Gifts (poem)

"Gifts"
by Oodgeroo Noonuccal
Written	1966
First published in	The Dawn is at Hand by Kath Walker
Country	Australia
Language	English
Lines	15

"Gifts" (1966) is a poem by Australian poet Oodgeroo Noonuccal. ^[1]

It was originally published in the author's collection The Dawn is at Hand in 1966, ^[2] under the name of "Kath Walker", and was subsequently reprinted in the author's single-author collections and a number of Australian poetry anthologies. ^[1]

Synopsis

The poem depicts the story of a tribal courtship in three parts. The first has a young man offering the girl jewellery, which she rejects. In the second he promises her a child, and a life with him as "headman, great rain-maker". Again she is "not impressed". Lastly he offers her poetry, that he will "steal for you the singing of all the birds". But she wants something more substantial and immediate.

Critical reception

In his commentary on the poem in 60 Classic Australian Poems Geoff Page noted that "Like a European folk tale, the poem has an archetypal narrative structure...It's easy enough to imagine a story like this told in another culture, but to hear it narrated so convincingly within Aboriginal culture ensures mainstream Australiam readers are more inclined to transcend the condescending prejudices they might previously have harboured." ^[3]

Publication history

After the poem's initial publication in The Dawn is at Hand in 1966 ^[2] it was reprinted as follows:

• My People : A Kath Walker Collection by Kath Walker, Jacaranda Press, 1970 ^[4]
• The Penguin Book of Australian Women Poets edited by Susan Hampton and Kate Llewellyn, Penguin, 1986 ^[5]
• Contemporary Australian Poetry: An Anthology edited by John Leonard, Houghton Mifflin, 1990 ^[6]
• The Macmillan Anthology of Australian Literature edited by Ken L. Goodwin and Alan Lawson, Macmillan, 1990 ^[7]
• The Language of Love: An Anthology of Australian Love Letters, Poetry and Prose edited by Pamela Allardice, Angus and Robertson, 1991 ^[8]
• The Oxford Book of Australian Love Poems edited by Jennifer Strauss, Oxford University Press, 1993 ^[9]
• The Oxford Book of Australian Women's Verse edited by Susan Lever, 1995 ^[10]
• Australian Verse : An Oxford Anthology edited by John Leonard, Oxford University Press, 1998 ^[11]
• 60 Classic Australian Poems edited by Geoff Page, University of NSW Press, 2009 ^[12]
• The Puncher & Wattmann Anthology of Australian Poetry edited by John Leonard, Puncher & Wattmann, 2009 ^[13]
• Australian Poetry Since 1788 edited by Geoffrey Lehmann and Robert Gray, University of NSW Press, 2011 ^[14]
• Love is Strong as Death edited by Paul Kelly, Hamish Hamilton, 2019 ^[15]

Note

• You can read the full text of the poem in Tharunka, the magazine of the Student's Union of the University of New South Wales ^[16]

See also

• 1966 in Australian literature
• 1966 in poetry

References

1. "Austlit — "Gifts" by Kath Walker". Austlit. Retrieved 30 December 2025.
2. "The Dawn is at Hand by Kath Walker". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 30 December 2025.
3. 60 Classic Australian Poems edited by Geoff Page, University of NSW Press, 2009, pp.123-126
4. "My People : A Kath Walker Collection by Kath Walker". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 30 December 2025.
5. "The Penguin Book of Australian Women Poets edited by Susan Hampton and Kate Llewellyn". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 30 December 2025.
6. "Contemporary Australian Poetry: An Anthology edited by John Leonard". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 30 December 2025.
7. "The Macmillan Anthology of Australian Literature edited by Ken L. Goodwin and Alan Lawson". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 30 December 2025.
8. "The Language of Love: An Anthology of Australian Love Letters, Poetry and Prose by". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 30 December 2025.
9. "The Oxford Book of Australian Love Poems edited by Jennifer Strauss (OUP)". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 30 December 2025.
10. "The Oxford Book of Australian Women's Verse edited by Susan Lever". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 30 December 2025.
11. "Australian Verse : An Oxford Anthology edited by John Leonard". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 30 December 2025.
12. "60 Classic Australian Poems edited by Geoff Page". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 30 December 2025.
13. "The Puncher & Wattmann Anthology of Australian Poetry edited by John Leonard". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 30 December 2025.
14. "Australian Poetry Since 1788 edited by Geoffrey Lehmann and Robert Gray". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 30 December 2025.
15. "Love is Strong as Death edited by Paul Kelly". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 30 December 2025.
16. ""Gifts" by Kath Walker". Tharunka, 10 September 1990. Retrieved 30 December 2025.