Poem Analysis - Bruce Dawe's "Life Cycle and Rod Moran's "A Homage to the Elephants
Poem Essay
By Oli Grandy
“Poetry opens a window on worlds we imagined we already knew”. Poetry is more than a group of miscellaneous words with no apparent meaning. Analysis of the denotation and connotation of a poem can establish an in-depth understanding of the meaning of the text; therefore there are no hidden meanings in poetry. Analysis of the literal message as denoted and that which is connoted by word choices, literary techniques and devices reveals the invited reading of the text. 'Life Cycle', an Australian poem written by Bruce Dawe makes use of figurative language, paradox and irony to portray a satirical picture of the life of followers of the Victorian football code, Aussie Rules. “A Homage to the Elephant” by Rod Moran uses a variety of word choices, punctuation and sounds to reveal the denotation and connotation of the blurred meanings of the poem. These Australian poems demonstrate how deeper meaning becomes apparent when the layers of the text are unpacked, and read for the symbolic association or subtext.
“A Homage to the Elephant” by Rod Moran gives a detailed description of an animal; and in this poem an Elephant. The poet gives a wide variety of metaphors and contrast to glorify the animal. The description describes the animal to reveal to the reader the true majestic nature of the large and usually misunderstood beast. The poem describes in great detail the characteristics of the Elephant to highlight the majesty of this creature. Such evocative language is used throughout the poem highlight the numerous qualities of the animal. Moran uses complex paradoxes to draw on the specific nature of the Elephant, ‘Their stumped teak-log legs’ and later, ‘breezy as balsa wood’, in these lines, Moran uses binaries, the heavy timbered legs move gracefully as though made of the lightest of wood. He uses such comparison and contrast metaphorically to define the nature of the elephant moving like dhows of olde across the savannah that seems to
By Oli Grandy
“Poetry opens a window on worlds we imagined we already knew”. Poetry is more than a group of miscellaneous words with no apparent meaning. Analysis of the denotation and connotation of a poem can establish an in-depth understanding of the meaning of the text; therefore there are no hidden meanings in poetry. Analysis of the literal message as denoted and that which is connoted by word choices, literary techniques and devices reveals the invited reading of the text. 'Life Cycle', an Australian poem written by Bruce Dawe makes use of figurative language, paradox and irony to portray a satirical picture of the life of followers of the Victorian football code, Aussie Rules. “A Homage to the Elephant” by Rod Moran uses a variety of word choices, punctuation and sounds to reveal the denotation and connotation of the blurred meanings of the poem. These Australian poems demonstrate how deeper meaning becomes apparent when the layers of the text are unpacked, and read for the symbolic association or subtext.
“A Homage to the Elephant” by Rod Moran gives a detailed description of an animal; and in this poem an Elephant. The poet gives a wide variety of metaphors and contrast to glorify the animal. The description describes the animal to reveal to the reader the true majestic nature of the large and usually misunderstood beast. The poem describes in great detail the characteristics of the Elephant to highlight the majesty of this creature. Such evocative language is used throughout the poem highlight the numerous qualities of the animal. Moran uses complex paradoxes to draw on the specific nature of the Elephant, ‘Their stumped teak-log legs’ and later, ‘breezy as balsa wood’, in these lines, Moran uses binaries, the heavy timbered legs move gracefully as though made of the lightest of wood. He uses such comparison and contrast metaphorically to define the nature of the elephant moving like dhows of olde across the savannah that seems to