In These Two Poems, Gillian Clarke Gives The Impression Of Someone Who

Dawe arouses our senses in the third and fourth stanza by stating through the use of olfactory and auditory imagery, ‘somebody’s rubbish/burning, hearing vaguely, hearing a dog, a kid, and whisper of traffic.’ However, in the movie Darryl doesn’t confide completely in his poolroom and the prized possessions that are located within it, he has a loving family in which he can solve his problems with and can share his emotions, he is more advantaged than the man Dawe describes in his poem as he has living individuals who can give him words of support and people who can give him the exact amount of emotional connection to him that he has towards his poolroom. Whenever Darryl states, “this is going straight to the poolroom” he says it with much pride which helped shaped my general understanding of the Australian identity being so emotionally invested in inanimate objects rather than their loved ones but also Dawe helped me create a sense of understanding towards people who choose to live their lives devoted to something else rather than a

The speaker uses imagery repeatedly in this poem so we always know exactly what is happening. “we drove fast toward smoke” is said in line 4 which seems really basic but the basics are really import to the poem because any little descriptive words shape a poem and that is just what Barecca is doing here. In lines 17 and 18 the speaker describes her father’s smile “my father smiled a smile from a secret, brittle heart” she says he smiles from a secret brittle heart when he sees a Cadillac in a driveway which makes the reader think of a malicious smile on the fathers face. The malicious smile in relation to the Cadillacs and the fact that he likes to see fires in rich neighbourhoods also helps us come to the conclusion that he finds pleasure in seeing houses of upper class citizens burn, because he is less fortunate in losing his job, which is a key part to the poem.

The concept of the malign nature of the tenement is developed throughout the first stanza with Crichton Smith exploring his own role in his mother 's confinement. He tells the reader that whilst he drove away, his mother would 'wave from the window. ' Again the poet successfully employs alliterative words to draw our attention - this time to the image of his frail mother still lovingly 'waving ' from her prison 'window '. This notion is supported by Crichton Smith comparing himself to

For generations, poets have used their literary vehicle to express themes and produce content that remains relevant to a modern reader.”Enter Without So Much As Knocking” by Australian poet Bruce Dawe is a prime example of this, as Dawe uses the generic conventions of the genre to present his thoughts and comment on topics that in a way that remains relevant for future generations of readers. One reason the poem is still relevant and popular today is the attention it brings to capitalism and the complete materialistic nature of the pictured society, which forces readers to reflect on their own context and society. By having strict rules that govern Dawe’s pictured society, it reduces the value of life, and through his alliteration at the start

Natasha Trethewey’s purposeful limited view on her mother’s death in Native Guard reveals her difficult journey through coping mechanisms. Trethewey’s collection of poems revolve around ideas such as grief, her mother’s death and racism. In “Graveyard Blues”, Trethewey

Hughes further depicts the woman as being unaccustomed to Spain. He inserts imagery of unknown and foreign things which she is unable to forge relations with. Hughes introduces this in the beginning of the poem, “The wrought-iron grille, death and the Arab drum”. The list of three is a tableau encompassing theSpanish history. The dissonance of “wrought-iron grille” creates an unpleasant and sombre tone and connotes imagery of prison bars. The noun “death” connotes darkness, sorrow and pain and links to the Spanish Civil War, the Peninsular War and World War II. However, the woman fails to acknowledge that violence, struggle and pain exist in her homeland too, merely viewing it as a clean and honest country. The “Arab drum” hints at the existence of diverse cultures and races in contrast to the 1950s largely white America. The reader feels sympathetic to the woman as she has been uprooted from her idea of normality.

The theme of emptiness is seen throughout Thomas’ poems. The wartime poet writes of his memory of livelihood and activity in villages, such as the one described in ‘Aspens’, and then how it begins to disappear as a result of war. This is shown as the village is left with a ‘lightless pane and footless road’ causing the village to appear as ‘empty as sky’ and this simile gives a sense of vastness of the effects of the war, emphasising on the emptiness in the poem. Further, the mention of the ‘cross-roads to a ghostly room’ explicates that the village is so empty that it is leading nowhere. This metaphor is ironic as cross-roads are suggestively open gateways and a sense of choice in direction. However this connotation is altered as Thomas uses the metaphor ‘ghostly room’, to portray the vacant village and this is supported by the cross-roads as they lead to emptiness and isolation. This is also seen in ‘Old Man’ as the paradox ‘only an avenue, dark, nameless, without end’ gives a sense of no lead despite the fact that an avenue should lead somewhere. It is clear here that Thomas’ state of depression is

