The Aboriginal Mother
The Aboriginal Mother | |
---|---|
by Eliza Hamilton Dunlop | |
Written | 1838 |
First published in | The Australian |
Country | Australia |
Language | English |
Subject(s) | Myall Creek massacre |
Rhyme scheme | abcb |
Publication date | 13 December 1838 |
Lines | 72 |
"The Aboriginal Mother" is a poem written by
Background and publication
Eliza Hamilton Dunlop moved to New South Wales, Australia in 1838, arriving on 25 February.[2] The Myall Creek Massacre occurred on 10 June 1838, a few months after her arrival. During the incident, at least 28 Aboriginal Australians were murdered by 11 people;[3] several Aboriginal children were decapitated and a three-year-old boy was killed. On 5 December, seven men were found guilty for the crime after a trial; the other four men who were involved with the incident were accused of the massacre but found innocent. On 18 December, the seven men found guilty of the incident were sentenced to death, executed by hanging.[2][4]
Dunlop's poem was first published in The Australian on 13 December 1838, about a week after the seven men were found guilty, but several days before they were hanged.
The poem
"The Aboriginal Mother" was written to express Dunlop's sorrow over the massacre and expresses sympathy for the Aboriginals of Australia. It is written from the view of a mother who managed to survive the massacre, but whose husband and older child were killed in it. Throughout the poem, she expresses her grief over how she was not able to prevent her husband's death and is trying to quiet down her younger child, a baby. Dunlop's poem took an "immediate, visceral, political, and poetic" approach,[4] addressing the problem of Aboriginals suffering. This style was not what other people and newspapers thought of the massacre. A violent passage in the Sydney Herald told people that if Aboriginal Australians, referred to as the "filthy, brutal cannibals of New Holland" and "ferocious savages",[14] attempt to destroy property or kill someone, "do to them as you would do to any white robbers or murderers — SHOOT THEM DEAD".[4][14] A passage in The Sydney Monitor and Commercial Advertiser showed a conversation between a "country gentleman" and a "town gentleman", which took place directly after the hanging of the seven murderers. It ended with the country gentleman saying "we are poisoning the Blacks; which is much safer; and serve them right too!"[15]
Dunlop also had another copy of the poem which she kept to herself. This version is "even more revealing", showing the discovery of the dead bodies of the children killed during the event as well as more details about the trials in court. In addition, it shows how a woman and a baby were able to escape and how two other children tried to escape but failed.[4]
The poem is nine stanzas long, with each stanza having eight lines, making a total of 72 lines. The poem follows an ABCB rhyme scheme throughout. The first stanza is composed of the following:[10]
Oh! hush thee — hush my baby,
I may not tend thee yet.
Our forest home is distant far,
And midnight’s star is set.
Now, hush thee — or the pale-faced men
Will hear thy piercing wail,
And what would then thy mother’s tears
Or feeble strength avail!
Reception
The poem has been recounted by scholars as relating to the poems "Indian Woman's Death Song," written by
After the poem was performed as a song by Rosetta Nathan, it received more press coverage. It was complimented by The Australasian Chronicle, praising the way it was performed.
Elizabeth Webby later described the poem as "a radical treatment of Aboriginal subjectivity", stating that it was written so that readers would react intensely towards the poem after reading it.[4]
Song
"The Aboriginal Mother" was set to music by Isaac Nathan, an English composer. Although Nathan ended up putting a number of lyrics written by Dunlop to music, "The Aboriginal Mother" was the first. The song was first performed publicly by Rosetta Nathan, Isaac's daughter, in October 1841,[20] during a performance titled "Nathan's Grand Concert."[4][19] The music was published in Sydney in 1842.[22] The lyrics in the song are different than the original poem in many ways, particularly in the last stanza.[23]
References
- ^ "Myall Creek massacre". National Museum of Australia.
- ^ ISBN 978-1421423920. Retrieved 22 November 2018.
- ^ "Myall Creek massacre". National Museum of Australia. Retrieved 10 February 2019.
- ^ ISBN 978-1742244198. Retrieved 22 November 2018.
- ^ Dunlop, Eliza Hamilton (13 December 1838). "Original Poetry: The Aboriginal Mother". The Australian. p. 4. Retrieved 5 January 2019 – via National Library of Australia.
- Australasian Chronicle. 16 October 1841. p. 2. Retrieved 5 January 2019 – via National Library of Australia.
- The Sydney Monitor and Commercial Advertiser. 27 October 1841. p. 2. Retrieved 5 January 2019 – via National Library of Australia.
- ^ a b "The Aboriginal Mother by Eliza Hamilton Dunlop". AustLit. Retrieved 22 November 2018.
- ^ Dunlop, Eliza Hamilton. "'The Vase, comprising songs for music and poems by Eliza Hamilton Dunlop' 1814-1866". State Library of New South Wales Catalogue. Retrieved 18 July 2021.
- ^ a b "The Aboriginal Mother [poem by Eliza Hamilton Dunlop, 13 December 1838]". The Institute of Australian Culture. Archived from the original on 20 August 2017. Retrieved 27 November 2018.
- Clarence And Richmond Examiner. p. 2. Retrieved 27 November 2018 – via National Library of Australia.
- ^ "Original Poetry: Songs of an Exile (No 1) The dream". The Australian. 8 November 1838. p. 3. Retrieved 5 January 2019 – via National Library of Australia.
- ^ "Original Poetry: Songs of an Exile Lights of the Past". The Australian. 5 November 1840. p. 4. Retrieved 5 January 2019 – via National Library of Australia.
- ^ The Sydney Herald. 14 November 1838. p. 2. Retrieved 5 January 2019 – via National Library of Australia.
- ^ "Native Blacks. Protectors of the Native Blacks, the late Murder, and Execution of the Culprits". The Sydney Monitor and Commercial Adviser. 24 December 1838. Retrieved 4 February 2019.
- ^ "The Aboriginal Mother". The Sydney Herald. 15 October 1841. p. 2. Retrieved 5 January 2019 – via National Library of Australia.
- ISBN 0863581722. Retrieved 22 November 2018.
- ^ "The Aboriginal Mother". The Sydney Herald. 29 November 1841. p. 2. Retrieved 5 January 2019 – via National Library of Australia.
- ^ a b "Nathan's Grand Concert". Australasian Chronicle. 28 October 1841. p. 2. Retrieved 5 January 2019 – via National Library of Australia.
- ^ a b "Concert". The Australian. 30 October 1841. p. 2. Retrieved 5 January 2019 – via National Library of Australia.
- ^ "Mr. Nathan's Concert". The Sydney Gazette. 30 October 1841. p. 2. Retrieved 5 January 2019 – via National Library of Australia.
- ^ Dunlop, Eliza Hamilton; Nathan, Isaac (1842), The Aboriginal Mother, Sydney, New South Wales, retrieved 24 November 2018
- ^ "The Aboriginal Mother [song by Eliza Hamilton Dunlop, 15 October 1841]". The Institute of Australian Culture. Archived from the original on 3 February 2017. Retrieved 27 November 2018.