David Malouf - 'Off the Map'

The poet - David Malouf:

David Malouf was born on 20 March 1934 in Brisbane.  He is an acclaimed Australian writer, who has a great interest In Europe. In his writings he looks at Australia, from the point of view of inhabitants within society, rather than an outside point of view.

"Off the Map" overview:

This is a beautiful poem about how people are intrigued by the city landscape due to its physicality's, while the country/farm landscape is appreciated and loved for its freedom into the inner and imaginative landscape.

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

Some landscapes are appreciated for their physical landscape, while others are appreciated for their inner and imaginative landscapes. This contrast of two different landscapes that please people in different ways are conveyed in David Malouf’s “Off the Map.” Through the use of various poetic techniques, this poem has communicated the battle between a farm landscape and a city landscape.

The city landscapes is intriguing for its physicality, while the farm landscape is appreciated for its freedom into the inner and imaginative landscape it provides.  While inhabitants travel the distance between the two landscapes, they must re-adjust to their surroundings. “Truck-drivers throbbing on pills climb out of the sleep.” The word 'climb' conveys a hesitant journey undertaken by the inhabitant to leave their inner landscape, as they are leaving the farm landscape for the city landscape, and must leave the ability to escape into the inner landscape behind. The 'sleep', that the inhabitants are climbing out of is symbolic of the inner and imaginative landscape of the inhabitant. The eighth stanza also demonstrates the journey and struggle to leave landscape for another through the connotations of 'climb' in "they climb towards dawn." The motif of sleep throughout the poem highlights the urgency for the inhabitant to reach their inner landscape, as sleep is the road to the inner landscape for many inhabitants. Examples of this are "sleep, dozing, out into a dream and nightfall. "

The contrasting landscapes are in a battle against one another as the farm landscape tries to protect the inhabitants from the dangerous dazzle of the city landscape. This is illustrated through the use of war motifs that create war imagery, this destructive imagery demonstrates the battle between the two landscapes. This imagery is created by words such as 'bronze Anzacs, wars, daredevil boys, campfires in the rain and skull.'

The two conflicting landscapes create a sense of confusion for the inhabitants as they are unaware of which landscape is better. The use of a simile in stanza four demonstrates the lack of direction and confusion created. "pointing nowhere, like saints practising stillness", this demonstrates the lack of direction, through the juxtaposition of pointing nowhere. When you point nowhere, you are unsure of where to go, and where to send other inhabitants. Statues and images of saints usually have a hand pointing upwards, or outwards, but they aren't pointing to any specific place.

The farm/country landscape provides inhabitants with a path to the imaginative and inner landscape.  The physical country side landscape provides freedom of thought and space to escape into the inner landscape. "Rode off into headlines and hills or into legends." This conveys the physical landscape, and is conveyed to be very large and spacious as inhabitants are able to ride into them. The headlines created are ones that are created in the mind and are important to the individual inhabitant, which is why they create them and are part of their imaginative landscape. When inhabitants sleep, they lose themselves in their inner and imaginative landscape where possibilities are endless, just as legends and headlines are endless.

The city landscape is intriguing and its lights at night draw in inhabitants. Through the use of connotations, the city is described as a landscape that dazzles outsiders. "New streets that glow in the eyes of farm boys, cities alive only at nightfall." The connotations of glow, communicate to the responder that the city is radiating brightness and almost brilliance and it engulfs the outsider, while engulfing it leaves the imaginative landscape behind, it leaves the individualism that the city landscape and its inhabitants lack.

Some landscapes are appreciated for their physical landscape, while others are appreciated for their inner and imaginative landscapes. This wonderful poem has demonstrated that inhabitants have a good and healthy relationship with the country and farm landscape, as it provides freedom of thought and individualism while the city landscape restricts individualism and takes away that inner and imaginative landscape. This illustrates that the city landscape has a bad relationship with the inhabitants and this has been displayed through the use of various language devices.  

Connections between other poems:

'My Country' by Dorothea McKellar and 'Off the Map' by David Malouf

Both these poems give an insight into the freedom that the country landscape gives, as to let the imaginative landscape run free and a peaceful escape into the inner landscape.

David Malouf conveys this through his poem 'Off the Map.' The physical country side landscape provides freedom of thought and space to escape into the inner landscape. "Rode off into headlines and hills or into legends." This conveys the physical landscape of the hills, and is conveyed to be very large and spacious as inhabitants are able to ride into them and let their thoughts, ideas and imagination run free. When inhabitants sleep, they lose themselves in their inner and imaginative landscape where possibilities are endless, just as the possibilities created in legends are never-ending.  'My Country' by Dorothea McKellar conveys this message as well. "Over the thirsty paddocks, watch, after many days." The personification of the paddocks as being thirsty illustrates them as thirsty for imagination and individualism. As paddocks can never realistically be thirsty, it is symbolic of the imaginative landscape as nothing is impossible in that landscape. 'After many days' also communicates to the responder that the inhabitants can stay lost in their inner landscape for days at a time, as it is a peaceful and endless escape.

