SONG OF AUSTRALIA



It’s a song of Australia
And living in recession,
A hymn of power that corrupts
A country in depression;
It’s a song of young children
Still living in poverty,
Broken promises of treaties
Made to Aborigines.

It’s a carol of hurting
For neglected old folk,
On pensions so tiny
They’re at best a sick joke;
It’s a song of government
With a most evil intent,
Of the starving in parks
’Cause they can’t afford rent.

It’s a lullaby of madness
Committed in this country,
A land of the free and brave
A truly great democracy?
It’s a song of zero tariffs
And another 100,000 jobs gone,
A rhapsody of mad politics
Such a truly sad song.

It’s a ditty about poverty
Yes, but also of great greed,
Child-slave-labour surely is
The very last thing we need;
It’s a song of two parties
Both surely quite insane,
And our pleas for compassion
All seemingly in vain.

It’s a dirge about heartaches
When everything is going wrong,
It’s a song of unemployment
Dole queues march on and on;
It’s a lyric about employers
Who want work without pay,
It’s a song of the bad times
That just won’t go away.

THE END
© Copyright 2021, Philip Roberts
Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

About this poem

Wrote this in the early 1990s when Paul Keating was prime minister, threatening to bring in a 15% GST (VAT).

Font size:
Collection  PDF     
 

Written on 1994

Submitted by PHIL_ROBERTS on August 30, 2021

Modified on March 05, 2023

1:02 min read
0

Quick analysis:

Scheme ABCBBDEE XFDFGHXH XDXDXXXI DJXJEKBK CIGXXLXL XXA
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 1,139
Words 209
Stanzas 6
Stanza Lengths 8, 8, 8, 8, 8, 3

Phil Roberts

I turn 65 on the 31st of January 2022. I love cats, rock music, and horror fiction and poetry more…

All Phil Roberts poems | Phil Roberts Books

7 fans

Discuss the poem "SONG OF AUSTRALIA" with the community...

0 Comments

    Translation

    Find a translation for this poem in other languages:

    Select another language:

    • - Select -
    • 简体中文 (Chinese - Simplified)
    • 繁體中文 (Chinese - Traditional)
    • Español (Spanish)
    • Esperanto (Esperanto)
    • 日本語 (Japanese)
    • Português (Portuguese)
    • Deutsch (German)
    • العربية (Arabic)
    • Français (French)
    • Русский (Russian)
    • ಕನ್ನಡ (Kannada)
    • 한국어 (Korean)
    • עברית (Hebrew)
    • Gaeilge (Irish)
    • Українська (Ukrainian)
    • اردو (Urdu)
    • Magyar (Hungarian)
    • मानक हिन्दी (Hindi)
    • Indonesia (Indonesian)
    • Italiano (Italian)
    • தமிழ் (Tamil)
    • Türkçe (Turkish)
    • తెలుగు (Telugu)
    • ภาษาไทย (Thai)
    • Tiếng Việt (Vietnamese)
    • Čeština (Czech)
    • Polski (Polish)
    • Bahasa Indonesia (Indonesian)
    • Românește (Romanian)
    • Nederlands (Dutch)
    • Ελληνικά (Greek)
    • Latinum (Latin)
    • Svenska (Swedish)
    • Dansk (Danish)
    • Suomi (Finnish)
    • فارسی (Persian)
    • ייִדיש (Yiddish)
    • հայերեն (Armenian)
    • Norsk (Norwegian)
    • English (English)

    Citation

    Use the citation below to add this poem to your bibliography:

    Style:MLAChicagoAPA

    "SONG OF AUSTRALIA" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 19 Mar. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/108156/song-of-australia>.

    Become a member!

    Join our community of poets and poetry lovers to share your work and offer feedback and encouragement to writers all over the world!

    March 2024

    Poetry Contest

    Join our monthly contest for an opportunity to win cash prizes and attain global acclaim for your talent.
    12
    days
    21
    hours
    42
    minutes

    Browse Poetry.com

    Quiz

    Are you a poetry master?

    »
    A brief and intentional reference to a historical, mythological, or literary person, place, event, or movement is called a _______.
    A metaphor
    B simile
    C hyperbole
    D allusion