Country towns, with your willows and squares,
And farmers bouncing on barrel mares
To public houses of yellow wood
With "1860" over their doors,
And that mysterious race of Hogans
Which always keeps the General Stores….
At the School of Arts, a broadsheet lies
Sprayed with the sarcasm of flies:
"The Great Golightly Family
Of Entertainers Here To-night"–
Dated a year and a half ago,
But left there, less from carelessness
Than from a wish to seem polite.
Verandas baked with musky sleep,
Mulberry faces dozing deep,
And dogs that lick the sunlight up
Like paste of gold – or, roused in vain
By far, mysterious buggy-wheels,
Lower their ears, and drowse again….
Country towns with your schooner bees,
And locusts burnt in the pepper-trees,
Drown me with syrups, arch your boughs,
Find me a bench, and let me snore,
Till, charged with ale and unconcern,
I'll think it's noon at half-past four!
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Comments
1 - 6 of 6
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amazing loved it
From guest tits magee (contact)
becuase it was buetiuful and made me spiritualy connected with the bush sticks of surburbia nad contry towns -
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interesting
From guest melvin b. hodgkins (contact)
after carefully analysing this poem, i came to the conclusion that it was sweet as, and also fully hectic, bra. infinity/10 -
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Well....
From guest Hayden (contact)
i think this poem is pretty good, not too good but it is very descriptive and i enjoyed reading it. -
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rad as poem
From guest totally rad poem chik (contact)
this poem highlights the antidistestablishmentarianism that occured during the 1930's depression. I like the way slessor used chiruistudo here to highlight the anguish in the central figure. he ussually write outdoors and quite quickly as his elusive subject was... well, light itself. -
From guest Meri (contact)
This is so descriptiive! I don't even know what else to say! Absolutly fantastic write!! ~~Meri~~ -
This poem is a C20
From guest Lyndon (aka Ron Wiseman) (contact)
pastoral idyll. It evokes all the attributes Australian people attach to country towns (as opposed to Outback poems). The willows have been planted near town bridges over creeks. The 'squares' are median squares in the main street where there is a soldier monument, flowers growing and the list of the district Fallen warriors. Public Houses are hotels selling liquor and have upstairs boarding rooms. 1860 shows when the shop was erected. Often the business has changed. This is true of towns all through the C20. Country towns are 'sleepy' places. Notices can stay tacked up for months. The setting is probably the 1920's or 1930's with buggy wheels for transport, locally. Pepper trees are the Pepperinas which are present, often , in country towns as the willows are. The final stanza uses the figure of speech called the apostrophe (of address) where the poet actually invokes the spirit of country towns to fill him with the happiness of over indulgence in ale and sweetness to the core, as it were, with the consequence of a good afternoon nap. -
Awesome
From guest patrick (contact)
i just read through this and it ment something to me, he really knows how to write poetry i felt what it is like to live back then i loved it, and wish to meet kenneth when he is reincarnated -
poignant expression... in vivid words... about the country mood and olden days...
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really beautiful simple poem
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Im not really in to this kinds of poems and if i had just read it i would understand its themes and think its boring but as i had to study it for school i had to look in to it more and quiet like it
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nice 11/10
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I love this poem im currently writing a school papper on it and its just gives such a taste of the country i give it a 7\10
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i love the refrences to sleep and the use of half rhyme
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this poem gives a real feel of heat within australia. i luv the way slessor talks of the suuroundings in an old country town
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Sleepy little towns such as this are still aroundin Australia. The atmosphere caught in this poem reminds me so much of a small town near my home back in the 70's when the streets were wide and there were not many cars about.
A trip down memory lane for me.
~Von~ -
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Lyndon.
I agree. The town of Esk in the Brisbane Valley reminds me very much of the towns pictured in Slessor's poem.
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