The use of poetry is made to capture some aspects of human experiences. In Les Murray’s poetry he portrays aspects of human experiences in the poem “Spring Hail” as he reminisces of his childhood experiences and also the human experiences that involve sorrow in “The Widower in The Country”.…
The poem begins with the narrator telling herself, “A few more steps, old feet.” (line 1). The old feet she refers to are the ancestor’s feet, that appear to be old and worn out from the rigorous journey they take. The speaker then goes on to say, “In pale tea I’ll see / me with her, tasting wild grapes” (lines 4-5). This shows her reminder of her ancestors in nature. The pale tea is the symbol of the clean, clear simplicity of nature and when the speaker simplifies herself, to the bare nothingness of nature it reveals to her, her ancestors. Then in the following lines, “at dawn, tasting dew / on tender leaves, another year.” (lines 6-7). The dawn represents a new day, a new start where she can again acknowledge her heritage. After, the speaker says, “her hands still guiding me, / at sunset grinding seeds” (lines 11-12). These hands guiding the speaker, are her ancestors leading her through their stories and nature around…
The poem begins by undercutting the beautiful, pleasant imagery promised by the title through the terse bluntness of the “dusk, and cold.” Flowers are indeed present as the title suggests, but only “frail, melancholy” ones, gathered by the subservient act of “kneeling” among “ashes and loam”. There is a definite sense of ending – both of the day, and of something grander. The persona’s attempts at engaging with the natural world are crudely rebuffed – she cannot succeed in her musical engagement, merely “try”, which results only in an “indifferent” blackbird “fret[ting] and strop[ing]” under “Ambiguous light. Ambiguous sky.” This unfriendly environment in which the poem begins foregrounds the sense of loss which characterises so much of Harwood’s poetry, an inevitable, confronting finality emphasised by the bluntness of the language and plethora of full stops. The adult world presented here is one of uncertainty, difficulty and ambiguity.…
Lots of symbolism is used within the novel Snow Falling on Cedars by David Guterson. All the symbols are throughout this novel to help convey the storyline. Guterson constantly brings up the symbols to keep the story flowing as well as to develop several opinions and ideas about the different characters. The snowstorm, the cedar tree, the war are just three of the numerous symbols used in this novel. The snowstorm represents destruction, unpredictable events, along with innocence. Snow is a beautiful act of nature, yet it can go deadly in a matter of minutes. “The trees had closed the road in so that the sky was little more than an indistinct, drab ribbon overhead, but down here the dramatic expanse of it was visible, chaotic and fierce” (320). The islanders find the…
In addition, the persona’s experience of maturation is reflected in the growth of the violets and other natural references, further demonstrating the Romantic influence within this poem. Throughout the poem, there is an extended connection between nature and humanity, a connection which once manifested as a Romantic ideal. In the third stanza, set in the past, there is a description of the violets as “spring…
“We often make friends for the weakest of reasons – proximity for example, or shared…
Prompt: Read the two poems carefully. Then write a well-organized essay in which you show how the attitudes towards the coming of spring implied in these two poems differ from each other. Support your statements with specific references to the texts.…
The Divine Wind by Garry Disher is a historical romance that deals with issues -- Hart with the people around hart and some series of things happen to them. Their story takes place before and after the war, during a lot of things were happening: the protagonists grew up together with their relatives, many people came and went, and some are forever leave them. The relation between friendship and love are two of the main themes. Another theme is young people forced to grow up quickly.…
Throughout the entire poem, the speaker continuously asks questions debating what makes life worth living. The speaker’s confused mental state is expressed through rhetorical questions. The narrator asks, “Oh cold reprieve, where’s natural relief?” Here, the narrator wonders where he may find an escape from life, from the grief he was told to pursue. The answer is actually from within him. This results in a poem with dialogue between the narrator’s conscience and heart; the heart being the Echo. The Echo’s answer of “Leaf” leads the narrator to reflect on the death of leaves; leaves bloom beautifully and change into various colors. Making “ecstasy” of the flower’s dying process. He wonders, “Yet what’s the end of our life’s long disease? If death is not, who is my enemy,” but then the Echo calls itself the foe. Though leaves age beautifully, people do not, for aging is a disease of life that cannot be escaped.…
In Garry Disher's 'The Divine Wind,' it sends across a strong and important message that in a time of horrific war, everyone loses-including the so-called 'winners'. This message is conveyed throughout the text as Hart's mother loses her life in the surrounding circumstances of war. Hart also loses his life-long love, Mitsy, not by death but by the alienation of the Japanese.…
The Tree of Life In Richard Arlin Walker's poem "The Cedar Tree," various metaphors and symbols reveal cedar trees' practical and symbolic uses. Throughout generations, Indigenous People have cherished and utilized cedar trees in their lives, recognizing their importance in both practical and spiritual ways. These trees hold a special significance in their culture and are honoured with deep reverence. Cedar trees are a reliable resource, offering numerous benefits to humans and animals. Indigenous communities deeply understood the tree's value and made comprehensive use of its various components in their daily lives.…
I find it interesting on how the author employs the idea of the changing of seasons to describe life and death and happiness and sorrow. In the beginning it is still summer when the speaker and his lover are happily together and then it turned to winter, also a time associated with death and loneliness; his lover…
First, Reed writes this poem in order to assert his beliefs about war. He believes that war represents the death of young souls and spring represents the new life of nature. Reed shows the reader how a young soldier’s mind wonders, while his instructor is trying to teach him about the rifle. As the instructor educates the men about the rifle, the young soldier notices the Japonica flower blooming.…
The poem follows the narrator’s internal monologue as he revisits a place of nostalgia that ignited his love of nature. His fears that the picturesque scene of his childhood has been idealized are quieted as he sees the place for the first time in five years, falling in love with the environment all over again. He even credits nature as “The anchor of my purest thoughts, the nurse,/The guide, the guardian of my heart, and soul/Of all my moral being” (Wordsworth LL. 109-111). His ecological thinking recharges his soul and makes him feel joyful about life once again. Nature also connects the narrator to his sister, who he sees himself in because of their love of the countryside. He acknowledges his sister the first time in the poem as his “dear, dear Friend; and in thy voice I catch/The language of my former heart, and read/My former pleasures in the shooting lights/Of thy wild eyes” (Wordsworth LL.…