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!

William Blake's "Holy Thursday"

The poet - William Blake:

William Blake was born on the 28th November 1757 and died on 12th August 1827. He was English, and was a poet, painter and printmaker.

"Blake proclaimed the supremacy of the imagination over the rationalism and materialism of the 18th-century." (http://kirjasto.sci.fi/wblake.htm - Retrieved: 6 March 2011.)

"Holy Thursday" overview:

This poem is about England being such a rich and fruitful country yet the inhabitants are treated terribly, when they don't need to be. The relationship between the landscape and the inhabitants becomes unloving and insensitive.

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

England, during the 18th century was a flourishing country, yet children as young as 4 years old were forced to work in factories and poverty was common among the people. William Blake questions if this is what we should be seeing. Blake also conveys that the inhabitants ways are insensitive and even border dangerous.

The first stanza demonstrates the binary opposites of the landscape vs. the inhabitants. "In a rich and fruitful land." 'rich' refers to the materialistic possessions that England had and 'fruitful' refers to the success of agriculture and the beauty of the physical landscape. "Babes reduced to misery", the 'misery' is symbolic of young children that were forced into child labour and the connotations of misery, convey that the labour was extremely depressing and hard for the children. "Fed with cold and usurous hand?",  the connotations of the word 'cold' illustrate the unloving and insensitive way that the children are treated. The use of the word 'hand' demonstrates the power adults have on children and how helpless they are. The question mark creates the uncertainty that the persona has in regards to his attitude to the events surrounding him.

The second stanza conveys the persona's understanding of the events surrounding him. "Is that trembling cry a song", this communicates to the responder that the persona has heard the cries, and the onomatopoeia used conveys the terrible sound that the cry is sending out., and emphasises the cries and the pain it contains. "Can it be a song of joy? And so many children poor?", the use of rhetorical questions demonstrates the uncertainty of the persona and that he doesn't understand the treatment of the children, that he is actually questioning it, demonstrates that he wants to understand because in his mind the idea of terrible treatment towards children is tragic. "It is a land of poverty!" This conveys that the persona has understood why all these dreadful events are occurring and has established that it is a land of poverty. This line in the second stanza juxtaposes with the second line of the first stanza "In a rich and fruitful land" as the persona has realised that England does have a beautiful landscape but the treatment of the children and the poverty has made the landscape the extreme opposite of beautiful.

Now, that the persona has come to the realisation that the landscape once thought to be beautiful is now a land of poverty, he describes what he now sees. "And their sun does never shine, and their fields are bleak and bare", the connotations of 'sun' illustrate happiness and bright joy, though the high modality word 'never' indicates that there is never any happiness. The alliteration used in 'bleak and bare' creates a hopeless and sad tone that emphasises how bare the landscape has become. "And their ways are filled with thorns", the word 'thorns' creates visual imagery of sharp points and has connotations of dangerous and harmful. The imagery and connotations demonstrate the dangerous ways of the inhabitants ways, specifically the appalling treatment of children.

The physical landscape of England is beautiful but the industrialisation and the child labour that came hand in hand with that makes the landscape ugly. This is conveyed through various language devices.

Connections between "Holy Thursday" by William Blake, 'The Surfer' by Judith Wright and 'William Street' by Kenneth Slessor.

Physical landscapes are beautiful, but the inhabitants have the ability to make the landscape unlovable and ugly. This is communicated through 'Holy Thursday' by William Blake, 'The Surfer' by Judith Wright and 'William Street' by Kenneth Slessor. This is conveyed through the use of various language devices.

Inhabitants ways can be seen as dangerous to the landscape, due to the ability to ruin the wonderful image of the landscape. This is conveyed through 'Holy Thursday' by William Blake. "And their sun does never shine, and their fields are bleak and bare", the connotations of 'sun' illustrate happiness and bright joy, though the high modality word 'never' indicates that there is never any happiness. The alliteration used in 'bleak and bare' creates a hopeless and sad tone that emphasises how bare the landscape has become. "And their ways are filled with thorns", the word 'thorns' creates visual imagery of sharp points and has connotations of dangerous and harmful.

The inhabitants of the ocean, make the physical landscape dangerous to swim in once the sun goes down. This is demonstrated through 'The Surfer' by Judith Wright. "For on the sand the grey-wolf sea lies snarling", the anthropomorphism of the 'grey wolf sea' conveys the animalistic hunger that the sea and the inhabitants have now that the sun has gone down. It demonstrates the sea as being horrible and ready to engulf the surfer.

