What Does The Poem Australian Poem Mean

This essay will analyse the poem ‘Australia’ by Australian poet A.D. Hope. It will explore the underlying message of the poem in terms of Australian culture or lack thereof, as well as the ideas of patriotism and shame. This essay will also draw attention to the slight racist undertones of the poem.
In the first stanza of the poem, Hope describes Australia as a "Nation of trees, drab green and desolate grey" that "Darkens her hills". By this description it would seem that he sees Australia as a country that is and colourless and dull, this is a far cry from the usual descriptions one hears about Australia. Hope has many criticisms of Australia and points out the country’s lack of cultural identity. He likens the country to the Egyptian landmark the "Sphinx" a symbol of great wisdom, where "those endless, outstretched paws of Sphinx demolished or stone lion worn away" insinuating that Australia used to be greater than it is presently and its past reputation is now gone.
The second stanza addresses the notion of Australia as a young country, pointing out that whilst it is young in terms of colonisation, the history of Indigenous Australians goes back thousands of years. Indigenous history however, still lacks genuine status of “real” Australian history. Hope goes on to …show more content…
Hope is letting the reader know that these new settlers are like parasites that take all that is good in his country without giving anything worthy