Poetry is not just black ink on paper, but it is also a mesmerising yet captivating painting, a work of art. The poet is the artist and through words; they illustrate their own story. They can write stanzas and stanzas just on their experiences and their past, just like how artists express emotions through their pastel pinks or vibrant blues. Meanwhile, the poems in this anthology are like the watercolours in a painting. The faint streaks of loss and hardship, of heartbreak and suffering, they build a bigger picture: The Stolen Generation.
THEME:
It is and forever will be a horrifying event in Australian history: the forceful taking of the Indigenous children. To Indigenous Australians, it is important that we acknowledge …show more content…
Throughout this poem, the phrase “took the children” is repeated throughout the poem at the beginning of each stanza. The author does this to stress the significance of the Stolen Generation as well as emphasise emotions of pain and misery. Furthermore, the simile “tears fell like rain upon that day” compares the tears of the Indigenous people to rain, emphasising the weight of the tears and the agony that they have experienced. This creates feelings of devastation among the audience, perhaps reminding them of their own losses or pains. Moreover, Belonging Where, by Lorraine McGee-Sippel delves into the thoughts of a young girl who was part of the Stolen Generation. Words like “heartache” and “despair” communicate emotions of sorrow and words like “stole” and “separated” portray loss. Thus, both of these poems include strong word choices and language features that provoke powerful emotions of pain as well as sorrow within the …show more content…
The author achieves this by using strong negative language to describe their behaviour such as “bastards.” When the author used the phrase “crueller than those who’d broke a family” he could mean that not only the government should apologise for the cruel acts of The Stolen Generation, but also the ones who committed horrid actions such as those at the Church school. The phrases used, and the choice of language allow the audience to see them as criminal and inhumane and to see Indigenous Australians as the victims of the crimes. Moreover, in “The Stolen Generation (Later On)”, Paul Buttigieg positions his audience to view those who were affected by the Stolen Generation to be strong and determined. He accomplishes this by describing Indigenous Australians as “wiser” and mentioning the phrase “we are older now”. This gives the impression that the Indigenous Australians are strong-minded and capable people who are worthy of fight, unlike in David Keig’s “The Stolen Generation” where the readers are positioned to view Indigenous Australians as vulnerable