Gwen Harwood - Power of Memory. Essay

The atmospheric conditions may represent the hardships that the couple had to go through in their relationship, and may also be used contrast the unpredictability of the outside world compared to the steady relationship that the couple have. ‘A Youth Mowing’ is also a poem about relationships, this time it is between a younger couple. The river ‘Isar’ is a symbol of freedom, it represents the way that the men’s lives are. However, this sense of liberty is broken by the ‘swish of the scythe-strokes’ as the girl takes ‘four sharp breaths.’ Sibilance is used to show that there is a sinister undertone to the freedom that the boy has which will be broken by the news that his girlfriend is bringing. She feels guilty for ‘what’s in store,’ as now the boy will have to be committed to spending the rest of his life with her, and paying the price for the fun that they had.

In Hunger of Memory, Richard Rodriguez situates his individual experiences with education in such a way as to expose what he sees as the fallacious logic behind bilingual education and affirmative action. He uses arguments to propagate the systematic problems with such programs. His autobiography explains in great detail the entangling problems all American children face by instituting bilingual programs and affirmative action endorsements.

Through the juxtaposition between past and present, organic imagery and a pronounced tone of both wonder and tranquility marking the language, Gwen Harwood's poetry delineates the nature of grief, fear, and memory as they personify human experience. The events described in "Father and Child", is an exploration of the existential and moral concerns of the poet. Both poems exemplify the ideals of maturity as compared to immaturity. 'The Violets' on the other hand explores the reconciliation of past memories. How one who cannot be comforted in the moment, can be comforted by memories instead. Fear is the main focus on Harwood's most psychological poem 'The Glass Jar'.

Childhood is portrayed as a time of safety that is often looked back upon with nostalgia from an adult perspective. Monosyllabic words are used to show the simplicity of childhood life, for example in the line “the thing I could not grasp or name”. The ‘spring violets’ are ‘in their loamy bed’ and are no longer frail and melancholy, and the memory takes place on a ‘hot afternoon’ in contrast to the ‘cold dusk’ that represents the present. Childhood is represented as a joyful, vivacious time in one’s life, and the value of a stable family life is conveyed. The unexpected integration of Australian vernacular in the line ‘it will soon be night, you goose’, adds a sense of freedom and relaxation to the otherwise formal discourse and more rigid structure of the poem, once again reflects the simplicity and innocence that is associated with childhood. The use of

Childhood is arguably the most exciting time of a person’s life. One has few responsibilities or cares, and the smallest events can seem monumentally thrilling. Often, people reflect on the memories of their youth with fondness and appreciation for the lessons they learned. Sarah Orne Jewett captures this essence perfectly in the excerpt from “A White Heron.” Jewett uses many literary devices, including diction, imagery, narrative pace, and point of view to immerse the reader in familiar feelings of nostalgia and wonder, and dramatize the plot.

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.

To reinforce the childish simplicity and ignorance of time loss, Harwood personifies time as a thief.

“The Violets” by Gwen Harwood is a lyrical poem that deals with a woman who is going through a dark period in her life and she looks to her childhood memories, in particular, her parents for sustenance and support. The poem consists of many themes one of which include memory of childhood, the persona of the poem is going through a rough patch in her life and uses her childhood memories The persona concludes, in the present, that neither time nor death can take away our precious memories or those people or places that belong in those memories. Throughout the poem, the tense shifts between past and present as the speaker reaches back in time to a childhood memory, in order to make sense of the present. Another theme that was highlighted was the importance of memories, this is an important theme because due to the retained power of rejuvenation and reflection that memories hold. The violets is a lyrical poem and it

This is achieved in both poems through the use of a third person narrator. Again in both poems the narrator again is in the position of observing events. Bothe Dawe and Harwood use words like ‘his’, ‘she’, and ‘they’ this places the reader at a distance to the characters which creates the feeling that you have a greater knowledge overall than if it would forwardly just depict a single scene. Harwood uses present tense ‘ allowing the audience to make inferences on the past and future of the mother and her children. Dawe takes a different approach to this making the poem future tense implying that what is going on in the poem happens constantly and can now be predicted. Harwood also makes use of past tense ‘she loved once’ but reverts back to present tense ‘too late’ adding melancholy to the poem. Both poets effectively convey emotions experienced by people living on Australian land through the use of narrative

This indicates that music is seen as being more than the physical, but rather transcending into the realm of the spiritual and as being a fundamental element of human joy. In Harwood’s own life, she found joy and fulfillment her musical endeavors. From a young age she yearned to become a famous musician. She believed that music was more than just sounds, that it had the ability to help people ‘understand unquestionable shapes of truth’. By noting the significant role that music played in Harwood’s life, the power and symbolism of music in her poetry can be better understood.

Gwen Harwood’s poetry explores the reality of human existence, utilising a number of personal experiences in order

So we ask ourselves, how does poetry gain its power? To answer this question, we examine the work of poets Harwood and Plath. ‘The Glass Jar’, composed by Gwen Harwood portrays its message through the emotions of a young child, while the poem ‘Ariel’, written by Sylvia Plath, makes effective use of emotions to convey artistic creativity and inspiration.

The reflection of each poet's childhood is displayed within these lines helping to build a tone for the memories of each narrator.

Memory is presented as either a way of life or a community of change, as demonstrated in ‘Aspens’, ‘Old Man’, ‘Aldestrop’. He does this through the variety of techniques such as change in form, use of imagery and alternations in the tone of each poem to explore memory. As well as this, Thomas explicates the devastation of emptiness due to the consequence of war, which is portrayed through the use of soft consonantal sounds or the use

Poetry is the art of minimal story telling, often containing hidden or abstract ideas as the theme. Theme in other types of literature tends to be more distinct and clear cut, a theme tell the lesson or point of a book, story, or movie. In poetry however, it can be necessary to read three or four times over to merely understand the “point” of the poem. While poems are much shorter than other literary forms, it can require the most thought and probe your mind for alternative perceptions.