Migrant Hostel Poem

The effects and overall impression of a journey will depend on the characteristics of the particular trip undertaken. Migrant Hostel and Immigrants at Central station by Peter Skrzynecki are poems, which display the migrants experience illustrating the pathos of migrant families as they come to terms with a new and very foreign country. The poet successfully shows this through literary techniques and visual imagery emphasising the idea that moving countries process are not always perfect and offering what is wanted but instead can bring out the tough struggle faced to make a big transition.

An expedition can involve continued struggle, instead of being optimistic throughout. In Migrant Hostels, Skrzynecki displays a migrant at a halt, reflecting on the process of the trip and their response to the destination. Through the use of
Skrzynecki illustrates this idea through an unpleasant and gloomy tone. By spreading out simple, monotonous words throughout the poem such as ‘sad’, ‘cold’, ‘silence’, ‘empty’ and ‘rained’, the words complement the depressed state of the immigrants and create a sense of hopelessness as they prepare for a new start. Struggle and hardship throughout a journey, makes the overall journey a long haul.

Some crossings offer a sense of conformity instead of escape and freedom. In Migrant Hostels, the poet likens the migrants to pigeon, to show the setting where “nationalities sought each other” to feel belonged and safe. The imagery of the endless movement of pigeons shows the moving migrants seeking for nationals to have support and feel protected and have freedom of movement. This also denotes that they are finding people with the same experience who thus have the same degree of belonging to a group and a sense of