Bullocky "Bullocky" is one of the poems which celebrates the courage and endurance of the European pioneers.

This composition is based on an actual person, Jack Purkiss, a bullock-driver who had worked for the Wrights. The poet evokes the past pioneering days and gives those arduous expeditions a remoteness and a sense of adventure that transforms them into legendary events. As the poem unfolds itself, we realize that it narrates the progressive insanity of a pioneer brought about by years of suffering and deprivation. Grief purifies the vision of the bullock-driver to the point of a kind of religious delusion which makes him see himself as a Moses leading the Children of Israel into the Promised Land: Beside his heavy-shouldered team, thirsty with drought and chilled with rain, he weathered all the striding years till they ran widdershins in his brain: Till the long solitary tracks etched deeper with each lurching load were populous before his eyes, and fiends and angels used his road. All the long straining journey grew a mad apocalyptic dream, and the old Moses, and the slaves his suffering and stubborn team. 1 By identifying the bullock-driver with the prophet Moses, Judith

Wright endows this figure with a mythical significance which renders him timeless and part of the Australian heritage. And, in doing so, the whole poem becomes a tribute to those whose suffering helped to make Australia fruitful: O vine, grow closer upon that bone And hold it with your rooted hand. The prophet Moses feeds the grape, and fruitful is the promised land. In "Bullocky," Judith Wright raises an aspect of Australia's past to the level of myth thereby contributing to a sense of tradition the poet feels is so important for the development of an Australian identity, a task to which she is fully committed. However, the European pioneers were not the only people whose sufferings helped to fertilize the land for a future vintage. Significantly, Judith Wright incorporates the Aborigines into her poetry as a very important part of Australia's cultural heritage. She believes that by simply ignoring the fate of the natives, white Australians will never be able to rid themselves of an uneasy sense of guilt for what they did to the former inhabitants of Australia. However reprehensible the actions against them might have been, the very fact of recognising and regretting these actions opens a door to a new understanding of and respect for Aboriginal custom and ways of life. Besides, as Judith Wright is deeply concerned about environmental issues, she sees the Aborigines' reverence for the natural world as an example to be followed. Thus, Judith Wright's purpose in reintroducing the Aborigines into the mind of Australians is not so much to

recall the violence of the European takeover but to make white Australians realize that the natives are human beings who deserve respect and humane treatment and who may help us find new and more intimate ways of relating ourselves to the physical world. As has already been suggested and as the poet herself confirms, Judith Wright also wants to alleviate a feeling of guilt for what her people did to the former inhabitants of Australia: I have, I suppose, been trying to expiate a deep sense of guilt over what we have done to the country, to its first inhabitants of all kinds, and are still and increasingly doing. (Wright 1975: 172) This feeling of guilt underlies "Bora Ring" where the memory of the Aboriginal tribes forced out of their lands pervades the verses. The poet recreates the setting, brings the local colour into focus and draws our attention to the deserted tribal territories with ghostly dances and echoes of ritual chants. The description of an empty landscape full of memories of the Aborigines increases the sense of usurpation and the feeling of guilt is intensified by the Biblical allusion in the last stanza: The song is gone; the dance is secret with dancers in the earth, the ritual useless and the tribal story lost in an alien tale .... Only the rider's heart halts at a sightless shadow, an unsaid word that fastens in the blood the ancient curse the fear as old as Cain. 2

A plea for humane relationship underlies this poem, for although the tone is highly accusatory, the final lines also imply that the urgent lesson to be learned is the final unity of mankind. In an age of appalling brutality and genocide, Judith Wright's plea is, unfortunately, extremely relevant. Very often the magnitude of the issues involved in today's conflicts makes us, writers and teachers of literature, conscious of the triviality of our work. There is hardly any more important task in the world of writing and teaching literature than denouncing and helping to alleviate the atrocities of man's bestial behaviour towards man. In this sense the poetry and prose writings of Judith Wright bespeak an artist torn between her faith in the redeeming power of poetry and the awareness that no significant number of people have yet found it to be so. Hence her desire to convince the reader that we have the power to change the world by changing our ways of seeing and relating ourselves to it. Hence too, her recognition that poetry is a medium through which she tries to come to terms with her own uncertainties and contradictions.: It may be legitimate to say what I think the general direction of my work is- that is in so far as I know it myself. I am using natural symbols to work out human problems, (my own of course), and to try to cast some incidental light on their relation to the whole modern situation.

Hunting Snake by Judith Wright First of all remember that we would never know what exactly the poet is trying to mention and non of the comments can said to be wrong Great black snake represents the aborigin people in Australia and the person who gets scared of this snake is an English occupier. The word 'black' is simply you can understand that it means black people and snake is a wild animal who lives on their own land but humans are the occupiers and the writer at the same time fears and admires the snake while the snake 'fled' which mean the snake is also afraid of the people. As you can understand in present time, English people have started moving to Australia in order to get that place and the aborigins, the original people of Australia is being ignored at the same time we admire them but this admire is so extreme and unnecessary that we make them feel like they're wild animals. And if you ever go to Australia, you would see that the tour guides would show the local people of Australia, the aborigins with their hands and we would admire them but we will never chat with them or have any talk between as we are scared and this is also the way we treat the wild animals. n the first stanza, we can see a perfect Picture of the atmosphere. The sky is in gentlest way despite when the person sees that great black snake, we can understand that with using the word great, person admires the snake. But why is the word black is used? As you can understand the color black represents darkness which humans fear. Also dont we talk about racism, the black and white people. We treat the black people as the same way, we act like theyre aliens, like theyre different from us and also we show an unnecessary amount of admire which makes them more alienated. English essay: Judith Wright Judith Wright, born in the country town of Armidale, but grew to become one of the most influential modern thinkers through her poetry. Wright writes poems that expand further than just love, she wrote poems expressing the issues that deal with the spiritual and cultural fracture. Her views of the disintegrating culture and the physical environment surrounding her world are portrayed through the various techniques. These elements of techniques are such as Wrights idea for her poems; the battle between the surfer and the waves that she observed and her poem reflecting the past in South of My Days. The comparisons of nature and people in the poem Bora Ring and of the human progress and nature in Sanctuary successfully show the difference between one definite race of domination, to the co-existence of both nature and man. The sound techniques Wright used to slow or fasten the pace of the poem; and the structure of the poem that can show rhymes, and portray the idea successfully.

