The song is gone; the dance
is secret with the dancers in the earth,
the ritual useless, and the tribal story
lost in an alien tale.
Only the grass stands up
to mark the dancing-ring; the apple-gums
posture and mime past corroboree,
murmur a broken chant.
The hunter is gone; the spear
is splintered underground, the painted bodies
a dream the world breathed sleeping and forgot.
The nomad feet are still.
Only the rider's heart
halts at a sightless shadow, an unsaid word
that fastens in the blood of the ancient curse,
the fear as old as Cain.
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Bora Ring
From guest Sharni (contact)
I really enjoyed reading this poem and I think it hold alot of meaning
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Help
From guest Candice (contact)
I have to research this poem for English and i need someon to help me with the deconstruction of this poem help anyone please its my yr 12 grade. -
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For guest Candice.
Check the help notes Candice.
We cannot do YOUR homework for you but we do offer some good guidelines.
Jim
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1st Stanza Lines 3 and 4
From guest Sarah (contact)
I was just wondering what "And he tribal story lost in an alien tale" mean briefly?? any help would be greatly appreciated -
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If you read down the comments beneath this poem you will find an earlier one of mine and some of Rufina Caraid's (particularly 11 Jan 2005) that go into detail.
Putting it simply the aboriginal dances and other customs had a meaning and told a story that is no longer understood so that to most people it is in an "alien" (foreign) language.
Jim
Oldpoetry Team Member
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Cain
From guest Sophia (contact)
Cain - in the bible is the first murderer. Adam & Eve's eldest son. He murders his younger brother Abel, [out of jealousy ...I think]. -
CONTEXT
From guest Terese (contact)
i think that for Judith Wright, writing poetry was initially a descriptive process, describing the landscape and the people in it and describing her own responses to particular issues. As a lit student, i find it interesting to read everyone's comments on what they think Judith Wright means by this and that. Close analysis to an essay question, thus, one that asks how a readers values and attitudes are constructed by a poets cultural context is quite interesting. You've all heard the saying you have to know black to understand white, well i think you have to understand Wrights cultural background and where she stood in the conservation of Australia and her remorse for the lost identity of the Aboriginal people. PLease do not come to conclusions like "by 'only a riders heart halts at a sightless shadow' wright means this, and she thinks that..." Who are we to justify the opinions of the one who initialy wrote it? Have respect for her own opinions and do not analyse her poetry to the point you have constructed your own meaning from the poem. Wright did not write poems for students in the future to pick at like bones. Have respect for her passion and commitment she had to Australia's environment and the Aboriginal people. Peace :) -
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From guest Benni (contact)
isn't the line about 'the fear as old as Cain' about fractricide? 'to kill your brother'...like how the settlers murdered the aborigines...like how Adam & Eve's younger son killed the elder one, Cain -
moving image of eternity
From guest Benni (contact)
Bora Ring invites the reader to reflect upon the significance of time...RIGHT?? -
From guest Alex (contact)
Does anyone know of any poem that has an opposite discourse to this ?? Alex -
Errors
From guest Alex (contact)
2nd stanze 3rd line between 'mime' and 'past' there should be an 'a' and 3rd stanza 2nd line the comma after underground is really a semi-colan (;) and I'm also not sure that there is an 'of' in the 4th stanza 3rd line. Just trying to help. -
From guest JONO (contact)
what does it mean by rider's heart halts in the last stanza? sorry im so stupid lol.. PLEASE REPLY I NEED IT BY TONITE!! i have an english essay tomoro i dont wanna fail thanks guys -
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The fourth stanza
From guest maxi-boz (contact)
"Only the rider's heart halts..." who is the rider? i cant figure it out -
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hey the rider is a white man, a cattle drover
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being a english lit student, damn you guyz helped thanks. but i did have to read this a few times to understand it. im doing a anaylse of it for a class, its hard to try and find structure that is different. there is really nothing there. can anyone help?
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hey i am a lit student as well, and i was wondering if u have any ideas about topics i could talk about in essays, other than loss of culture, cheers!
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In my mind the line length, long-short-short-long repeated in each verse, point to a possible dance beat. The same dance that no longer takes place perhaps?
The words tell of the sorrow of vanishing traditions that are not being replaced.
Perhaps the rider is of a generation that can still remember the original vitality and that makes it all the more sad. The loss of customs and rituals that once defined who a people were that is being replaced by a vacuum.
That is just my impression but it may help you realise your own thoughts on this.
Jim
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Stephanie: I found this in a book I recently purchased and the date you asked for is 1946. this poem belongs in 'The Moving Image' collection of the same year. I hope that helps.
Von
Oldpoetry Team
Edited on Feb 04, 8:18 p.m. because ''. -
do you know when this poem was written?
