Ballad of the Totems

Poets often share issues that are close to their hearts and their own experiences in their poems. Oodgeroo Noonuccal poet of 'Ballad Of The Totems' incorporates humour into the way of life of the aboriginals in this poem. The aboriginals loyalty of their culture shown in how Oodgeroo's mother won't kill the snake as it is Oodgeroo's father's totem, even though the wife had a passionate anger and hatred towards the snake. This poems shows the strong bond that the aboriginals have for nature. Noonuccal also has shown that even though the children weren't afraid of the snake "only the dog was scared of him". This again shows how tightly bonded the aboriginals were to nature. This poem also has a great structure with eight stanzas four lines each as well as Noonuccal using a variety of poetic techniques throughout the poem.

In this poem Oodgeroo Noonuccal also emphasises in all of her stanzaz the repetition of the letter 'S" at the beginning of words. By having the letter 'S' at the start of some words even in that emphasises and reminds us that the poem is about having the fathers totem alive and living in the house. The reacurrence of the 'S' is emphasising the 'HISS' sound that the snake makes.