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Symbolism poems
Symbolism in modern poetry
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Imagine, watching as humans greedily destroy nature just to satisfy their selfish desires. Imagine, hiding in the bushes while watching your fallen comrades being treated as if they were just another casualty in the war. As if their identities and sacrifice were insignificant and unnecessary because they died... The loss of identity and the human destruction of nature is highlighted in Kenneth Slessor’s poems Beach Burial and North Country. It is through these poems that Slessor uses a range of poetic techniques to bring images alive, permitting us to visualise scenes in our mind, which is why studying his poems would allow students to develop their understanding of poetic techniques and powerful ideas. Beach Burial, an elegy in honour of all the soldiers that have died in war presents ideas on the loss of identity through various poetic techniques. Throughout the poem, Slessor depicts how the fallen soldiers are treated …show more content…
as numbers, instead of bodies, which enhances the loss of identity of the soldiers. This theme is conveyed in ”But morning rolls them in the foam". The personification of 'morning rolls' represents the tide, which creates images of dead soldiers being washed ashore. Slessor uses personification to enable us to visualise how the identity of the soldiers are lost once they are washed ashore which emphasises how his poems are so powerful that they bring images to life.
Therefore, by studying Slessor’s poems, students are able to gain knowledge of vigorous and potent messages and ideas through array of poetic techniques. Loss of identity is also conveyed in the quotes "Unknown seaman" and "Dead seamen". The term "Unknown seaman" is utilised to show us that once the soldiers die, their sacrifice becomes wasteful and worthless as they become unnamed and forgotten. The change in adjective from 'unknown' to 'dead' also demonstrates the anonymity of the soldiers which enhances the idea that with war there is always death. The loss of identity of the soldiers becomes evident in the term 'dead' as it does not make reference to any race or the soldiers allegiance. Therefore, the ideas that Slessor conveys in Beach Burial, enables students to develop their understanding of poetic techniques and powerful messages and
ideas. North Country on the other hand, is a poem that addresses the negative change in the environment due to the careless acts of humans. It displays the theme of human destruction through a combination of poetic techniques which helps reinforce how Slessor's poetry is a unique way to express powerful messages and ideas. Throughout the poem, we notice Slessor’s negative attitude towards the destruction of nature. It is especially evident in the quote, "Bangled by greedy death" which displays personification. The verb 'Bangled' describes the process of ring barking trees to death, so that there can be land for agriculture. 'Greedy death' is personified to demonstrate how the trees are dying as a result of the greed of logging companies, and is directed to humans, informing us that we have destroyed their souls. Human destruction is also evident in "Dripping red with blood". This quote symbolises pain and murder and is a metaphor for sap as it creates an image of a bleeding victim. Slessor equates the destruction of nature to murder which reinforces the poets attitude towards us humans destroying nature. Therefore, it is through a variety of poetic techniques that encapsulates us to imagine the vast and horrific images presented in North Country, which is why Kenneth Slessor’s poetry should be studied in the HSC. Overall, it is through the themes of loss of identity in Beach Burial and the human destruction of nature in North Country that opens up our mind and evokes our senses. Kenneth Slessor has successfully used array of poetic techniques to demonstrate his passion for poetry, which in turn has brought images to life, which is why I believe that studying Kenneth Slessor’s poetry would allow students to expand their knowledge on poetic techniques and ponder on unique and powerful messages.
The author shows the reader the sea just as the sailor does as death, but more than death
The interpretations of what comes after death may vary greatly across literature, but one component remains constant: there will always be movement. In her collection Native Guard, Natasha Trethewey discusses the significance, permanence and meaning of death often. The topic is intimate and personal in her life, and inescapable in the general human experience. Part I of Native Guard hosts many of the most personal poems in the collection, and those very closely related to the death of Trethewey’s mother, and the exit of her mother’s presence from her life. In “Graveyard Blues”, Trethewey examines the definition of “home” as a place of lament, in contrast to the comforting meaning in the epitaph beginning Part I, and the significance
The personal and cultural context of an era shapes the thoughts and thus the work of the poets of the time. Kenneth Slessor was a famous Australian poet and journalist. Born in 1901 in Orange, New South Wales, he was appointed war correspondent for a period of four years in World War 2. This meant that he was exposed to certain situations and events which, by their very nature, compelled him to contemplate both death and the meaning of human existence. This heavily impacted his writing and is evident throughout two of his most famous poems. These are Beach Burial and Five Bells. In both, he deeply questions both the meaning of life and the idea of death being unsurpassable. Kenneth Slessor rates death as having great power. Such a fact is demonstrated throughout his poetry. The power of death is explored and meaning of human existence is questioned.
While other soldiers were buried after they fell in battle on the ground the gunner in the turret was instead washed out with a hose. “When I died they washed me out of the turret with a hose.” vividly puts the idea in the reader’s face that there was no dignity or honor in his death. The irony in the poem is that the gunner was fighting for a grand cause in a massively important conflict yet the man died in a horrible and repulsive way. Ultimately The Death of a Ball Turret Gunner was a poem more about reflection and thought than about answers. It sought to cope with tragedy by talking about it rather than rationalizing
Millay’s poem “Thou famished grave” explores death’s inevitable success and the speaker’s resistance against it to gain victory within loss. The first way Millay achieves this is through the animalization of death. The poem describes death throughout with words such as, “roar” (2) and “jaws” (7), which leads to a portrayal of death as a predatory animal. A further description in the poem of the speaker as “prey” (9), helps to strengthen this portrayal. As a result, this animalistic depiction of predator and prey shows death’s advantage and dominance over life. In addition, it shows that the speaker is like a gazelle being hunted by a lion. They will not stand motionless and be defeated, but will run away to survive death and “aim not to be
“...Put your pistol to your head and go to Fiddlers’ Green.” Throughout literary history, epic stories of heroes dying for their gods and their countries have called men to battle and romanticized death, but Langston Hughes approaches the subject in a different way. He addresses death as a concept throughout much of his work. From his allusions to the inevitability of death to his thoughts on the inherent injustice in death, the concept of human mortality is well addressed within his works. In Hughes’ classic work, “Poem to a Dead Soldier,” he describes death in quite unflattering terms as he profusely apologizes to a soldier sent to fight and die for his country.
