The Poetry of Judith Wright Abstract This report discusses the influences of Australia as well as the universal impact on the poetry of Judith Wright. It contains an evaluation of both the techniques and the "plot" behind the poems "Remittance Man, "South of My Days" and "Eve to her Daughters" as well as a comparison between the three poems. Australia, as Wright¡¦s homeland, has had a significant effect on the content of her poems but references to English scenes are also consistent as well as general references to the universal world. Eve to Her Daughters. ? Poem Summary The poem ¡¥Eve to Her Daughters¡¦ tells of original sin and gives advice to the women (her daughters) of today from Eve regarding men. The first stanza describes the consequences of the fall but Eve¡¦s acceptance of it. The second and third stanzas describe Adam¡¦s rebellion against the punishment and the ¡§insult¡K the trick They had played on us¡¨, ¡¥They¡¦ being God and Satan whom Adam has grouped together as a united opposition. Adam was discontent with the new life and strove to build a new Eden and put God ¡¥out of business¡¦. The third and fourth stanzas tell the audience about Adam¡¦s attempt to understand how the world works and to disprove God¡¦s existence. In his quest to unravel everything he decides that if it ¡§cannot be demonstrated [it] does not exist¡¨. In this process he proves that humans themselves cannot exist and ¡§refuses to accept the conclusion¡¨. The conclusion of the poem is in a sarcastic tone as a final message to Eve¡¦s ¡¥daughters¡¦ that everybody has faults and they always work out. She suggests that Adam is too stubborn to accept this and through this he has turned himself into a shapeless enigma that ¡§doesn¡¦t exist.¡¨ ? Universal References The biblical references to Eve, Adam, Abel and Cain, as well as God and Satan are not linked to Judith Wright¡¦s homeland or any country in particular but in particular her Christian upbringing. The poem reflects feminist ideas as many of her poems do and also encourage thought by including hidden questions within the poem to challenge her audience. In the third stanza there is mentioned a number of ideals that modern people are striving for such as ¡§multiplied opportunities for safe investment and higher education¡¨ as well as advanced technologies and communications. This stanza has ... ... middle of paper ... ... Australian References The very first line of ¡§South of my Days¡¨ tells us that the poem is about Australia as it is Judith Wright¡¦s home country (¡§part of my blood¡¦s country¡¨). The ¡§tableland¡¨ described in lines 2 and 3 are distinctly Australian as well as the trees mentioned in line 4. In stanza 2 the use of the word ¡§yarn¡¨ is also Australian. Stanza 3 is one of ¡§Old Dan¡¦s¡¨ stories about a cattle muster, another distinct Australian reference especially with the inclusion of a drought mentioned and the Hunter Valley. Stanza 4 is another story containing references to particular places such as Tamworth and the Bogongs, as well as specific references to Australian legends such as the Cobb & Co. mail service and Captain Thunderbolt the bushranger, all of which are uniquely Australian. Conclusion The balance between Australia and the universal in the poetry of Judith Wright is fairly even though it does lean more towards Australian poetry. The main references in her poetry are towards England, Australia and the Bible, all of which she had grown up with and had obvious strong influences on her. The love of her country Australia is evident in many of her poems.
The repetition of the word, 'bush' in, " Bush all round - bush with no horizon.." creates a vivid visual image of the bush setting and emphasises the loneliness experienced by the drover's wife and her family. The family's loneliness is reinforced in, "...The everlasting, maddening sameness ...longs a man to break away and travel as far a way as trains can go...". This juxtaposes the traditional perception of the bush,which is that of beauty and pleasure, and depicts a tedious environment incapable of nurturing curious thought,an another hardship on the family. This is ironic as this iconic story symbolises Australia, it does this by portraying the country side in a negative light. Therefore, the harsh environment highlights the determination of Australians in the face of
‘The Drover’s Wife’ opens with a vivid visual image of the house which becomes a character in itself, the lexical word chain “round timber, slabs, and stringy bark, and floored with split slabs” shows us the poor, rough materials used to build only what is necessary to survive. Thus, we can visualise the simplistic nature of the lives the drover’s wife and her children live in their environment. Strong visual imagery is employed to depict the landscape; “Bush all round – bush with no horizon, for the country is flat. No ranges in the distance… No undergrowth”. The repetition of “no” emphasises the lack of distinguishing features, the land is monotonous and contains “nothing to relieve the eye”. The environment is isolated; they are alone “There is nothing to see, however, and not a soul to meet”. This helps the audience to develop an understanding of the isolation and loneliness of Australians living in the bush during the Colonial
One of the many factors that have contributed to the success of Australian poetry both locally and internationally is the insightful commentary or depiction of issues uniquely Australian or strongly applicable to Australia. Many Australian poets have been and are fascinated by the issues relevant to Australia. Many in fact nearly all of these poets have been influenced or have experienced the subject matter they are discussing. These poets range from Oodgeroo Noonuccal Aboriginal and women’s rights activist to Banjo Patterson describing life in the bush. Bruce Dawe is also one of these poets. His insightful representation of the dreary, depressing life of many stay at home mothers in “Up the Wall” is a brilliant example of a poem strongly relevant to Australia.
