Mackellar, Dorothea (1885-1968), was an Australian poet and fiction writer. She became noted for her descriptive lyrics associated with the love of her native land. Her best-known poem is “My Country.” It is perhaps the most popular poem in Australian literature. 
Mackellar wrote the poem in 1904. It was first published in The Spectator magazine of London, England, in 1908 under the title “Core of My Heart.” Mackellar wrote the poem after witnessing the breaking of a drought near the town of Maitland, Australia. The poem was also meant as a response to people of English descent who had been born in Australia but preferred England to their birth country. “My Country” grew in popularity during and after World War I (1914-1918), as Australian society used patriotic works to build a national identity.
The poem’s first two verses are as follows:
The love of field and coppice, Of green and shaded lanes, Of ordered woods and gardens Is running in your veins. Strong love of grey-blue distance Brown streams and soft, dim skies— I know but cannot share it, My love is otherwise. I love a sunburnt country, A land of sweeping plains, Of ragged mountain ranges, Of droughts and flooding rains. I love her far horizons, I love her jewel-sea, Her beauty and her terror— The wide brown land for me!
Isobel Marion Dorothea Mackellar was born on July 1, 1885, in Sydney, Australia. She was educated primarily at home. When she was young, Mackellar frequently traveled abroad, accompanying her parents on trips around Europe. But these experiences only confirmed her love of Australia.
Mackellar began writing poetry as a teenager. Her books of poetry include The Closed Door (1911), which contains “My Country;” The Witch-Maid (1914); Dream-Harbour (1923); and Fancy Dress (1926). Several poems from The Closed Door also appeared in international publications, including The Spectator, and Harper’s Magazine in the United States. Mackellar’s works of fiction include the novel Outlaw’s Luck (1913). She also collaborated on two novels with the Australian writer Ruth Bedford—The Little Blue Devil (1912) and Two’s Company (1914). Both novels are largely concerned with youthful aspiration and adventure.
After her father’s death in 1926, Mackellar stopped writing for the most part. She was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire at the beginning of 1968. She died two weeks later, on Jan. 14, 1968.
