LIFE CYCLE

Bruce Dawe

CONTEXT AUSTRALIAN RULES

FOOTBALL
O riginate d in M elbourne in 18 58 .
Has b ee n played in Au str alia sin ce
1 91 5.
Australia is curre n tly the only
n ation in the wor ld wh e re
Australian rule s football is playe d
profes sionally.
In s ome re gions, it is marke ted as
AFL (Australian Football League ).
It is als o the most popular sp or ting
league in Au str alia, ave raging ove r
3 0,00 0 pe ople pe r game .

BIG JIM PHELAN

FOR WHOM THE POEM IS
DEDICATED
Big Jim Phe lan was a fl amboyan t, 1 14 kg
ru ck playe r for the South M elbourne
Australian Rule s Football Clu b (now
Sydne y S wans).
In 1 902 , Big Jim Ph elan re vitalise d Au ssie
Rule s, wh ich had be e n larg ely dis place d
by Rugb y U nion, in Ne w South Wales .
H e was a gre at en th usiast for th e game ,
and has be e n calle d a football e vange lis t
(a pre ac her wh o trie s to conve rt oth er s to
a s e t of be lie fs ).
Why do you thin k Bruce D awe has
de d icate d this p oe m to Jim Phe lan ?

RICHMOND FOOTBALL CLUB

R ic hmond Football Club is an
Australian rule s footb all club
which compe te s in th e
Australian Footb all Le ag ue
(AFL).
Gracing the ir c re st is a Tig e r.
Th eir home fi eld is the
Me lbou rn e Cricke t Groun d.
R ic hmond we re fi rst
e stablishe d in 18 85 .
Th ey have w on te n
premiers hips.

GENERAL TERMINOLOGY
Carn the equivalent of saying come on in a
thick Australian accent.
Beribboned decorated with ribbons.
Barracking supporting.
Rusk a dry biscuit (baby food).
Empyrean referring to the sky, or heaven.
Bludger colloquial expression for someone who
evades responsibility.
Covenant a pact or agreement.
Race-memory a memory shared by a whole race,
shared subconsciously.

KEY IDEAS
Footb a ll is a relig ion. I t
Follow s s imilar rites of
p as sa g e.
Inv olv es ceremonial
b ap tis ms.
Is a life-long act of
wor ship .
Is communal.
Does not leave us after
d ea th.
Id entify as many word s
in the poem you c an that
ha v e Religious
connotations.

KEY IDEAS
Football follows the pattern of the eternal life cycle.
Birth Life Death Rebirth.
Go through the poem and try to identify the four
stages of the life cycle in Dawes poem.
What are some key words or phrases that are linked
to these stages?

KEY IDEAS
Human needs will never
change.
Humans will always
possess the need for
something or someone
that will make their lives
meaningful, bring their
lives to fruition, and save
them.
In Victoria, Dawe
insinuates that this need
is fulfi lled by Australian
Rules Football.

STANZA 1
When children are born in Victoria
they are wrapped in the club-colours, laid in
beribboned cots,
having already begun a lifetimes barracking

Imagery Born into football. Supporters from birth.

Alliteration of club-colours consistent, unchanging.

STANZA 2
Carn, they cry, Carn feebly at fi rst
w hile parents playfu lly tussle with them
for p ossession of a rusk: Ah, hes a little Tiger! (And they are)

Alliteration Carn, they cry, Carn / parents playfully

Colloqu ialism of Carn barrackin g, voice of fans, Australian
slang.
Metap hor little Tiger , a proud embodimen t of th e clu bs
mascot. Also su ggesting that they are poten tially futu re
players.
Allusion Tiger, mascot of Richmon d team.
Ellips is (And they are), suggestin g that th ey are
developin g tiger-like qualities.

STANZA 3
H oisted sh oulder-high at th eir fi rst League game
th ey are like innocent monsters who have been years sw immin g
toward s the daylights roaring empyrean
Simile like innocent monsters who hav e been years
sw immin g, unbeknownst, strange and un natu ral, b eneath th e
oceans surface, un exposed to the wonders of the g ame.
Imagery juxtaposition of the innocent monsters s wimming
in the d arkness of th e ocean, with the daylights roaring
empyrean.
Sensory imagery the silence of the cot, an d th e muffl ed
sounds ben eath th e water, con trasted with the roarin g fan s of
a packed stadium.
Relig ious allusion empyrean, symbolism of the water,
baptis m in to football.

