Comparing Poems

Comparing ‘The Australian Sunrise’ and ‘My Country’

The Australian SunriseThe Morning Star paled slowly, the Cross hung low to the sea And down the shadowy reaches the tide came swirling free. The lustrous purple blackness of the soft Australian night Waned in the grey awakening that heralded the light; Still in the dying darkness, still in the forest dim The pearly dew of the dawning clung to each giant limb, Till the sun came up from ocean, red with the cold sea mist, And smote on the limestone ridges, and the shining tree-tops kissed; Then the fiery Scorpion vanished, the magpie's note was heard, And the wind in the sheoak wavered and the honeysuckles stirred; The airy golden vapour rose from the river breast, The kingfisher came darting out of his crannied nest, And the bulrushes and reed-beds put off their sallow grey And burnt with cloudy crimson at the dawning of the day.

By James L Cuthbertson

My CountryThe 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, That 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 splendors, Wherever I may die, I know to what brown country My homing thoughts will fly.

by Dorothea Mackellar

Structure

How does the structure of the two poems compare?

Example- How does they sound different? How is the pattern different? How is the rhythm different?

Adjective

How did they use adjectives to improve the poem.

List some of the adjectives they have used.

Imagery

How do they describe Australia in both poems? How are they different or similar? What parts do you find most effective? Which poems is it easier for you to see an image in your mind?

Which poem did you prefer?

Which poem did you find most effective and why?

Give examples of why you like your poem more.