The "Bell-birds" and the Development of Australian Literature
Despite its European origins, Australian literature has developed a unique identity of iconic bushmen, social and racial politics and awe-inspiring landscapes (Australian Government). However, within these tales, the tenets of many English literary movements are still present (Smith and Pierce). This is especially prevalent within, Henry Kendall's lyrical poem, "Bell-birds" as his emotive tributes to the Australian landscape (The Development Of Australian Literature In The 19Th Century 7) adapt Romantic ideals to suit Australian iconography. In turn, Kendall not only gives homage to his predecessors, but pioneers a national identity (The Development Of Australian Literature In The 19Th Century 32). Thus, establishing Australian literature conventions (The
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Development Of Australian Literature In The 19Th Century 32). In order to do this, the poet sustains an allegorical view of nature throughout his "musicalised idealisation of real places and things" (Smith and Pierce 82).
This enables him to incorporate the Romantic ideal of the sublime into the Australian bush (Johnston) and the home of the "silver-voiced bell-birds" (Kendall 9). However, the lack of capitalisation of this environment, emphasises inconsistencies between Kendall's adaptation and Romantic traditions. Therefore, he creates a unique poem which morphs the notion of nature's religious connotations into a deep love and appreciation for the beauty of the bush. This is evident as the setting's visual imagery of "dripping rocks [that] gleam and the leafy pools [that] glisten" (Kendall 20) are home to personified natural elements such as, the "bell-birds" (9) which have "voices," (26) and the "waters [which are] unkissed by the summers" (25). By emphasising the living qualities of these natural features, Kendall is able to connect with the landscape in a profound and intimate way. Thus, allowing the "beauty and strength of the deep mountain valleys" (Kendall 40) to have a seminal impact upon his
life. This is further explored throughout the poet's fascination with the "wildwood" (Kendall 34) of his childhood, rather than the lifeless "city" (39) in which he currently resides. As a result, "Kendall wants to evoke moods and feelings as well as things remembered" (Smith and Pierce 83) throughout his dreamlike recollections. Due to this, he replaces a Romantic obsession with the exotic, with a nostalgic yearning for what is already known. This is evident as the sibilant rhythm and rhyme of the "softer than slumber, and sweeter than singing" (Kendall 7) tone of the "bell-birds," (9) reflects the soothing movement of the "woodlands," (23) rather than "the city and alleys" (39) which surround him. Consequently, the "creeks and... mosses" (Kendall 42) not only act as a mentor for developing innate "beauty and strength" (40) but resembles a tangible comfort that Kendall "might keep" (39) regardless of his location. As a result, the poet alters the fundamental tenets of Romanticism to establish an Australian alternative, that emphasises the innate "beauty and strength" (Kendall 40) of the bush. Due to this, Kendall creates a paradigm shift from following the traditional conventions of English literature, to developing Australian literature "in its own right" (The Development Of Australian Literature In The 19Th Century 32). Thus, he epitomises the attitudes of many nineteenth century poets.
This is amplified in “The Snow Gum”, where Stewart redefines the beauty of the eucalyptus tree. The composer describes the tree as having a “crown” relating that to royalty and regal. Thereafter, the poet extends this personification using “curve”, to reinforce and strengthen his view of the tree being human like and the distinction of it. Stewart expresses a connection to the royalty of the tree. Similarly, the poem “Waterlily” describes the beauty of a peaceful yellow water lily plant floating on water.
Thesis Statement: Mary Aprarico Castrejon’s essay “The Fighter Bird” reveals her family’s poor living situation and the grit which members of her family, like herself and her papi, have despite of their situation.
Bruce Dawe is considered to be one of Australia’s most influential poets of the 20th century. Dawe’s poems capture Australian life in numerous ways, whether it is our passion for AFL in Life-Cycle or our reckless nature towards war as in Homecoming. Dawe creates very complicated poems reflecting the author’s context relevant to the time period, your context is based upon your reading of the poem, where you may gather different meanings, to that of the original intent, hidden within the text.
Without the use of stereotypical behaviours or even language is known universally, the naming of certain places in, but not really known to, Australia in ‘Drifters’ and ‘Reverie of a Swimmer’ convoluted with the overall message of the poems. The story of ‘Drifters’ looks at a family that moves around so much, that they feel as though they don’t belong. By utilising metaphors of planting in a ‘“vegetable-patch”, Dawe is referring to the family making roots, or settling down somewhere, which the audience assumes doesn’t occur, as the “green tomatoes are picked by off the vine”. The idea of feeling secure and settling down can be applied to any country and isn’t a stereotypical Australian behaviour - unless it is, in fact, referring to the continental
One of the many factors that have contributed to the success of Australian poetry both locally and internationally is the insightful commentary or depiction of issues uniquely Australian or strongly applicable to Australia. Many Australian poets have been and are fascinated by the issues relevant to Australia. Many in fact nearly all of these poets have been influenced or have experienced the subject matter they are discussing. These poets range from Oodgeroo Noonuccal Aboriginal and women’s rights activist to Banjo Patterson describing life in the bush. Bruce Dawe is also one of these poets. His insightful representation of the dreary, depressing life of many stay at home mothers in “Up the Wall” is a brilliant example of a poem strongly relevant to Australia.
Distinctively visual allows one to explore the ways images are created through the use of visual and literary techniques. The Australian bush is a harsh, dangerous and lonely land with no one around for miles. Henry Lawson clearly identifies this as he highlights the difficulty and consequences if one doesn’t adapt to it. The prescribed texts ‘The Drover’s Wife’, ‘In a Dry Season’ and ‘The Bush Undertaker’ by Henry Lawson and related material ‘Spelling Father’ by Marshall Davis-Jones as well as ‘Australia’ directed by Baz Luhrmann paint an image of what is normal for someone in their position as well as what they need to be. This can be seen through the concepts love for the family, the harsh Australian environment and the eccentric minds stereotypically found in the bush.
