Unspoken

Many songs have deep and emotional messages throughout them, but few can match the aptitude portrayed in “The Dead Heart” This is depicted with the help of the text structure. “The Dead Heart” was made up of 8 stanzas. The rhyme pattern is ABCC, and changes throughout different stanzas this is to show the displeasure of the Indigenous people, when white men came and took their land. Indigenous people felt many things during this time period, happy and satisfied weren’t what they felt, instead they felt: hopeless, depressed, unfortunate and miserable. There are constant slant rhymes in the song, an example includes: Know your custom don't speak your tongue, white man came took everyone” The pure reason why “Midnight Oil” made these two sentences slant rhyme opposed to normal rhyme is to show the discomfort and distress when the British took their land, their most prized possession and their home. The structure used throughout “The Dead Heart” is phenomenal and truly captivates the true emotion the artist’s intended. Not only is the structure used extraordinary, but the poetic devices used truly entice the audience and elicit an emotional response.

This poem focuses on the lynching of a African American male. The speaker of the poem appears to console a woman who appears to be distressed due to the events taking place. In the first four lines of stanza 1, the speaker says:

Our knowledge of the generic conventions used in poetry influences our understanding of the text. “The Firstborn”, a poem by Aboriginal author Jack Davis, enables the reader to determine the poem as a graphic protest about the extinction of and discrimination against the Australian Indigenous people, and the loss of their ethnicity, as their world collides with the Western culture. By focussing on my understanding of both generic conventions and author’s context, I am able to conclude that the poem concerns a tragedy within the Aboriginal community.

This poem relates to Aboriginal Australian as it was written by the hand and views of one, and was written for the Aboriginals. The text itself is very emotive and powerful and I personally was unable to resist the emotions it reverberates however I cannot say whether it would be the same for anyone who could read it.

The tone of the poem changes as the poem progresses. The poem begins with energetic language like “full of heroic tales” and “by a mere swing to his shoulder”. The composer also uses hyperboles like “My father began as a god” and “lifted me to heaven”. The use of this positive language indicates to the responder that the composer is longing for those days – he is nostalgic. It also highlights the perspective of a typical child. The language used in the middle of the poem is highly critical of his father: “A foolish small old man”. This highlights the perspective of a typical teenager and signifies that they have generally conflicting views. The language used in the last section of the poem is more loving and emotional than the rest: “...revealing virtues such as honesty, generosity, integrity”. This draws attention to a mature adult’s perspective.

Secondly, the speaker of the poem can be described as underprivileged, and this is shown throughout the entire poem. For example, line 1 of the poem it states "some are teethed on a silver spoon” and line 5 it states "some are swaddled in silk and down”. This shows that the speaker is not the same as the person who is teethed on a silver spoon or cared for very carefully. This inclusion also shows that the speaker was not born into a wealthy family and so the speaker must fight for what they need pertaining to themselves and the family.

There are times when we all have to do something that hurts others or ourselves, and for people, those times will be the hardest part of their life. There is the very real fear of the thought that we will be hurt by our words or actions, or even hurting others with them; an example of that fear can be seen in the poem Unspoken Words [by Paul Callus] where there is a sense of regret after reading because we have all felt this incomprehensible emotion that we know that those words should be spoken, but at the same time being to frightened to say anything, and just sit there not saying anything, wishing we had the courage or that something would just come along and say those words.

In conclusion, the poem was used as a key to unlock some of the thoughts the negro had concerning Africa. The negro in this poem was a representative of all negroes during this time; their thoughts and the their feelings toward Africa. Cullen’s usage of the literary devices allow for an effective expression of the meaning of this poem. Poems are intensified language of experience, so the devices assured the connection of the reader to the poem and the experience. This applies to many issues in society today because as beautiful as our country is there are still dark clouds that cover the very essence of what the states once stood

The Apology Day Breakfast, and, Heart’s Core Lament are two powerful indigenous poems which use poetic techniques and devices to portray theme, times, places and identities. These poems both address the stolen generation and the impact that white colonisation has had on the Australian indigenous community. However, Natalie Harkin’s, Heart’s Core Lament has more impact through using graphic imagery to connect the poem to historical

The use of symbolism and imagery is beautifully orchestrated in a magnificent dance of emotion that is resonated throughout the poem. The two main ideas that are keen to resurface are that of personal growth and freedom. Furthermore, at first glimpse this can be seen as a simple poem about a women’s struggle with her counterpart. However, this meaning can be interpreted more profoundly than just the causality of a bad relationship.

A discourse of strength and perseverance can be seen throughout the song but particularly in stanza 3, line 6, ‘Dad shaped up and stood his ground. He said ‘You touch my kids and you fight me’ ’. This line demonstrates how the Aboriginal people fought back against the Government’s policies, and would not stand for the injustice. This is also reflected in the ending of the song, when the children who were taken return to their families, home, and culture, despite all the horrible things that happened to them. Furthermore, there is the blatant racism being carried out by the white Australians. This can be seen in stanza 2, line 3 ‘We’ll give them what you can’t give / Teach them how to really live’ which implies that the Aboriginals aren’t really living by what they’re doing now, and shows a disrespect for their culture. While it is easy to dismiss this as a socio-cultural discourse of the 1910’s, racism and disrespect towards the Aboriginal people is still prominent today. Lastly, there is a prominent discourse of cultural erasure, ‘ ‘Cause we were acting white / Yet feeling black’ (stanza 4, line 7). This shows the internal conflict many of these kids must have been having, and that many people endure today, when they are forced to conform to a specific culture and way of being. Many people alive in this age are still seriously affected by these issues, further reinforcing this song’s value as an Anthem of a

In line 9, the poet stresses again about his people's need to "walk tall", where ideally, each Aborigine should change their mindset to become strong and proud. It displays an image of him being equal in height with the authoritative leaders, which emphasises his pride and self-respect. It also shows that the Aborigines' have found new determination and hope, which is a source of their motivation to strive for justice in the face of adversity.

Living close to nature or living in harmony with nature is the whole purpose of Aboriginal life. There was no superior and inferior status between humans and nature. In fact for aboriginals the land and all the creatures have become inseparable companions. (Eds Dwight N Hopkins, P.71) But over the decades after settlement in Australia, Europeans disturbed the bond aboriginals have established with nature. In the following poems, one can see the poignant agonies of aboriginals for the disappearance their culture.

The rhetorical effect of this poem is it emphasizes that African Americans have to wear a mask because the people around them don’t let them show their true feelings. Before the Civil Rights Movement, blacks had no voice and could not speak their opinions. The rhetorical devices do very well to help meet the rhetorical

The main observation readers could take from this poem is that the “lower” individual has to take care of and pick up after the white man. It is even hinted at that the poems the mother chant rival the alleged master of poetry’s own works.