Nathan Gallagher - Gwen Harwood Poetry Essay 8 2007

Monday, 22nd October

English Essay

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Gwen Harwoods Poetry

Despite differing responses to text over time, ultimately the structure and style of a text is significant in evaluating its success. Discuss this statement evaluating the structure and poetic techniques of at least TWO poems by Harwood.

Through studying Gwen Harwoods poetry and considering the various readings which highlight values of the context to which they belong, have co!e to an understanding that she engages readers personally,

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Nathan Gallagher

Nathan Gallagher - Gwen Harwood Poetry Essay 8 2007

!a%ing alternate readings and responses possible& There are nu!erous aspects of Harwoods poetry which !a%e it worthy of critical study, including perennial the!es, Harwoods ability as a co!poser to effectively use for!, structure and language techni'ues, the poetrys distinctive 'ualities and also the rich nature of the values presented in her poetry& (espite the differing responses to her poetry over ti!e, it is ulti!ately the uni'ue structure and style of Harwoods writing that adds significance to her poetry, thus contributing to its success& Harwoods s%ill as a co!poser to explore different structures and poetic techni'ues is a !a)or contributor to the success of her wor%, for it allows a variety of different readings to be applied& The Glass *ar consists of seven stan+as, all six lines long, enabling the responder to easily follow the story which unfolds, and facilitates in the develop!ent of their own uni'ue reading of the poe!& The first four lines of each stan+a are in ia!bic tetra!eter, whilst the last two lines are longer and are ia!bic penta!eter couplets, giving an effect of a conclusion to the end of each stan+a& However, the last stan+a of the poe! differs in structure fro! the rest of the poe!, consisting of three lines of ia!bic tetra!eter, followed by two lines of ia!bic penta!eter and then concluding the stan+a and thus poe! with one line of ia!bic tetra!eter& This change in structure not only adds a conclusion to the entire poe!, but also places greater e!phasis upon the -cru!pled scarf. / a !etony! for the childs deflated spirit due to the loss of innocence not only because the glass )ar doesnt retain light but also as he finds his !other -faithless. and -would not turn her face.& This structure is varied towards the end of the poe!, when Harwood uses en)a!b!ent to add fluency and inevitability to her poe! through the state!ent, 01nce !ore2to bed, and to worse drea!s he went& This is extre!ely effective as it helps to portray the severity of the situation the boy faces, as the responder, without pause, is !ade aware of what is happening, whilst relaying the extent of the boys fear and desperation& Harwood uses run3on stan+as and the regular rhy!e patterns to show the co!plexity of the childs plight to gain respite fro! the !onsters of the night& This uni'ue for! is interwoven with a si!ple rhy!e sche!e of 455466, which uses childish words such as -bed., -fled., -drea!ed. and -screa!ed where Harwood establishes an innocent tone, and provides a direct lin% to childhood nursery rhy!es, further!ore illu!inating the the!e of innocence being tarnished by experience& There is a conscious cleverness in Harwoods choice of words in The Glass *ar, as a word or phrase is able to be interpreted in various ways to suit the responders ideologies, such as the light i!agery, -this pulse of light beside his bed. and -resurrected sun. to depict the childs innocence and naivety if, seen fro! a psychoanalytical perspective, whereas in a religious interpretation, light can be seen as holy, or as a gaining of insight2%nowledge or even as an allusion to God& Harwoods clever use of poetic techni'ues continues throughout the poe!, enabling a variety of interpretations possible& The poe!, fro! a psychoanalytical viewpoint, conveys an a!biguous outloo%, Harwoods use of light i!agery conveys that the future can be deceptive and te!porary& 7hereas the sa!e use of light i!agery can be interpreted fro! a 8reudian viewpoint, when your self has !atured you are able to see both sides of the light, hence the a!biguous i!ages& 9anguage is also used to portray the boys opinion of his father who apparently -held fiddle and bow, and scraped assent to the !alignant ballet.& :uch language conveys the boys oedipal perception that his father is orchestrating his !isfortune& The incorporation of the 1edipal tale into the poe! also brings out the!es of !aturing as the oedipal co!plex i!plies an identification between the !onsters of the night as well as his father and the learning necessary to !aturation& Harwood continues this !anipulation of structure and style in her poe! The ;iolets, and it is again evident that it is this !anipulation that has contributed to the success of the poe!, as it also enables a variety of readings and interpretations possible& The ;iolets is one of Harwoods lyrical, !editative poe!s which deals with the the!es of childhood and !e!ory& t recaptures and recreates without senti!entality or self3 indulgent nostalgia the life of an only child in a secure and happy fa!ily and follows Harwoods a!biguous dile!!a of adulthood as she searches for co!fort in fondly e!bellished childhood !e!ories of 5risbane& The i!agery throughout is pivotal when interpreting the poe! in different ways& The violets are an a!biguous sy!bol of both beauty and transience, in that violets are short lived flowers, -:pring violets in "|Page Nathan Gallagher

Nathan Gallagher - Gwen Harwood Poetry Essay 8 2007

their loa!y bed.& Psychoanalytically, -8rail !elancholy flowers a!ong ashes and loa!. fro! the adult point of view )uxtaposes with the 'uote fro! the last point, -Their sweetness., fro! the childs perspective, shows that the child, through innocent eyes, sees the violets as beautiful& The adult, !atured through experiences, %nows that the flower will die& n a religious sense this could be seen as a reflection of the dar% ti!es that the adult is experiencing on their road bac% to innocence& Harwood continues her !ulti3facet i!agery throughout the poe!, not only using the violets but also light i!agery to enable an array of interpretations& Hu!anists would see the light or !e!ories of the light, -light the la!p. and -wheres !orning gone., as a way for the parents to provide co!fort, not God, -9a!p lit presences.3 parents are the beacons& 4 religious perspective would see the light as the parents bringing God into the dar% ti!es of the child& However, the light is -4!biguous. and -un3returning. along with the -blurred dar%ness. which encourages a psychoanalytical interpretation as a confused state of !ind is presented& t is due to Harwoods ability to create !ulti3facet i!agery that enable an assort!ent of readings and interpretations possible, contributing to the poe!s success, and its ability to transcend ti!e&

Harwood uses a regular and generally unobtrusive rhy!e sche!e& 9ines that convey present have four beats while so!e of the past have three& This has the effect of !a%ing the evocation of the past !ore stri%ingly si!ple, suggesting a childish sensibility& :tructural indented phrase, -years cannot !ove. stands alone and acts as a bridge to present, though the i!ages of the past return again in a vignette of tenderness in the last stan+a& The indentations and paragraphing has a purpose, to e!ploy )uxtaposition,
connecting past with present with verses to create a further division between the phases of child and adult& 4 8e!inist view !ay interpret this as a de!onstration of independence, yet there is irony as the !other is presented as fe!inine and the 0house wor%er and the father as the 0bread3winner& 4s can be seen, it is due to Harwoods ability to e!ploy a uni'ue structure to the poe! The ;iolets that enables the responder to !ore easily follow the storyline and to also encourage alternate readings of the poe!& (espite differing responses to texts over ti!e, it is ulti!ately the structure and style of a text that is significant in evaluating it success& Through a critical study of both The Glass *ar and The ;iolets it is evident that it is Harwoods ability as a co!poser to effectively use for!, structure and language techni'ues, in con)unction with the distinctive 'ualities of her poetic techni'ues that has contributed to the success of her poetry, thus enabling it to transcend ti!e&

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Nathan Gallagher