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Recommended: Poem analysis
Hey guys, welcome to poetry fest, on this show I like to not only entertain but also inform. I want my audience to walk away learning something. Throughout this show I will be discussing how poetry can be used as a form of social commentary to generate social change. Today’s poem is featured from 1893 written by Henry Lawson when he was 26 years old, Out Back employs a series of figurative language devices to walk us through the adversities of a shearers life, the poem also shows a fairly negative view of Australia’s natural landscape. This is to be linked to the idea that this poem is a form of social commentary. Social commentary is often referred to as a comment on society, but often as seen as a criticism. The criticism can be in the …show more content…
Lawson depicts Australia in “Out back” as a bleak environment where there are “stifling noon’s” and the soil experiences “withering weeks of drought”. The description created with these examples provides images of Australia as being almost unbearable to live in, sterile and desolate. Regardless of all this the shearer still is prepared to face tough conditions to look for work. The poet is focusing on the daily hardships that the low class have to withstand just for work and basic needs; this is evident in line 10 “all day long in the dust and heat when summer is on the track” and line 11 “with stinted stomachs and blistered feet, they carry their swags out bag” this is a clear understanding of the lengths people would go for jobs regardless of Australia’s punishing weather and …show more content…
He mentions “the air seemed dead” which creates an image of a foul and unappealing environment. Lawson so cleverly describe the hardships of being an itinerant worker out back in the line which states,” He tramped for years, till swag he bore seemed part of himself to him”. This shows that the man searched for work for years in vain so his swag was now part of him. Lawson uses metaphors to symbolise the shearer doubts of finding a job and a place he belonged or could settle down, ‘his lamps of hopes grew dim’. In other words, the shearer had a feeling that he would be left unnoticed and to die in this merciless, barren land. A simile is used in the seventh stanza in which he, by chance, finds a supposed lake and as he approaches it, “the wind blew his face like furnace breath”. This encapsulates the exact image of how hot and humid the drought and Lawson writes, rather gloomy, “where the bleaching bones of a white man lie by his mouldering swag out back”. Lawson ends the outback rather gloomy by repeating the second stanza again. The reason for this is that Lawson wanted to emphasis on the fact that this was the life of an itinerant worker or a poor person years ago and that although many attempted to search for work they most likely would meet their end the harsh, dessert-like environment. This couldn’t be avoided because the time has come for a shearer who “must carry their swag outback”. Although this
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
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.
Billy Collins is one of the most credited poets of this century and last. He is a man of many talents, most recognized though by his provocative and riveting poetry. As John McEnroe was to the sport of tennis, Billy Collins has done the same for the world of poetry. Collin’s rejected the old ways of poetry, created his own form, broke all the rules, and still retains the love and respect of the poet community. Collins has received the title of Poet Laureate of the United States twice and also has received countless awards and acknowledgements. He has achieved this through a style of poetry that is not over-interpreted and hard to understand to most, but that of the complete opposite, his poetry is hospitable and playful.
Poems, Poets, Poetry: An Introduction and Anthology. 3rd ed. Ed. Helen Vendler. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s,
...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.
In her poem entitled “The Poet with His Face in His Hands,” Mary Oliver utilizes the voice of her work’s speaker to dismiss and belittle those poets who focus on their own misery in their writings. Although the poem models itself a scolding, Oliver wrote the work as a poem with the purpose of delivering an argument against the usage of depressing, personal subject matters for poetry. Oliver’s intention is to dissuade her fellow poets from promoting misery and personal mistakes in their works, and she accomplishes this task through her speaker’s diction and tone, the imagery, setting, and mood created within the content of the poem itself, and the incorporation of such persuasive structures as enjambment and juxtaposition to bolster the poem’s
It is a way to crucially engage oneself in setting the stage for new interventions and connections. She also emphasized that she personally viewed poetry as the embodiment of one’s personal experiences, and she challenged what the white, European males have imbued in society, as she declared, “I speak here of poetry as the revelation or distillation of experience, not the sterile word play that, too often, the white fathers distorted the word poetry to mean — in order to cover their desperate wish for imagination without insight.”
