Versedays: Sydney and the Bush

Missed Versedays last week. So easy to get caught up with life and forget these little pleasures. So I spent some more time this week searching for good poetry and stumbled upon the genre of Australian bush poetry. Stemming from oral traditions in the vast Australian bushland, this genre gained prominence with the advent of colonisation. Highlighting the origins of the Australian people and importance of the bushland in this aspect, bush poetry today is recognised officially and even boasts of the Australian Bush Poets Association.

For today's poem, I chose "Sydney and the Bush" by one of the most acclaimed bush poets, Les Murray. In my limited understanding, the poem addresses the effects of colonisation and the subsequent loss of character of the nation. I found a really nice reading of the poem by Renee and thought that would be more helpful to you in understanding the poem better. Enjoy reading!

Sydney And The Bush

by Les Murray

When Sydney and the Bush first met
there was no open ground
and men and girls, in chains and not,
all made an urgent sound.

Then convicts bled and warders bred,
the Bush went back and back,
the men of Fire and of Earth
became White men and Black.

When Sydney ordered lavish books
and warmed her feet with coal
the Bush came skylarking to town
and gave poor folk a soul.

Then bushmen sank and factories rose
and warders set the tone —
the Bush in quarter-acre blocks
helped families hold their own.

When Sydney and the Bush meet now
there is antipathy
and fashionable suburbs float
at night, far out to sea.

When Sydney rules without the Bush
she is a warders' shop
with heavy dancing overhead
the music will not stop

and when the drummers want a laugh
Australians are sent up.
When Sydney and the Bush meet now
there is no common ground.