Child’ and ‘Naked Girl And A Mirror’ by Judith Wright are two poems that both incorporate the concept of change. Some people welcome the idea of change in their lives, while others, however, are faced with changes in their life that they must adapt to in order to continue their lives. Through poetic techniques, Wright illustrates the inevitability of change as a result of various factors.
Change exists when new circumstances come about in the life of an individual. Judith
Wright reveals the inevitability of change in the poem “Women To Child”. The poem focuses on the physical and emotional changes of a woman’s life during the pregnancy and motherhood stages. Although the topic of the poem seems intense, Wright portrays the experiences of this woman as pleasant and wonderous. Incorporating the use of imagery, figurative language and rhythm, Wright portrays the new lifestyle the woman is being urged into. The use of first person is significant in this poem in expressing the process of birth and the changes associated with motherhood.
A significant quote in the poem is “All time lay rolled in me, and sense, and love that knew not its beloved.” The use of emotive language illustrates the unconditional love that the mother has for her child, who is yet to know its surroundings. She grows a new life in her womb, a life who is not aware of itself or its mother, describing how she holds all creation in her. Wright also uses the quote “I am the earth, I am the root, I am the stem that fed the fruit” to emphasise the linking relationship between mother and child. The technique of metaphor is implied with the comparison of the fruit of a tree, to the baby of a mother’s womb. The symbolism of the word ‘night’ for the unknown of the world implies that whatever good or bad experiences