- Dorothea McKellar. Image care of Wikimedia Commons.
Now here’s a question for you all: how many of you have spent time “down under”? Australians in the crowd, do give us a shout, as this week dVerse is serving up a special brew from your fair corner of the world – a little poem by one Dorothea McKellar.
Both a poet and a novelist, McKellar was a soul truly in love with the land of her birth. It is only fitting, then, that while abroad with her father in England at the age of just 19, her poet’s mind turned to dreams, and those dreams carried back across the seas, to that land she’d left behind. What came of this homesickness was a romantic work – a somewhat idealized piece, it’s true, but a nevertheless entrancing piece stitched with yearning. Originally published under the name “Core of My Heart” in a 1908 edition of London’s Spectator magazine, later versions would give this poem the simpler title of “My Country.”
And a fine P.S.: I try to keep this self-advertising stuff to a minimum, but once you’ve had a read-through of “My Country” and shared your thoughts, I’d also extend a warm invitation to any fantasy fans among you to swing on by my own home at “The Waking Den,” where I’ve got a big announcement – one that’s been a long time coming.
Cheers, fellow lovers of the poetic!
My Country
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 droughts and flooding rains.
I love her far horizons,
I love her jewel-sea,
Her beauty and her terror –
The wide brown land for me!
The stark white ring-barked forests,
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.
An opal-hearted country,
A wilful, lavish land –
All you who have not loved her,
You will not understand –
Though earth holds many splendours,
Wherever I may die,
I know to what brown country
My homing thoughts will fly.
~Dorothea McKellar
dVerse 
ah she loved her country… felt in each line.. thanks gor introducing us to her chris…and congrats on the book.. woohoo.. way to go..!!!
Thanks, Claudia! And yes, she surely did…I think it a real blessing to be so inspired by one’s own home, to have its image burn so brightly within one’s own heart, that they cannot help but write of it. Such passion is a blessing, no?
Thanks, Chris. I had not heard of her (and in fact the only Australian writer I really know is Peter Carey.)
That said, a lovely poem. It reminds me of Terry Pratchett–The Last Continent–an extremely funny book about the brown parchedness of Australia. K.
PS – I’m feeling terribly ignorant and Northern Hemispherish over here so very glad you posted this.
That’s part of the joy! I too consider myself generally restricted on my knowledge of those literary greats out there, so it’s a real pleasure to be able to sift through the book shelves and find those talented individuals that sing across national, cultural, and language boundaries, to still stir the poetic spirit. Expanding our international knowledge of our art stirs a fire in me like little else!
I’m an Aussie, and have known this poem all my life. We’re all brought up on it! And we have many occasion to quote the phrase, ‘droughts and flooding rains’; in fact the media usually do it for us at every opportunity. It’s good to re-read the whole poem and be reminded of how fervent and how accurate it is. Yes, to most of us who live here, there is just something about this ‘wide brown land’ — the other most quoted phrase from the poem. She captured it, all right.
I had heard it was a rather popular piece within Australia’s own bounds, so I’m glad to see I wasn’t wrong on that count. Also good to hear she did a pretty fine job capturing your beloved land – above and beyond the yearning it makes all our hearts sing for it. I take it this is one they have you read young in school? Or is the work simply saturated throughout various aspects of life there?
And thank you for the vote of confidence on the book front! I sincerely hope you enjoy the rest of it, long as it may be.
I’ve seen only excerpts of this. Thanks, Chris, for the whole lavish banquet of description here. One of my friends, a photographer, went to Australia a few years back and took some stunning pictures–he loved it. Alas–I can only travel there in poetry, but this was a fine trip.
Ah…a trip I too would be jealous of, my friend. But then, I can say that of so many places. Would that I had the means to roam the world! That would make both the writer and photographer sides of my soul sing out in adoration, I think…but we must find our journeys, and our joys, where we may.
PS I’m glad of your PS. Congratulations! I just had a read of your sample chapter – woo-hoo, gotta have the book! (I love my new e-book reader, which makes these delights possible, and I’m glad you’re on Smashwords as well as Amazon.)
Thank you so much, Chris, for the little jaunt down-under. Wonderful poetry that really does transport me to a country I’ve never had the opportunity to visit. And I wish you great success with your novel. I will get it on my Kindle.
The world is ripe for exploration, and though we may not always be able to see it with our eyes, the mind is willing, and capable, of bearing it raw before us through others, and their own sweet words…
Glad you enjoyed the trek down under. I’m doing my best to get us bouncing around all over the place each week.
