Dobson, Rosemary

Australia, (1920-2012)

The “Aunts”

  1. “Aunts” Nell and Bess, friends of the family,
  2. Legendary peoplers of the north-west plains,
  3. Kept the vast holding that came down to them
  4. With four wild station-hands to fence and shear
  5. And drench and round up, and truck into town.
  6. A timber homestead by a spreading lake
  7. With water-birds and willows, and two large
  8. And laden orange-trees. Such oranges!
  9. My cousin and I went there to stay–but when?
  10. Bess cooked and cleaned and separated milk,
  11. Minded the animals and garden-plots.
  12. And Nell–she drove the hands; and drove the trucks
  13. And drove the Land-Rover, and soldered parts
  14. And scrubbed the weather-board veranda floors.
  15. She took us jolting off to hunt wild pig,
  16. Great feral animals, enormous beasts
  17. That thundered at the truck. Nell stopped
  18. Took out her rifle, aimed, and shot one dead.
  19. It twitched and kicked. I saw its small red eyes,
  20. The coarse sharp bristles down its swollen side.
  21. With Bert and Hec Nell tied the carcass up
  22. And dragged and loaded it, blood on her hands.
  23. “Don’t look,” my cousin said. We all drove home.
  24. Bess spread the tea under the willow’s shade
  25. On grass beside the lake. The oranges
  26. Hung in the sky. And Nell appeared
  27. Along the front veranda, pail in hand.
  28. “Nell, here’s your tea.” Her sister shook her head
  29. And knelt to scrub those front veranda boards.
  30. We watched her wring her cloth. And painfully
  31. With roughened hands and brush she scrubbed and scrubbed
  32. Again the well-scoured boards of yesterday.
  33. What was this painful expiation for?
  34. This willful self-subduing on her knees?
  35. The image still disturbs my memory
  36. Of lake and water-birds and orange-trees.

 Rosemary Dobson. Untold Lives & Later Poems. Rose Bay, NSW: Brandl & Schlesinger, (2000).

About the Poet:

Rosemary de Brissac Dobson, Australia, (1920-2012) was a poet, and also an illustrator, editor and anthologist. Dobson published fourteen volumes of poetry and was published in almost every annual volume of Australian Poetry.

The Judges of the New South Wales Premier’s Literary Awards in 1996 described her significance as follows: “The level of originality and strength of Rosemary’s poetry cannot be underestimated, nor can the contribution she has made to Australian literature. Her literary achievements, especially her poetry, are a testament to her talent and dedication to her art.” [DES-11/17]