Off the Map- David Malouf

“I knew that the world around you is only uninteresting if you can't see what is really going on. The place you come from is always the most exotic place you'll ever encounter because it is the only place where you recognise how many secrets and mysteries there are in people's lives” – David Malouf

Born in 1934, David Malouf is an acclaimed Australian writer, who has been awarded a number of prestigious awards including the Neustadt International Prize for Literature and the Australia-Asia Literacy Award. Brought up in Brisbane, Malouf developed a love of reading from a young age and often found that books were able to teach him many of life’s lessons. Malouf has lectured at a numerous universities and for the past three decades he has been spending most of time in Sydney, however he enjoyed living in Tuscany “where he could think and write in anonymity”. Characterised by his interest in physical environments and how they transform the responder, Malouf likens his success to the discovery and exploration of a new area or landscape.

The dynamics between the physical and inner landscape are incredibly significant in that the impact of literal landscapes can shape one’s personal outlook. The tension and contrast between the city and civilisation reflects change and how inhabitants have had to alter and manipulate the land in order to suit the ever evolving needs of a society. Malouf’s poem ‘Off the Map’ explores this idea through the journey of the inhabitants in this case the truck drivers. The bleak and uninspiring physical landscape which is faced daily on the route of a truck driver often finds the individual removing themselves by exploring their own inner and imaginative landscape in an attempt to escape this harsh and undesirable environment.

Resilience is imperative if one is to survive within an unforgiving environment where individuals are forced to cope with an unrelentingly monotonous and isolated setting. The visual imagery of a harsh physical terrain does however become relevant when dealing with the protagonists want to find a connection with their landscape. A coping mechanism to deal with loss of connection can be understood by the personas use of pills to correct sleep deprivation caused by the long working hours of this journey, or more metaphorically the lifeless landscape which bores the persona.  

The title ‘Off the Map’ refers to an unknown destination where the distance to be travelled is unclear. However this title explores a want and desire to see what is beyond the boundaries in exploring other landscapes.  The title can also mirror an individual’s imaginative landscape as they ponder what is beyond reality.

The harshness and heaviness of the physical terrain and the truck highlights the struggle between the physical appearance of a landscape and how this physical landscape can impact on ones inner landscape to then have the ability to alter or form a part of their imaginative landscape. Throughout the poem there is a strong connection and reference to wartime, whereby imagery as been used to reflect the juxtaposition between the country landscape and that of the developed city. The use of enjambment in the second stanza continues this idea through ‘at ease between wars,’ which can reflect pass wartime experiences as well as stating the struggle which one faces within this terrain.

Although destruction of a landscape will have detrimental effects on an environment, hope for the future will always be prevalent. The final line ‘they climb towards dawn’ in stanza 8, reflects how through he imaginative landscape there is hope as one confides with the positive energy of the light. This symbolism of the light not only reflects the hope, however represents the journey which was undertaken to get to this stage.

Human endeavour is recognised as not safeguard against failure; however with the assistance of other inhabitants the issue can be alleviated. The last stanza represents the end of the day and the atmosphere created when all inhabitants come together. The last two lines ‘Nameless, not to be found by day on any map’ can be understood as a loss in close connection which had been formed with the environment in the previous stanza. This line also represents how the landscape which they dream of his a figure of their imagination and only understood by the individual holding the thoughts.

Malouf’s poem ‘Off the Map’ can be related to Robert Gray’s poem ‘Late Ferry’ in that both poems express the innate desire of the persona to escape the environment and venture into their own imaginative state of mind.  The juxtaposition of the materialistic city is made in both poems, hence making a clear relation. The want to venture into the bright lights in ‘Late Ferry’ is similar to desire of the inhabitants of ‘Off the Map’ , to explore other areas and become apart of the city environment.

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Holy Thursday - William Blake

William Blake is an English poet born in 1827, who went unrecognised during most of his lifetime. Blake was educated at home chiefly by his mother and her first husband.  However, now Blake is considered a seminal figure in the history surrounding the Romantic Age. Blake is now held in the highest regard by later critics due to his expressiveness and creativity. Even though he spent most of his life living in London he was still able to create a diverse and symbolically rich poetry which possess strong religious themes as well expressing human existence. It is also noted that from early years Blake had experienced visions of ghostly monks and angels, whereby he saw the Virgin Mary and various other historical figures.

Landscapes can come in many forms. They refer to rather literal interpretation, a physical landscape or somewhere far way or close to home. However they can also represent the inner and more personal landscape of ones mind. A person’s inner landscape therefore has the ability to encompasses their perspective and effect how the literal landscape impacts one live. All landscapes are interrelated and once can positively or negatively affect the other.

The connection that an inhabitant makes with their physical landscape will characterise them as individuals. Everyone yearns for a place where they belong, a place which they can call home. However this reality is not always reciprocated through all of society, rather this message will never be mirrored through all of society. Blake’s poem ‘Holy Thursday’ makes specific reference to this them of not fitting in with society and never truly belonging. Through an array of language forms and features Blake discusses the neglect which the homeless youth feel when confronted with the materialistic and conformed society which passes them.

