Homo Suburbiensis
HOMO SUBURBIENSIS
By Bruce Dawe
- Title: Play on words “Homo Sapien” “Suburb” “Ensis=scientific” = Pun (like David Attenborough almost, suggesting the man is of a different species and he is being “observed.” Despite how depressing this poem may be there is still humour in the title. However, the title does not express “distance.” - Dawe likes to “celebrate the ordinary.” - Poem suggests everybody has their own unique experience. - In amongst suburbia, gone to his garden after work, engages in senses. - Vaguely = He can hear lots of things but they’re distant. - At the beginning of the poem he is just a man with jumbled thoughts in a vegetable patch but by the end of the poem his emotions are expressed more clearly. - Sometimes you need to slow down and take a look at life. - Universal experience of life: all people go through these range of experiences/emotions. - Poem tone: Melancholy/Depressed - The man is constant the variables are all the things he takes with him (thoughts/emotions he is grappling over). - He has come down to the garden to reflect on life. - Australian Culture: Middle-class, surburbia - Attitude: Dawe is trying to examine something that seems mundane but is actually rather meaningful – “Human experience” - Form: Free verse, 5 consistent stanzas (most lines are 3 in length), still some structure. - Typography = meaning behind indentations: pause & emphasise sentences successfully draws attention to the man. - No commas or fullstops - Enjambment (on joe mor): all lines flow; this structure could possibly reflect the subjects thoughts that are
By Bruce Dawe
- Title: Play on words “Homo Sapien” “Suburb” “Ensis=scientific” = Pun (like David Attenborough almost, suggesting the man is of a different species and he is being “observed.” Despite how depressing this poem may be there is still humour in the title. However, the title does not express “distance.” - Dawe likes to “celebrate the ordinary.” - Poem suggests everybody has their own unique experience. - In amongst suburbia, gone to his garden after work, engages in senses. - Vaguely = He can hear lots of things but they’re distant. - At the beginning of the poem he is just a man with jumbled thoughts in a vegetable patch but by the end of the poem his emotions are expressed more clearly. - Sometimes you need to slow down and take a look at life. - Universal experience of life: all people go through these range of experiences/emotions. - Poem tone: Melancholy/Depressed - The man is constant the variables are all the things he takes with him (thoughts/emotions he is grappling over). - He has come down to the garden to reflect on life. - Australian Culture: Middle-class, surburbia - Attitude: Dawe is trying to examine something that seems mundane but is actually rather meaningful – “Human experience” - Form: Free verse, 5 consistent stanzas (most lines are 3 in length), still some structure. - Typography = meaning behind indentations: pause & emphasise sentences successfully draws attention to the man. - No commas or fullstops - Enjambment (on joe mor): all lines flow; this structure could possibly reflect the subjects thoughts that are