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Analysis on ‘**__The Man From Snowy River__**’ //by Georgia Farry//

This ballad by Banjo Paterson romanticises the image of the Australian bush and the life of a horseman in the 1800’s. The ideas he created are still used today in identifying what it means to be Australian. The fact that ‘The Man from Snowy River’ is a ballad, draws the reader into the story because of its rhythm and flow making it easy to follow. It also eludes to the’ clip-clopping’ sound of horses’ hooves so it feels like you are part of the adventure. The use of alliteration throughout the ballad such as “Cliffs and crags”…”Flint stones flying”...”Rangers Ring”…”Sweep and sway”…”Heads for home” also supports this idea. Paterson also uses a lot of dramatic descriptive language to paint the natural setting as something which is rugged and hostile at the same time as being beautiful for example “through the stringy barks and saplings, on the rough and broken ground”…”Their well-loved mountain”…”Air as clear as crystal”…”Gorges deep and black”. This imagery romanticises the idea of the Australian man or in this case the horseman as someone that is of a hero like character who is tough enough to survive and conquer his environment. It is also a way of showing how people in the 1800’s were proud and happy about where they lived and made themselves separate from people living in England. Paterson uses metaphors to dramatize as well as romanticise the Australian man and his environment. In one example he uses the image of a horse to describe the strength and character of a human or of the horseman for example “He was hard tough and wiry”…”He bore the badge of gameness”…”Proud and Lofty”. In a way he is saying that all of these traits such as being tough and proud, are the traits of the ultimate Australian and are traits that you need to survive in such a place. In conclusion, this story is about the celebration of a man conquering the wild. It is famous because it has given Australians connection and a sense of belonging since they immigrated in the 1800’s. Its positive in the way it shows Australians to be people who are strong and are willing to give anything a try. It is also negative as it does not include the idea of a female as an ultimate Australian and neither an Australian aboriginal person.


 * ANIA WALWICZ **

//You big ugly. You too empty. You desert with your nothing nothing nothing.You scorched suntanned. Old too quickly. Acres of suburbs watching the telly. You bore me. Freckle silly children. You nothing much. //

// With your big sea. Beach beach beach. I´ve seen enough already. You Dumb dirty city with bar stools. You´re ugly. You silly shoppingtown. You copy. You too far everywhere. You laugh at me. When I came this woman gave me a box of biscuits. You try to be friendly but you´re not very friendly. You never ask me to your house. You insult me. You don´t know how to be with me. Road road tree tree. I came from crowded and many. I came from rich. You have nothing to offer. You´re poor and spread thin. You big. So what. I´m small. It´s what´s in. You silent on Sunday. Nobody on your streets. You dead at night. You go to sleep too early. You don´t excite me. You scare me with your hopeless. Asleep when you walk. Too hot to think. You big awful. You don´t match me. You burnt out. You too big sky. You make me a dot in the nowhere. You laugh with your big healthy. You want everyone to be the same. You´re dumb. You do like anybody else. You engaged Doreen. You big cow. You average average. Cold day at school playing around at lunchtime. Running around for nothing. You never accept me. For your own. You always ask me where I´m from. You always ask me. You tell me I look strange. Different. You don´t adopt me. You laugh at the way I speak. You think you´re better than me. You don´t like me. You don´t have any Interest in another country. Idiot centre of your own self. You think the rest of the world walks around without shoes or electric light. You don´t go anywhere. You stay at home. You like one another. You go crazy on Saturday night. You get drunk. You don´t like me and you don´t like women. You put your arm around men in bars. You´re rough. I can´t speak to you. You burly burly. You´re just silly to me. You big man. Poor with all your money. You ugly furniture. You ugly house. Relaxed in your summer stupor: All year. Never fully awake. Dull at school. Wait for other people to tell you what to do. Follow the leader. Can´t imagine. Work horse. Thick legs. You go to work in the morning. You shiver on a tram //

MIGRANT AUSTRALIA

Visual Representation:



COMMENTARY ON POEM:

COMMENTARY The poem ‘Australia’ by Ania Walwicz was published in the 1990’s. Walwicz arrived in Australia as an immigrant from Poland in 1963. The Prose Poem aims to portray a negative view about Australia and Australian society. It offers a contrasting view to many things Australians consider as positive things such as aspects of their everyday lifestyle e.g. going to the beach or living in the suburbs. It stems from her experiences living in Australia as an immigrant and dealing with Australian society. She obviously feels like an outsider and expresses her hatred through prose.

To achieve this Walwicz uses alliteration such as ‘Dumb dirty city’…’box of biscuits’ giving the poem a sense of rhythm. It also exaggerates the hot tempered pace of Walwicz’s prose, like she is a stuttering child trying to get her angry words out.

The overriding feature of the poem is the use of colloquial language ..‘// You silly shoppingtown. You copy. You too far everywhere. ////’. ‘You big cow’. At first glance the poem seems childish and immature but a deeper reading of the text and the way each sentence is positioned shows her unhappiness Walwicz disillusionment makes the reader see the words in a different light. Walwicz makes the everyday colloquial language seem a bit more ruthless than we first thought. //

//Walwicz uses to identify migrant Australia is the short simple sentences throughout the poem. She uses these to suggest the character is not very strong in English. Knowing that English is Australia’s main language we now identify the character as a foreigner to Australia. “ //// You never accept me. // //For your own. You always ask me where I´m from. You always ask me. You tell me I look strange.// //”//

n conclusion, Walwicz successfully represented to us a migrant Australian using particular language techniques and poetic devices to negatively provide us with more of an understanding of the Australian Identity. ·