I wrote a sonnet for humanities a few years ago in year 8 and it was my first ever sonnet in primary school I used to write those poems they make you write and I hated them so this is the first time I've put effort into a poem. I live in Australia and this sonnet is about the British invading Australia and the cruel treatment of indigenous Australians throughout history
Because I like Shakespeare (and because my friend requested it) I added a few Shakespearean touches and commemorations to Shakespeare such as:
General Shakespearean dialogue, I also did not use the letter J as Shakespeare used a different version of J in his works, the word lonely was involved in Shakespeare's myriad of invented words so I found a place for that, Shakespeare used the word "absolute" a lot to mean perfect, using the term "green-eyed" for jealousy was also invented by Shakespeare so I added it. and the obvious Shakespearian dialog
We did steal their home, I doubt that 'twas right
How doth thou not see these sorrowful souls
Darkness hath killed this land, therefore their light
Terranullius? Thine sense burnt in coals
Thy help is hurting, how art thou so blind?
Alas! Hope of return, ever fleeting
Sympathetic words, but what of the mind?
We did not learn so we are repeating
The pain never ends, the breaks hath not come
We disrespect their beliefs, enslave them
thinking of then, a lonely mind turns numb
thoughts green-eyed, blinded by the shining gem
Evermore, sorry will be falsely said
Evermore, this absolute land runs red
this was my translation and explanation of some parts of my poem
We did steal their home, I doubt that 'twas right-I don't understand how it could ever be preserved as acceptable
How doth Thou not see these sorrowful souls-You must be blind to not see what you have done to them and that they are people
Darkness hath killed this land, therefore their light-Darkness is the British and light is the happiness and tranquillity, darkness destroys light
Terranullius? Thine sense burnt in coals-You have no common sense if you thought Australia was Terranullius. Coal came with the invaders and helped destroy this land it must have destroyed your common sense to.
Thy help is hurting, how art thou so blind? -Introducing British objects, and the stolen generation. Some thought they were helping and thought what they were doing was right but all it did was ruin everything and they couldn't even see it.
Alas! Hope of return, ever fleeting-As time went on it became less likely that the land would be returned to its original inhabitants
Sympathetic words, but what of the mind?-Even when someone says something that seems nice, they could have entirely different thoughts and opinions especially when the British first settled Australia some people acted sympathetic towards the aborigines but probably didn't care about them much because they still helped colonise Australia. Also, sympathy is very different to empathy and isn't as nice.
We did not learn so we are repeating-History is repeating its self in terms of kindness towards aboriginal peoples, and though it is VERY unlikely now, we haven't returned their land and "white people" still have more power than the first people here.
The pain never ends, the breaks hath not come-Aborigines haven't had a break because the British took their land and they still aren't able to live at least equally with everyone else. As well in the sense that many families still suffer from intergenerational trauma therefore there is no break because the pain keeps going.
We disrespect their beliefs, enslave them-Many times, aborigines beliefs have been undermined and they have been unable to follow certain rituals in the modernised world enslaving their beliefs. The British also literally enslaved aborigines.
thinking of then, a lonely mind turns numb-Because of the pain and destruction the British inflicted upon aborigines, if someone were to be left alone with these thoughts they could feel numbed by all the disheartening emotions.
thoughts green-eyed, blinded by the shining gem-Green-eyed meaning jealousy, because the British were jealous of the land and space that was owned and were so motivated by the possibility of new riches from new land that they ignored what was going on around them.
Evermore, sorry will be falsely said-Sorry has been said and will always be said but if it was true and really meant people who aren't descendants from aboriginal tribes wouldn't live here and even if they did people would at least be equal.
Evermore, this absolute land runs red-Because sorry is said without meaning conflict arises in the fight for equality. The British also killed aborigines on a land that was perfect and balanced; unbalancing it and metaphorically staining it red with the blood of its original inhabitants until the balance is restored.
I also posted this to poetry soup so no I did not steal it.
I decided to move it here from poetry soup because of the loss in the recent referendum "The Voice"
Hopefully this is not the end of the fight for equality.