The Idea of Wrights poem shows the complex mind of Judith Wright, her idea of nature and cultural disintegration to make way for the human progress. Wrights main idea of the road representing the human progress, and how the nature and the surroundings that was destroyed

for the sake of the progress of the road. The symbolisation of the human progress by the road has been described as in conflict with the surrounding environment and is still sweeping through. The description of the road as like a long fuse laid shows that the road (human progress) connects everywhere, yet potentially destructive hence the word used fuse. The contradiction between the title of the poem Sanctuary and its idea of the destroying of nature is misleading, although the poet still gave hope in the fourth stanza; the line and meaning love, perhaps they are a prayer. Shows the poet giving the readers hope of mans co-existence with the nature, instead of viewing.

In what way is Judith Wright's poetry a worthwhile study for Australian students? Judith Wright is a respected Australian poet is also known as a conservationist and protester. Her poetry has captured the most amazing imagery of Australian Culture. For Australian students to understand their own culture and history it is necessary to study the best poetry and Judith Wright's poetry is definitely some of the best. Her achievement in translating the Australian experience into poetry led in her best work to a rich inheritance of lyricism and directness. Through stories told by older workers on the property she learnt of the pioneers' part in both the destruction of the land and the dispossession and murder of the aboriginal people. The sense of fear she felt at invasion enabled her to understand, at some level, how the Aborigines would have felt. Judith Wright wrote about many things in her poems, which are necessary for Australian students to be taught which apply to learning about Australia. Australian culture is something Judith wrote about very strongly and this shows through her poem Bora Ring. Bora Ring is about the Aborigine culture and how it has been lost by the invasion of Europeans.

The hunter is gone: the spear is splintered underground; the painted bodies a dream the world breathed sleeping and forgot. The nomad feet are still.'

This is an incredible paragraph extracted from Bora Ring. This poem depicts perfectly of the European invasion of Australia. It shows how the traditions and stories are gone, how the hunting and rituals are gone and lost in an alien tale', the Europeans being the aliens. This poem also describes that it seemed as if the tradition of Aborigines was breathed sleeping and forgot'. These are powerful words Judith Wright used to show how they Aborigines were quickly invaded and forgotten'.

BIG BORA RING

Bora (Australian)
A Bora is the name given both to an initiation ceremony of Indigenous Australians, and to the site on which the initiation is performed. At such a site, boys achieve the status of men. The initiation ceremony differs from culture to culture, but often involves circumcision and scarification, and may also involve the removal of a tooth or part of a finger. The ceremony, and the process leading up to it, involves the learning of sacred songs, stories, dances, and traditional lore. Bora rings, found in south-east Australia, are circles of foot-hardened earth surrounded by raised embankments. They were generally constructed in pairs (although some sites have three), with a bigger circle about 22 metres in diameter and a smaller one of about 14 metres. The rings are joined by a sacred walkway.

corroboree
n. 1. An Australian Aboriginal dance festival held at night to celebrate tribal victories or other events. 2. Australian a. A large, noisy celebration. b. A great tumult; a disturbance.

The role of oxymoron in poetry is typically twofold: it is often meant to create a vivid and memorable image or phrase and to make the reader pause a moment to consider the meaning of what was just read. By combining two words or terms together that are inherently contradictory, the use of an effective oxymoron can create a phrase with lasting resonance and a more immediately evocative sensibility. This powerful phrase can also help make a reader stop for a moment to consider the meaning of an oxymoron in poetry, which can be used to control the rhythm of a poem or to punctuate a point. An oxymoron in poetry or any other type of work is a phrase that consists of two or more contradictory words used together. Common examples include terms like jumbo shrimp or bitter sweet and are not merely used together to create contrast, but to also create a new meaning together. When someone uses oxymoron in poetry, then the poet is typically trying to create this same type of new meaning from the use of the phrases together. This means that simply placing two contradictory words together is not necessarily enough to be considered effective use of oxymoron, since this greater meaning is required.

