Weapons Training Poem Analysis

Introduction

The voices of individuals in shaping the perspective on Australian issues are presented in Bruce Dawe’s poetry. Dawe's ability to express the drama and beauty of everyday life has made his work readily accessible to the general public. Bruce Dawe’s primary purpose in his poetry was to depict the unspoken social issues, concerning the typical Australian suburban residents. His concern for these matters is evident through his mocking approach to the issues he presents in his poems. The poem “___” and the related text help shape our perspective on Australian issues through Dawe's use of techniques and context.

Weapon Training

The poem ‘Weapons Training’ is written in a monologue style, and is in the viewpoint of one person. The persona in the poem is the drill sergeant. This poem is referring to a drill sergeant yelling at a group of untrained soldiers, as he teaches them on how to use their weapons. He uses a negative tone towards the young soldiers, using language that insults them in the aim to toughen them up. The language the drill sergeant uses is offensive and racist. He furthermore tries to get the soldiers to discover ‘hate’, so they can learn to dislike the enemies and kill ‘the enemies’. He does not portray a charming figure. However, he relishes in the brutal sense of

“One constant in a world of variables”- Bruce Dawe has described the man's characteristics and his actions from the first line of the poem, implying that this man is an unchanging character in a world where everything is evolving around him. The pumpkin is almost alive; it is ‘clumsy’ and it ‘sprawls’ like the progress of human civilisation, slowly expanding clumsily. The quote “Clumsy whips” also suggest that the growth of civilisations may be slow, but will improve as if driven by a whip in comparison to the