Society’s obsession with materialistic items allows them to be overwhelmed by the many temptations which they are offered. Through ‘Holy Thursday’ Blake expresses negatively how society is rejecting the social issues which are prevalent through much of their own individual landscape, and specifics the lack of consideration. This neglection is evident in the line ‘Is this a holy thing to see’ which implies how the inhabitants are sacrilegious and are therefore wasteful. The main idea however which is being portrayed to the reader through numerous rhetorical questions to make the responder consider the struggles of the inhabitants who wake to a time where it is always dark, always winter, a place for loss of hope. Metaphorically the sun does not shine in this gloomily place. This powerful message requires the reader to consider the consequences that these inhabitants face and therefore understand how their inner landscape would be affected. The use of the word ‘hand’ in the last line represents figurative the city of London whereby those who live in the city needs to and should take some blame for these helpless members of their society, especially considering that they are children.  The second stanza further explores the neglection by society, in particular the line ‘Is that trembling cry a song?’, expresses the cruelty and injustice that the youth on the streets face and no matter how prosperous the city is around them they will never feel a connection or belong within the man-made environment, manipulated to suit the materialistic society which we live in today.

Landscapes impact ones inner landscape, the inhabitants of the environment will always be connected their own literal landscape which will dictate how they live their live. ‘Holy Thursday’ conveys this message though the third stanza where anaphora has been employed through the repetition of ‘and’ to reflect the many lost opportunities which these children have to face everyday. Their future is bleak with no hope in site. The line ‘And their ways are filled with thorns’ uses religious symbolism to represent the suffering which Jesus faced and compares it to the daily struggle of the children. The injustices of society are mirrored through this poem and this idea of appearance vs. reality becomes clearly evident. Although it can be noted that the children are clearly unhappy and miserable with their surrounds they are expected to put on a brave face and sing songs of happiness. The manipulation of the children by the church can be compared to the manipulation of the environment by society as a whole. The church in particular is using these children to suit their own needs and benefits.

In setting the final tone of the poem, Blake utilises the last stanza in order to contrast, thus juxtapose the other stanzas in underlining the endless possibilities and hope which the physical landscape can provide to its inhabitants. This idea of hope is considered in the last stanza where it is made known that there is still a chance for these inhabitants to break away from troubled and vicious cycle associated.

Blake’s poem is relatable to numerous other poems; however there is one poem which has numerous connections and explores similar themes. Robert Gray’s poem ‘Flames and Dangling Wire’ highlights the manipulation of landscape to suit the needs of society. Thus, these poems personify how society’s resources have been neglected and therefore wasted. Both these poems explore this imagery and refer to the aggression and hunger for possession by society in general while making an attempt to understand how this lack of human interaction is destroying the inhabitants who require the most attention and their environment.

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Sydney and the Bush - Les A. Murray

Leslie Allan Murray was born in 1938 to become one of the most exceptional poets of his generation. Brought up around his father’s dairy farm Murray valued the sparsely populated and saw the beauty in the hilly and forested beauty within this rural landscape. As a nationalist and republican, he believes that his writing is defining what it means to be Australian making reference to the cultural and spiritual landscapes of an individual.

Those who find a connection with the land are able to feel enchantment and a sense of belonging when around their landscape. The human interaction and relationship with their surroundings is shaped by ones own personal connection they make between themselves and their environment. However not in all circumstances is this innate relationship to the land reciprocated.  The result of human activity and development can however be detrimental to the environment. 

Murray’s poem ‘Sydney and the Bush’ (1977) conveys this idea of how a loss in connection with a landscape can have a negative impact on those who cherish it, and in some instances affect their inner landscape. Sydney and the Bush is a historical poem in that it reflects differing relationship that Aboriginal Australians and European settlers have had with the land in which they inhabitant. 

‘Sydney and the Bush’ represents how over time humans have manipulated the land to suit their own benefits and needs, consequently pushing back the bush. Not only does Murray explore this theme of a constantly changing landscape but makes reference to the original owners of this land who were disposed of their land in order to make way for white Europeans. Both these themes however can be related through the extended metaphor of the loss of land whereby the bush in each stanza is being pushed back and back, over time. Thus the Aboriginal Australia was forced to follow the path of the bush and retreat back with the bush. 
 

Landscapes are symbolic and figurative which can change ones emotional and physical state of mind, whereby this environment shapes their individuality. However unlike the Aboriginals of Australia, the Europeans who invaded this land failed to understand this concept and the value of the landscape to the inhabitants who were already there. A way in which to underline this idea and show the clear differences between the Aboriginals and Europeans is in the line “the men of Fire and of Earth became White men and Black”. Colour symbolism has been used to represent and show the difference between the inhabitants of the land, whereby the whites perceived themselves as pure and superior to that of the black, whereby the word black has many negative connotations associated.