CONTEXT OF HER

When reading poetry, it is often vital to have an awareness of its context. Particularly in the works of Judith Wright, it is important to have a familiarity with her life and also some knowledge of Australian during her time. Without an understanding of the context, poems such as "Woman to Man" and "Bora Ring" could be challenging when considering what they are reflecting on. However other poems such as "Rainforest", do not require such an in depth comprehension of the context to be appreciated. "Woman to Man", a poem comprising of four stanzas, each with four verses, was written by Judith Wright in nineteen forty-nine. This poem could quite easily be enjoyed as a poem that is chiefly concerned with nature. The first stanza opens with "The eyeless labourer in the night, the selfless, shapeless seed I hold, builds for its resurrection day" and for readers with little or no knowledge of Judith Wright's life, it would be easy to accept this as a simple reference to nature as is quite common in Wright's work, without looking for any deeper meaning. However, in order for the poem's ideas to be understood completely, it is necessary to know that when this poem was written that Judith Wright was in fact pregnant. Upon acquiring this knowledge, the rest of the poem seems to quite fittingly explore pregnancy and female sexuality. For complete appreciation with Judith Wright's "Bora Ring", an awareness of Australian and particularly Aboriginal history. "Bora Ring" is an entertaining poem that explores Aboriginal culture. The poem opens with the verses "The song is gone; the dance is secret with the dancers in the earth", a simple representation of a lost dance. Devoid of any understanding of Australian and Aboriginal history, the full impact of the poem cannot be felt. This poem is a vivid exploration of the disappearance of Aboriginal culture at the hands of the colonisers of Australia. With this knowledge, it is easier to understand exactly what "the tribal story.. Commentry on bora ring A bora ring is a sacred site for indigenous Australians where initiation ceremonies for indigenous males were held. In her poem "Bora Ring", Judith Wright mourns the loss in contemporary Australian society of the culture and traditions of indigenous Australians. She begins with descriptions of Aboriginal culture that has vanished as a result of European settlement. At the end of the poem, Wright recognizes the destruction wreaked upon indigenous Australians by their white brothers and shows remorse for these actions of the past. Through her use of diction, structural devices, and imagery, Wright expresses her sorrow at the disappearance of Aboriginal cultural heritage. In the first stanza of Bora Ring, Wright describes the loss of the songs, dances, stories and rituals of the Aboriginal Australians. Her use of the adjectives gone, secret, useless and lost emphasizes Wrights regret that this ancient culture has disappeared. The poet, through her use of the metaphor lost in an alien tale, highlights how Aboriginal culture has been replaced by European culture as a result of white settlement in Australia. Her use of the word alien stresses her view that the white colonists do not belong in Australia; they are foreigners in the land. Wrights use of endstopping and caesura, in combination with trimeter and pentameter, creates short emphatic phrases that portray her belief that this loss is irrevocable. The slow pace of the quatrain also serves to depict the poets remorse at the destruction of indigenous traditions. In the second stanza, Wright describes the remains of a bora ring. The Aborigines are

no longer present: Only the grass stands up / to mark the dancing ring. Nature is the only reminder of the lost Aboriginal culture. The grass is personified as standing up; it encircles the dancing ring, almost as if it is guarding this sacred area. Wright also personifies the apple-gums. She suggests that their movements and sounds in the wind,... Another
Judith Wright Responses
Blank Homework-----Poetry Jane Youens Bora Ring 1. a.. Caesuras b.. Regula Stanzas c.. Irregular lines d.. No rhyming 2. Comparisons Contrasts Song/ dance Song/ mime Tribal/ ritual/ curse Dream/ fear Gone/ lost Tale/ story Nomad/ alien Sightless/ unsaid Earth/ grass Dream/ sleeping 3. a.. Ritual b.. Tribal c.. Apple-gum d.. Corroboree e.. Hunter f.. Painted bodies g.. Nomad h.. Grass They are all forgotten, ignored and left behind. 4. CAIN and able? Nomad baby eater? Place? 5. aboriginals- ancient they are forgotten traditions are ignored land been destroyed. 3.

song

 7.

dance earth ritual tribal grass corroborre hunter spear nomad cain????? 4. the bible reference is regarding the story of Cain and able. 5. sightless shadow unsaid word 6.

Bora Ring 1. The structure of Bora Ring is standard, as the stanza's are equal (4 lines-regular). The sentences are also short, a few words. 2. Compare: Gone, useless, lost. Contrast: Song, dancers, mime, corroboree, chant, and hunter. 3. Apple Gum, corroboree, painted bodies. The following would belong to the indigenous Australian or Aboriginal elements. 4. The last line refers to how the fear of the Bora-Ring is as old as Cain, ancient. 5. Judith Wright comments on how the Aboriginals were nomad tribes and lived simple lives and by terminology not a modern life like the English. The method she has used is by introducing the Aboriginal tribe then describing the Bora Ring after the English have taken their land through her use of aboriginal elements (painter bodies, hunter, tribal, nomad etc.) which makes up the socio-cultural comment made by Wright.

Bullocky 1. Once again like Bora Ring, the poetic structure is standard as again the stanza's are equal, 4 lines per stanza. There is also rhyme and rhythm with each second and fourth line within each stanza. In many cases the first and second lines and third and fourth lines are in conjunction with each other and usually make up one sentence. The clues given were the rhyming of each second and fourth line as well as the natural pauses within the poem. 2. Did not understand. 3. Wright recalls the early pioneer days of Australian History with Bullocky. 4. Wrights final comment, comments on how Bullocky (metaphorically in comparison with Moses), brought him and his team to the Promised Land (were Promised Land or Israel is metaphorical compared to fertile land in Australia). In the end through his death, it causes the growth of the grapes ('feeds the grape' with his bones) and even may have caused the Promised Land itself. 5. The method of "Bullocky" like "Bora Ring" is the first stanza is an introduction, introducing the poem. The next stanzas continue on with emphasising the first stanza. The final or final few stanzas are like a conclusion or present view of what has happened to the place described. Both also finish with final comment in relation to a biblical character (Cain, Moses).

