Analysis Of Gwen Harwood 's Poem, At Mornington

Whether you realise it or not, the act of representation is a constant and significant aspect of our lives. It defines and influences our perceptions of things in either a positive or negative way. One poem that I particularly admire from Harwood’s collection is ‘The violets’ , as it recognises the inevitable act of evolving without our childhood memories. The art of growing up and moving forward is only fully accomplished when we recognise and accept the experiences and explorations of our childhood. Harwood’s poetic style reflects her conservative, traditional and religious upbringing, as well as her interests in literature, philosophy and music. As one of Australia’s finest poets, and it is an honour to introduce Harwood’s latest poem anthology.

Love is not always an easy adventure to take part in. As a result, thousands of poems and sonnets have been written about love bonds that are either praised and happily blessed or love bonds that undergo struggle and pain to cling on to their forbidden love. Gwendolyn Brooks sonnet "A Lovely Love," explores the emotions and thoughts between two lovers who are striving for their natural human right to love while delicately revealing society 's crime in vilifying a couples right to love. Gwendolyn Brooks uses several examples of imagery and metaphors to convey a dark and hopeless mood that emphasizes the hardships that the two lovers must endure to prevail their love that society has condemned.

Plath starts her poem out negatively, ‘barely daring to breathe or Achoo’, with a distinct repetition of the ‘oo’ sounds in ‘Achoo’, ‘do’, ‘shoe’ and ‘du’ creating a childlike, nursery rhyme style of delivery that contrasts greatly with the violent and dark themes. Harwood begins on a significantly more positive if wistful note, ‘forgive me the wisdom I would not learn from you’ positioning her mother as a wise and positive influence. The tones of the poems are very different, as shaped by the poet’s experiences with their parents, with Harwood creating an affirmative, loving description of her relationship with her mother while Plath develops a much darker and sinister view s.

In my thoughts, Harwood’s poetry engages readers through its poetic treatment of loss and consolation throughout relationships as well as its exploration of universal themes about human existence and processes of life. Harwood’s poetry validates the consoling influence of childhood experiences upon adult development evident in both At Mornington and A Valediction where they both explore one sense of loss and consolidation. Harwood cleverly includes personas with their own feelings and anxieties to outlook on the present and future and the power of memories held with past relationships. Relationships link within Harwood’s poetry as throughout life she experiences suffering and includes her personal voice and life within the story of her poem.

Audit is a poem written by editor, translator, fiction writer, and poet Tony Barnstone. He has written a collection of varied and unique poems, from topics of the Second World War to a poetry book based on material in classic pulp fiction and B-movies. Barnstone has won numerous awards and literary competitions for his diverse work, including the Pushcart Prize in Poetry and the John Ciardi Prize in Poetry. This poem offers an interesting take on relationships and love and its relation to the world of business. The poem utilizes a variety of poetic devices, some being obvious and others more obscure, which will be explored throughout this paper.

The poem, Suburban Sonnet, idealizes the harsh realities of an Australian housewife, creating sympathetic tones to the readers. Gwen Harwood was born in Brisbane, Queensland in 1920. Harwood was raised in a family of strong women,

Furthermore, the power of Harwood’s poetry to move readers is perfectly illustrated in her hailed poem, in which she meticulously explores how the intensity of passion may triumph over ignorant reason. Within the second half of the poem, we are introduced to a titian-haired girl who remarkably unsettles Professor Eisenbart’s demeanor as he is exposed to her emanating passion for music. Through an archetypal lense, it has become apparent me that Harwood has intended for these personas to embody the notions of passion and reason to replicate the confrontation opposing personalities may experience in real-life scenarios. Harwood presents the initial physical contact made between the two juxtaposing personas through tactile imagery when Eisenbart

Gwen Harwood explores through many of her poems the role of women in society in which reflects the challenges of the changing nature of Australian society and expectations of women. Harwood highlights the stultifying world of domesticity and the importance of identity in relation to motherhood, by challenging dominant values and mainstream beliefs. Harwood criticizes the male dominated society and channels the zeitgeist of 1960s feminism, by depicting the entrapment of motherhood in a domestic life and reinforcing of loss of identity within her poems. In both of Harwood's poems 'suburban Sonnet' and 'In the Park', the common themes of motherhood and loss of identity is enforced using a wide variety of literally techniques to portray the inner pain and anguish felt by Harwood in a patriarchal society.

Phillis Wheatley was the first African American to publish a book; one that would bring her national and international fame. Known for both her youthful intellect and the ability to versify popular people and topics of the day, Wheatley gained the adoration of many. One such fan was none other than General George Washington, who praised her poetical talent after Wheatley personally sent him a heroic couplet entitled “To His Excellency General Washington”. The poem is unique because of the way Wheatley expressed her personal opinion of the Revolutionary effort. They way Wheatley portrays America, George Washington, and the Revolutionary army shows that she believes the War of Independence is a glorious, justified, and divinely ordained task.

“We Real Cool” is a poem written by Gwendolyn Brooks in 1960. Having been raised in Chicago, she wrote more than twenty books of poetry throughout her life. Brooks was not only known for poems but also for several other books including a novel called “Maud Martha”. For her contributions to poetic literature, she was named poet laureate for the state of Illinois in 1968 and was the first black woman to be appointed as a consultant in poetry to the library of congress. This poem, “We Real Cool”, consists of only eight stanzas and each stanza is made up of two, three or four words.

“We Real Cool” by Gwendolyn Brooks is a poem that portrays seven pool players at the Golden Shovel. The first stanza of the poem starts of by giving a brief history of these players. It seems as these pool players are singing. They start of by saying “We real cool. We Left school.”

The poem “The Mother” by Gwendolyn Brooks is an emotional poem about abortions and the remnant feelings of a mother. It takes you in the mind of a mother after she has aborted a few children. The poem exudes remorse, distress and heartache. Some may argue that women have abortions for their own selfish reasons or use it as a tool to run away from their own responsibilities. However, the poem illustrates that mothers who have aborted children have their own personal and emotional battles that they will have to overcome after the fact.

The Pool Players. Seven at the Golden Shovel. We real cool. We Left school. We Lurk late. We Strike straight. We Sing sin. We Thin gin. We

“Look at what 's happening in this world. Every day there 's something exciting or disturbing to write about. With all that 's going on, how could I stop?” (“Gwendolyn” BrainyQuote.com) Gwendolyn Brooks, born in 1917 in Kansas grew up with her father, David Anderson Brooks and her mother, Keziah Wims Brooks. Although born in Kansas, Gwendolyn was raised in Illinois (Shor). Throughout her life she dealt with real issues and confronted them within her writing. Her thoughts and poetry would continue to be relevant for decades, even as time goes on, the world still remains a broken place.

Gwendolyn Brooks' poetry as brilliant as it is and as widely heralded as it has become over the past eighty years or so cannot be generalized or stereotyped as simply the work of an "African American" poet per se, with all the implications that particular ethnic description brings to mind. Indeed, Brooks' work offers a diversity of interests, genres, themes, and social situations. In this paper Brooks' poems "The Lovers of the Poor" (a satirical poem that has elements of parody) and "The Explorer" (an irregularly created poem about isolation and the need for safety from social confusion and alienation) will be critiqued in depth.