Inhabitants have ultimate power over the landscape and their influences affect this ever-changing environment. The constant change of an environment is due to the negative impacts which humans pose on a landscape. The repetition of the phrase ‘When Sydney and the Bush first met’ has been utilised in many stanzas, slightly transformed to juxtapose the natural bush with the unnatural and urbanised city centre. The slight change in each version of the line represents the changing view of society as well as the progression of city and the relationship individuals make with their own landscape. The natural bush can therefore be represented as a prisoner in its own environment. The effects of colonisation are apparent from the loss of land, urbanisation and the so called ‘civilisation’.  The fourth stanza clearly highlights how urbanisation had taken over the environment through the line ‘The bushmen sank and the factories rose’ as bushman were forced to retrieve back with the bush as the factories grew. The line explores how industrialisation has altered the city landscape and now overpowering the bush lifestyle. A reference to the great Australian dream of owning a quarter-acre block as been used in the fourth stanza. Juxtaposition has been employed to separate this idea from the previous stanzas in portraying how humans how want to live with the bush and build their homes incorporating parts of the environment. The last two lines ‘When Sydney and the Bush meet now there is no common ground’ is particularly powerful in highlighting how the two are not easily comparable to each other as they both possess different qualities and how the inhabitants have placed a clear subconscious divider between them.

A.D Hope poem ‘Australia’ explores the similar theme of a loss of land and the connection associated with it. Hopes poem explores this idea of how the country has become worn out which can be relatable to Murray’s poem which represents how the bush landscape has become worn out and no longer favourable. The dispossession of land experienced by Aboriginals is also mirrored in both poems. Both poets feel strongly about these issues, thus relating their poems would highlight this similar message. 

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In the Forest - Thomas Shapcott

Thomas Shapcott is an Australian born poet who left school at fifteen in order to work alongside his father in his accountancy firm; however Shapcott had always had an interest in the literary art which saw his first creative impulse to become a composer. Shapcott has since published fifteen collections of poems as wells as many novels, drams, reviews and short stories. The Order of Australia award was received by Shapcott in 1989 for services to literature and arts administration. Between 1997-2005, Shapcott was the inaugural Professor of Creative Writing at the University of Adelaide. Thomas Shapcotts poem ‘In the Forest’ has a particularly powerful message in highlighting how the inhabitants of the world manipulate their landscape for their own benefits. 

Texts have long explored the interaction between individuals and their environment. Thomas Shapcott’s poem ‘In the Forest’ is no exception. Humanity is constantly trying to change, and alter the environment to suit their needs whereby individuals within an environment manipulate their own personal and physical landscape. The more literal landscape then has the ability to shape a more powerful figurative landscape. 

‘In the Forest’ illustrates this negative and destructive impact of humanity on their own personal landscape. The overall message of this poem can be interpreted in many lights, however the main focus is placed on the destruction caused by man, and the constant want for possessions by society who value purely materialistic items. The relationship between humanity and their landscape no longer is one of ‘give and take’, rather one where only benefits are to the inhabitants.  

A vast array of language forms and features have been utilized in order to clearly present the composers message to the responders of this poem. Throughout the poem there is an extended metaphor to represent human intervention against the land. The use of the word ‘axe’ has negative and violent connotations of destruction and has been used to represent this devastation. Sensory and visual imagery have been used cohesively in the first stanza to paint a landscape at a pause in time, whereby the harsh sound of the axe is soon anticipated. Suspense has been built through the simple short sentences making the reader question and considers the true consequences of their actions. 

The human interaction and relationship with landscapes are primed and archetypal to express how humanity has always connected and relied on literal landscapes, but this relationship may not always be reciprocated.  The forth stanza conveys how humans cause destruction to land, where they use and abuse the landscape for their own personal gains. The line ‘The tree is tensed’ uses personification to express how the natural environment has to come to a stop still and obey the needs of humanity. The inhabitants of this natural landscape are forced to quickly move if they wish to escape, however the tree cannot move and will suffer as a result to the merciless actions of humans and deforestation.  The line ‘Crack again crack of slow man’s weapon’ make use of  alliteration and repetition of the harsh ‘c’ sound in order to scare and cause a reaction from the responder. 

A number of rhetorical questions have been employed to make the responder question the actions of humans like themselves where they understand the need to protect this environment due to its fragility.The last sentence of the poem ‘They settle for sleep’ is particularly powerful in stressing the vulnerability life and how actions of the past cannot be erased and will permanently mark the surface of the landscape. The last stanza makes references to death, especially through the negative connotations of ‘the skull’, however I believe the last sentence furthers this idea in representing in a more peaceful way how the life of the natural inhabitants is now over and how the word ‘sleep’ refers to death. Through alliteration a peaceful and somber tone juxtapose the previous harsh tone. 

There are a number of poems which make connections to the themes of this poem including; Late Ferry – Robert Gray and Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening – Robert Frost. Both these poems relate in they explore the power an inhabitant has on a landscape.

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