The Last to Leave
By Leon Gellert
Poem
The guns were silent, and the silent hills had bowed their grasses to a gentle breeze I gazed upon the vales and on the rills, And whispered, "What of these?' and "What of these?” These long forgotten dead with sunken graves, Some cross less, with unwritten memories Their only mourners are the moaning waves, Their only minstrels are the singing trees And thus I mused and sorrowed wistfully I watched the place where they had scaled the height, The height whereon they bled so bitterly Throughout each day and through each blistered night I sat there long, and listened - all things listened too I heard the epics of a thousand trees, A thousand waves I heard; and then I knew The waves were very old, the trees were wise: The dead would be remembered evermore- The valiant dead that gazed upon the skies, And slept in great battalions by the shore. |
Analysis
The poem ‘The Last to Leave’ by Leon Gellert is commemorating the ANZAC soldiers who fought and lost their lives fighting in the ANZAC cove landing in Gallipoli, Turkey. In Leon’s writing he mentions how all of the hills, valleys and trenches still seemed to be mourning the unknown soldiers who so tragically lost their lives. He also made a reference to all of the graves marked by crosses and a few with the names of the ever so brave soldiers who lost their lives in that ever so tragic battle. In the second stanza of the poem, Leon Gellert mentions how he watched where the battle would have taken place, the cliff the brave ANZAC’s would have had to brave those intensive freezing nights. Leon also made a mention to the trees and plants rustling, the waves crashing they seemed to be telling him a story. He then made a last respectful reference to the soldiers that died the in battle. |
The Band Played Waltzing Matilda
By Eric Bogle
Poem
Now when I was a young man, I carried me pack, and I lived the free life of a rover From the Murray's green basin to the dusty outback, well, I waltzed my Matilda all over. Then in 1915, my country said son, It's time you stopped rambling, there's work to be done. So they gave me a tin hat, and they gave me a gun, and they marched me away to the war. And the band played Waltzing Matilda, as the ship pulled away from the quay And amidst all the cheers, the flag-waving and tears, we sailed off for Gallipoli And how well I remember that terrible day, how our blood stained the sand and the water And of how in that hell that they called Suvla Bay, we were butchered like lambs at the slaughter. Johnny Turk he was waiting, he'd primed himself well. He shower'd us with bullets, And he rained us with shell. And in five minutes flat, he'd blown us all to hell Nearly blew us right back to Australia. But the band played Waltzing Matilda, when we stopped to bury our slain. We buried ours, and the Turks buried theirs, then we started all over again. And those that were left, well we tried to survive, in that mad world of blood, death and fire And for ten weary weeks, I kept myself alive, though around me the corpses piled higher Then a big Turkish shell knocked me arse over head, and when I woke up in my hospital bed, And saw what it had done, well I wished I was dead. Never knew there was worse things than dyin'. For I'll go no more waltzing Matilda, all around the green bush far and free To hump tent and pegs, a man needs both legs-no more waltzing Matilda for me. So they gathered the crippled, the wounded, the maimed, and they shipped us back home to Australia. The legless, the armless, the blind, the insane, those proud wounded heroes of Suvla And as our ship pulled into Circular Quay, I looked at the place where me legs used to be. And thanked Christ there was nobody waiting for me, to grieve, to mourn, and to pity. But the band played Waltzing Matilda, as they carried us down the gangway. But nobody cheered, they just stood and stared, then they turned all their faces away And so now every April, I sit on me porch, and I watch the parades pass before me. And I see my old comrades, how proudly they march, reviving old dreams of past glories And the old men march slowly, old bones stiff and sore. They're tired old heroes from a forgotten war And the young people ask, what are they marching for? And I ask myself the same question. But the band plays Waltzing Matilda, and the old men still answer the call, But as year follows year, more old men disappear. Someday no one will march there at all. Waltzing Matilda, Waltzing Matilda, who'll come a-waltzing Matilda with me? And their ghosts may be heard as they march by that billabong, who'll come a-waltzing Matilda with me? |
Analysis
The song, The Band Played Waltzing Matilda is about an aimless young Australian soldier, who is Eric Bogle, the author of the song, going off to war and fighting for his country in the First World War. The second stanza is about leaving Australia, the way that they were treated like heroes going off to war. Eric Bogle then recalls the day that the Australian soldiers attacked the shores of Gallipoli, he mentions the terribly bloodshed and the young lives so tragically lost in battle. Bogle then recalls the battle of Suvla Bay, where the Turks (Johnny Turk) who were very prepared, made the bay hell for the Australian and New Zealand soldiers, and within what seemed like five minute, they were shelled, bombed and shot to pieces. The third stanza is about getting over the dead bodies and blood everywhere to fight for their country once again. Eric Bogle then recalled when he was hit by a Turkish shell and the next thing he knew he woke up in a hospital bed in a whole new world of pain where Bogle wished he was dead. In the fourth stanza Eric Bogle recalled what happened after his legs were blown off by the Turkish shell. In the last stanza Eric Boogle talks about the old and dead marching past him for ANZAC day and how they eventually will be forgotten. |