[ Bora Ring ] 1.. The stanzas in Bora Ring are all equally consistent and a regular four lines. 2.. Similarities in the words of Bora Ring include: song, dance, dancing-ring; earth, grass, hunters, underground; tribal,

corroboree, chant, ritual. 3.. Australiana in Bora Ring include: corroboree, painted bodies, Cain and apple-gums. 4.. The allusion of the last line refers to the fear that Cain held towards his brother, this fear, like the story Wright is telling, is timeless and great. 5.. Wright is making a socio cultural comment in Bora Ring, telling of how other cultures are being pushed aside in order to promote a different culture. In this case, the original culture of the aborigines has been assimilated and forgotten amongst the western culture. [ Bullocky ] 1.. The structure of Bullocky is regular and all stanzas have four lines, creating, after each line, natural pauses that emphasise certain points. 2.. The style of the diction in Bullocky is very biblical, referring to biblical figures or events and using words and phrases with biblical origins. 3.. Bullocky is presenting a part of Australian history that involves the claiming of the aboriginal lands and the aboriginal ways by settlers. 4.. Wright's final comment is that the land does not belong to the English/westerners and it will forever be tied to the aboriginal ways and culture. 5.. Wright's method in of presentation in Bullocky is similar to that of Bora Ring's in that the stanzas are in a regular rhythmical pattern and are designed to emphasise key points through the use of implied natural pauses. [ Half-Caste Girl ] 1.. This poem explores two different worldly experiences, the settlers would and the native aboriginal world, the former of which is constructed as bad or somehow 'evil'. 2.. The world constructed in Half-Caste Girl is one of ownerlessness and native freedom. Nothing belongs to anyone. However, this is only presented in the first stanza, the second, in a contrast, is a world of limits, injustice and choicelessness. 3.. The pleasures are the freedoms and the lands that can be used by anyone. The fears however, are the opposite, boundaries exist and the lands freedoms are exterminated. 4.. Half-Caste Girl in its presentation is not dated; the cultural coexistence struggles still exist in Australia today.

Bora Ring 1. The Stanzas in Bora Ring are regular 4 lines each. This is clearly identifiable by looking at the poem. The last line of each stanza is emphasized. 2. Comparisons Contrast gone, useless, lost - hunter is gone riders heart earth, grass, hunters, underground tribal, corroboree, chant, ritual 3. Corroboree, apple gums. The Australian Indigenous people Aboriginals 4. The allusion of the last line is the representation of the relationship between Cain and Abel. Wright refers to the Aboriginals fear of the white man. 5. The socio-cultural comment Wright has made is that the significance the Aboriginal people place on their ritualistic lifestyle, was overwhelmed when the white man came. She makes clear that the Aboriginals lifestyle was highly dependent on the rituals and symbolic ceremonies that took place before European invaders came. She emphasises this in the first three stanzas, and in the last stanza describes how the white man has severely influenced the culture of the Aboriginal people.

Bullocky 1. The poem is structured so that the second and fourth lines of each stanza rhyme. The clues came from the reading one could note that emphasis was

naturally placed on these lines. 2. The words chosen here were short, which also increased the emphasis we place on them when reading. 3. The pioneering stage, where explorers roamed and searched Australia. 4. The final comment Wright makes is that the Aboriginal people deserve a place to call home. Whether she is in referral to the plight of the Israelis, also without a place to call home, she questions the fact that the white man has any right to have land, and the indigenous to not. 5. This poem is similar to that of Bora Ring in that she does not directly make mention to what she is putting across. This poem describes the postcolonial settler period, but her point seems to be that the Aboriginal people deserve land.

Half-Caste Girl 1. The world of experience being explored here is that of the lost generation. 2. Elements that are different from the world I know include the change of policy by the Australian government for no longer do they take children of mixed decent (Aboriginal and white background) . 3. The pleasures described are of times when little Josie was with her family, her people. The pain described is when she is taken away wall cunningly made. 4. Yes. The poem was written when such injustices took place. Wrights writing of the poem would have been driven by the desire for the Australian government to change such policy. 5. The implied answer to the last two lines would be the white man. For it was the white man who took the children and left her alone in the night.

Bora Ring "Bora Ring" is structured in four stanzas each consisting of four lines. Personification is used in the second and third stanzas eg. "the grass stands up" and "the world breathed". Imagery is also a part of the structure of "Bora Ring". Imagery is used in line six "the dancing ring" gives the image of a group of Aboriginals dancing in a circle. Onomatopoeia is used in line eight the word murmur when spoken sounds like a person speaking softly. Overall, the issues brought up in "Bora Ring" are more important than the poetic devices used. I was able to establish this by reading and interpreting the poem in such a way so that it meant something to me. "Bora Ring" tells the story of a lost ritual. Words such as "gone", "lost" and "forgot" stress the loss of something important and we are told in "Bora Ring" that the lost item was actually a traditional ritual. 2) Comparison Contrast The trees and plants taking over the Aborigines rituals and are seen as representing them. Past and Present The Aborigines lifestyle to the European lifestyle List of Australiana Tribal Corroboree Hunter Spear Nomad The world the elements listed above belong to is the Native Aboriginal world. Words such as "corroboree" and "painted bodies" are distinctly Aboriginal as no European settlers would have held a corroboree or painted their bodies. The Aborigines are the first to be and do the actions and objects above. The last line of "Bora Ring" is referring to the Europeans settling Australia as "Cain". In the Bible Cain was the son of Eve and killed his brother. The Europeans killed Aborigines and now fear retaliation from the Aboriginals because of the way they treated them upon arrival in Australia. The fear being old as "Cain" means that the Europeans were fearing retaliation from the moment they harmed the Aborigines and this fear has been passed down through generations thus becoming "old".

The socio-cultural comment Judith Wright is making is that different cultures often find it hard to form a society and so the dominant culture may try to take over and marginalise the recessive culture. Wright has used poetry as her method to convey her socio-cultural comment. She has also used contrast as she refers both to the Europeans and Aborigines.

