ABPA - Australian Bush Poets Association

working on that criteria then at least 50% of my stuff would also not be Bush Poetry (although I classify it as such) because it could be considered generic and could be about anywhere. So if we put Australia in the first line will that make it right???? Or even better a Koala up a gum tree and kangaroos in the top paddock.

I didn't know the author but to me it showed a picture of Australia, possible to an American it might depict their home

As for snow Bill I have seen heaps of snow. I am a Pommie by birth Cold wet mushy slushy horrible stuff that I could never understand why people out here paid such huge amounts of money to go and see it and play in it. I hate the stuff...came to Australia to get away from it.

Thanks everybody who took time to reply. As I said, some very interesting replies, I read them all carefully.

The subject poem is a poem in "rhyme and metre".

It is a true story, written by a man who was brought up on a rural property in Australia and who to-day, lives in that small rural district community.
The story is about a farmer in a district which never sees snow, but one day wakes up to find to his great surprise that snow has covered his farm. He is amazed; a once in a lifetime event, he walks in it, even takes a handful to taste it, then goes inside to wake up the children, to come and see the marvellous sight.
To me, even in that small sample, it contains the authentic images that show the observations of a true blue bushie. Bill the battler was right on the money.
So I hold the view that it is certainly a bush poem.

What you have Maureen is the sense of the story, I agree.
Beware the trap of the false analogy, Bob.
I think Marty is right, no need to spell it out.... common sense will do it.


I revere it as brilliant poetry. A wonderful magic moment of bush life is presented in the most economical use of language.The language is fresh and in the active voice. The sentences are clear , no big words. No stumbling syntax. No waffle. No adjectives that add nothing to the picture, and it has no sentimentality.
To understand this poem I think one has to understand that the rhythm of verse is not just the metre. It is also the rhythm of language which includes the rhythm of the pauses.

I wouldn't want to change any words or rearrange the lines because that would destroy
the subtle rhythm of pauses that the writer has been so careful to construct.

I must mention,

the poem is called " One in a Lifetime,Snow " and it is by Les Murray.

G'day Neville

It was quite clear to me that it was written from the perspective of someone from the country, but it could just as easily have been someone talking about the family farm that they lived on in the British Isles (I ruled America out on the basis that "paddock" is a word that is rarely used in that context there). There is nothing in the language that really suggests that it is Australia in that sample. The ABPA definition of "bush poetry" does not refer to the poetry being specifically about the country though either.

After googling up the poem and reading the whole poem, there is a little more there to suggest that it might be Australia. The title certainly helps give that suggestion since I would doubt that snow in the British Isles would be a "once in a lifetime" experience (and shows how important a good title can be in helping to convey the meaning in a poem). On that information, I would be more inclined to call it a bush poem.

Regards


John Peel

I do not know about your comment Maureen The Australian way of life is a pretty open ended area ???

Gonna go back and read the whole poem and have a bit of a think.

But not right now !!!!!


Bob