Poem Analysis: For The Hand Grenade And Summer Rain

‘For the Fire’ poem analysis
• Some poems I have written in the past such as ‘For the Fire’, ‘Martin and the Hand Grenade’ and ‘Summer Rain’ contain a deliberate, overlying theme. The theme of violence is clearly evident, in ‘For the Fire’ we read about a vicious encounter between a kookaburra and a lizard. In ‘Martin and the Hand Grenade’ a child shows his other class members a grenade, on old weapon of warfare, and I use imagery to create a classroom battle scene. Finally in ‘Summer Rain’ a car crash is depicted.
• In ‘For the Fire’ the theme of violence is more refined, the theme, is of violence in nature and it is centred around the phrase ‘survival of the fittest’. In this poem strong words are used to help convey the theme some include ‘hacks’, ‘pouting blood’, ‘bones
I left the civilised comfort of my home and went outside to gather fire wood. While outside the harshness of nature dawned on me, it was like I had arrived on another plant. The humble kookaburra is normally depicted as a gently animal that seems to laugh at everything from the safety of the tree tops. My perspective changed as I now realised it to must do whatever it can to survive.
• At the beginning of the poem the mood contains an aspect of loneliness especially when the persona is depicted as being the only living thing in the forest. As the poem continues the mood changes to that of violence and fear, when the scene of a kookaburra attacking a lizard is vividly described.
• Imagery is used in the poem, in the first and second stanza I wrote ‘Its singular, human thud. No one is there, only the wind through sparse leaves’. Through this technique I get the image of myself standing in a forest and the only sound I hear is the axe I am using to chop wood, but occasionally I hear the soft gust of air weaving through the leaves. This imagery creates the feeling of loneliness amongst the ominous and silent