Australian Speech Visions
Australian visions often happen to be among the main topics of works of Australian poets. These visions may be based on different historical, personal and social associations and contexts. Thus experience may shape people’s views and opinions concerning different things in the present. Also, the views of society on certain things in the past also become a basis for some views nowadays. Besides, the context may also make these visions distinctive. Distinctive Australian visions have different ground, and so are different in themselves. It means that as many people there are as many visions they have. Here is an example of two distinctive Australian visions. The first one is represented by the cartoonist P. Nicholson has a different vision of Australia that the poet Douglas Stewart. The crux of the matter is that they viewed Australia from different points.
Australian vision reflected in poetry
One of the poets who has depicted Australia in his works is Douglas Stewart. Let’s define Australia as the poet sees it. Stewart brought to our attention the idea of the depiction of flora and fauna, a man and nature. The poet uses several techniques in order to convey the images of nature, his feelings and attitude toward it. These are represented in the following poems, where in order to share with a reader his Australian visions, he uses a great variety of stylistic devices and expressive means.
“Wombat”
The poem under the title “Wombat” covers a strong connection between a man and nature. The poet focuses mostly on people’s treatment and attitude towards such a creature as a wombat. In this poem, a wombat represents nature as the whole concept. In some of his lines, an attentive reader may find the poet’s emphasis on nature as a mother of both a man and a wombat. Such a conversation with a wombat makes a reader think over our actions and intentions in terms of nature. A man should live in close harmony with nature and take care of it as it takes care of them. The main idea the author tries to convey is to make a man responsible and respective when it comes to nature.
“Lady Feeding the Cats”
Stewart wrote one more poem where Australian vision is distinguished. The idea of the “Lady Feeding the Cats” is closely intertwining with the idea of the above-mentioned poem. Here a poet uses such techniques that evoke distinctive visions. For a reader, it may turn out to be a challenge as far as it should not be perceived on the basis of the first impression. The poet gives a clear understanding of the background of the woman by a description of her clothes. If you read carefully and attentively, you’ll understand that the economic or financial background does not influence her attitude towards stray cats representing nature. Stray cats turn out to be outlaws in Stewart’s poem, and the author himself, again shows human’s responsibility towards the environment, in these case stray cats.
“ The snow gum”
“The snow gum” is another representation of Australian vision. The poet creates the image of flora and fauna once again and endures the snow gum plant with enormous power and strength. However, in fact, it is powerful as it is used in medicine in order to cure diseases and different kinds of pathology.
Furthermore, there may be another Australian vision hidden in this poem. This one means the comparison of Aussie battler to the snow gum. The snow gum is depicted as a plant in this harsh environment, cold winter, and severe climate and still, it manages to come up from the solid ground. Aussie battler does the same: in this harsh environment, all the difficulties on his way are overcome. Aussie battler struggles just as the snow gun in order to survive. So, here we may draw a parallel between a snow gum that cures pathology and Aussie battler who gets over hardships.
The poem is a clear vision of how Australians gather their strength and bravery to overcome difficulties. Sometimes our Mother Nature puts many obstacles on our paths just for us to know that we will cope with them and it will make us only stronger.
In conclusion, the Australian vision has different meaning and definition for each person. It is important to bear in mind that the understanding of visual images depends on various factors. The history, society and personal views of any individuals are the main creators of visual images.
It is common among Australian poets to imply visions of their land into their works. Douglas Stewart is some of those authors, who make emphasis on a close connection between the human and the environment. His idea may be found almost in every poem. The thing is that we have to stop destroying nature and become aware that if no measures are taken our children will not be able to bridge the difficulties in this harsh environment.
