for this poem for me and my 9 year old grand-daughter as she loved my reciting one of the verses (the only one I knew)to her the other day. It was great to find this and thanks for having it here. I will forward a copy of it to for all to enjoy again and again. -
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Analysing...
From guest Ellie (contact)
I'm using this poem for an English assignment (i have to analyse a poem!) and i LOVE how describing it is! By the way...I'm 16 and I really think its great that people like Peter Lindwall are sourcing the correct words etc. for the younger people to be correctly informed and even though so many wouldn't care at all I'm saying "thank-you" on behalf of them :) The little things mean alot! -
I Love This Poem
From guest Ellen Clare (contact)
Because we all have the land where we are born and raised deep in our blood and via this poem you can hear her veins flowing. Ellen From Michigan, home of the Great Lakes! -
My Country
From guest Peter Lindwall (contact)
I have been hearing an advertisement on 4BC in Brisbane where part of "My Country" is recited and in particular, the line," of ragged mountain ranges". I always thought it was "rugged". I have looked on the net and at least two sites quote ragged and rugged. Which one is in the original poem? Because I suspect that children who resource info from the net could be getting the wrong information. This needs to be corrected as this is a widely read and famous piece of Australian poetry. I don't believe Dorethea Mackellar would have used ragged to describe moutain ranges, but I could be wrong. -
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For Peter Lindwall - 'Rugged' is the word that the poet originally wrote and like you I cannot even imagine our australian mountain ranges being 'ragged' can you? I'm from Brisbane too
Vonnie
Oldpoetry Team
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I love a sunburnt country
From guest Helga (contact)
So thrilled I found this poem in a flash on the internet. It was going round in my head and I couldn't remember who wrote it and some of the lines. It is so beautiful and true. -
2007 NSW floods
From guest MKH (contact)
Currently living in England, and hearing about the recent flooding back home, knowing the drought the country has been suffering... i sought out this poem. one state has cracks in the gasping earth, the next state has waist high waters. my country. and i miss it. -
I love a sunburnt country
From guest Tim (contact)
This Poem is Soooo Inspiring an true - especially after the Drought and flooding rains that we are experiencing now -
From guest darcie moore (contact)
i love this poem because it is not fake it is very very true it is nearly the best poem i've ever heard -
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D MACKELLAR
From guest dena (contact)
it is true we all do love a sunburnt country and i love this poem not because its famous but because its how i feel about australia. dorothea is a very inspiring person(R.I.P)even though she died her memory and her poems will live on forever as a part of australian history. -
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From an Australian at heart (but Canadian by birth)
From guest M (contact)
The images this poem conjurs up are the most wonderful I could ever imagine. Before I had the opportunity to visit this great country, I never thought such things existed in one place. The greatest part is they do! I hope one day I will be calling Australia my home (it truly is where my heart is) -
Sunburnt Country
From guest Davvyde Flanagan (contact)
I have just purchased a property along Torryburn Road, Torryburn. It is opposite an imposing horse stud. I am told that Dorothy McKellar actually wrote "Sunburnt Country" in the stud's homestead. Is that true? By the way, Torryburn is a district, not a town, near Dungog and Paterson in the Hunter Valley of NSW, just north-west of Newcastle. -
I loved this poem
From guest Norma Crawford-Meads (contact)
Thankyou so much for giving me the opportunity to re-learn this beautiful poem than I had previously learnt at Wagga Wagga High School back in 1954/5/6. Living in beautiful New Zealand for over 40 years, I have often wanted to quote it but the words eluded my memory when trying to recall it. Now we have been travelling for almost three years world-wide and I will take it with me everywhere. Thanks again. -
I love a sunburnt country
From guest Mike Whitaker (contact)
When I first heard and read this poem I thought it referred to South Africa. This lovely country has many, many similar beautiful mountains, rivers, plains and coastlines. In truth perhaps the Aussies are our brothers (except on the cricket pitch and rugby fields.) This is from one born a Londoner. -
My Home
From guest Glenda Lyn Bregenzer (contact)
I have travelled for over thirty years on flying buying visits all around the world, taking my Vegemite from Dubai to the Phillipines, in my heart I carry this poem, Waltzing Matilda and the friendly accent on my last leg back to Sydney via Qantas. I did read that this poem was written two years before publication, by a homesick 19yr old in a London spring. My thoughts cross to that 19yr old, when I have felt grey in London and Europe, The poems of the heart never die, and they are truly classic. -
From guest Lena (contact)
As much as i love studying in the US, this poem reminds me so much of home. Aussie, aussie, aussie! -
True Blue
From guest Ernest Goldberg (contact)
A Poem that make every Aussie home sick I includet it in Directories True Blue Home page to be found: http://directory.com.au/categories.asp?cat_id=960 by all Ausies over the world.The graetes Place on Earth. -
From guest Brad (contact)
I moved to the us 4 years ago and now live in FL. I was thinking of this poem and God bless you for having it on the web. My heart swells as I read. How I miss my country. -
From guest kylie (contact)
Melbourne zoo has merged this poem, with outback landscapes and native animals. It's a wonderful idea but, my kids didn't know the poem so, I am taking it to the school trip on friday to teach. -
Fantatstic
Dorothea describes the open country landscape of Australia so beautifully. Many people try to copy her poems but they can't match her style for the vividness of her descriptions of landscape -
i needed to recite this poem and i reckon it really flows. i agree that Oz does have it's beauty and terror but it IS the wide brown land for me
Catcha later folks! -
we needed to come up with three songs that we think represent our country for school this one was the first to pop into my head!!!! thanks for the website!
