Everything you need to understand or teach Drought Year by Judith Wright.
Lines 1-4:
These lines depict the drought-benighted landscape. "Embered" and "burned" vividly describe the hot, dry air. The word "bear" in line three can be read in at least two ways: 1) the lime-scrub cannot bear the heat or 2) the lime-scrub cannot bear fruit. "Lime" suggests a certain tartness, which contributes well to the dry scene, and the "Mooni" of dried-up Mooni Creek brings to mind a picture of a waterless moon, a desert landscape where every year is a drought year.
Line 5:
The "dingoes' cry" gives the drought conditions a sense of mystery. Since most Americans have probably never heard a dingo's "cry," an American's likely response is, therefore, to think of a coyote, wolf, or dog's cry instead of a dingo's. Similar in character or not, America's canines can be said to have a strange cry, almost like human wailing. Perhaps then, the association of an Australian dog with... View more of the Drought Year Summary
Judith (Arandell) Wright