Bobbi Sykes And Beggar's Choice

An Akubra hat clutched by roughened hands, boots worn to the sole and a distinct, robust figure silhouetted against a crimson sky. The 1900s considerably shaped the face of Australian literature, which presented iconic ballads and romanticised poems of heroic Bushmen taming the elements, which we recognise today. While these pioneers were at the forefront of Australia’s identity, one area often overlooked is the perspective of the Indigenous. Now envision land, your land, soil on which you grew, learnt about your origins, seized by foreign men. This wasn’t a peaceful integration, it invasion day. Two prominent poems that explore this view are Ambrose by Roberta “Bobbi” Sykes and Beggar’s Choice by Bruce Dawe. Sykes narrates the disruption

This persuades us to reflect on how these messages tainted the natural practices of the original custodians. This is further supported by a rhyme pattern, which facilitates the flow of words. However the layout of Ambrose forces us to slow down and recognise the police brutality and institutional abuse that ensued.
So, on Australia Day we often neglect the very different experience of Indigenous people whose land was invaded and cultural integrity stolen by ignorant ideologies of white supremacy. Their perspectives expressed through literature powerfully protests the silenced voices. From evaluation, Dawe’s Beggars’ Choice elicits a colloquial and relaxed mood, as the message is indirect and addressed in a satirical manner, while Sykes’s Ambrose is direct; its shorter sharper sentences underlining its provocative tone. Ultimately, this alters the mood of the poems even though both share the theme of the loss of tradition, depreciation of life and the social ramifications foisted on our indigenous people by their white