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This is the best poem in the world. My teachers made it into a song!
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As a Preschool Teacher I have introduced this poem to my class for Australia Day. Even at 4-5 years of age there is such appreciation and imagery in the words for even the youngest Australian.
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17 years in Europe. My Dads B'day today, Australia Day, and this beautiful, everlasting piece of work. Tears in my eyes.
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Yes the Poem has been set to music. I remember singing it at school many times - its still as relevant today as ever. Although I live in the UK for the present, whenever I think of home or want to tell someone about Australia, this poem says it all. Happy Australia Day!
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This is indeed a remarkable poem as much for what it implies as for what it says. Using metaphors from Nature and without any direct allusion to those particularly Australian traits of which even foreigners are aware, the poet also conveys the character of her people: independent, brave, hearty, indomitable, proud, expansive and nowhere duplicated on this earth. The qualities of the land itself reflect the qualities of its people. Although the national character will allow Australians to boast of their wild beautiful country, their native humility precludes them from boasting of their own deeds in taming that wild land and advancing her fame through acts of selfless heroism on behalf of humanity and civilization. This poem, the most subtle but one of the most powerful of patriotic poems, pays tribute to the men and women who made that brown land bloom as well as to the land that was their crucible and became their monument. Has this poem ever been set to music?
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My 86 year old Dad just asked me to find a copy of this poem for him to read at his Australia Day BBQ at the Retirement home where he lives. I think the words cross all generations and places of birth to create a unity we could all benefit from in other aspects of our lives.
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Today is Australia Day and I can't think of a better poem to celebrate this great country. I learnt this poem in school, all those years ago, but still it makes me treasure what this country offers.
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thats the best poem ever!!
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I lived in Oz 20 years ago and heard this poem, just messing about today and found it again.... it brought tears to my eyes as I thought of your wonderful country. In England today it is pouring with rain, dark and cold.... Oh for a sunburnt country!
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what a beautiful poem~! I love it!
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tell you what...when i mix up the words it becomes even better...look for more in this poem than may be present in surface imagery
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A great poem, I love it. It really speaks to me.
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i think its one of the great poems of australian literature.
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this is silly, but kool, i have to learn the 3rd verse off by heart for english
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Our year 3 teacher is teaching us this bueatifull poem, as an Australian girl it let's me know that this is really my home.
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this poem is just what me and my cobber and every other aussie are thinking. this poem is like australia itself- bueatiful, spirteted and our australian pride and joy is in it and the poem it just makes you want to swell up in pride no words can really express it
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I was in Australia for a year, at school in grade 6, and we learnt this poem. It just reminds me of the beauty of the county. And I still can't say it without a slight accent, even though I've been back in Canada for 4 years
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I love her beautiful poem!
Its great! It really makes you feel closer to Australia! -
i learnt this poem in grade 6
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Being away in England at the moment, this poem means so much to me, it is my goodbye speech when I go home.
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it's great i just love it!!!!!
:L
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I think this poem is beutiful I just love it
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I have never been to Austalia, but like many Americans, I hold a fascination for it. This poem brings a confirmation to all my ponderings regarding it. Well done.
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As an Australian who now lives in the US, this poem brings tears to my eyes. The imagery is beautiful and reminds me of my home in the country-side (the outback). As a book recommendation, check out "The Merry-Go-Round in the Sea" (Randolph Stow). As with a lot of Australian fiction, the love of the unique flora and fauna of the country rings proud and true
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I've always wanted to go to Australia and this poem just strengthens that. Oh, it's so gorgeous! I wish we got to learn poems like this in America. Perhaps if I take World Literature... hmm... a thought.
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i think that this is a truely beauitful poem, which express's her love for her nation. which not many people do enough of today!
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This really says what all us aussies feel. And I think most children in schools learn at least part of it.
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This is really good !
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This is the most amazing poem... i remember hearing it as a child and not really understanding. just knowing its about the beauty of Australia. i often try to define my love for this country, but have never found the words to describe this awesome place... so from now on, i shall just refer my love to this poem... ur awesome!!!
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I learnt this poem(song) in primary school in 1965 but only remember the second verse which ended somewhat differently -
" Wherever I may wander, wherever I may flee
I know to what brown country my homing thoughts will flee "
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this is the best, bar none
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Beautiful
this is simpley beautiful
thank you for sharing this
amo
Shellie -
beautiful
I have never heard this before. It is truly beautiful. The love she has for her country is inspirational.
~*~*~*~always what if~*~*~*~ -
This is an Australian icon. Many young Australians now in their 20's learned this poem verbatim in school. The author speaks from her soul about her birth country, her love and pride are evident.Albeit written in 1904 - her ideals still hold true in modern times.
A wonderful tribute to 'home'
~Von~
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