The unique Australian image was established when they participated as a nation in World War One. The Australian person was perceived as being self-confident, strong and brave; many poets convey this image through their writing. These poets express the Australian person through use of poetic devices such as alliteration, rhyme, repetition and effective rhyming schemes. Poets such as Leon Gellert use the Anzac's to portray this unique Australian image.
The Ragtime Army, a chant used by soldiers at Gallipoli is a traditional poem which describes the feelings of the Australian at war. This poem is a descriptive example of how the Australian person is self-confident enough to conquer all, no matter what the challenge. .
In line four of The Ragtime Army, it asks "What bloody good are we?" To prove that Australians can persist and conquer all, it goes on to say in line five, "And when we reach Berlin". This is a reflection on their self worth as they march into Berlin victorious. These two lines in the poem emphasise how the strong-minded Australian's know they can achieve at anything they do.
The rhythm and rhyming in the poem allows it to be chanted with ease, which may have been the initial intention of the poem when it was created. It projects the image to the reader of the uniformed Australian person laying on the deck of a ship, chanting the poem, enjoying a well earned rest. The poem offers encouragement in the words, which say that no matter what, Australian's will persist and conquer. This poem also gives the sense that it would have been a group chant, illustrating a sense of the great Australian mateship. .
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The Diggers, written by Leon Gellert, also emphasises great mateship. It is about a digger who has been killed and as his friends and fellow soldiers mourn his death, even though they lack physical strength and risk death by continuing to fight in the line of fire. The poem conveys the Australian person as a relaxed yet brave, but who also try to have fun as often as possible.