"Bora Ring" second Page A "Bora Ring" is a ring of stones marking a place that is sacred to Aboriginal people. Repeated-See qu 1 Repeated-See qu 3 The Biblical reference in stanza four is to Cain, Eves first child. Cain killed his brother Abel because he was jealous that God rewarded Abel for his offering but did not reward Cain. Cain was then banished from Eden and built his own city called Henoch, after his son. 5) Two oxymorons in the fourth stanza of "Bora Ring" are : "Heart halts"- The heart beats to keep a person alive and if it halts the rider would die but in "Bora Ring" the rider doesnt. It refers to the spiritual feeling the rider feels when passing through the sacred site where the "Bora Ring" can be found. "Unsaid Word"- "An unsaid word that fastens in the blood the ancient curse the fear old as Cain". A word that has not been said cannot possibly make a person scared as they would not have heard the word in the context that would make it fearful. Oppositions in "Bora Ring" are the lifestyles of the European "rider" and the Aboriginal "nomad" and the past and present tenses referred to. The wider frame of reference they represent is that the Aboriginals are a historical culture and that the Europeans contributed to the majority of their dying. The Europeans are the present culture and have taken over many Aboriginal sites. Impinge-Make an impact on. The theme of "Bora Ring" is to show the impinge that the Europeans made on the Aborigines as the settled Australia, especially in the form of discrimination and marginalisation. The theme of "Bora Ring" is similar to that of "Half-Caste Girl" in the fact that "Little Josie" was discriminated against and marginalised from the Europeans. This is also what happened to other Aborigines mentioned in "Bora Ring".

Bullocky Bullocky is structured in seven stanzas each with four lines. Rhyme is used at the end of every second and fourth line of every stanza. Personification is used in the fifth and seventh stanzas. Onomatopoeia is also used in the third stanza. Strong imagery is used in the fifth stanza. The reader can actually visualise darkness surrounding a man sitting at a campfire. The clues that identified rhyme were words such as "rain", "brain", "load", "road" etc. Each stanzas lines were counted and found to be equal in length. Personification that was used includes "star-struck darkness cupped him round" darkness is doing something human. The second example of personification found was in the seventh stanza . It was "hold it with your rooted hand". Wright was referring to a vine holding a bone and holding is a human characteristic. Straining is an example of Onomatopoeia and imagery was discussed above. The only diction in "Bullocky" is in stanza seven as it sounds as the poet is actually telling a vine to grow on a bone and hold it. In "Bullocky" Judith Wright is recalling the part of history in which the early settlers were having trouble settling and successfully farming Australian soil. They could not handle the climate and some settlers died. Wrights final comment is that the land will always win. People cannot control the land but merely depend on it and if they are unsuccessful in using the land to benefit themselves then the land will claim and use their lives and bodies to its own advantage. Wrights method in "Bullocky" is similar to "Bora Ring" because in both poems the land is the triumphant element. It is always the factor that outlives the people and carries their traditions. It also holds the peoples remains after they have passed away. Half-Caste Girl The word of experience being explored in "Half-Caste Girl" is the world of a marginalised Aboriginal woman trying to live in an European society. The poem explores the situations she was in and the marginalisation she must live with. The elements in "Half-Caste Girl" that are different from the world I know is the discrimination and marginalisation "Little Josie" suffered and her travelling in the outback when she was young. 3) Pleasures Pains Climbing a tree to find a "native cherry" Dying

Falling in love Marginalisation Singing songs, dancing Trying to be accepted in an European society and failing. 4) "Half-Caste Girl" is becoming dated as much of the marginalisation and discrimination mentioned in this poem is now seen as wrong and generally not done. Society has changed to include Aborigines but some people still discriminate against and marginalise Aborigines. 5) The answer to the implied question of "Who is it has covered the sun and the beautiful moon with a wallaby skin, and left her alone in the night?" are the European settlers. They have killed "Little Josie" as they were settling Australia. By Felicity Kalinowski

Bora Ring Questions 1.Analyze the structure of the poem. How will you be able to establish this? To analyze a poem, we firstly look at how the poem has been set up. There are four lines to each stanza. The first and last lines are short. The first is only part of a sentence, and is cut off in the first line. This is to slow the momentum of the poem down. The longer lines feature words full of action eg. Dancing, corroboree, blood. The shorter lines are primarily about loss and the things that are gone. 3. Make a list of Australiana. What world do these elements belong to? Apple gums, corroboree, painted bodies. These words mainly belong to an Aboriginal world. Though there arent many specifically Australiana words in here, normal words have been used with an Aboriginal context. Eg. Dancing ring, chant, nomad, hunter, spear, ritual, tribal, dream. 4. Explain the allusion of the last line. The last line is a biblical reference. Cain was the first son of Adam and Eve. He was also the first murderer. The fear as old as Cain means that since almost the beginning of time, people have been afraid. Whether it is a fair of death or loss depends. 5. What cultural comment is Wright making? What method has she used? She is making a cultural comment on the Aboriginal people. Even though western civilisation has tried to get rid of every last trace of their traditions, the Aborigine spirit is still there. The method she has used is quite good. It is a poem about loss, and absence of action, however the poem is filled with action. The action is told in the past tense. The imagery of the poem helps fill the empty space with movement. Bora Ring Questions 2 1. Find out what a Bora Ring is. A Bora Ring is a ring of stones that signifies a place that was sacred to Aboriginal people. In this poem, it is used to signify the passing of traditions and life which once filled the space inside the circle of rocks. 4. What is the Biblical reference in stanza 4? As I wrote earlier, it is a reference to the son of Adam and Eve, Cain, the first murderer. 5. Find two oxymorons in stanza 4. To what are they reflecting? 1. Sightless Shadow; 2. Unsaid Word I believe that they are reflecting a Bora ring. The Bora ring is a simple ring of stones, but it represents much more than that. It doesnt have to say anything or show anything, but is says a lot. 9. How is the theme similar to that of Half Caste Girl? Both of the poems are about the loss of the Aboriginal way of life, but in both of them, the spirit still lives on in the land. Bullocky Questions 1. Identify the structure of the poem. What were the clues? The second and fourth lines of each stanza rhyme. The rhyming lines are also slightly longer than the first and third lines. However, in the final stanza, all four lines are the same length. This makes the final stanza much

