Looking back with fondness to my younger education at primary school in Hamilton, a Victorian country town in Australia, during the 1970s. I have many terrific memories of the class room that warmly make me smile, and more often, laugh! Being a little Aussie kid learning beautiful poetry and fun songs in our weekly music sing-along was one activity I loved, as this was also story time.
Let’s Make Music and Sing
The ABC school music program “Let’s Sing”, was one way we learnt about our country Australia and about other places in the world, by simply singing or reciting a poem; about Australian animals, places of intrigue or significance, and of course, the interesting folk that contributed to the history and character of the topic.
Can you picture this? on the classroom wall, positioned above the blackboard (a reusable writing surface), was the PA System (Public Address System), that broadcasted into our classroom these tunes of happiness. Sitting either cross-legged or kneeling on the floor; all in unison our little voices belted out songs or poems from our song books, together with our teacher and radio tutor; it was so much fun, even for those who didn’t like singing, much!
Creating Imagination
Our introduction to the wonderful world of the “Arts” at a junior level; consisted not only of music and poetry but also stories, drama, painting, and craft; we even created a vegetable patch, that when in full bloom and bursting with the colours of produce, was art to me! The simplicity and joy of these classes, with no screens, nourished our imagination’s.
“Imagination in your Toolbox” discourages boredom!
Intro to Poetry
Our fourth-grade teacher taught us a fabulous poem, “My Country” by Dorothea Mackellar, with the task of learning a verse “off-by-heart’. Individually each of us took our turn to stand up in front of the class to recite our favourite verse and I chose the second, “I Love a Sunburnt Country” as this verse gripped my imagination visually; the brilliant rich colours, the red and brown earth meeting the blue jewel seas and majestic sunset; to me, Australia was a paradise.
I remember one young classmate stood up nervously to recite his ‘choice verse’ of the poem, being verse number three. He made it through the first line, with a sigh of relief expressed on his face. He continued with more gusto to narrate the second line, sprouting out confidently “All rockets to the moon”, the teacher stopped him in is tracks, with a little smile on her face, to remind him that Australia had not sent rockets to the moon! and asked him to practice and try again.
For those of you who are not familiar with the poem “My Country”, it was written by one of Australia’s famous poet’s, Isobel Marion Dorothea Mackellar in 1908, aged 19, whilst on an extensive trip to England. Dorothea’s words hinted she was homesick for her Australia in explaining to her English friend. Dorothea eventually returned to live in Sydney until her passing in 1968, at 82 year of age.
The poem in its entirety, as not always known, apart from the famous line of the second verse, “I love a sunburnt country”. This famous line is emphasizing a true love and devotion for Australia together with a passionate description of her land and sea scrapes. This poem as often come to mind when I have travelled throughout this beautiful land, and it may also for you.
“My Country” by Dorothea Mackellar
The love of field and coppice,
Of green and shaded lanes.
Of ordered woods and gardens
Is running in your veins,
Strong love of grey-blue distance
Brown streams and soft, dim skies
I know but cannot share it,
My love is otherwise.
I love a sunburnt country,
A land of sweeping plains,
Of ragged mountain ranges,
Of drought and flooding rains.
I love her far horizons,
I love her jewel-sea,
Her beauty and her terror –
The wide brown land for me!
A stark white ring-barked forest
All tragic to the moon,
The sapphire-misted mountains,
The hot gold hush of noon.
Green tangle of the brushes,
Where lithe lianas coil,
And orchids deck the tree-tops
And ferns the warm dark soil.
Core of my heart, my country!
Her pitiless blue sky,
When sick at heart, around us
We see the cattle die –
But then the grey clouds gather,
And we can bless again
The drumming of an army,
The steady, soaking rain.
Core of my heart, my country!
Land of the Rainbow Gold,
For flood and fire and famine,
She pays us back threefold –
Over the thirsty paddocks,
Watch, after many days,
The filmy veil of greenness
That thickens as we gaze.
Dorothea’s legacy of her poem in these descriptive words, allows each one of us, to own personal imagery of where we call home, the diverse landscapes, and the unique beauty of those special places in our hearts.
Is there room in your heart to explore and nurture your dreams of Australia?