- My Country, by Dorothea Mackellar
Isobel Marion Dorothea Mackellarwas an Australian poet and fiction writer. Her poem ‘My Country’ is perhaps the best known Australian poem. She wrote a version of it that she called ‘Core of My Heart’ when she was homesick on a visit to England. She was a young woman at the time, and writing pieces that she sent to magazines for publication. She died in 1968. The Mackellar family owned several properties in the Gunnedah area in New South Wales, and it is this country that inspired her writing.
my_country.docx |
My Country, by Dorothea Mackellar
The love of field and coppice
Of green and shaded lanes,
Of ordered woods and gardens
Is running in your veins.
Strong love of grey-blue distance,
Brown streams and soft, dim skies
I know, but cannot share it,
My love is otherwise.
I love a sunburnt country,
A land of sweeping plains,
Of ragged mountain ranges,
Of droughts and flooding rains.
I love her far horizons,
I love her jewel-sea,
Her beauty and her terror
The wide brown land for me!
The stark white ring-barked forests,
All tragic to the moon,
The sapphire-misted mountains,
The hot gold hush of noon,
Green tangle of the brushes
Where lithe lianas coil,
And orchids deck the tree-tops,
And ferns the warm dark soil.
Core of my heart, my country!
Her pitiless blue sky,
When, sick at heart, around us
We see the cattle die
But then the grey clouds gather,
And we can bless again
The drumming of an army,
The steady soaking rain.
Core of my heart, my country!
Land of the rainbow gold,
For flood and fire and famine
She pays us back threefold.
Over the thirsty paddocks,
Watch, after many days,
The filmy veil of greenness
That thickens as we gaze ...
An opal-hearted country,
A wilful, lavish land
All you who have not loved her,
You will not understand
though Earth holds many splendours,
Wherever I may die,
I know to what brown country
My homing thoughts will fly.
The love of field and coppice
Of green and shaded lanes,
Of ordered woods and gardens
Is running in your veins.
Strong love of grey-blue distance,
Brown streams and soft, dim skies
I know, but cannot share it,
My love is otherwise.
I love a sunburnt country,
A land of sweeping plains,
Of ragged mountain ranges,
Of droughts and flooding rains.
I love her far horizons,
I love her jewel-sea,
Her beauty and her terror
The wide brown land for me!
The stark white ring-barked forests,
All tragic to the moon,
The sapphire-misted mountains,
The hot gold hush of noon,
Green tangle of the brushes
Where lithe lianas coil,
And orchids deck the tree-tops,
And ferns the warm dark soil.
Core of my heart, my country!
Her pitiless blue sky,
When, sick at heart, around us
We see the cattle die
But then the grey clouds gather,
And we can bless again
The drumming of an army,
The steady soaking rain.
Core of my heart, my country!
Land of the rainbow gold,
For flood and fire and famine
She pays us back threefold.
Over the thirsty paddocks,
Watch, after many days,
The filmy veil of greenness
That thickens as we gaze ...
An opal-hearted country,
A wilful, lavish land
All you who have not loved her,
You will not understand
though Earth holds many splendours,
Wherever I may die,
I know to what brown country
My homing thoughts will fly.
View the video below of the visuals that accompany the poem, recited by the author, Dorothea Mackellar
Understand
Download and complete the comprehension questions below to help gain an understanding of the poem.
comp_questions_my_country.docx |
Comprehension Questions on “My Country” by Dorothea MacKellar
1. Which country is the poet describing in the first verse and how does she feel about it?
2. List all the features that the poet admires about the Australian landscape.
3. Comment on the structure of the poem (rhyme/verses/change in location/repetition).
4. What overall contrast does the poet provide in verse 2?
5. Find three examples of effective description, copy them correctly and say why they are effective.
6. What negative aspects of Australia are given in verse 4?
7. Find the metaphor used in verse 4 to describe the rain.
8. Find an example of alliteration in verse 5.
9. In what way is Australia personified?
10. How does the poet describe the green paddocks in verse 5?
11. What does the last verse suggest about the poet’s feelings for Australia?
1. Which country is the poet describing in the first verse and how does she feel about it?
2. List all the features that the poet admires about the Australian landscape.
3. Comment on the structure of the poem (rhyme/verses/change in location/repetition).
4. What overall contrast does the poet provide in verse 2?
5. Find three examples of effective description, copy them correctly and say why they are effective.
6. What negative aspects of Australia are given in verse 4?
7. Find the metaphor used in verse 4 to describe the rain.
8. Find an example of alliteration in verse 5.
9. In what way is Australia personified?
10. How does the poet describe the green paddocks in verse 5?
11. What does the last verse suggest about the poet’s feelings for Australia?
Discuss
The poem ‘My Country’ is seen to embody all that is special about the Australian landscape.
After reading ‘My Country', discuss with the people in your group whether you think it is recognisably Australian and why.
Make notes on the following:
- How do we visualise Australia?
- What words do we associate with the Australian landscape?
- Are there words, phrases or sentiments unique to our land?
- It has been said that the poet was in love with Australia’s landscape and we see her connection to the land in her writing. Do you think this holds true for today’s Australians? Are we tied to the land in the same way that people were a hundred years ago?
- Do you connect with poetry about the Australian bush? The majority of Australia’s population lives in cities. Imagine if Dorothea was writing her poem today. Do you think it would be solely about the country? What aspects of it might be relevant to our modern country?
- Dorothea wrote this poem at age 19, when she was homesick in England. Choose a place that is important to you and using your memories compose a poem along similar lines to ‘My Country.’
After reading ‘My Country', discuss with the people in your group whether you think it is recognisably Australian and why.
Make notes on the following:
- How do we visualise Australia?
- What words do we associate with the Australian landscape?
- Are there words, phrases or sentiments unique to our land?
- It has been said that the poet was in love with Australia’s landscape and we see her connection to the land in her writing. Do you think this holds true for today’s Australians? Are we tied to the land in the same way that people were a hundred years ago?
- Do you connect with poetry about the Australian bush? The majority of Australia’s population lives in cities. Imagine if Dorothea was writing her poem today. Do you think it would be solely about the country? What aspects of it might be relevant to our modern country?
- Dorothea wrote this poem at age 19, when she was homesick in England. Choose a place that is important to you and using your memories compose a poem along similar lines to ‘My Country.’
Create
Dorothea wrote this poem at age 19, when she was homesick in England. Choose a place that is important to you and using your memories compose a poem along similar lines to ‘My Country.’