She questions “why should I be my aunt / or me, or anyone?” (75-76), perhaps highlighting the notion that women were not as likely to be seen as an induvial at this time in history. Additionally, she questions, almost rhetorically so, if “those awful hanging breasts -- / held us all together / or made us all just one?” (81-83). This conveys the questions of what it means to be a woman: are we simply similar because of “awful hanging breasts” as the speaker of the poem questions, or are we held together by something else, and what is society’s perception on this? It is also interesting to note Bishop’s use of parenthesis around the line “I could read” (15). It may function as an aside for the reader to realize that the six year old girl can in fact read, but also might function as a wink to the misconstrued notion throughout history that women were less educated and didn’t
The author shows Eve as a very detail oriented and caring person. She takes to the animals, and even at one point says that, “Poor finch...not wanting either of us to be ever alone.” I feel that she is trying to make her a sympathetic character that is alone in this world. To me, she puts herself in this spot by secluding herself instead of trying to work with Adam. All that she had to do was tell Adam that she was going to get more involved, and I think h...
...atures that make Australia what it is today. He uses the words “sunlit plain”, “vision splendid” and “wondrous glory” to provide the reader with an image that represents Australia’s reminiscent landscape. This is done to capture the reader’s thoughts in an attempt to persuade them. Paterson silences the negative aspects of rural life and the positive aspects of city life.
The Garden of Eden album is composed of six stories and poems, all about the Genesis story about Adam and Eve in the garden. Each story and poem have different writers and poets, telling their own rendition of the story of Adam and Eve. Each writer has their own ideas of what may have happened in the garden some may be true and some may be false, but there is great deal of uncertainty within the Genesis story.A common theme among the Garden of Eden album is the lack of information and how the reader has to create their own meaning from the lack of information.
As this poem characterizes the view of a native woman expressing feelings of passion relating to her culture, it also criticizes society, in particular Christianity, as the speaker is experiencing feelings of discontent with the outcome of residential schools. It does not directly criticize the faith, but through the use of a heavy native dialect and implications to the Christian faith it becomes simple to read the speakers emotions.
I believe my poetry should be included in your collection for I have lived and breathed Australian culture for just over 50 years now, I have recorded my way of life in my poems, and in particular I have a specific poem to refer to you, that is of my own and two others (also of my own work) that I think are you should seriously consider having in your collection.
For the purpose of this chapter, these words by Stephen Vincent Benet in his foreword to Margaret Walker’s first volume of poetry, For My People (1942) are really important. They give an idea about the richness of the literary heritage from which Walker started to write and to which she later added. This chapter is up to explore those “anonymous voices” in Walker’s poetry, the cultural and literary heritages that influenced her writings. Margaret Walker’s cultural heritage, like her biological inheritance, extends back to her ancestors in Africa and the Caribbean. It is quite genetic, something she got by birth; which is quite there just by being African American. Echoes of ancient myths, lost history, mixed bloods, and complex identities are brought about along with the skin colour and the racial origins.
...etaphor, “Is running in your veins” like blood, recognises the country as an integral part of life. Furthermore, rhythm created by the omission of commas in “sapphire misted mountains” combined with the rhyme scheme of the makes the tribute more powerful. Consequently the language techniques employed by Mackellar, reinforce her passion of Australia whilst also embracing the audience in an evocative image of her personal experience.
The poem in the beginning seems to have a tone of the woman being content with her decision of her heaven being on Earth. She does refer to the crucifixion of Christ as "that old catastrophe" and that the tomb of Jesus is not anything spiritual, or special, "It is h...
Adam and Eve’s interactions reflect this burden of human society by the way Adam responds to Eve as he is giving her the wreath that he created for her. Adam prepares a wreath for his beloved Eve and as he is about to give it to her, it becomes known that she ate from the Tree of Knowledge and because of this he is shocked and drops the wreath symbolizing his loss of love for her. His view of her as his companion lessens because he views her as one in a “fallen” state, i.e. the fallen wreath. He accepts her sinful acts by the end though and through his nature he breaks the bounds of logic and represents the complexity that is companionship. Companionship forces people to make people go through with actions that are often completely illogical. The construct causes Adam to go with Eve out of Eden and face the terror of the future together, a selfless act, but also one of dedication and dictated by their
To begin, the poem, “Eve’s Apology,” uses many different poetic devices such as alliteration, assonance, rhyme scheme, and simile. The author uses a great number of alliteration, which is the repetition of constant sounds generally at the beginnings of words. Alliteration can be seen in the words “what” and “weakness” in line 3. Some more examples of alliteration throughout the poem are “subtle serpent’s” (23), “he had him” (24), and “with words which” (30). Assonance, the repetition of the same or similar vowel sounds in stressed syllables that end with different consonant sounds, is another poetic device that the author uses greatly. Some examples of assonance are found in lines 10 “ The ‘p...
The last two lines of this speech are very dramatic. Eve has such a great love for Adam that she could endure anything as long as he would be by her side, but she would be nothing without him. However, this creates a paradox. One may ask, if Eve loves Adam as much as she professes to, then why put his life in jeopardy just to make her own suffering more bearable? The answer, of course, goes back to the selfishness that has pervaded her entire speech. These lines stand out because of the spondees at the end of both of them.