My Country

Analysis of “MY COUNTRY” A Poem by Dorothea Mackellar “My Country”, is an iconic Australian poem written by Dorothea Mackallar in 1908. The poem deals with nature descriptions of Australia. The object of the poem was to inform people about the much wondrous splendour that reflect on our great country “Australia’. The values reflected to the reader are that Australians are very patriotic, and they respect the land that they live on and all things that live on the land. The poem tells

The words she uses sound romantic, "I love her jewel like sea", and the reader can picture the image she produces in their head. you of some of the beauty that can be seen throughout Australia, and also the not so beautiful countryside represented in the poem, due to Mother Natures unexpected wrath at times. The effect used is called ambiguity, which means doubtfulness or uncertainty, without colloquial expressions. In reference to language devices used, there is a regular rhythm in the poem, which illustrates some sort of flow of life, for example, "floating rains", or "it"tms running in your veins", show this method consciously. The onomatopoeia of an army associates the sound heart of nature. The reader can feel how vivid, colourful and unpredictable the country is due to the in-depth detail that Dorothea Mackellar describes to the reader. This enables the reader to identify and relate in someway to the land as has Dorothea Mackellar. For example, "my homing thoughts will fly", which tells you that she is thinking of her home, and also "and opal hearted country". The author uses words that everybody can understand and appreciate, but often the phrases and words have another meaning. She also illustrates images through the descriptive colours; she weaves like tapestry throughout the poem. Descriptions such as"Sapphire"tm, and "opal"tm, which show a special sort of uniqueness that only her love of country reflects. She shows emotion with words such as "my country", "my Heart", which represent her love and patriotism towards Australia. This poem is full of metaphors, such as personification which is commonly used to show meaning of the land.