Literary works are the products of the society in which they are created and therefore display dominant societal values unless the text producer deliberately challenges these values. These works of literature communicate these dominant values and reinforce tropes in our society. One such trope, as communicated in Peter Goldsworthy’s Maestro is that of the larrikin – a hooligan, a trope which conjures up a mental image of disdain for authority, propriety and the conservative norms of bourgeois Australia. The consumption of texts produced in Australia by Australians helps reinforce our cultural norms and values, and aids us in recognising ourselves as Australians. This is done through characterisation, with the characters embodying many ‘Australian’ attributes, and the establishment of setting.
This poem expresses Mackellar’s deep passion and love for “her” country without touching on racial issues, rights or custodianship of the land. Australian born and resisting the identification of her British heritage, Mackellar patriotically declares Australia her own by rejecting the beauty of the British landscape through contrasting it with the romantic ideal of her "sunburnt" country. Mackellar presents to the readers the values and attitudes of a newly federated white Australia with her romanticisation of the Australian landscape.
Ward's main reason for writing "The Australian Legend" was to portray the typical Australian's perception of himself. He admitted that the book was not intended to be a history of Australia, and it wasn't. What the narrative does do however, is trace and explore the source of what he referred to as the "national mystique". Ward bases his work on the opinion that the 'Australian spirit' is somehow intimately connected with the bush and that it derives rather from the common folk than from the more respectable sections of society. He treats this assumption methodically, using literary and historical evidence. The majority of the evidence, are extracts taken from the Sydney Bulletin, a paper edited by J.F Archibald. Writers included "the three greatest 'nationalist' writers of the 'nineties", as Ward called them. They were Banjo Paterson, Henry Lawson, and Joseph Furphy. Ward believed that their works were hard fact - a reflection of the emergence of a distinctively Australian way of life in the outback. This evidence however is rather selective. It appears that Ward has only chosen to include the works that support his version of the 'Australian identity', intentionally leaving out works by the aforementioned writers that gave reference to anyone not fitting his description of 'typical', ie. women, foreigners, aboriginals and city-dwellers.
Bryant explicitly shows the reader his love for nature through the poem. Lines 15-22 demonstrate this love: “The thick roof of green and stirring branches is alive and musical with birds, that sing and sport in
The Song of the Hummingbird, written by Graciela Limon, is a novel telling the story of Huitzitzilin an Aztec survivor whose kingdom fell to ruin by her nation's blind reliance on God. The book features Huitzitzilin as the narrator of the story and Father Benito as a naive journalist of sorts. As the story begins, Father Benito meets Huitzitzilin while he’s taking confessions in the church. Through this transaction; Benito is told by the head of the church to take note of the history Huitzitzilin has to tell, while absolving her of her sins. As Benito begins to hear her story, his irritation and discomfort with hearing it becomes clear. He fidgets, buries his head in his hands, and at times even threatens to leave. The reasons for this comes from what Benito knows from history books and the teaching of his faith, Huitzitzilin begins to pick up on things as she tells her story. She uses this to mess with him at times and to distance him from the mindset that he’s just a tool for his god’s word. When the story draws to a conclusion, Benito sees Huitzitzilin story for what it is, he and his people are no different than hers, yet they treated them as savages.
...etaphor, “Is running in your veins” like blood, recognises the country as an integral part of life. Furthermore, rhythm created by the omission of commas in “sapphire misted mountains” combined with the rhyme scheme of the makes the tribute more powerful. Consequently the language techniques employed by Mackellar, reinforce her passion of Australia whilst also embracing the audience in an evocative image of her personal experience.
Good morning/afternoon invited teacher and students. The expressive poem ‘Clancy of the Overflow’ written by the prominent poet Andrew Barton Paterson illustrates the country life of a drover as the ideal lifestyle as it is the beauty and nature of mankind. This poem is extremely critical of city life and seems to only convey the negative aspects that are involved. During this analysis various poetic techniques as well as aesthetic features will be used including suggestive language, alliteration, metaphor and imagery are applied to describe the author’s use of poetic devices and to show how effectively the poet conveyed its messages and the link to Australian diversity.
Nature is often a focal point for many author’s works, whether it is expressed through lyrics, short stories, or poetry. Authors are given a cornucopia of pictures and descriptions of nature’s splendor that they can reproduce through words. It is because of this that more often than not a reader is faced with multiple approaches and descriptions to the way nature is portrayed. Some authors tend to look at nature from a deeper and personal observation as in William Wordsworth’s “I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud”, while other authors tend to focus on a more religious beauty within nature as show in Gerard Manley Hopkins “Pied Beauty”, suggesting to the reader that while to each their own there is always a beauty to be found in nature and nature’s beauty can be uplifting for the human spirit both on a visual and spiritual level.
According to Salewski and Bruderer (2007) is the regular, endogenously controlled, seasonal movement of birds between breeding and non-breeding areas. Migration is an adaptation that has been shaped by the natural selection. Birds have likely been migrating for millions of years. Migration continues to be a widespread phenomenon, with more than half of the world’s approximately 10,000 species of birds classified as migrants (Berthold 1998). However, the percentage of bird species that exhibit migratory behavior varies with latitude. The desire of migration is a hereditary impulse. The timing of the migration is usually a mixture of internal and external stimulus. Migration is a dangerous but necessary journey for many birds. Fortunately, they