Sandra Gal Hayman's 'Words That Change The World'

Good morning ladies and Gentlemen and thank you for this opportunity to speak at this year’s Book Week event, ‘Words that Change the World.’ Poetry portrays a story; poetry has the opportunity to change people’s beliefs and change their lives. In 1914 a devastating war had occurred and many people sadly passed away during it. People from Australia were also going through war. Sandra Gal Hayman wrote a poem about the sadness and little recognition aboriginals get from serving in the war. This poem prompts a reaction from the reader to inform change and recognition of Aboriginal soldiers because it represents an issue that is wrong and that is not tolerated. This poem, a powerful testament to the indigenous struggle, carries the potential to
Especially in war, they battle for their lives to give freedom to this country. Thousands of Aboriginal people fought in war and sadly received little to no recognition. In the trenches Aboriginals were considered and treated equally but after returning home from war, things went back to the way they were before the war. The soldiers were no longer equal to non-indigenous soldiers who they fought with. Sandra Gal Hayman is a known author in Australia and she wrote this poem based on a true story. My grandfather and great-uncle enlisted in WW1," says Sandra. "My great-uncle Sgt Smith fought in Gallipoli and was killed in France. This poem is based on his actual war records and correspondence to the family." She wrote this poem to inform the people of how little recognition Aboriginal soldiers get for serving their country and she wants everyone to be treated equally. She also talks about the sadness the war brings to people’s family and friends. This also informs us about the high number of deaths and tragedies that occurred to people in
However, there are many more poetic devices displayed throughout this poem to go in depth about the unfairness toward the aboriginal soldiers by using figurative language. These poetic devices have explained the melancholy of the issues that have been displayed in this poem. She uses multiple craftsmanship in this poem. But mostly, she uses rhyme. This attracts the reader’s attention using emotion in the rhyme. There are multiple examples of rhyme in her poem, for example, “Small towns from where they came to give themselves for freedom for their country here no shame.” (Line 2, stanzas 2,3,4) She uses mostly rhyme in this poem which attracts audience attention. She uses a sad emotional rhyme to also attract the audience to inform them. To also convey sorrowful emotion to the reader she uses hyperbole such as “Sailing a ship board to hell”. This uses high emotional persuasion as she paints a picture of how much the aboriginal soldiers had to be going through just to get little to no recognition fighting for their freedom. She clearly uses emotive language such as “Sadness heavy in her heart”. Impacts by showing how sad her family was when the aboriginal soldier died. This makes the reader feel emotional about the war. Her use of figurative language is evident in her clear portrayal of the soldier’s suffering and courage. This poem shows contrast between