MY COUNTRY.

BY
OSCAR KRAHNVOHL
Starts with ‘I love a sunburnt country’, which is the exact wording of the second
stanza in the original poem by Dorothea Mackellar. This particular stanza (from
the original) is the most oem by Oscar Krahnvohl like environmental issues,
humanity issues, cultural issues and politicwell-known, and by Oscar starting
with this particular line, he exposes the brilliance of the previous poem, but the
next few lines start as a parody from the influence of the previous poem.

Overall this poem is a parody of Dorothea Mackellar’s ‘My Country’ but

also many other issues stand out in this pal issues. It is very cynical
towards the original but it is also an ‘updated’ version of ‘My Country’ as
the statements made by Mackellar were 75 years ago and the country has
much changed since then. These poets were also coming from a different
environment from each other, one from the country and the other from the
city.
 I love a sunburnt country,
A land of open drains

Mid-urban sprawl expanded

For cost-accounting gains;

Broad, busy bulldozed acres

Once wastes of fern and trees
Now rapidly enriching
Investors overseas.

In this stanza there are very similar lines towards the original for
e.g. ‘A land of open drains’ to the original ‘A land of sweeping
plains’. Oscar talks about the urban sprawl across the country,
with references to taking over land that was once a sign of
nature to busy towns, buildings being built and the spread of
investors coming from overseas. Oscar still uses the structure of
the original with the lines rhyming in the places on the same
lines; which make this stanza and poem very enjoyable to read.

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 A nature-loving country

Beneath whose golden

wattles

The creek is fringed with

newspapers
And lined with broken
bottles.

This stanza is particularly about the nature and wildlife which is obvious to the reader as it starts of with, ‘a nature-loving
country…’ but the message is then changed after the line ‘Beneath whose golden wattles’, which are an Australian identity in
the bush, he also suggests that beneath the wondrous beauty of the wattles there are creeks filled with newspapers and
broken bottles. Oscar also uses a very blunt but concerned tone in these two lines, he uses words to show his disgust at how
much the environment has been littered in.
Far in her distant outback
Still whose cities chafe
I find hidden pools where bathing
Is relatively safe
.

In the last three lines of this stanza it tells us of the hot

weather, ‘Still whose cities chafe’, and how most of the
public water (beaches, lakes etc.) are relatively safe to
bathe in which says that it is hardly safe to swim in this
water as they hold habitats to dangerous creatures. In this
stanza we see that Oscar is quite cynical in the way where
he contradicts himself with a ‘nature-loving country’ to a
country filled with waste.

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 A music-loving country
Where rings throughout the land
The jingle sweet enjoining
Devotion to the brand.
O, hark the glad transistors
Whence midnight, dawn and noon,
Cry forth her U.S. idols
A trifle out of tune.

In this stanza the country is labelled a ‘music-loving

country’ and that music pays as a big part of our life as it
rings across the land, as we listen to it on our transistor
radios (which as quoted ‘we listen to midnight, dawn and
noon’), which also contain jingles (advertisements) which
devotes us to a certain brand. But besides music-loving we
are invaded by U.S. idols that are not part of the country
and as music itself is quite terrible. This stanza relates to
how the transistor radio was introduced and the many
other things that followed it, advertisements that
brainwashed and ‘world’ Joshua Suklan music from the U.S.
that destroyed the Australian culture. But it also depicts
how much Australia love their music.
Brave military pylons
That march o’er scenic hills;,
Fair neon lights, extolling
Paint, puppy food and pills!
I love her massive chimneys,
Production’s, profit’s pride,
Interminably pouring,
Pollution high and wide.
The first couple of lines in this stanza state that the
production of buildings are spreading over the great
hills, but he uses personification to describe them
taking over e.g. ‘Brave military pylons that march o’er
scenic hills’ as if to say they were taking over them as
an army would march bravely. The next few lines of
the stanza propose that the country is changing into
an image of faded neon lights, overly used paint,
having pets and popping pills. The next line, ‘I love her
massive chimneys’, depicts a similarity to Dorothea’s ‘I
love her far horizons, I love her jewel-sea,’ which
again is a mockery of her work. In this same line and
the others that follow comes back to the topic of
pollution, production factories as the next factor to
become involved to the insight of smoke being poured
into the atmosphere. The repetition of the pollution
and destruction to the environment may suggest that
Oscar acted very strongly towards this cause.
A democratic country!
Where, safe from fear’s attacks
Earth’s children all are equal
(Save yellows, browns and blacks).
Though Man in Space adventure,
Invade the planets nine,
What shall we find to equal
This sunburnt land of mine?
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‘A democratic country’, opens this stanza with the
following three lines that provoke some issues of the
democratic scene, like all earth’s children are equal,
where, we are safe from fear’s attacks and to save
the other ‘races’ that stand between the system. The
next two lines tell of man’s obsession with their space
adventure of invading the nine planets. The stanza
ends on asking what ‘he’ shall find to equal this
sunburnt land. This stanza stands on a political
quota, are we really a democratic society?
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 • What is this poem drawing attention
too?
Degradation, pollution, commercialism,
racism

• What would be used to describe this

poem in 2 words? Sarcasm takes the form of an ironic remark that is rooted in humor,
with the intention of mocking and drawing attention to the situation,
Sarcasm, irony usually satirizing it

• What are the 2 main language

features used in the poem?
Alliteration, personification

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 Is it an iconic poem?
Yes
What does sarcasm mean?
Being critical, ridicule
What is the purpose of the poem?
To express concern about the pollution, degradation, racism and
commercialism
What is the context?
-late 1970s in Australia
-environmental movement
-growing concern over pollution, commercialism, impact on culture
What does irony mean?
Saying one thing meaning the opposite
Why is it a parody?
-love of country
-beautiful country
-a land of plenty and of challenge
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 • What is stanza 1
describing?
Degradation
• What is stanza 2
describing?
Pollution
• What is stanza 3
describing?
Commercialism
• What is stanza 4
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 • What is stanza 5 describing?
Racism
• What is the alliteration achieving in the poem?
It is highlighting the lines they want us to hear and understand.
• What lines use alliteration?
Broad busy bulldozed acres, broken bottles, paint puppy food and pills,
productions profits pride-pouring-pollution
• What lines use personification?
Her-stanza 2, cry forth her U.S idols, military pylons, that march, Her-stanza 4,
earths children all are equal
• In stanza 5 what is: save yellows, browns and blacks
It is: Aside
In a story or play, a character may turn to the audience to make
an observation or quippy remark that the other characters can't
hear. This act is referred to as an aside in literature

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