Pervading Pessimism In Gwen Harwood's Poetry
Gwen Harwood Essay
Q – ‘Poetic power, dramatic presentation and compelling psychological insights provide the richness of her poetry. A pervading pessimism clouds her achievement.’
How valid do you find this evaluation of Gwen Harwood’s work? (3 poems)
Gwen Harwood’s work is influenced by several elements; poetic power, dramatic presentation and psychological insights, each to create compelling poetry. Significantly her rich feministic, religious and melancholic perceptions, influenced by her life experience and personal context is reflected in her poetry. This is clearly depicted in the poems, ‘Father & Child’, ‘The Violets’ and, ‘At Mornington’. Each of the aspects of Harwood’s work can be analysed independently in to receive the implications of whether “a pervading pessimism clouds her achievement”. …show more content…
Poetic power is the capacity to evoke an emotional response, an association or motivation in the mind of the reader and is achieved through the use of literary devices.
Harwood utilises poetic power to construct the foundation for her poem, ‘Father and Child’. It is a reflective poem, focusing predominantly on the cyclical nature of life and the empowering and immortalising powers of memory, whilst also referencing the universal truth of the inevitability of death. It is a powerful diptych poem consisting of two parts, ‘Barn Owl’ and ‘Nightfall’. In ‘Barn Owl’, a young child embarks on her journey from the time of innocent childhood to the sophisticated and innate world of adulthood, naively attempting to shoot an owl. Whereas in ‘Nightfall’, the child is introduced as an adult, walking with her seemingly elderly father, directing him onto the sorrowful path of the end of his life, whilst reflecting on the
past.
‘Barn Owl’ is supposedly narrated by a child, inferenced from the simplistic level of language used throughout this particular part of the poem. This can be observed with the fundamentality and briefness of, “the household slept”. Whereas in ‘Nightfall’, the level of sophistication of the language is of a much greater measure, such as, ”Old king, you’re marvellous journeys done,” seemingly spoken from an adults perspective, also as of the direct references to a work of Shakespeare.
After being “blessed by the sun”, the immature child then sets out to kill the owl, a symbol of wisdom, whilst her father is blindly sleeping. Reinforcing a powerful technique of Harwood’s, the child killing the owl corresponds with her naivety, defying her father and disregarding his wisdom. The child is horrified with the harsh reality of the violent death of the owl, expecting the situation to conform directly to her simplistic image of instant, peaceful death, “bundle of stuff and dribbled through loose straw tangling in bowels”. We are quite sympathetic towards the owl, but to the child as well. Witnessing this life altering experience for the child enhances the audience’s understanding, giving Harwood’s poetry depth and realistic qualities.
Nightfall however, depicts a very different relationship between the father and his daughter. His role as her mentor has been revoked and passed onto his daughter as his guide, his “stick thin comforter”. This represents the passing of time as well as a revelation to the cyclic nature of life. This vivid and grotesque imagery provides fundamental richness to her poetry and presents the responder with insights into Harwood’s own perspectives.
Q – ‘Poetic power, dramatic presentation and compelling psychological insights provide the richness of her poetry. A pervading pessimism clouds her achievement.’
How valid do you find this evaluation of Gwen Harwood’s work? (3 poems)
Gwen Harwood’s work is influenced by several elements; poetic power, dramatic presentation and psychological insights, each to create compelling poetry. Significantly her rich feministic, religious and melancholic perceptions, influenced by her life experience and personal context is reflected in her poetry. This is clearly depicted in the poems, ‘Father & Child’, ‘The Violets’ and, ‘At Mornington’. Each of the aspects of Harwood’s work can be analysed independently in to receive the implications of whether “a pervading pessimism clouds her achievement”. …show more content…
Poetic power is the capacity to evoke an emotional response, an association or motivation in the mind of the reader and is achieved through the use of literary devices.
Harwood utilises poetic power to construct the foundation for her poem, ‘Father and Child’. It is a reflective poem, focusing predominantly on the cyclical nature of life and the empowering and immortalising powers of memory, whilst also referencing the universal truth of the inevitability of death. It is a powerful diptych poem consisting of two parts, ‘Barn Owl’ and ‘Nightfall’. In ‘Barn Owl’, a young child embarks on her journey from the time of innocent childhood to the sophisticated and innate world of adulthood, naively attempting to shoot an owl. Whereas in ‘Nightfall’, the child is introduced as an adult, walking with her seemingly elderly father, directing him onto the sorrowful path of the end of his life, whilst reflecting on the
past.
‘Barn Owl’ is supposedly narrated by a child, inferenced from the simplistic level of language used throughout this particular part of the poem. This can be observed with the fundamentality and briefness of, “the household slept”. Whereas in ‘Nightfall’, the level of sophistication of the language is of a much greater measure, such as, ”Old king, you’re marvellous journeys done,” seemingly spoken from an adults perspective, also as of the direct references to a work of Shakespeare.
After being “blessed by the sun”, the immature child then sets out to kill the owl, a symbol of wisdom, whilst her father is blindly sleeping. Reinforcing a powerful technique of Harwood’s, the child killing the owl corresponds with her naivety, defying her father and disregarding his wisdom. The child is horrified with the harsh reality of the violent death of the owl, expecting the situation to conform directly to her simplistic image of instant, peaceful death, “bundle of stuff and dribbled through loose straw tangling in bowels”. We are quite sympathetic towards the owl, but to the child as well. Witnessing this life altering experience for the child enhances the audience’s understanding, giving Harwood’s poetry depth and realistic qualities.
Nightfall however, depicts a very different relationship between the father and his daughter. His role as her mentor has been revoked and passed onto his daughter as his guide, his “stick thin comforter”. This represents the passing of time as well as a revelation to the cyclic nature of life. This vivid and grotesque imagery provides fundamental richness to her poetry and presents the responder with insights into Harwood’s own perspectives.