The Honey-Ant Men’s Love Song and Other Aboriginal Song Poems

This anthology of Aboriginal song poems is the first collection of its kind, bringing together examples of an ancient and continuing tradition.

From the eerie Central Australian love song of the honey-ant men to the complex and elliptical Simpson Desert narrative of the carpet snakes, this collection serves to widen and enrich our perspectives on Australian poetry.

These songs appear in an amazing diversity of styles. Selections here are from four distinct Aboriginal language groups of North Queensland, Central Australia, Arnhem Land and the Simpson Desert. Each song appears in its original language with the translation opposite. The cultural context is provided by brief introductions and detailed commentaries throughout the anthology.