Les A. Murray's "Sydney and the Bush"

The poet - Les A. Murray:

Les Murray was born on 17 October 1938. He is an Australian poet, anthologist and critic. He has written 30 volumes of poetry. He is a nationalist and republican and through his writings he helps to define what it means to be Australian.

"Sydney and the Bush" overview:

This poem is about the British convicts coming to Australia and the division between the Aboriginal people and the British. It also demonstrates the industrialisation of Australia, but the bush still has power over the city landscape, regardless of the industrialisation.

How has the poem conveyed the relationship between the inhabitant and the landscape?

Landscapes are  symbolic of their inhabitants and landscapes can be extremely different and contrast each other significantly. Les A. Murray's "Sydney and the Bush" demonstrates the juxtaposition of two different landscapes, the bush and the city through various language devices.

Landscapes are a very important part of history as they are symbolic of two different inhabitants meeting. "When Sydney and the Bush first met", The repetition of this line highlights the significance of the meeting, and the change that occurs due to the meeting. 'Sydney' is symbolic of European settlers and the 'Bush' is symbolic of the Aboriginal people. "And men and girls, in chains and not", this conveys the message that the some of the Europeans that came to Australia were convicts as they were prisoners in chains.  This first stanza illustrates sets the setting of the poem, when Europeans came with convicts to colonise and take over the Aboriginal people's land.

Aboriginal people have a very close and nurturing relationship with landscapes and they love their landscape. The Europeans saw the Aboriginal people as destructive and dangerous, this is conveyed through the connotations of 'fire' in "the men of Fire and of Earth." The metaphor of Aboriginal people as men of the earth, illustrates the close and nurturing relationship the Aboriginal inhabitants had with the landscape. "Then convicts bled and warders bred", this juxtaposition of people dying, and people living demonstrates the horrible treatment of the British convicts, that contrasts with the great life the warders were enjoying. This juxtaposition aids to set the setting of Australia when the British invaded. "Became White men and Black" the binary opposites of black and white communicate the significant division of the British and the Aboriginal people.

The physical landscape was becoming unused and rejected by the British as industrialisation was dominating the natural landscape. The power of factories and coal was increasing as industrialisation grew.  The power of industrialisation, also conveyed the power the British had over the landscape and the Aboriginal people, as they were using their land. "And warmed her feet with coal", the personification of the landscape as 'her' conveys her as mother nature. This quote demonstrates the power of industrialisation over the natural landscape, as the British used coal to warm themselves and heat things, while Aboriginal people used fire, as they are 'men of Fire', and the industrialisation of Australia gave the British power to bring all of their ways of life to Australia and enforce them on all, including the Australian landscape.

The loving relationship between the original inhabitants of the landscape and the landscape began to lose strength. Along with the intense growth of colonisation and industrialisation, came the deaths of many Aborigines. This demonstrated the city landscape dominating over the Bush landscape, which is conveyed through the use of juxtaposition in stanza 4. "Then bushmen sank and factories rose", this juxtaposition demonstrates the hierarchy that was created in society, the bushmen (Aboriginal people) were at the bottom and the factories (symbolic for the British and their industrialisation) rose to the top and dominated over the bushmen. It also conveys people leaving the bush to work in the city, where the factories and jobs were, which is the factories continued to rise. The city landscape was dominating the bush landscape and consequently they was a loss of identity with the land. "suburbs float at night, far out to sea." The imagery of a dark endless sea created by 'night' and 'far out to sea' illustrate the separation and create a sense of distance between the Aboriginal people and the land.

Natural landscapes and man-made landscapes are in a constant battle, as the inhabitants never know which one is better. The natural landscape is the bush in this poem, and has power over the city landscape. "With heavy dancing overhead the music will not stop", the cacophony used demonstrates that the heavy dancing is a constant harsh sound that irritates the city landscape, as the city feels its power slipping away. The high modality words used in  "will not stop" demonstrates the determination of the bush to dominate. The 'heavy dancing' is metaphorical for the rain, which conveys the intense power of the bush, as rain can be very powerful and destructive. This destructive attitude is being pressed towards the city landscape and will not stop as the Aboriginal people will always want their landscape back, as after all they were the original inhabitants.

Connections between other poems:

"Sydney and the bush" by Les A. Murray and "My Country" by Dorothea McKellar.

Inhabitants can have a strong, loving and nurturing relationship with the physical landscape, so much so that it becomes part of the inhabitants inner landscape.

"Sydney and the bush" by Les A. Murray and "My Country" by Dorothea McKellar are both wonderful poems that demonstrate the loving relationship between the inhabitant and the landscape. "Sydney and the bush" by Les A. Murray conveys this message through a metaphor that describes the Aboriginal people as part of the Earth, as part of their physical landscape. "The men of Fire and of Earth", this illustrates the Aboriginal people to also have a good relationship with one of the four elements of the Earth.  

"My Country" by Dorothea McKellar communicates the wonderful relationship between the inhabitant and the landscape through the repetition of "Core of my heart, my country!" as this conveys the significance of the physical landscape as part of her inner landscape. The repetition of the word 'love' also demonstrates the significance of the inhabitants love toward the landscape and places greater emphasis on the country being the core of the inhabitant's heart. 

Hope it wasn't too boring!