Australia Ap English Essay Hope

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English Essay – Australia – Caitlin Tompkins
A.D. Hope was one of the most influential and recognised Australian poets of the twentieth century and his poem, ‘Australia’, is considered one of his greatest works. In this poem, Hope compares society’s view of the barren land of Australia to his and describes how the opinions differ immensely. In ‘Australia’, it appears that Hope represents Australia and Australians very negatively although it is quite the opposite as he explains that despite the flaws, he still calls Australia home. Hope creates this representation by using many poetic devices to present the comparison of the two opinions.
In the poem, ‘Australia’, Hope contrasts society’s view of Australia with his own. Throughout the first five stanzas of the poem, Hope identifies the flaws of Australia and its people. Hope describes the land as “the emptiest” with rivers that don’t flow and “drab green” colours that mirror those of the army uniforms. Hope then …show more content…

In the poem, society is said to condemn the country as “drab green” and “without songs, architecture, history” however Hope is said “turn gladly home” despite the deterrents. This conveys Hope’s view of Australia to the reader and helps in the understanding of it. Another poetic device used is similes. Hope describes the five main cities of Australia as “like five teeming sores”. This is a harsh comparison that represents the cities as blemishes on the country. This simile supports society’s negative and judgemental view on Australia. Personification then continues this negative image as after the simile, the cities are said to “drain her”. The word “her” refers to Australia. This personification describes how the cities and their inhabitants “drain” Australia of resources and this represents Australians as greedy. This also supports society’s negative