These sections allow for a change in emotion as each represents a separate part of the ‘homecoming’: Saigon describes the packaging of the bodies and how the soldiers are zipped up in green plastic bags; the flight represents the travel home, which metaphorically could also be their souls to heaven; and the third section is the arrival of the bodies in Australia. The use of pronouns gives the first two sections an emotionless feel as we do not learn specific names or information about the victims. However, when the scene changes to urban Australia in the final section the emotion changes to grief and regret for the families. The emotion of the speaker is indicated by signature language, the poet describing how “telegrams tremble like leaves from a wintering tree” and “small towns where dogs in the frozen sunset raise muzzles in mute salute”. Comparing the telegrams fluttering to the ground to leaves falling from a tree in winter reinforces our assumption of the tragic news contained within the telegrams: the “wintering tree” is clearly a metaphor for death and hence we know that enclosed within the telegrams is notification of the soldiers’ demise. Equally moving is the reference to man’s best friend mourning its loss, the poet describing how the dogs respectfully acknowledge the precious

What features or characteristics of the human condition can you identify in Judith Wright’s Legend? How has the poet used specific language techniques to emphasise these attributes of life.

‘The Vacuum’ is a poem that was written by Howard Nemerov. The poem uses the theme of symbolism to convey the relationship between a vacuum cleaner and a widower. The poem can be seen as a symbolic description of the experience he is going through after the demise of his beloved wife. The sentence structure and the type of figurative language requires one to evaluate and analyze the poem effectively to understand the meaning. The line in the poem “The vacuum cleaner sulks in the corner closet, its bag limp as a stopped lung” (Mays 580) is indicative of the symbolism that his wife was the housekeeper and when her lungs stopped, the vacuum cleaner also stopped, because she was the one that used the vacuum. Nemrov’s poetry shows a consistent emphasis on thought and his poems relate a broad spectrum of emotions and a variety of concerns (Web 1).

To start off the analysis, the setting of the entire poem is significant. Though the poem takes place in a house, the atmosphere the house is set in is also important. The month is September which is a month of fall which can be seen as a symbol for decline. It definitely insinuates that the poem is leading towards death. Line 1 has “September rain falls on the house” which gives the feeling of a dark and cold night with a storm on top of that. To further develop that, Bishop gives us the failing light in line 2 to also give us an idea of the grandmother’s struggle. Bishop uses the cyclical theme of changing seasons to show the unending nature of what is transpiring within the

wind. It was as if it was crying, almost howling for its voice to be

  In the play, descriptive language teaches the audience more about the surroundings than what the characters are actually saying to one another.  "I've not been in this house--it's more than a year" (6), Mrs. Hale tells the county attorney.  It is a very run down house, and the audience discovers there are no signs of anyone really ever being happy.  The kitchen is dirty, and the women begin to feel uneasy about being in a house where there is nothing but darkness and coldness.  The darkness is to signify how alone and empty Mrs. Wright was feeling while living with her husband.  Mrs. Wright did not feel wanted, and she felt like all hope was lost which the audience recognizes with the help of Mrs. Hale's saying, "...he was a hard man, Mrs. Peters.  Just to pass the time of day with him.  Like a raw wind that gets to the bone" (11).  Mrs. Hale conveys these important details to Mrs. Peters, which proves that the environment in the Wright house was dark and dreary.  The audience can imagine living in house where there is nothing but solitude and misery.  The solemn atmosphere makes the readers start to understand how lonely and depressing living in the house actually was.

Judith Wright extensively uses the structure of her poems to convey many ideas and themes. The structure of a poem is crucial to delivering its key message as it determines both the tone and how the poem is read. She shows the reader throughout the poem how the dust, which is symbolic of the barren emptiness that has “overtaken… dreams” of beauty and comfort as well as financial dependence, will consume the earth if the current environment is not conserved and protected. Wright’s use of title emphasizes this point in the clearest way she can and re-enforces her major concept to the audience. Another example of how structure is used in this poem is juxtaposition. The first and second stanzas are strategically placed next to each other because of their greatly opposing descriptions. In stanza one, the new world of dust and wind, many negative adjectives are used, such as “harsh”, “grief” and “steel-shocked”. Stanza two, which talks about the past, contains a wide range of positive adjectives such as “good”, “kinder” and “beautiful”.

Memories play a significant role in the poetry of Carol Ann Duffy, particularly her recollections of childhood places and events. The poem “Originally,” published in The Other Country (1990), draws specifically from memories of Duffy's family's move from Scotland to England when she and her siblings were very young. The first-born child, Duffy was just old enough to feel a deep sense of personal loss and fear as she traveled farther and farther away from the only place she had known as “home” and the family neared its alien destination. This sentiment is captured in “Originally,” in which it is described in the rich detail and defining language of both the child who has had the experience and the adult who recalls