Symbolism In The Poetry Of Harwood

Harwood uses light and dark symbolism in a traditional Christian style; light represents god while dark represents evil. This is exemplified with the boy’s hope of using sunlight “to exorcize monsters that whispering would rise nightly”, and with Harwood’s pun on “sun” to also symbolise Christ. While in the first stanza, with the sun’s rays personified as disciples who fled; “sun’s disciples cloaked…from his passion fled” alludes to Christ’s suffering, the last stanza refers to the “resurrected sun” ending on a hopeful note, while also having an ironic quality as the boy as already lost his innocence. Personification of the sun; “wink and laugh” almost in a mockery tone ridicules the innocent humour which exist in our childhood, and positions