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Australia Day Poem Assignment PDF

   

Added on  2021-06-16

7 Pages1486 Words365 Views
Running head: AUSTRALIA DAY POEMAustralia Day PoemName of the Student:Name of the University:Author’s Note:

1AUSTRALIA DAY POEMThe nation of Australia at the present times enjoys a stable political climate and isknown as one of the paradigms of democracy. However, there was a time when the nationjust the United States of America was torn apart by the various conflicts between theindigenous and the white skinned people of the nation. The nation of Australia just like theother nations of the world had to bear the brutal effects of the system of colonialism. The“Australian Day” is celebrated every year on the 26th of January to “marks the anniversary ofthe 1788 arrival of the First Fleet of British ships at Port Jackson, New South Wales and theraising of the Flag of Great Britain at Sydney Cove by Governor Arthur Phillip”(Australia.gov.au. 2018). However, it is significant to note that in the present times the dayhas attained a much wider meaning and is generally used to “reflect the diverse society andlandscape of the nation and are marked by community and family events, reflections onAustralian history, official community awards and citizenship ceremonies welcoming newmembers of the Australian community” (Australia.gov.au. 2018). Moreover, even though theconcept of the “Australian Day” has undergone much transformation in the present times yetthe evokes the memories of the horrors as well as the tortures which the various entities hadto face not only on the score of colonial but also due to discrimination.Steven Oliver’s poem, ‘Hate He Said” is a poem which has gathered much attentionin the recent times and it is a reflection if this particular fact that the video of the poem byOliver is one of the very few ones in the present times which holds the record for having aviewership of more than two millions. The inherent theme of the poem is about the elementof racism which the diverse entities of the nation had to face in the traditional times and alsoin the present times inspite of the various initiatives taken by the government (HuffPostAustralia. 2018). The poem in the opinion of many people seems to repudiate the veryconcept of the “Australian Day” and tries to highlight the injustices as well as the inhumanetortures which the various people in the nation of Australia had to face not only in the

2AUSTRALIA DAY POEMtraditional times but also in the present times as well (Austlit.edu.au. 2018). Therefore, theopening lines of the poem focus on the element of hatred and dissatisfaction which the peoplebelonging to the nation had in their heart with the words,“Hate, he said to let it goHate, he said but he did not knowThat what I had inside of meWas a sadness born of empathy”The poet also tries to highlight the condition of the people who had to bear the bruntof the cruel system of discrimination and the way that particular system impacted their livesof the individuals of the nation in an adverse manner. Therefore, the poet says that,“Through my eyes the tragedyOf dispossession, of pain, of hurtOf the red of blood that stained this earthI mourn for all the lives that were lostI mourn for what this country costI mourn for how we came to beFor the end does not justify the means”It is significant to note that for the poet the philosophy that the “end justifies themeans taken to achieve that end” is not an adequate one for him and thus he seems to raisingthe question in the poem that it is justified for the nation to celebrate the national day inspiteof all the harsh things which it did to its indigenous people in the past. Furthermore, even in

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