Poetry Comparison Mackellar vs. Hope
English Poetry Comparison
Often referred to as ‘the lucky country’, Australia is a stable, democratic society. It is the biggest island on Earth, and home to one of the world’s oldest living cultures. From tropical rainforests in the north, to the deserts of the Red Centre, to the snowfields in the south-east, Australia is vast and varied (Department of Foreign Affairs and Trades, Unknown date).
“Australian poetry is rapidly finding a place in the context of an international poetics.” (Kinsella, unknown date) From reading poems such as “My Country” by Isobel Marion Dorothea Mackellar and “Australia” by Alec Derwent Hope, we can understand their varying yet essentially similar views of the Australian landscape through their life experiences and their opposing uses of word choice and symbolism.
The commonalities start off with both poets being born in New South Wales, Australia. Mackellar was born in 1885 (Unknown, 2011) while Hope in 1907 (University of Sydney, Unknown date). Mackellar wrote “My Country” during the First World War on a visit to England, where from then on it became one of the best-known Australian bush poems due to its appeal to the sense of patriotism encouraged by the war and post-war nationalism (Kingston, 1986). The poem was believed to have been directly influenced by Mackellar’s experience of life on the land (State Library of New South Wales, 2011). Hope was another internationally known Australian poet who was famous for his “skilful use of traditional verse forms and critique of contemporary values” (University of Sydney, Unknown date). His poem “Australia” also had a sense of patriotism to it, even though the word choice mostly points out the negative aspects of Australia. Although to this day, the year in which he wrote the poem is still unclear, we know that Hope wrote the poem sometime in-between 1930 and 1970.
Firstly, both poets’ core belief about Australia remains very patriotic with Mackellar’s ideology of Australia staying
Often referred to as ‘the lucky country’, Australia is a stable, democratic society. It is the biggest island on Earth, and home to one of the world’s oldest living cultures. From tropical rainforests in the north, to the deserts of the Red Centre, to the snowfields in the south-east, Australia is vast and varied (Department of Foreign Affairs and Trades, Unknown date).
“Australian poetry is rapidly finding a place in the context of an international poetics.” (Kinsella, unknown date) From reading poems such as “My Country” by Isobel Marion Dorothea Mackellar and “Australia” by Alec Derwent Hope, we can understand their varying yet essentially similar views of the Australian landscape through their life experiences and their opposing uses of word choice and symbolism.
The commonalities start off with both poets being born in New South Wales, Australia. Mackellar was born in 1885 (Unknown, 2011) while Hope in 1907 (University of Sydney, Unknown date). Mackellar wrote “My Country” during the First World War on a visit to England, where from then on it became one of the best-known Australian bush poems due to its appeal to the sense of patriotism encouraged by the war and post-war nationalism (Kingston, 1986). The poem was believed to have been directly influenced by Mackellar’s experience of life on the land (State Library of New South Wales, 2011). Hope was another internationally known Australian poet who was famous for his “skilful use of traditional verse forms and critique of contemporary values” (University of Sydney, Unknown date). His poem “Australia” also had a sense of patriotism to it, even though the word choice mostly points out the negative aspects of Australia. Although to this day, the year in which he wrote the poem is still unclear, we know that Hope wrote the poem sometime in-between 1930 and 1970.
Firstly, both poets’ core belief about Australia remains very patriotic with Mackellar’s ideology of Australia staying