“Australia” by A. D. Hope/ Poem and Notes prepared in 2002 / III BA English

 

“Australia” by A. D. Hope

A nation of trees, drab green and desolate grey
In the field uniform of modern wars
Darkens her hills, those endless, outstretched paws
Of Sphinx demolished or stone lion worn away.

They call her a young country, but they lie:
She is the last of lands, the emptiest,
A woman beyond her change of life, a breast
Still tender but within the womb is dry.

Without songs, architecture, history:
The emotions and superstitions of younger lands,
Her rivers of water drown among inland sands,
The river of her immense stupidity

Floods her monotonous tribes from Cairns to Perth.
In them at last the ultimate men arrive
Whose boast is not: ‘we live’ but ‘we survive’,
A type who will inhabit the dying earth.

And her five cities, like five teeming sores,
Each drains her: a vast parasite robber-state
Where second-hand Europeans pullulate
Timidly on the edge of alien shores.

Yet there are some like me turn gladly home
From the lush jungle of modern thought, to find
The Arabian desert of the human mind,
Hoping, if still from the deserts the prophets come,

Such savage and scarlet as no green hills dare
Springs in that waste, some spirit which escapes
The learned doubt, the chatter of cultured apes
Which is called civilization over there.

“Australia” by A. D. Hope

The legacy of leading Australian poet Alec Derwent Hope (1907-2000) to world literature is unquestionable. He has written eleven volumes of poetry, seven collections of critical essays, and two plays. His writing is compelling in its originality and passion. It is accurate in its satirical edge and philosophical insights. It embodies in its language both the greatness and the frailty of the human spirit. Hope wrote many critical works during his lifetime. But he will be remembered best and longest as a poet.

Australia is a poem of seven stanzas, each stanza consisting of four lines with the Rhyme scheme being ABBA. The first five stanzas talk about Australia, how it is both a new and old country, geologically old but politically new and it is both European colonial and naturally individual.

A.D. Hope is critical with the land in his poem, “Australia”. In a scathing attack, he describes the land as “drab green and desolate grey”. He expresses disillusion and reveals its inner contradictions. He questions its beauty. Hope hints at the spiritual poverty of Australia by reminding the reader of the country’s lack of cultural identity. It is presented in the first 7 stanzas.

The sombre images of “a nation of trees, drab green and desolate grey … field uniform of modern wars” indicate that Australia is a monotonous and cheerless place. The poet calls Australia a sphinx. A sphinx is a mythical creature with the body of a lion and the head of a human or a cat. Here, Australia, the sphinx is dilapidated and decaying. Appearance aside, the Sphinx was always seen as creatures of great wisdom, this comparison could be directly related to the author’s vision of Australia. In this case, Australia’s reach and realm of intelligence and power have now been “worn away”. The poet suggests that Australia used to be better than it presently is and that its past reputation is now gone.

Hope questions the people who proudly call Australia “a young country”. He says emphatically that they all lie. Hope compares the country to a woman. He describes the country as “a woman beyond her change of years”. It indicates a woman who is unable to bear children. “A breast still tender but within the womb is dry” supports the poets belief that Australia is able to sustain life but unable to produce it. “womb is dry” means that to the poet, Australia is an infertile and depleted source, a barren and empty land. Its superficial image may be one comparable to a woman still fresh and alert looking, however, inside there is nothing.

Australia, to Hope, is devoid of culture. Australia does not have an identity in terms of unique songs, architecture and history. According to the poet, Australia has borrowed the “emotions” and “superstitions” from other countries. According to Hope, in Australia, the “rivers of water drown among inland sands,/ The river of her immense stupidity”. He speaks about the landscape as well as how the new ideas are drowned among “inland sands”.

Hope is more scathing towards the Austrian people describing them as “monotonous tribes”. They had arrived in large numbers in cities from Cairns to Perth city. These “ultimate men” boast about themselves that they do not “live” but “survive” in their land. Hope refers to five major cities as “sores”. Hope says that blood and puss has come out of those five cities as they have using up her all resources and strength. The poet calls Australia a vast parasite robber-state, where second hand Europeans breed a timid race. This is a reference to Australia’s history. Great Britain has despatched its dangerous criminals to Australia as a punishment.  

A.D. Hope’s direct reference to patriotism comes in the last two stanzas, where he feels that there are “some like (him who) turn gladly home” to withdraw from the “lush jungle of modern thought” to seek the “Arabian desert of the human mind”. Here the poet enjoys retreating from the expansive world and would rather stay in a desert. In that case, all the above detractions that he mentioned are seen as added benefits of being an Australian.

The last two lines of the poem are most memorable where he speaks of “The learned doubt, the chatter of cultured apes / Which is called civilization over there”. According to the Old Testament, the prophets came from the desert. The poet wonders whether the desert-like Australia would also produce prophets. The poet feels that what is called “civilization” in Europe is after all “learned doubt” and that the Europeans are only “cultured apes”.

Hope launches a contemptuous attack on the Australian people; describing them as “monotonous tribes” whose boast is not to “live” but to “survive”. Yet somewhat paradoxically, Hope has hopes for Australia. Though Australia is the “Arabian desert of the human mind, it is in the desert where life springs; it is where the “prophets come” from. The poet hopes that similarly Australia will produce prophets one day.

                                                         (Prepared by Dr Suresh Frederick)