Sydney and the Bush by Les A. Murray

Quoted as 'one of the most country's most influential literary critics', Les A. Murray writes his pieces to enable readers to understand the cultural and spiritual ways of what it means to be an Australian. Coming from a relatively poor family, having a rough time fitting in into University due to his class he decided to move without completing a degree. This however lead him to write his first volume of poems before returning to Sydney to complete his degree and become a full-time poet.

'Sydney and the Bush' by Les A. Murray explores the inner landscapes of two cultures - Aborigines and White Settlers- enabling the reader to delve into the thoughts and reasoning for their actions in the early 18th Century (during white settlement).

The metaphors used in 'Bush' and "Sydney' has two meanings ,symbolizing the two cultures, Bush being the Aborigines and Sydney being the White Settlers. Also symbolizing the change the landscape has gone through since White Settlement, the intruders believing that manipulating the land to be more materialistic is their approach, yet they don't know how much affect the Aborigines experience because of this change.

The poet begins by illustrating an image of the Australian landscape before white settlement. The tone in 'When Sydney and the Bush first met there was no open ground' creates a melancholy mood the Aborigines have encountered due to the change that has taken place. 'men and girls, in chains and not, all made an urgent sound' implies that the White Settlers have no respect towards other inhabitants, thus allowing the audience to believe that the White people use the land as a jail cell to evict the troubled people on their home landscape demonstrating the intrusion of a natural land. The connotations of power in 'Then convicts bled and warders bred, the Bush went back and back' contrasts the inner landscapes of the two cultures. The convicts are killing and destroying the Aboriginal culture to provide the needs for themselves, displaying their greed and selfishness. The White population increases due to the Aborigines depleting population, therefore the Aborigines have a disadvantage and allow the White settlers to push them 'back'. The contrast of these two cultures are shown in the metaphor in 'the men or Fire and of Earth became White men and Black' effectively compares the clash the two inner landscapes has. The White men are symbolized as 'men of Fire', this illustrates the capability these inhabitants have to destroy and make life difficult for others in this landscape, whilst on the other hand the Aborigines are symbolized as 'men of Earth' illustrates the caring and protective actions towards the landscape.

Readers are able to delve into the minds of the inhabitants through the use of sad connotations and negative physical changes towards the environment in 'Then bushmen sand and factories rose and warders set the tone' portrays the minimal rights of their own land. The reader feels empathetic towards the Aborigines and slowly builds a sense of dislike towards the White people. The actions the White settlers have chosen, building factories shows how materialistic and greedy they are. The land has provided for the Aborigines for many years in the past and by taking that away from the Aborigines shows the little respect and understanding the White people have towards the Aborigines.

Sydney and the Bush annotations