slower and more reflective than the rest of the poem. It also helps bring out the irony of the final two lines. 2. What kinds of diction are found here? There is some Australiana such as widdershins, cattle bells, however there are a lot of biblical terms used, primarily a metaphor that shows Bullocky as Moses. A lot of the words that are not old fashioned, but represent the hard working settlers life, eg. Wagon, plough, vineyards, straining, drought. 3. What part of Australian history is Wright recalling here? Wright is recalling the period of history where Australian settlers would move from land to land to find the perfect bit of pasture. It is around the same time that settlers would have been trying to get rid of Aborigines. 4. What is Wrights social comment? There isnt really a social comment in Bullocky, one that isnt as strong as her other poems at least. It is a pro-settler poem that simply shows how Bullocky goes mad trying to find the perfect piece of land.

5. How is the method here similar to Bora Ring? There are both four line stanzas in each, and two lines are longer in each stanza. Although there is a much larger Biblical metaphor in the Bullocky, there is a biblical simile in Bora Ring. Half Caste Girl Questions 1. What world of experience is being explored here? Most likely the stolen generation. A girl that age at this period of time was most likely stolen from her parents. She dreams about the outside world the she once lived among. 2. What elements are different from the world you know? Josies old world is different to mine, because there was less a reliance on Western medicine and technology. This doesnt mean that either one of worlds are wrong, they are just different. 4. This was published in 1946. Is it dated? No it isnt dated. Australia is yet to officially apologise for the stolen generation, so technically the Aborigines cannot move on from the terrible event. It still shows the governments mistakes. 5. What is the implied answer to the question of the last two lines? The people who have covered her up are the white European settlers. Just like they have hid Josie from the sun, they have tried to hide the Aboriginal way of life.

Another

The Poetry of Judith Wright - Bora Ring

Judith Wright is probably New England's best known poet. Her poetry, especially her earlier writing, has always resonated with me because it says something to me about the world in which I grew up, a world still deeply imprinted on my soul. I thought therefore that it might be fun to take some of her poems and use them as a window to look at different aspects of New England. I suspect that many Australians still think of Australia's traditional Aborigines as simple hunter gatherers living in an ancient and unchanging landscape, although there is growing recognition of the complexity of their social and spiritual life. In fact, within the limits set by their tools and

available food supplies they were also sophisticated builders. The Bora Rings of New England and south-eastern Queensland are examples. As Sandra Bowdler pointed out, these earthen rings of eastern New South Wales and south-eastern Queensland are significant ritual structures and are probably unique in the world as hunter gatherer constructions of known function which constitute notable monuments in the landscape. Sandra goes on to describe them:

The earthen rings known as Bora are usually part of a complex of two or three rings, linked by a path or paths. They were used in what Sutton calls man-making ceremonies, that is, male initiation ceremonies. In the literature, we find that the large ring in the complex was usually part of a relatively public ceremony, with women looking on; the smaller ring was the site of the major initiation rites, for initiated men and initiates only. The purpose of the third ring is not as well documented in the literature. It has been suggested that these are womens rings, but it is not clear to me that this was always the case. Bora sites were often (always?) associated with carved trees. The average size of a large ring is about 25 - 30 m across, and a small ring 10-12 m. There is a wide range of variation however. The earth is mounded up to a height of c.25-50 cms. Usually there is a path, often to the south-west from the large ring, connecting to smaller ring.

Judith's poem starts by painting a picture of a Bora Ring now alone in the landscape:

The song is gone, the dance is secret with the dancers in the earth, the ritual useless, and the tribal story lost in an alien tale. Only the grass stands up to mark the dancing-ring, the apple gums posture and mime a past corroboree, murmurs a broken chant The hunter is gone, the spear is splintered underground, the painted bodies

a dream the world breathed sleeping and forgot. The nomad feet are still The rider halts, feeling that the ghosts are still present.

Only the rider's heart halts at sightless shadow, an unsaid word that fastens in the blood the ancient curse, the fear as old as Cain.

It is a wonderfully evocative poem. But it is also a very European perspective with its emphasis on the vanished Aboriginal past. In fact, that past was still present. I am not sure when Judith wrote this poem, but at the time there were almost certainly New England Aborigines alive who had passed through traditional initiation at one of the Bora sites. Further, the knowledge of the sites and their significance has continued to be passed on. Here we can compare Judith's words with the much later 1996/1997 Aboriginal description of a site near Bellbrook quoted by Sandra: This site is known as the passing out ground for initiates of the Thungetti tribe. It is one of several initiation Grounds in the Bellbrook area where different stages of the Bora ceremony took place. As such, it is still highly sacred to the Aboriginal elders residing at Bellbrook Mission, and is considered to be one of the most important of the initiation sites in the area
Another Bora Rings Judith Wright is one of Australia's most prolific writers. Both an activist and an environmentalist, she fought to protect Australia's oceans and other areas and became a strong defender of Aboriginal rights. She died in 2000 at the age of 85. I praise the scoring drought, the flying dust, the drying creek, the furious animal, that they oppose us still; that we are ruined by the thing we kill. (from 'Australia 1970')