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a lament, a sorrowed song, the soul's deep cry for the land and its people, this could have just as easily been written for the tribes and land of the American Indian. strength of line, strength of character within the line and stanza
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Garth (email) 6 hours ago said:
Well the textual integrity of this amazing poem is held up so well by the aboriginal theme. I like the way she has used compound words to emphasise her imagery.
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Edited on Aug 29, 5:24 p.m. because ''. -
Bora ring is a poem reflecting on the colonisation of the blak ppls land and how there is nothing left
The song is gone; the dance
is secret with the dancers in the earth,
the ritual useless, and the tribal story
lost in an alien tale.
this says that there is nuthin left of there heritage and although write is not aboriginal she feels remorse towards thier culture and the ordeals tey hav sustained it complicated 2 say but tyr 2 analise it 2 lines at a time.
o well thas just my littl say 4 the day
bye guys -
I think this is a wonderful poem. simple and beautiful. I am in mr. richards class and I apprecitate him pointing this wonderful write out to us.
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The simple approach to this is what I feel gives the write its strength.
Sometimes the power of words come not form the complex, but the soft approach.
Mrs. Wright used this to a very powerful display. I wish I had seen this when I was doing my class on soft approach, as this is an excellent example of the technique.
The Aborigine, like our American Indians shared a common fate to the European settlers, where both of their cultures were so distroyed. -
while i do not have a fetish for poetry, Bora Ring managed to captivate my attention...the fact that it is meaningful and not just fanciful when it comes to words, took my breath away.Even now i find it hard to breath...and i read it two damn friggin years ago!
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This poem had simplicity which seemed a little choppy by left it more vivid and mysterious than any other poem that was filled with massive descriptive words! I really enjoyed this poem, it was thought provoking and had nice motions in it. The background was interesting as well!
-nicci -
woah, interesting background on this poem. it makes it much more interesting and meaningful than it would have been without the explanation... i enjoyed it very much, and actually learned a little bit, too. best of wishes, and keep up the good work!!
~tyler
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Syshonblast, Yes my comment is accurate. Judith Wright committed herself to the plight of the Aborigine in Australia. she spent a huge portion of her life attempting to bring into focus for better understanding of just how Aborigines were treated at the time of colonisation and beyond. The first stanza is mosty poignant as it speaks of the tribal dances, which, when passed on verbally and visually from one generation died out as the Tribesmen and women had their lives turned out and pulled out by the roots by the White settlers.
Check out: www.crystalinks.com/dreamtime.html - this will give you a better insight into their way of life.
I'm glad you enjoyed the poem.
~Von~ -
I liked the story but not the poetry. It seemed very choppy to me. The visions it evoked were primal and vivid. I think the style was fine, just not something I enjoyed. It was be fine the way it is since I saw the message clearly.
In response to comments, you really can;t call a prison colony a land taken by colonists. -
If Von's comment is accurate, that would make Wright's poem very interesting. So many writers and poets have written works that are metaphorical, rather than based on something factual and deeper than "My life stinks" or "I Found (or Lost) My Love" yadda yadda yadda.
Anyway, this was a good poem, and I don't believe I've read Wright before, so that was nice.
~Syshonblast~ -
dudes it is describing australia, old judes is an aussie chick writing about the guilt and remorse she feels for her people (european settlers) invading and completely colonialising australia (is that a word lol) the "rider" is a white person... who is representative of all the people who feel the same way she does about the diminishing of Aboriginality and of the 60,000 odd years of culture they had before the bloody whitemen took over. it really is a simple poem just dont look too deep into it. cheers
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I think the 'sightless shadow' is a ghost - no eyes, just the form, still at the spot, and the white rider is startled and fearful as s/he remembers that these rings are sacred places from which we are excluded. "Fear as old as Cain" - refers to death for trespassing.
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what about the last line, though? what is a 'sightless shadow'? A grave? Is the 'rider' a white man? Unsaid curse? hmmm... must be alluding to imagery or metonymy in a story that I havent read...?
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Thanks for your comment Von, without it the entire piece would have went straight over my head. lol. It does make sense now.
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This is powerful. I have never read any of her work before but i will definitely have to. Reading what Gemini said it makes sense... It does sound like Australia... but it can in other ways be compared to other soceities and cultures.
*~OD~* -
Lamenting the loss of the nomadic Aboriginal tribes of Australia. Wright speaks of the hunter, the spear and the nomad feet that now are still. If only the white man that inhabited Australia 200 years ago were blessed with foresight beyond the building of cities.
A Poignant poem written by a lady with much empathy for the people who had their way of life taken away from them.
Von
Edited on Jan 11, 7:39 because ''.
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