Gwen Harwood Essay

Poetry creatively captures human experience, emotion and nature. Gwen Harwood employs a range of literary and poetic techniques such(prenominal) as imagery, religious entirelyusions and personification to demonstrate the universality of concepts such as vent, death, memory and puerility. Through this, Harwoods poetry to creates clear and strong perceptions of the persistency of experience and provide permanence to these transient elements of humanity.In Triste, Triste, Harwood explores the core themes of property coital sadness and the contradictory nature of the physical and spiritual realms that be created by the human remains. These aspects all pertain to the human experience and increment of oneself. That is, the physicality of the skeleton, or frame, and the intellectual and creative importance of the psyche as a muscle. The meaning of the word Triste is sad and mournful hence the repeating of this word in the title is indicative of Harwoods reflectiveness on the bo lshy of inspiration. In the first stanza, a yearning and apparent quest for ongoing physical passion in the continuous space betwixt love and residue presents the notion of sleep and its ironically nurturing qualities for the mind and the body despite the idleness of the body during this time of restoration.The phrase what is more provokes the endorser to reflect on such moments in their own life, and to reflect on space with renewed substance and how important it is for the brain and the self. Harwood describes this process as a prison, eyes against shoulder keep their blood total darkness curtains tight body rolls back like a stone. Parallels are move mingled with the conceitl that the imagination is a separate entity and the separation between the physical skull and its place for the brain to reside, the brain resembles the imagination or factory of creativity. The verse form makes specific and clear biblical references to the Resurrection by dint of with(predicate) imagery furthermore providing to the creative self, as it is aligned with the Christ, walking to Easter atonic. The requirement of the escapism and discovery of spiritual intensity is strongly reinforced. In increment to the biblical references, divine imagery is implied through the Angelic light.The chronic use of personification and imagery encourages the reader to value the indistinct moments of hot afterglow as opportunity to liberate the imagination. Harwood creates distinctiveness between the divine light present in the second stanza on with the darkness of tangible sleep and love through her use of enjambment and repetition which draws attention to the determination of imaginative inspiration. In the last stanza, Harwood recombines the spirit with the corporal self which at last conveys the necessity of intimacy physically and the evanescence of imaginative passion. Additionally, the physical self along with the emotional self, are brought together as one entity which cannot exist without the opposite thus they possess equal importance and value, despite having separate functions. end-to-end the poem Gwen Harwood reinforces the paradox that implies that primitive pleasure must coincide with extreme pain.In addition to her references to loss and sadness, Gwen Harwood amalgamates various elements of human experience through the reflectivity of memory board as a primary theme. The importance of memory is expressed through harmonizing various layers of an individuals life and their divided experiences to create a wholeness that quits one with the decision of death. This concept is expressed through common themes of childhood, mateship and loss allowing her images to rest strongly with the reader. At Mornington is a reflection on mortality, and the value of memory in price of appreciating life. The thematic concerns of loss and grief unravel through the first stanza. The office describes her relationship with her suffer and establishes h im as a protective figure through her pondering of childhood memories.This motif of water is representative of serenity, peace and reflection which is furthermore established through the personification of the wave which was caught and rolled. Harwood distinguishes the finality and formality of death, which is conveyed in the poem through the dull imagery, the durability of marble and granite gravestones with the fragility of memory, fugitive as light to convey the gravitational status of human life as opposed to the perceptions of experience that we choose to keep back in our memory. A connection is made between memory and loss as they are both products of the past and Harwood uses this to reflect on the significance of valuing the present. This is furthered through the the wholeness of this day shared between two friends.The poem is established through Harwoods memory of her early childhood when she leapt from her fathers arms into the sea. She views her childish persistence, ev idently through the repetition of the abutting wave. This concept is again reinforced through the blue brain referencing water and the sea with an underlying commentary on the qualities of water and childhood alike. This concept of childhood memory is later pen in Harwoods image of pumpkins risingin airy defiance of nature, a metaphor for her constant trials against the inevitability of death and emergence in the pep pill of light. The tone of the poem becomes reflective as the persona and her friend stand in silence amongst the avenues of the dead, which creates a need for puff and comfort.The silence of a dead human being is furthermore referenced through the image of the skull as it resembles the result of death. Reflection is regarded highly throughout At Mornington hence the ongoing reference to silence is important as relfection requires silence and tranquillity. The innocent belief that defying gravity was only a return of balance is reflected in the personas present lon ging to choke the gravity of death in airy defiance of nature.The idea of memory is furthered through the use of a dream whereby the persona begins to reconcile transient life with death. The raw and accentuated emotion of the poem turns sober reflection where the persona thinks of death no more but is able to reside death through the experience of dreams, pain, memories, love and grief. From dwelling on mortality emerges a serenity and acceptance inspired by integrate the inescapability of death with an acceptance of human nature and an appreciation of memory and friendship.Likewise, in her poem The Violets, Harwood blends the emotion of grief with a reflection on memory in order to achieve a state of reconciliation. The first stanza depicts a melancholy setting where frail violets excite the personas recollection of a poignant childhood experience. Harwoods adult grief is mirror by her juvenile outrage at the time which had been stolen from her, and like death, the loss of time is irreplaceable.However the child is ultimately reconciled by the posy of the personas parents, depicted through Harwoods use of domestic, plain imagery of the long hair and wood stove. There is a conviction in years cannot move that conveys a sudden cognizance that memorys lamplit presences can in times of despair, be as real to individuals as the present, and so a source of solace. The idea of there being consolation in loss is one that leave behind resonate with readers searching for relief, and the lingering scent of violets shows the longevity of memory and conveys it as eternal, continuing the presence of those physically lost.Gwen Harwood explores and delves into the themes of time, death, childhood and loss which are all intrinsic to human experience. She effectively employs a range of poetic and literary techniques to explore transience, finality and the imperative role of memory.