Perceptions of the natural world have fluctuated throughout humanity’s short time on this earth, going in and out of style as societies and technologies have grown and died. As is the the very nature of literature itself, literature and its authors have managed to capture these shifting views, expressed and illustrated by the art of written word. Naturally, the literature chosen for us to read based on this fluid theme of nature encompasses an array of perspectives. One of these views is that nature is sublime and above all else, a reflection of all that which is perfection. Another is that nature is cold, uncaring, and indifferent to the vanities of humanity.
Through the careful use of diction presented through a first-person perspective, Kenyon is able to use The Blue Bowl as a medium for social commentary regarding what she sees as a primitive mourning process that does not help those who undertake it. Through a careful analysis of the poem, the reader is able to understand Kenyon’s critique of the mourning rituals that humans use to alleviate the grief caused by the death of a loved one and interpret the shortcomings that Kenyon finds. Kenyon’s use of perspective combined with specifically chosen diction enables her to present a social commentary regarding what she believes to be the inherent shortcomings in the emotional effects of the burial itself and the sense of closure it is supposed to bring yet fails to achieve during a typical period of mourning.
I will discuss the similarities by which these poems explore themes of death and violence through the language, structure and imagery used. In some of the poems I will explore the characters’ motivation for targeting their anger and need to kill towards individuals they know personally whereas others take out their frustration on innocent strangers. On the other hand, the remaining poems I will consider view death in a completely different way by exploring the raw emotions that come with losing a loved one.
The Theme of Loss in Poetry Provide a sample of poetry from a range of authors, each of whom portrays a different character. the theme of loss in some way. Anthology Introduction The object of this collection is to provide a sample of poetry from a range of authors, each of whom portray the theme of ‘loss’ in some way. The ‘Loss’ has been a recurring theme in literature for centuries, from.
In the poem “A song of Despair” Pablo Neruda chronicles the reminiscence of a love between two characters, with the perspective of the speaker being shown in which the changes in their relationship from once fruitful to a now broken and finished past was shown. From this Neruda attempts to showcase the significance of contrasting imagery to demonstrate the Speaker’s various emotions felt throughout experience. This contrasting imagery specifically develops the reader’s understanding of abandonment, sadness, change, and memory. The significant features Neruda uses to accomplish this include: similes, nautical imagery, floral imagery, and apostrophe.
Nature is often a focal point for many author’s works, whether it is expressed through lyrics, short stories, or poetry. Authors are given a cornucopia of pictures and descriptions of nature’s splendor that they can reproduce through words. It is because of this that more often than not a reader is faced with multiple approaches and descriptions to the way nature is portrayed. Some authors tend to look at nature from a deeper and personal observation as in William Wordsworth’s “I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud”, while other authors tend to focus on a more religious beauty within nature as show in Gerard Manley Hopkins “Pied Beauty”, suggesting to the reader that while to each their own there is always a beauty to be found in nature and nature’s beauty can be uplifting for the human spirit both on a visual and spiritual level.
On the most superficial level, the verbal fragments in The Waste Land emphasize the fragmented condition of the world the poem describes. Partly because it was written in the aftermath of World War I, at a time when Europeans’ sense of security as well as the land itself was in shambles, the poem conveys a sense of disillusionment, confusion, and even despair. The poem’s disjointed structure expresses these emotions better than the rigidity and clarity of more orthodox writing. This is evinced by the following from the section "The Burial of the Dead":
“Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard” is a poem composed by Thomas Gray over a period of ten years. Beginning shortly after the death of his close friend Richard West in 1742, “Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard” was first published in 1751. This poem’s use of dubbal entendre may lead the intended audience away from the overall theme of death, mourning, loss, despair and sadness; however, this poem clearly uses several literary devices to convey the author’s feelings toward the death of his friend Richard West, his beloved mother, aunt and those fallen soldiers of the Civil War. This essay will discuss how Gray uses that symbolism and dubbal entendre throughout the poem to convey the inevitability of death, mourning, conflict within self, finding virtue in one’s life, dealing with one’s misfortunes and giving recognition to those who would otherwise seem insignificant.
Funeral Blues by W. H. Auden is a short poem that illustrates the emotions that he is dealing with after the love of his life passes away. The tone of this piece evokes feelings that will differ depending on the reader; therefore, the meaning of this poem is not in any way one-dimensional, resulting in inevitable ambiguity . In order to evoke emotion from his audience, Auden uses a series of different poetic devices to express the sadness and despair of losing a loved one. This poem isn’t necessarily about finding meaning or coming to some overwhelming realization, but rather about feeling emotions and understanding the pain that the speaker is experiencing. Through the use of poetic devices such as an elegy, hyperboles, imagery, metaphors, and alliterations as well as end-rhyme, Auden has created a powerful poem that accurately depicts the emotions a person will often feel when the love of their live has passed away.