During the second half of the 19th century Australia experienced a period of expansion for the pastoral economy and of struggles for full self-government (= lotta per un governo indipendente). The writers in this period showed the desire to create a nation independent of British control and to discover and care for qualities perceived (= ritenute) as totally Australian. They tried to trace down (= tracciare) symbols towards a definition of the Australian character, it was an attempt to enter the Australian soul. And again the emphasis focused on the genuine qualities of the inhabitants of the bush.
An example isHenry Lawson’s (1867 – 1922) whose works represents at best the native qualities as endurance (= forza), honesty, and comradeship (= cameratismo). Together with other poets and story- tellers, formed a group round the Sydney Britain
Lawson’s poetry has often the form of the ballad. His short stories depict the lives of the people, especially women, who endure (= sopportano) their hard life.
His story The Drover’s Wife (1892) has become a classic text of country fortitude. It is about a woman alone with her children, who has to (= deve) struggle against a snake which represents the hard life of people living in the bush, facing (= fronteggiando) an insidious and cruel nature of a still unknown (= sconosciuta) land.