Bora Ring

An elegy mourning the loss of Indigenous traditions

Step 1: An elegy is a poem that mourns the death or loss of something — a person, culture, or way of life. Step 2: The poem repeatedly uses words like 'gone', 'lost', 'still', 'broken' — all indicating mourning and absence. Step 3: Option A is wrong — an ode is a poem of praise; this poem laments, not celebrates. Option B is wrong — it is not a 14-line sonnet, and nature is used symbolically, not as the main subject. Option D is wrong — a ballad tells a story with regular metre and rhyme; this poem does not narrate a legend. Step 4: The poem's tone is mournful and elegiac throughout. Step 5: T

The Aboriginal people have stopped their wandering way of life because of colonisation

Step 1: 'Nomad' refers to people who move from place to place rather than settling permanently. Step 2: In Aboriginal tradition, people moved across the land following seasons, food sources, and spiritual pathways. Step 3: 'Still' means motionless — their movement has ceased. This is a euphemism suggesting death or displacement. Step 4: Option A implies voluntary settlement, which misses the violent context of colonial dispossession. Option C misreads 'still' as silent rather than motionless. Option D implies rest, which ignores the finality and tragedy in the phrase. Step 5: The correct answe

A European settler or coloniser passing through the land

Step 1: The final stanza shifts tone — it introduces 'the rider', a new figure. Step 2: The poem contrasts the Aboriginal figures (singer, dancer, hunter) who are 'gone' with this rider who is present. Step 3: Riding horses was a European practice in colonial Australia — Aboriginal Australians were traditionally on foot. Step 4: Option A is incorrect because the Aboriginal presence in the poem is described as gone or ghostly. Option C is too autobiographical and not supported by the text. Option D is wrong — the hunter was Aboriginal and is described as 'gone'. Step 5: The correct answer is B

The guilt and moral burden of colonial violence and dispossession

Step 1: The 'ancient curse' is connected to 'the fear as old as Cain' — referring to Cain from the Bible who committed the first murder. Step 2: This allusion suggests that the curse is the guilt carried by anyone who has harmed others — like colonisers who destroyed Aboriginal culture. Step 3: The rider's heart 'halts' at an 'unsaid word' — suggesting an unconscious recognition of wrongdoing. Step 4: Option A is a literal reading that misses the metaphorical register. Option C introduces an element not present in the poem. Option D is too narrowly Biblical — Wright uses the Cain reference to