 Some landscapes are seen beautiful by some, but not others, it depends on the inhabitants view. This is illustrated through Kenneth Slessor's poem 'William Street.' The repetition of the line "You find this ugly, I find it lovely" at the end of each stanza demonstrates the significance of landscapes as only being seen as beautiful by some. The juxtaposition of 'ugly' and 'lovely' conveys that some inhabitants find beauty in landscapes, while some find the landscape to be ugly.

 Physical landscapes are beautiful, but the inhabitants have the ability to make the landscape unlovable and ugly. This has been illustrated by three wonderful poems through the use of numerous language techniques.

"In the Forest" by Thomas Shapcott

 In a nutshell and out!

The poet:

Thomas Shapcott is an Australian poet who was born in Ipswich, Queensland in 1935. Along with being a poet, he is also a novelist, playwright, editor, short story writer and teacher.

"In the Forest" In a Nutshell:

‘In the Forest’ is a wonderful poem that uses various language devices to convey the message that the inhabitants are destroying  the natural landscape and using it for our own benefit.

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

Humans are destroying their natural landscape, and while they are destroying the physical landscape, the inhabitants escape to their inner and imaginative landscape as they try to ignore their damage, as the damage caused was for their personal benefit. "In the Forest" by Thomas Shapcott.

The first three stanzas in the poem outline the animals in the forest that are tensed and waiting for the axeman to come and destroy their home. The short sentence structure creates dramatic effect and creates many pauses that reflect the silence and pauses in the forest. "The birds wait. The lizards pause and wait."  The connotations of "danger", used in the third stanza conveys the colour red, which disturbs the "the dark of forest", which sends a clear warning to the inhabitants that evil is coming to disturb their landscape. The use of personification of the trees, "The tree is tensed." illustrates that the landscape feels, and the trees have recognised the danger signs. This communicates that the landscape is almost fearful of humanity and its actions.

Stanza five contains symbolism of the forest being very close death. "the one trees sake for its grasping fall and its death to happen and the gash in the forest." The 'one tree' is symbolic of the entire forest and how it is soon to be cut down and destroyed. "The tree is fallen" uses the same symbolism and demonstrates the forest falling and being destroyed and damaged. The juxtaposing symbolism is then used in stanza six, where "the axe" that is destroying the landscape is symbolic for humanity. This symbolism is created through the personification of the axe. "Now, says the axe", illustrates the axe as speaking and deciding when it will cut down the tree. This conveys that humanity is against the landscape, it is us against the landscape.

"The accepted world is quickly broken, the skull of the forest is opened up." The metaphor used in the last stanza demonstrates humans using the landscape for our own selfish purposes. The words 'skull' and 'opened up' illustrate that humans are using the forest, as if it was being used for scientific research, for our own personal gain. "They settle for sleep", the last line of the poem conveys the message that humanity have escaped into their inner and imaginative landscapes through sleep because they would prefer to hide from the harsh truth, that they are destroying their landscape and harming the inhabitants within.

Connections between "In the Forest" by Thomas Shapcott, "Flames and Dangling Wire" by Robert Gray and "Australia" by  A D Hope.

Humans use the landscape for their own benefit and tend to destroy and damage it. "In the Forest" by Thomas Shapcott, "Flames and Dangling Wire" by Robert Gray and "Australia" by  A D Hope have all explored this message and communicated it through various language devices.

Thomas Shapcott's "In the Forest" conveys this message through the use of a metaphor. "The accepted world is quickly broken, the skull of the forest is opened up." The metaphor used in the last stanza demonstrates humans using the landscape for our own selfish purposes. The words 'skull' and 'opened up' illustrate that humans are using the forest, as if it was being used for scientific research, for our own personal gain.

"Flames and Dangling Wire" by Robert Gray illustrates this message through a simile and repetition. "the smoke of different fire in a row, like fingers spread and dragged to smudge." This simile used in the first stanza conveys the extreme power of the human hand on the natural landscape. The connotations of 'smoke' and 'fire' illustrate hell, and how with the power of our hands we have created our world to be a living hell on earth. The repetition of fire throughout the poem demonstrates how humans are choking our natural landscape with the pollution that we are creating, for our personal benefit and gain.

"Australia" by  A D Hope is a poem that through the use of a simile expresses the destruction caused to the Australian landscape by humans. "And her five cities, like five teeming sores, Each drains her." The personification of the landscape as 'she' demonstrates the land as mother nature, who cares and nurtures the land and its inhabitants. The simile used represents the damage caused by humans and the use of the word 'sores' illustrates humans as painful and something that the landscape looks forward to see leaving.

All three poems communicate, through the use of numerous language techniques, the message that humans use the landscape for their own benefit and tend to destroy and damage it.

I hope you enjoyed reading my first post :)