We Are Going
They came in to the little town
A semi-naked band subdued and silent
All that remained of their tribe.
They came here to the place of their old bora ground
Where now the many white men hurry about like ants.
Notice of the estate agent reads: ‘Rubbish May Be Tipped Here’.
Now it half covers the traces of the old bora ring.
‘We are as strangers here now, but the white tribe are the strangers.
We belong here, we are of the old ways.
We are the corroboree and the bora ground,We are the old ceremonies, the laws of the elders.
We are the wonder tales of Dream Time, the tribal legends told.
We are the past, the hunts and the laughing games, the wandering camp fires.
We are the lightening bolt over Gaphembah HillQuick and terrible,And the Thunderer after him, that loud fellow.
We are the quiet daybreak paling the dark lagoon.
We are the shadow-ghosts creeping back as the camp fires burn low.
We are nature and the past, all the old ways
Gone now and scattered.The scrubs are gone, the hunting and the laughter.
The eagle is gone, the emu and the kangaroo are gone from this place.
The bora ring is gone.
The corroboree is gone.
And we are going.’
Oodgeroo Noonuccal Appreciating “We are Going” by Oodgerooo NoonuccalRead Oodgeroo’s “We are going” (p. 32) and answer these questions on it:
1. Explain why they are “silent and subdued”.
They are silent and subdued because there was a lot of white men who violated there land. As a result, there is only a little bit of aboriginals left in that tribe.
2. How are white men represented? Why?
They are represtented as ants because they are always running around town.
3. What is a bora ring and explain why it is so central to this poem.
Bora Rings are circles of foot-hardened earth surrounded by raised embankments. This is central to the poem because in the poem, there was rubbish getting on the ring because the estate agent read it out. It covered at least half of the ring.
4. Explain their reaction in line 8.
The reaction is that the aboriginal people called themselves “strangers” because all the white men took their town. The white men are the real strangers.
5. Lines 9-17 begin a ‘litany’. What is the effect produced?
The effect of litany produced is showing the people that white men are taking the aboriginals land. Also, their authority doesn’t effect the white mens power.
6. Comment on the significance of metaphors used in the poem.
The metaphors that are in the peom said all of the things the aboriginal people used to have in the town.
7. Comment on the structure and form of this poem.
At the start of the peom, it says how the white men have taken there town. It then goes onto how it has affected the aboriginal people and how they have to leave the town.
8. Why does Thunder have a capital letter?
Thunder has a capital letter because they are talking about their God.
9. Comment on the mood and atmosphere created here.
Our mood would be angry and annoyed because of what the white people did to the aboriginals. Also, the mood would be sad because when the aboriginal people left their town, they were sad, so we would be sad and/or depressed when we read it.
10. Combine comments on its theme, title and conclusion.
The theme of the peom is dim, dark, and cloudy because it says all of these creepy words and it gives me the impression that the theme is dark and scary. The title is called “We Are Going”. We find out that the poem is called this because at the end of the poem, they find out that everything they had done and everything they had was gone. Also, them themselves were gove too. This is a sad story to read but very interesting.
Analysis
Little Bright Eyes
Her blackest face a picture waiting
A portrait
Of sadness
Her broadest smile a treat
A delight
Her age just a guess
A smaller issue
For her
Her future so unknown
Today
A shameful day
And
Her father is just a memory
Of metal bars
Cold words
And
Her mother so depressed by alcohol and despair
Confirms
She has lost a confidante
A family
And love
A tragedy
But still she smiles
In hope
Of a chance
Her courage so immeasurable
Her heroism beckons
That
Will one day save her people?
Little bright eyes
This poem is about a aboriginal girl who is very sad and she probably doesnt know her real age. She is all alone because her father is behind bars in jail and she has remembered about him and her mother is depressed by acohol. She also doesnt know her future any more. She doesnt know what to do. Her day today is the same as the other days, just stressed and ashamed. She has nothing left in her life. She has lost her family, and her love for her family. Her life goes by without nothing, just a tragedy but yet she is still smiling. She smiles because she is hoping of another chance and that one day she will save her people. This poem is a sad one because an aboriginal girl is all alone and she has no one to support her any more.
