A.D Hope Australia

The poem Australia by A.D Hope is a juxtaposition of people's or societies view of Australia, versus the patriotic stance of the writer. It also shows how A.D Hope is trying to convey his perspective on the identity of Australia. A.D Hope reveals his discontentment and scathing tone on Australia’s identity through his descriptive imagery, “a Nation of trees, drab green and desolate grey,” where the sombre and bleak nature of Australia is divulged through the derogative language, “drab” and “desolate.” Furthermore, the poet reflects his dislike towards the Australian society which is built on trying to, “inhabit the dying earth,” and to “survive,” by the “ultimate men” and “second-hand Europeans.” As well as this, the sibilance of “savage and scarlet” reveals A.D. Hope’s despise towards Australia’s Identity, as the words “savage” and “scarlet” are recognised as negative and derogative terms, reflecting the poet’s views. Through these various poetic devices, A.D. Hope has successfully revealed his negative perspective of the Australian image.
Australia to him is devoid of culture. Which is "without songs, architecture, history" where he "rivers of water drown among inland sands, The river of her immense stupidity." The "her" he is referring to in this paragraph is Australia. He sees Australia as being a country that has neither historical background nor culture to speak off. Yet, he believes that it has the capabilities to do so, however, the ideas are drowned among "inland sands". This can be seen as he blames the detractors for the slow erosion of Australia, where it has become a country that is no longer as intelligent as it was before. This reflects the writer's patriotic view where Australia is the victim here.
Australia is next portrayed as a country that is nothing at all, where there are "monotonous tribes from Cairns to Perth" and the five main cities, compared to "five teeming sores." The people who come to live in Australia boast not of "living" but