Write a short tribute to Dame Mary Gilmore drawing on any one of her poems (in the Pen Anthology 256-259) to show how important her ideas are to Australians.

Dame Mary Gilmore had an eloquent way with words. She was able to convey extremely important societal issues of her time in an alluring, concise way and to me this is one of the most impressive aspects of Dame Mary Gilmore’s writing that laments her importance to Australians. This is highlighted throughout her poem ‘Eves Song’ as she was able to resonate ideologies of the poor treatment of women during the 19^th century in Australia through her own whimsical way of writing, allowing the poem to still retain meaning to women of today’s society. Dame Mary Gilmore particularly places focus upon the way in which women during this time were subservient to their male-counterpart and were bound to societal expectations of marriage. This can be identified through the repetitive phrase in the poem “I span and eve span”; a biblical allusion which I have interpreted as alluding to the idea that Eve was made purely for Adam’s benefit. Therefore it is necessary and societally expected for women to tend to man. As powerful as the meaning is behind this wonderfully worded statement, it is the way in which Gilmore continues to utilise it throughout her poem in which resonates with me most. The repetition almost reinforces the idea that women always find their way back to this restrictive way of thinking that they are bound to man. It is as if you can see Gilmore’s persistent nature through this very quote; she is passionate and she wants to make it clear to women that they are independent and “that more than man was love and prize”, exemplifying her importance to Australians as this message is still one in which is acknowledged today.

Although we are to commend Dame Mary Gilmore on her writing abilities, her sheer bravery cannot go unsaid. The time in which she wrote did not give women the liberty and free-will to speak their mind, however, Dame Mary Gilmore did exactly that. She is to be acknowledged for this and the message that she so beautifully and strongly articulated through her poem in which is still be appreciated by Australian women today; cementing the importance of Dame Mary Gilmore’s ideologies to Australians.

Feature image: Dame Mary Gilmore taken from google images https://www.google.com/search?biw=1050&bih=585&tbm=isch&sxsrf=ACYBGNTUOLZaKN4MJ2cBuF_Bb4ZoNv_zYw%3A1571201539498&sa=1&ei=A6KmXYKLHsn7rQHKxJzAAg&q=dame+mary+gilmore+&oq=dame+mary+gilmore+&gs_l=img.3..0l3j0i30l2j0i24l5.275203.278391..278639…1.0..0.238.3172.0j14j4……0….1..gws-wiz-img…..8..35i362i39j0i67j0i131j0i8i30.DryM-Yo54Vo&ved=0ahUKEwjCmIft_Z_lAhXJfSsKHUoiBygQ4dUDCAc&uact=5#imgrc=XWPFxz1QsiIW1M: