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Bruce Dawe – essay
In your view, what social issues are explored in Dawe’s poetry? Explain how these issues are developed and represented in two of his poems that you have studied!
Bruce Dawe is a contemporary Australian poet from the late 1960’s to the early 1970’s, writing poems protesting against the issues occurring in society that he didn’t morally believe in, these issues are still relevant in today’s society. Dawe comes from a catholic back ground and is passionate towards his religion; his catholic views were a big impact on what he wrote about in his poems, creating him to see things differently to the everyday Australian. He once quoted “the world is a brutal, mysterious, beautiful, inexplicable affair”. In the poems ‘The wholly innocent’ and ‘Homecoming’ Dawe explores and represents the social issues; moral brutality and loss of humanity. Dawe portrays the ugliness of human nature within the world; to challenge us about our moral brutality and loss of humanity within the world. Dawe represents these two social issues; moral brutality and loss of humanity through the use of poetic techniques. He uses the poetic techniques language and voice, expressing it through his Christian beliefs.
Initially the poem ‘The wholly innocent’ represents the moral brutality within human nature through Dawe portraying the ugliness of humanity. This social issue is shown throughout the poem and is represented with the use of the language technique personal pronoun, the personal ‘I’ is repeated numerous times throughout the poem. Dawe uses the personal pronoun so many times in the poem as a referral of the unborn baby; this is representing the voice of the fetus. The purpose of this poem is to protest against abortion and Dawe uses the voice of the baby as plea of survival. Dawe is challenging us to see how brutal our nature is as humans, and he uses an innocent baby to also gain more sympathy from the audience.
Additionally, in the poem ‘Homecoming’ the social
In your view, what social issues are explored in Dawe’s poetry? Explain how these issues are developed and represented in two of his poems that you have studied!
Bruce Dawe is a contemporary Australian poet from the late 1960’s to the early 1970’s, writing poems protesting against the issues occurring in society that he didn’t morally believe in, these issues are still relevant in today’s society. Dawe comes from a catholic back ground and is passionate towards his religion; his catholic views were a big impact on what he wrote about in his poems, creating him to see things differently to the everyday Australian. He once quoted “the world is a brutal, mysterious, beautiful, inexplicable affair”. In the poems ‘The wholly innocent’ and ‘Homecoming’ Dawe explores and represents the social issues; moral brutality and loss of humanity. Dawe portrays the ugliness of human nature within the world; to challenge us about our moral brutality and loss of humanity within the world. Dawe represents these two social issues; moral brutality and loss of humanity through the use of poetic techniques. He uses the poetic techniques language and voice, expressing it through his Christian beliefs.
Initially the poem ‘The wholly innocent’ represents the moral brutality within human nature through Dawe portraying the ugliness of humanity. This social issue is shown throughout the poem and is represented with the use of the language technique personal pronoun, the personal ‘I’ is repeated numerous times throughout the poem. Dawe uses the personal pronoun so many times in the poem as a referral of the unborn baby; this is representing the voice of the fetus. The purpose of this poem is to protest against abortion and Dawe uses the voice of the baby as plea of survival. Dawe is challenging us to see how brutal our nature is as humans, and he uses an innocent baby to also gain more sympathy from the audience.
Additionally, in the poem ‘Homecoming’ the social