Comparison of the Poems Drifters and Shooti

“Drifters”
“Shooting the dogs”
Comparison analytical expository poetry study

Australians are a very mobile group of people. Throughout Australian history Australians have had to move due to drought and other perilous conditions. Today Australians have not relinquished this trait.
The two poems that are being compared are ‘Drifters’ written by Bruce Dawe (1930-) and ‘Shooting the dogs’ written by Philip Hodgins (1959-1995).
Drifters is a poem describing a family who has a habit of moving a great deal. The poem describes there latest move away from their property. The reason for their sudden departure seems to be partly because of a drought or hot summer and the husbands orders.
Shooting the dogs is a poem describing the departure of some farm people into town. Due to their cng ths of the two poems are very alike they both describe the pains of change. In each poem the speaker must let go that what is dear to him or her. Both speakers seem to acknowledge the fact that the departure is inevitable and go about their last jobs with a sense acceptance.
She won’t even ask why they’re leaving this time, or where they’re heading for
-she’ll only remember how, when they came here,
she held out her hands bright with beeries,
the first of the season, and said:
“Make a wish, Tom, make a wish”
Bruce Dawe ‘Drifters’

I buried them behind the tool shed.
It was one of the last things I did before
we left.
Each time the gravel slid off the shovel
it sounded like something
trying to hang on by its nails.
Philip Hodgins ‘Shooting the Dogs’

The speaker’s beliefs and values in each of the poems are hinted or directly said.
In the poem Drifters the speaker’s beliefs are not openly portrayed. Her beliefs and values seem to have been suppressed by her husband for she does not question his motives and seems to be quite detached from him as if they have had disagreements.
Her humble acceptance reveals that she still believes in the family being together,...