Analysis Of An Absolutely Ordinary Rainbow By Gwen Harwood

Poetry can provide the reader with an insight into human behavior and relationships, utilizing various poetic techniques to achieve this. Two poems, An Absolutely Ordinary Rainbow by Les Murray and In the Park by Gwen Harwood, are examples of poems that make use of techniques to give an observation on human behavior and relationships. The two poems differ from each other in subject matter and the way they comment on human behavior. An Absolutely Ordinary Rainbow deals with expression of emotion whereas In The Park provides insight into society’s view of stereotypes, in this case, mother’s. However, both poems do comment on changes of circumstance and the way humans in society hide their true feelings. Both of the poems use strong subject matters
and stories as well as techniques that include imagery and rhythm to give an insight into the behavior of humans.

An Absolutely Ordinary Rainbow provides an insight into the expression of emotion, and the want for humans to convey their feelings in a society that shuns such emotional expressions.
The poem is set in Sydney on busy day that has been disturbed by the weeping of a single man. Repetition is used to enhance the fact that, “No one can stop him,”, as the Narrator describes. It becomes apparent that the reason his crying is not stopped is simply because of the way he cries, not with shame or pity, but with a mature dignity that stops any one from stopping him. The next few stanzas of the poem describe the awe, and even reverence that the observers feel towards this man’s weeping. The narrator describes how the crowd feels, “their minds/longing for tears as children for a rainbow,” describing how their fears of expressing emotion are now realized. This poem provides the insight into emotional expression by describing the feelings that the people feel when they are struck with realization of the loss of emotion in modern
society.

The poem An Absolutely Ordinary Rainbow also deals with the social aspect of human behavior and the relationships between people in modern day society when a change takes place. It depicts the crowd’s differing reactions to the event of the man crying. The poem is told in third person and there is no rhyme scheme which makes the poem seem more of a recount, reinforcing the fact that the poem is told from society’s perspective, not the weeping man’s who lacks any identity throughout the poem. The weeping man simply represents a change that has occurred in society. The message present in this poem is of how something as simple as expression of emotions has become so obscured in modern day society that it is seen by the crowd, who represent society itself, as somewhat of a phenomenon. However, there is no phenomenon; there is simply a man who cares not for acceptance of society and, with dignity, wants to weep.

The poem, In The Park, like An Absolutely Ordinary Rainbow, gives an insight on society’s behavior of hiding feelings, but this poem gives a differing view of it as well as false relationships.
An Absolutely Ordinary Rainbow concentrated on the hidden feelings of people wanting to express them, whereas In The Park is about the hidden feelings of people that are not to be expressed. The poem begins with a stereotypical image of a mother whose life has been taken over by her children. When a former lover passes by, the two begin to converse, however it is evident that the man is uninterested in his former lover as she now has children, made apparent when the narrator comments that the man was thinking, “but for the grace of God,” in reference to the children. In the third stanza, the narrator makes it clear that the man is uninterested and wants nothing to do with his past lover, using words such as, “flickering light,” and “rehearsing” to depict just how flat and lost the conversation is. The man hides his lack of interest with casual conversation. The mother makes statements such as, “It’s so sweet to hear their chatter,” however, when the man leaves, the mother makes the statement that, “They have eaten me alive,” referring to her children and the way they have taken her life, another example of humans hiding their true
feelings.

In The Park also deals with human’s behavior when a change takes place, as does An Absolutely Ordinary Rainbow, while giving an insight into society’s view of stereotypes, in this case, a mother. The mother in the poem is seen as the average mother. “Her clothes are out of date,” the narrator describes, explaining her loss of care for fashion and a social life that stereotypically comes with the role as a mother. She is taking care of her children in a park, and tells of the joy that comes with children. It becomes evident, however, that things are not as they seem, and she despises the change that has taken place. The man who passes her represents the mother’s past, a reminder of a life long ago, and a life that is lost. He sees her as the stereotypical mother type and wants nothing to do with her, the author’s comment on society’s view of mother’s. The poem is written in a sonnet form, a form that is related mostly to romantic poem’s, which creates an irony as In The Park is anything but romantic.

The poems An Absolutely Ordinary Rainbow and In The Park comment on human behaviors and relationships of society, change, the hiding of feelings and views of stereotypes from different points of views. These two poems are examples of the way poetry can explore the behavior of humans and life itself through use of various poetic techniques.