Good afternoon 10G and Ms Shiels. The poem I have chosen to analyse and discuss is New True Anthem by Kevin Gilbert. The poem ‘New True Anthem’ acknowledges the fact that there is more than a single opinion of what has happened to the lives of both English and Aboriginal. Australia’s sense of pride and admiration that is declared by Dorothea Mackellar in “My Country” is challenged and questioned by Kevin Gilbert.
The title itself, “The New True Anthem”, begins the poem with a bitter and hostile tone. Using the word ‘true’, Gilbert states his opinion from the very beginning with no feeling of remorse. Kevin also discusses how he believes the Europeans treated the land with such disrespect and how they treated the original owners of the land like slaves. In the poem ‘New True Anthem’, Kevin Gilbert displays various poetic techniques. One of the main poetic techniques that really stood out was personifaction. An example of this is when he said “cut scars where tall trees grow”.
This line refers to us cutting down trees also known as deforestation.