Poetry like so many other things in life is complicated and easily misunderstood, similar to the poem entitled “Poetry” by Marianne Moore. Through her unique way of writing Moore uses literary devices imagery and personification to make the readers question why it is she has come to “dislike”(line 1) poetry. In particular, her word choice leaves a lot of room to wonder exactly why she has chosen to write it this way. A main theme that is represented in this poem is conformity and whether or not it is something to be followed.
The 19th century Australian Novelist and short story writer, Henry Lawson, uses distinctly visual techniques of writing, which allowing responders to visualize the hardships faced during . Australia’s colonial period The iconic story “The Drover’s Wife” reveals the hardships faced by women and the sacrifices and adjustments they made to survive. Lawson’s story “In a Dry Season” gives the reader an insight into the difficult lives of Australians during the colonial period. The Artwork “Sunday Evening” by Russell Drysdale stresses the hardships faced in the Australian outback. His artwork compliments Henry Lawson short stories.
Billy Collins has used a specific metaphor, simile, rhyme and personification in his poem ‘Introduction to poetry’ in order to show how one should better understand a poem. This poem focused on what the poem actually mean and how a poem should be clearly understood. Throughout the poem, Billy Collins has presented a clear way of understanding the poem by using a very interesting imagery, symbolism, metaphor and a very sensitive sound. The words used in this poem are so powerful that the readers are convinced to think about the issue presented in the poem.
In reading poetry, from many different genres, its seems that politically motivated verse seems to dominate, next to love that is. It also seems that poets have a desire to live in a different time, a different place. No one ever seems to be content with the condition of their world, yet, I suppose that is in the nature of humans. We all want something better or something from the past that we can't have. Wither it be the simplicity, the passion, the technology that we don't have, the peace that once was or the greatness that has long been gone, poets that are political in nature suggest a very personal, yet pervading utopia. Two poets who, political in nature, that were born in the same year, lived in the same part of the world, and who attending the same college prove to be an interesting contrast to one another. Kingsley Amis and Philip Larkin are both natives of England and are considered 'Modernists', but what they suggest isn't a "better place" or a different time. Their work represents a change in attitude, from looking at what isn't to looking at reality and what is.
Leaving “the remnant jarrah forest”, entering Perth, with its “dun plain shimmering with heat and distant towers”, the narrator—originally from this city—felt homecoming. Watching over this shimmering city, he experiences a sudden desire of staying, but then he thinks of his examination results and drives directly out of the city. The country boy Biggie, on the other hand, claims the “cities confound him, [and] he can’t see the point of them.” As soon as they moved out of the city, Biggie’s “huge, unlovely face is creased with
Kennedy, X. J., and Dana Gioia, eds. An Introduction to Poetry. 13th ed. New York: Longman, 2010. 21. Print.
There have been many interesting and appealing poems written throughout history. One of the most interesting and appealing poems is Robert Frost’s “Out, Out”. The poem has the ability to make the reader visualize an event in vivid detail without making it into a short story. The poem depicts a very dramatic scene and makes it seem as if the reader is really there. Poems are generally thought to be about love and feelings, but some poems can actually be like a short story; these are called narrative poems, which means that they tell a story. The poem “Out, Out” is a great example of a narrative poem, telling the story of a young boy cutting a tree.
The poet uses examples of imagery in this poem. The poet uses a simile in the first line of the first stanza to start off the poem. The simile she uses is ''the skin cracks like a pod''. The opening of the poem gives a clear message that something is severely wrong. A pod cracks with barely any resistance so the comparison to the skin is a unreserved statement outlining how easily the skin is. There is obviously a drought or a vast undersupply of water. The opening surprises the reader and gives an indication of what is to come. The poet uses a short and abrupt line which is effective