The preceding lines suggest her commitment to environmental concerns, the worry that by destroying Australia's fragile environment, the people destroy themselves. The following lines, in addition, reflect her concern for Australia's Great Barrier Reef: "If the Great Barrier Reef could think, it would fear us ... Slowly but surely we are destroying those great water- gardens, lovely indeed as cherry boughs and flowers under the once clear sea." Die, wild country, like the eaglehawke, dangerous till the last breath's gone, clawing and striking. Die cursing your captor through a raging eye. The preceding lines show her anger and reflect the concerns for aboriginal rights her poem emphasizes by describing the loss. The opening stanza underscores the theme of loss, for the place of the initiations is silent. "The song is gone" from the rings, where the tribes used to hold their initiations for the men and other festivities. The memory of the past also seems to fade into some strange story: and the tribal story/ lost in an alien tale. The line might refer to the fact that the story now is known only in writings about the rings. Like the Africans and Native Americans, the aborigines depended on oral traditions to pass down their stories to future generations. But something has destroyed the culture, leaving only marks from a distant past, traces of a rich and silent history. And if you read about the aborigines, you will find that their culture extends for thousands of years. In the second stanza, note how the poet utilizes personification to bring something of the celebration alive while at the same time emphasizing its absence: the apple-gums posture and mime a past corroboree murmur a broken chant Of course, the trees neither "posture" nor "mime"; nor do they "murmur." But giving the trees human qualities makes the images vivid and reinforces the sense of loss the first stanza introduces--though the words do imply a spiritual connection with the past, a lingering essence. In the third stanza, the poet introduces the people who used to utilize the Bora Ring--note the words chosen to accent the loss: "gone"; "splintered"; "dream"; "forgot"; "still." Again, the theme of absence finds emphasis. What has caused the quiet, however, the author leaves for the final stanza.

As you reread the poem, give thought to all the contrasts between what was, the dancing, the spears, the singing, all things that were part of the corroboree; groups scattered throughout a large region came to join in with the initiation rites and other festivities connected with the rings. Now, all the former activity finds only silence, distant memories. In the third stanza, the poet also brings into play the dream world so important to aboriginal culture and now, the poem argues, forgotten. The final stanza introduces what seems the cause of the destruction, the enigmatic rider, whose heart, like Oscar's in "Clothes Make the Man," recognizes, perhaps, something the rider does not want to admit, implication in the destruction. One detects, for example, a little paranoia about the spirits who might still haunt this place, the shadows and the "unsaid word." The poet compares the rider to Cain: an unsaid word that fastens in the blood the ancient curse the fear as old as Cain. These lines might at first strike you as very difficult to figure out. Recalling the story of Cain and Abel will help you establish the connection. Cain killed Abel and is, as a punishment from God, given a mark of a murderer that he will wear on his forehead-- everyone can see. In essence, Wright puts the blame on the colonists for the destruction, the responsibility they must bear. Wright was indeed an activist, and this early poem published in 1946 emphasizes her commitment for change. Remember, too, that her ancestors helped settle Australia, so she does not exempt herself from the destruction and the responsibility--but she did what she could to alter the situation.
Bora Ring
The first stanza is about how the Aboriginal culture has been lost because of the invasion by the Europeans. It tells us that the rituals, tribal stories and the memories of the Aborigines are gone lost in an alien tale implying that the Europeans were the aliens. It also suggests that once the Aborigines had been invaded, they were forgotten. The second stanza tells us about whats been left behind after the Aborigines were gone. The use of personification allows Wright to emphasise the loss and makes the reader feel guilt and the realisation of what happened. The third stanza explains that theres evidence of people being there, but Wright emphasises that they are gone, everything is gone. It allows us to visualise people being there before, but that now everything is gone. The final stanza is very powerful because Wright brings the reader into the poem. She does this by using a certain metaphor, which is the fear as old as Cain and is a biblical reference to Cain. She compares the Europeans to Cain, saying that they have killed their brothers like Cain killed his own brother, Abel.

The alliteration mark, mime, murmur is quite a soft sound to describe where the rituals once happened but the only thing left is sadness. Sightless shadow, spear splintered, creates an image of a crushed culture with strong, harsh sounds. Fastens fear is quite a strong sound to emphasise heavy guilt. The use of assonance of the letter o, allows the poem to create a sombre atmosphere, using words like, gone, lost, broken, forgot, blood, etc. The negative vocabulary also creates a negative tone to really express the seriousness of what Wright is saying. The negative vocabulary creates pessimistic imagery, for the reader to really understand what Wright is saying. This is especially made evident in stanza three where you picture the Aborigines being there and then being gone and in the last stanza with the reference to Cain.

The Australian Cain: Colonial Fear in Judith Wright's "Bora Ring"