WHOO HOO!!!!!!!!!!!! You bet I’m an Aussie! Actually, I was born in England and my family moved here when I was 13. I mention this, because my life was very much an illustration of Dorothea McKellar’s poem – when we first came here, I thought the country ugly and brown. But over the years, she has slowly captured my heart and now I really do love my sunburnt country. In fact, appreciation of the beauty I see around me is what started my poetic journey.
My favourite? Impossible to say if the brilliant cobalt oceans and white sand speak louder to me, or the lovely hue of the Salmon gums in a paddock of golden wheat stubble. Either way, there is so much here to soak in.
Another poet well worth looking at, though his work isn’t distinctly Australian (being a Melbourne city bloke) is Bruce Dawe. His free verse and use of irony hooked me on poetry as a school kid.
Chris and dVerse – thank you so much for hosting an article on the core of my heart, my country. 😀
You are so very welcome, Zoe. The journey to expand our literary knowledge on an international scale is one I am ever so glad to undertake. Nothing inspires like seeing works, as this, that speak across cultures, nations, and languages. Stirs the soul, it does.
Bruce Dawe, you say? I’ll certainly bear him in mind for the future. And if you’ve any other suggestions, do feel free to contact either myself or dVerse. It’s great to build up a stock pile for potentials for the future!
And from England originally, eh? So you went on the opposite journey as McKellar…interesting to consider. Obviously you’re proud of your home in Australia, but do you ever find yourself missing England? Do any of those landscapes sing out from your memory?
I hated Australia for the first 2-3 years, but since then, no, I honestly have never missed England. I occasionally miss the snow – it seems odd that my kids have never experienced those chill autumn mornings that promise snow coming soon. And Christmas at 100F with decorations glinting in the fierce sun just seems a bit strange still!
I think the greenness of England sings in my memory – our foliage is blue-green, and so that pure grass green looks almost artificial after a while. Of course, both are beautiful in their own way – it is the perceptions that change. And that is one of the things that makes poetry so powerful, I believe. 🙂
This is a beautiful poem …thank you for sharing this ~
I’m a true blue fair dinkum Aussie sheila ‘n that…live near Gunnedah where Dorothea was born. Large land holders are very wealthy here . Dorothea was one and she also had a stunning house at Point Piper on Sydney harbour.
The ancient magnificent Liverpool Plains, the inspiration for her poems is about to be mined. If this goes ahead the land of plenty will become the land of nothing for future generations. North western NSW is the food bowl for much of Australia. Already 75% of agrable land in this country is in foreign ownership.
This largely empty continent tough ,fobidding full of contrasts gets under your freckled leathery sunburnt skin. You can actually be physically alone here and feel silence. Great for poets and other misfits. Thanks for the post and congrats on the book!
I spent four months in Sydney in 1977, and I loved the time there. I was actor in a play at the King’s Cross. I wanted to stay, but alas no work for American actors it seems. What bugged me though were the flies. Gawd awful the moment you are more than 20 miles inland from the sea, crawling into your eyes, nose, mouth, ears. The locals do not swat at them, being a mostly agrarian country with more cattle and sheep than people.
We have a saying here – Western Australia is a great place to live – 50 billion flies can’t be wrong… 🙂
*shudders* Flies. Not the flies. That would certainly…bug me. Yes, I said it. So there.
Looking at the torn up shark nets on several beaches near Sydney, I complained to a lifeguard, and he said, “Chrissake, calm down, Yank. We haven’t lost anyone on this beach in over two weeks.”
nice…australia is on my list of places to go…i am rather fascinated actually…bill bryson did it to me…and really enjoyed your offering today chris…had never heard of her…
and congrats on your book man…that is awesome!
Great post, Chris. I really enjoyed this poem. Congrats on your book!
I went to Australia once so this brings back fond memories!
Kelly
http://simplydeeppoetry.blogspot.com
Sorry to come by so late Chris, but you know..stuff. I didn’t know the poem at all but I appreciate reading it and learning about the author.
Wanted to give you my heartfelt congratulations on the book. Very proud of you and I’m wishing you every success with it. Sending hugs your way.
And many hugs right back at you, Gay…hope you get some sunshine your way. Sending warm thoughts in that direction anyhow.
I guess my first and deepest love of Australian writers came from my father. He loved Waltzing Matilda and later introduced me to The Man From Snowy River. With these as my first sight of the land down under, I find Banjo Paterson a lovely way to meet Australian writers.