Commentary+Proposal

To write a line to you, To let you fellows understand How proud we are of you.
 * __ ‘We’re all Australians now’ __ ** by Banjo Paterson
 * Australia takes her pen in hand

From shearing shed and cattle run, From Broome to Hobson's Bay, Each native-born Australian son Stands straighter up today.

The man who used to "hump his drum", On far-out Queensland runs Is fighting side by side with some Tasmanian farmer's sons.

The fisher-boys dropped sail and oar To grimly stand the test, Along that storm-swept Turkish shore, With miners from the west.

The old state jealousies of yore Are dead as Pharaoh's sow, We're not State children any more — We're all Australians now!

Our six-starred flag that used to fly Half-shyly to the breeze, Unknown where older nations ply Their trade on foreign seas,

Flies out to meet the morning blue With Vict'ry at the prow; For that's the flag the Sydney flew, The wide seas know it now!

The mettle that a race can show Is proved with shot and steel, And now we know what nations know And feel what nations feel.

The honoured graves beneath the crest Of Gaba Tepe hill May hold our bravest and our best, But we have brave men still.

With all our petty quarrels done, Dissensions overthrown, We have, through what you boys have done, A history of our own.

Our old world diff'rences are dead, Like weeds beneath the plough, For English, Scotch, and Irish-bred, They're all Australians now!

So now we'll toast the Third Brigade That led Australia's van, For never shall their glory fade In minds Australian.

Fight on, fight on, unflinchingly, Till right and justice reign. Fight on, fight on, till Victory Shall send you home again.

And with Australia's flag shall fly A spray of wattle-bough To symbolise our unity — We're all Australians now. ||

 Commentary
Banjo Paterson’s ‘We’re all Australians now’ was published in 1915. His largely optimistic and patriotic poem inspires readers of the Australian community to embrace unity. The poem’s tone also is in line with the propaganda posters to enlist in the army at the time. ‘We’re all Australians now’ draws the reader to see the war from a positive Australia homefront perspective. Texts from the Australian homefront create an important perspective of the war. Paterson marginalises reality of the warfront to focus on bravery, unity, and nationalism. He does not emphasis the death and reality of warfare. The graves were described as ‘honoured’. This poem only further enhances a stereotype of Australians through unity known as ‘mateship’ by describing ‘fisher-boys … stand…along that storm-swept Turkish shore with miners form the west.’ Paterson forces the reader to his dominant meaning of the text which is unity through a consistent word choice from a triumphant theme. He describes the flag as ‘flies out..’ which conveys a victorious tone. The graves become ‘honoured’. The men were described as ‘brave’. His repetition of ‘fight on’ concludes the poem on a triumphant note. These are all praises and victories in nature. Paterson also uses a constant repetition of ‘we’re all Australians now’. These are the words that direct readers to the main theme of the poem which is unity. His use of the first person also emphasises this theme. ‘We have brave men still’, ‘we..feel what other nations feel’ etc. create a sense of belonging for the reader which assists in turning the reader to believe the unity. However, the tone Paterson adopts also contains a sense of patronisation. While he does use the first person, the ‘we’ refers to Australians in the homefront, when referring to the soldiers, he refers to as ‘you’ or ‘their’. This change of pronouns give a sense of ‘the other’, a separate entity. Through this otherness, he betrays a feeling of superiority. His sometime overuse of victorious terminology shows complete silencing of the actual circumstances of the war, which then sounds slightly superficial, therefore betraying superiority. Paterson’s other purpose of this text is to promote nationalism amongst Australian men, persuading them to enlist. He deliberately emphasises on how everyone in Australia is an Australian, through this line ‘English, Scotch, and Irish-bred, They're all Australians now!’ This would make everyone at the time feel obliged to join. His victorious tone also conveys also conveys the glory and honour that accompanies being a soldier. The actual hardships of the war which would dissuade enlisting if mentioned, is deliberately silenced by Paterson.  The careful choices of literary devices Paterson had successfully conveyed his underlying purpose to the reader. This text also paints a picture of the mood of one of the facets of Australians in the war which is the focus.