Literary Criticism

One of Australia's finest poets, Judith Wright's success lay in her ability to examine sensitive Australian issues from new perspectives. "Bora Ring" is no exception. Written in 1946, the poem attempts to shed new light on colonial Australia's treatment of the Aborigine. Wright highlights the fear that drove colonial Australia to mass genocide by presenting conflicting views towards the fall of Aborigine culture. She shows that colonial Australia's true fear was not of the Aborigine, but of a universal primeval darkness inherent to human nature. Wright's form helps divide the poem into two perspectives: Nature and Western civilization (as represented by colonial Australia). Though she uses syllabic verse, the repetition of certain ideas carries the majority of the poem's rhythm. Stanzas one and three parallel each other with their beginnings: "The song is gone" (1) and "The hunter is gone" (9). The remainder of the stanzas continue the parallel rhythm of idea, pursuing the impact of the loss of Aborigine culture from the perspective of Nature (which examines the "song") and Western civilization (which examines the "hunter"). Stanzas two and four also mirror each other, beginning "Only the" (5 & 13). In these stanzas, Wright again utilizes the different perspectives; this time to examine the legacy the Aborigine has left behind. That the first two stanzas take the perspective of Nature is obvious from Wright's images. The naturally occurring "grass" (5) and "apple-gums" (6) of the second stanza give sharp contrast to the man-made "spear" (9) and "painted bodies" (10) of the third. As art attempting to reflect nature, the "song" and "dance" of line one also take on a natural quality in contrast with the human classifications of "hunter" (9) and "nomad feet" (12). In effect, the first two stanzas appear devoid of humanity. Even the Aborigine disappears, represented only by the products of its culture. Wright refers to his "song" (1), "ritual," "tribal story" (3), "past corroboree" (7), and "broken chant" (8), but never to the Aborigine himself. The result is a reader who feels as if he were one of the apple-gum trees, observing the results of a fallen Aborigine culture without regard to the human cause of it. Wright, then, turns Nature into a

mourner which, sad to see that the "song is gone," can only "posture and mime a past corroboree" (7). By making the Aborigine invisible in Nature's perspective, Wright accurately observes Aborigine religious tradition, which considers man as part of Nature. Such consideration makes these stanzas even more meaningful by turning Nature's perspective into that of the Aborigine. According to Aborigine belief, the world was created in a period called Dreamtime, during which the great spirits dreamed it into being. These spirits were supposedly eternal, and the Aborigines believed that tangible proof of their existence lay in sacred landmarks. In a similar manner, the "Bora Ring"site of Aborigine initiation ceremoniesbecomes the evidence of the Aborigine spirit. "Only the grass stands up/ to mark the dancing-ring," reads lines five and six. Though physically destroyed, the spirit of the Aborigine still exists in the "grass" and "apple-gums" that embody Nature. Concerned that their rituals no longer are useful, Wright's nature-manifested Aborigines mourn the destruction of their religion and culture. Their dance is now "secret" (2), lost in the "alien tale" (4) of the colonialist. The idea of being "lost in an alien tale," foreshadows the last two stanzas, where the reader sees how Western civilization, unable to understand the Aborigine culture, transforms the Aborigine legacy into one of fear and evil. The Aborigine/Natural perspective leaves the reader with mixed, but innocent emotion. The reader must empathize with the Aborigines sorrow, but feels safe and somewhat reassured at the prospect of survival in Nature. Wright quickly dispels the innocence of this emotion. The next two stanzas disturb the reader in their exposition of Western stereotypes. The "rider" of line thirteen can be that only of Western civilization, as it sweeps through the remnants of the civilization it destroyed. Western civilization's image of Aborigine Australia is radically different from Nature's. Not concerned that the "song is gone," it remembers the Aborigine only as "the hunter." It, too, sees the elements of Aborigine culture buried beneath the earth, but instead of mourning the dance buried "with the dancers in the earth" (2), Western civilization is relieved that "the spear/ is splintered underground" (9-10). Clearly, Western civilization is incapable of seeing anything but a frightening enemy in the Aborigine. The stereotype of an uncivilized culture with "painted bodies" and "nomad feet" (12) further emphasizes Western civilization's prejudices. It is unable to understand another culture by any merit other than its own Christian preconception of civilization. The Aborigine's survival in Nature returns to haunt Western civilization in the fourth stanza. The "rider" senses the spirit of the Aborigine in "sightless shadows" and "unsaid words" (14). Again, it can remember only its fear of the Aborigine, which Wright defines as "the ancient curse/ . . . as old as Cain" (15-16). This fear can be interpreted in two ways. Examined from the perspective of the implied speaker, colonial Australia, there is an obvious association of

the curse of Cain with the black skin of the Aborigine. The fear, then, is a consequence of the Christian stereotype of the black man as murderer. Yet, Cain might also represent colonial Australia, which murdered the Aborigine in cold blood. In this case, the "sightless shadows" are a haunting reminder of Australia's guilt and inevitable punishment in accordance to the "ancient curse" (15). In either case, the allusion to Cane brings to mind the wickedness and depravity of primeval man. But Wright shows this evil does not lie in the Aborigine; rather, it is inherent in the Western culture that perceives it. Only in Christian tradition do the "painted bodies" conjure images of worshipping evilin Aborigine tradition it was a from of worshipping God. The image of the "painted bodies" as an essence which the "world breathed" and "forgot" (11) helps define the source of the perceived evil. That the world breathed this essence in "a dream" recalls the Aborigine tradition of Dreamtime. The naturalness of the breathing process, especially in the sleep of his genesis, suggests the "painted bodies" were a part of humanity at its origin an origin "as old as Cain". While the Aborigine connotation of "painted bodies" would indicate a divine origin for humanity, Wright emphasizes Western civilization's fear of a dark origin, epitomized in the myths of Cain and original sin. The Aborigine, far from being the source of this perceived evil, is only a mistaken symbol of the primitive evil inherent in the human soul. Colonial Australia sought to destroy its evil by destroying the Aborigine. Instead, it brought its own dark nature to light. Clearly Wright favors Nature and the Aborigine's perception over that of Western civilization. She sees a meaningful religious harmony in the Aborigine spirit, something she questions in its Christian conquerors. By exposing the sin of Western civilization, Wright both pays tribute to a lost culture and forces the reader to reconsider his own notions of human nature.

bora
n. A violent, cold, northeasterly winter wind on the Adriatic Sea. And an initiation ceremony of native Australians, introducing youths to manhood.