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Oodgeroo Noonuccal

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POETRY ANALYSIS OF OODGEROO NOONUCCAL (1920-1993) Oodgeroo Noonuccal (1920-1993), formerly known as Kath Walker, was an Aboriginal poet, activist, a campaigner for Aboriginal Rights and public speaker (Australian Poetry Library, n.d.). During the 1960 's, she emerged as a political activist and a poet, and fought for the rights of her people until her death (Australian Poetry Library, n.d.). In her poetry, Oodgeroo Noonuccal explores many themes relating to her connection with the land and the rights of her people to live on those lands as equals to the white. In this essay, 3 of her poems will be analysed: Time is Running Out , Let Us Not Be Bitter and Return To Nature. TIME IS RUNNING OUT 1 5 10 15 20 25 Time is Running …show more content…

Noonucal uses personal pronouns, such as 'we ', 'my ', 'us ', 'me ' and 'our ', to involve the reader in the poem and unite the readers as a nation. She uses the simile 'A maggot in the mind ' (17) to refer to the useless and pointless negative and hateful relationship between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians. There are two characters in this poem: her and her people. She is trying to convince her people to 'come stand …show more content…

There are two characters in the poem: Noonucal (the narrator) and her love, which is nature and the Australian land. The major literary technique used in this poem is the personification of nature: 'Lover of my happy past ' (1), 'My brutalness turns you from my touch ' (23), 'Your enemy and mine ' (27). By personifying nature, she demonstrates the connection she feels for the land, so others could understand how civilising her impacted on her culture. Many similes and phrases in this poem are used to demonstrate the adoration and the love between Noonucal and her native land: 'Soothe my weariness with warm embrace ' (2-3), 'Caressed your paths ' (13), 'Turns you from my touch ' (22). Noonucal writes about how 'civilized ' her lost the connection she previously held with her loved native land and how her current habits

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