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poetry about Aborigines

The Last of His Tribe [poem by Henry Kendall]

12 May 2016 · Leave a Comment

[Editor: This poem by Henry Kendall was published in Leaves from Australian Forests (1869).] The Last of His Tribe. He crouches, and buries his face on his knees, And hides in the dark of his hair; For he cannot look up to the storm-smitten trees, Or think of the … [Read more...] about The Last of His Tribe [poem by Henry Kendall]

Filed Under: poetry Tagged With: Henry Kendall (1839-1882) (author), Leaves from Australian Forests (Henry Kendall 1869), poem, poetry about Aborigines, SourceArchiveOrg, year1869

The Black King’s Skull [poem by Kenneth Mackay]

28 April 2016 · Leave a Comment

[Editor: This poem by Kenneth Mackay was published in Stirrup Jingles from the Bush and the Turf and Other Rhymes (1887).] The Black King’s Skull. One night, when round the walls with dismal shrieks The winds of winter blew, And sudden rains had filled the forest … [Read more...] about The Black King’s Skull [poem by Kenneth Mackay]

Filed Under: poetry Tagged With: Kenneth Mackay (1859-1935) (author), poem, poetry about Aborigines, SourceSLV, Stirrup Jingles from the Bush and the Turf and Other Rhymes (Kenneth Mackay 1887), year1887

When the Nigger Saw the Train [poem, 28 April 1894]

27 October 2015 · Leave a Comment

When the Nigger Saw the Train (1894 poem)

[Editor: This poem was published in The Bird O' Freedom (Sydney, NSW), 28 April 1894. Designed to be read as a humorous poem, the poem is about an Aboriginal man’s first contact with a train.] When the Nigger Saw the Train. In the guileless, simple savage there was … [Read more...] about When the Nigger Saw the Train [poem, 28 April 1894]

Filed Under: poetry Tagged With: @ graphics added, 500x500, poem, poetry about Aborigines, racial poetry, SourceTrove, year1894

The Aboriginal Mother [song by Eliza Hamilton Dunlop, 15 October 1841]

27 October 2015 · Leave a Comment

[Editor: A song published in The Sydney Herald, 15 October 1841. This song was based upon a poem by Eliza Hamilton Dunlop, set to music by Isaac Nathan. There are some significant differences between the song and the original poem.] The Aboriginal Mother. “Only one female … [Read more...] about The Aboriginal Mother [song by Eliza Hamilton Dunlop, 15 October 1841]

Filed Under: songs Tagged With: Eliza Hamilton Dunlop (1796-1880), Isaac Nathan, poetry about Aborigines, song, SourceTrove, year1841

The Aboriginal Mother [poem by Eliza Hamilton Dunlop, 13 December 1838]

27 October 2015 · Leave a Comment

[Editor: A poem by Eliza Hamilton Dunlop. Published in The Australian, 13 December 1838. This poem by Eliza Hamilton Dunlop was later set to music by Isaac Nathan; however, there were some significant differences between the poem and the song.] Songs of an Exile. (No. … [Read more...] about The Aboriginal Mother [poem by Eliza Hamilton Dunlop, 13 December 1838]

Filed Under: poetry Tagged With: Eliza Hamilton Dunlop (1796-1880), poem, poetry about Aborigines, SourceTrove, year1838

Disinherited [poem by Marie E. J. Pitt]

25 April 2014 · Leave a Comment

[Editor: This poem by Marie E. J. Pitt was published in The Horses of the Hills and Other Verses (1911).] Disinherited. (Here and there, a little apart from the laughing crowd that surged in the traffic-ways of Melbourne streets during Fleet Week, little groups of … [Read more...] about Disinherited [poem by Marie E. J. Pitt]

Filed Under: poetry Tagged With: Marie E. J. Pitt, poem, poetry about Aborigines, SourceArchiveOrg, The Horses of the Hills and Other Verses (Marie E. J. Pitt 1911), year1911

Barak’s Requiem [poem, 13 September 1930]

28 October 2012 · Leave a Comment

Barak’s Requiem Mr. J. Taylor (president of the Healesville A.N.A.) has received the following beautiful poem on William Barak, aboriginal king of the Yarra Yarra tribe, whose grave is in the cemetery at Coranderrk:— The wind in the trees, The birds on the wing, The rain … [Read more...] about Barak’s Requiem [poem, 13 September 1930]

Filed Under: poetry Tagged With: poem, poetry about Aborigines, SourceTrove, year1930

Decay of the Aboriginal Race [poem, 19 December 1890]

28 October 2012 · Leave a Comment

Decay of the Aboriginal Race. Prize Poem by Miss Robertson, Yarrawonga. I wandered through a forest’s depths where giant gum trees thickly stood, Until, beneath a tow’ring king, I paused in contemplative mood ; For lo ! the fibrous bark was gone clean from one side the … [Read more...] about Decay of the Aboriginal Race [poem, 19 December 1890]

Filed Under: poetry Tagged With: poem, poetry about Aborigines, SourceTrove, year1890

When the Niggers Own the Land [poem, 16 June 1931]

16 October 2012 · Leave a Comment

[Editor: An example of anti-Aboriginal sentiment, this poem criticizes what the author views as the overly-soft treatment of Aborigines in the Northern Territory. In earlier days, the word “nigger” did not have the same stigma as is attached to it in modern times, as it was often … [Read more...] about When the Niggers Own the Land [poem, 16 June 1931]

Filed Under: poetry Tagged With: poem, poetry about Aborigines, racial poetry, SourceTrove, year1931

An Aboriginal Mother’s Lament [poem by Charles Harpur; in an anthology of poetry, 1888]

3 June 2012 · Leave a Comment

[Editor: A poem by Charles Harpur. Published in Australian Ballads and Rhymes: Poems Inspired by Life and Scenery in Australia and New Zealand (1888).] An Aboriginal Mother’s Lament. Still farther would I fly, my child, To make thee safer yet, From the unsparing white … [Read more...] about An Aboriginal Mother’s Lament [poem by Charles Harpur; in an anthology of poetry, 1888]

Filed Under: poetry Tagged With: A Century of Australian Song [1888], Australian Ballads and Rhymes (1888), Charles Harpur (author) (1813-1868), conflict Whites vs Aborigines, poem, poetry about Aborigines, SourceArchiveOrg, year1888

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The Bastard from the Bush [poem, circa 1900]
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