Colour by Dorothea Mackellar- Poetry Analysis

The poem Colour by Dorethea Mackellar, is about the persona talking in relation to the landscape of Australia with the “long smooth beaches” and the “larkspur mountains”. The poem talks about mainly of the beautiful colours of the landscape such as “azure-stained” when discussing the moonstones and the “saffron sunset” when talking about the clouds at dusk.

The theme in this poem is the persona reminiscing about all of the colours and landscapes that she can picture fresh in her mind, even though she became blind. The theme is shown in these quotes, “O Colour of the World, but I can find you… though I were stricken blind.” These quotes are saying that she will fight to find the colours even though she is blind.

The emotions felt in this poem are joy and wonder as the reader wonders about the “sunset-hearted opals” and the “larkspur mountains”. However, these emotions are only felt between stanza 2-6, as when the reader interprets the first, seventh and eighth stanzas, emotions of pity and sorrow are felt. The reader may feel these emotions when reading the lines, “though I were stricken blind” and “lovely things…watched unthinking, unknowing day by day…steeped my soul in colour, that will not pass away”. These lines are explaining that she still remembers all of the things that she has seen and then when she became blind, she realised that she could still remember all the colours. She appreciates this and knows that she will forever remember these colours as they are theoretically “buried” in her soul.

The poem Colour uses descriptive language throughout the whole poem. Some descriptive words that may stand out to the audience include:

Steeped: When reading this, the reader receives the impression that the persona is “saturated” in colour. In this context, the word “steeped” is a hyperbole.
Veined: When reading this, the reader can imagine and picture the scarlet veins threading their way through the marble.

Both of these words give the reader vivid images which helps create the theme reminiscence of colour and landscapes, of the poem and also the way that the poem is interpreted.

Rhyme affects this poem with it rhyming in the sequence a, b, a, b…c, d, c, d, etc. It does affect the way the reader interprets the poem as the reader can develop a rhythm and would often find it easier to read. If it did not rhyme, the theme of the poem would not be as clear to the reader; therefore, they may not enjoy the poem as much or interpret the poem as successfully as they should.

In conclusion, the poet has definitely and successfully conveyed the meaning of the poem through the use of mainly descriptive language using phrases such as “azure-stained” and “saffron sunset” to describe the magnificent colours that nature can produce. The descriptive language often provides the reader with vivid “mind images” which helps the reader effectively interpret the meaning of the poem with ease.