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Dorothea Mackellar

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The poem ‘My Country’ written by Dorothea Mackellar in 1904 should be awarded with first place in the Annual Poetry Competition. It successfully expresses the love she holds for her home country, Australia, by describing the beautiful landscapes after the breaking of a long drought. Her inspiration for the poem originated while she was traveling around Europe, when a friend was discussing with her all of the things Australia didn’t have compared to England. The poem is directed towards all nationalities, excluding Australians, to demonstrate the beauty of the country. The poet effectively employs a wide range of language features such as rhyming, repetition, alliteration, and personification, along with the text structures, such as the poetic …show more content…
In each stanza, the second and fourth line, along with the sixth and eighth line rhyme with each other, for example ‘lanes ‘and ‘veins’, as well as ‘skies’ and ‘otherwise’. This is used to help establish rhythm, and allow it to flow more smoothly, creating a more aesthetically appealing poem. In the first line of both the fourth and fifth stanza, repetition is used for ‘core of my heart, my country’, to add emphasis to the phrase. In addition, it effectively communicates to the audience that the poet feels strongly about the ‘country’, as she relates it directly to her ‘heart’, which is a well know symbol for love. Furthermore, the third line of the fifth stanza, ‘for flood and fire and famine’ uses alliteration to add emphasis to the idea that the country is not flawless. However, the description of her ‘beauty’ throughout the entire poem, adds to the idea that the country is still wonderful, regardless of these …show more content…
She incorporated the negative side of the country, by mentioning ‘the terror’ of the land, due to the droughts, floods, bushfires, and famine. This creates a sense of realism, causing the audience to believe that the land is genuine, rather than idealized. Mackellar continues with the line ‘She pays us back three-fold’, conveying the idea that even though it is not perfect, it makes up for it faults. In the last stanza, she connects with the nationality of Australia by stating that anyone who has not experienced this will not understand. She may have done this to express how she disagrees with her friend’s opinion, and to state that she can’t compare it to another country, when she has never lived there and experienced everything it has to offer. Mackellar successfully appeals to the Australian identity, and makes it hard for anyone of the culture to deny it

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