STANZA 4
Until, now, hearts shrapnelled with rapture,
they break surface and are forever lost,
their minds rippling out like streamers
Imagery hearts shrapnelled
Extended metaphor break the surface (of the
water). Reaching the empyrean.
Religious allusion rapture, moment of
enlightenment, transporting from earth to heaven.
Simile minds rippling out like streamers, opening
up to the world, learning. Celebratory connotations.

STANZA 5
In the pure fl ood of sound, they are scarfed with light, a voice
like the voice of God booms from the stands
Ooohh you bludger and the covenant is sealed.
Imagery impact of fl ood, overwhelming. scarfed with
light, lights of the stadium now a source of comfort, initiated.
Language is rather reminiscent of religious texts, referring to
the ceremonial wrapping of light around the newly initiated.
the voice of God (simile/allusion), the thousands of fans
barracking in unison.
Covenant is sealed, child is swept up in the euphoria of the
crowd, and thus, they are committed.
Biblical allusion Gods covenant with man. Formalising an
agreement.

STANZA 6
Hot pies and potato -crisps they will eat,
they will forswear the Demons, cling to the Saints
and behold their team going up the ladder into Heaven,
Irony of colloquial references to hot pies and potato crisps
in biblical language. Satirising football fans (making them
appear ridiculous, or over the top).
Religious motif playing on the nicknames of other AFL
clubs (Saints / St Kilda, and Demons / Melbourne).
Forswear: swear not to support.
A play on biblical teachings to reject evil and practise good.
Allusion If supported correctly, they will witness their team
climb the ladder to heaven (win the premiership). Reference
to the story of Jacobs ladder, reaching into the skies.

STANZA 7
And the tides of life will be the tides of the home-teams
fortunes
- the reckless proposal after the one-point win,
the wedding and honeymoon after the grand-fi nal
What parallel is Bruce Dawe suggesting in this stanza?
How are football and the tides of life linked?
The repetition of the word, after
What does the ellipsis at the end of the stanza imply?

STANZA 8
They will not grow old as those from more northern States
grow old,
for them it will always be three-quarter-time
with the scores level and the wind advantage in the fi nal
term,
The fi rst line is a parody of a verse recited every ANZAC
day in every RSL They shall not grow old as we that are
left grow old what does this suggest?
Dawe, however, appropriates the words, having a dig at
the northern States (New South Wales). What does this
comparison propose with regard to the respective
supporters?

STANZA 9
That passion persisting, like a race-memory, through the welter of
seasons, enabling old-timers by the boundary-fences to dream of
resurgent lions
and centaur-fi gures from the past to replenish continually the present.
Alliteration passion persisting, passing on the enthusiasm
C onnotations of race-memory babies are ingrained with this
knowledge so early that they believe they are born with it.
Imagery welter of seasons, passing time.
What do the terms, resurgent and replenish suggest with respect
to the lifecycle?
Metaphor of lions, centaur-fi gures, describing past players with an
element of mystique. Based on this description, what characteristics
do the past players represent? Why are they important to the oldtimers?

STANZA 10
So that mythology may be perpetually renewed
and Chicken Smallhorn return like the maize-god
in a thousand shapes, the dancers changing.
Chicken Smallhorn was once the
star of the Fitzroy team, good
enough to have won the
Brownlow Medal.
Simile.
Metaphor
(Linking to previous stanza)
Repetition
Quick research activity: who is the
ancient maize-god? Why is this
allusion relevant?

STANZA 11
But the dance forever the same the elderly still
loyally crying Carn Carn (if feebly) unto the very end,
having seen in the six-foot recruit from Eaglehawk their hope of
salvation.

What is the signifi cance of repeating Carn Carn and the

parenthetical (if feebly) at the end of the poem? Refer to the life
cycle.
Who is the six-foot recruit from Eaglehawk?
What are the connotations of the term salvation? How is the
word used in this context? What is Dawe referring to?

CREATIVE ACTIVITY
Create a three stanza poem (3/4 lines each)
explaining an obsession of your own.
What gives you purpose in life? It might be a thing, a
sport, a person, a job
How do you feel about it? Make a list of terms that
encapsulate your feelings towards it.
How does it impact on your life? Does it infl uence the
decisions you make? Give you comfort?
Use poetic devices to illustrate what your obsession
means to you.