Drifters Poem

The quality and importance of life are looked at by most as a valuable and great gift, but this perception of someone’s life is stated differently by the two poets, David Malouf and Bruce Dawe. The poems Suburban and Homecoming express life through the eyes of two separate groups, one being a ‘stereotypical’ individual and the other, a group of men fighting for their own lives. Poetry offers many hidden meanings within their stories, Suburban and Homecoming are no different offering two distinct takes on the meaning of life. Whether that be shown through war, or a Sunday morning after a long night out, both poems convey the emotions of life, both positively and negatively.

Bruce Dawe, an Australian known poet, born 1930 is still one of the biggest selling and most highly regarded poets of Australia. His ability to write such influential poems has made an impact on a number of people, as each poem can be related to the ordinary living lives of Australians throughout the years. Bruce Dawe's poems are interesting because they comment on the lives of ordinary people. This statement is agreed on. In relation to the statement, three key poems can be linked being Enter Without So Much as Knocking (1959), Homo Suburbiensis (1964) and Drifters (1968).

Bruce Dawe is one of the most inspirational and truthful poets of our time. Born in 1930, in Geelong, most of Dawe’s poetry concerns the common person – his poems are a recollection on the world and issues around him. The statement ‘The poet’s role is to challenge the world they see around them.’ Is very true for Bruce Dawe, as his main purpose in his poetry was to depict the unspoken social issues concerning the common Australian suburban resident. His genuine concern for these issues is

Equally essential as the narrative in poetic writing is the overall effect of language structure and description. Although there is no distinct rhythm or rhyme to this poem, it is through language and structure that the text is made inviting. In the blank verse, “Why are you still seventeen.../ dragging a shadow you’ve found?” (1), this metaphor for a borrowed lifestyle facilitates a feeling of lost identity and nostalgia for the past. By incorporating such language, and by choosing a self-proclaimed rhetorical question, the speaker adds to the effect of personal obscurity. An immense component of the entire poem are the combined stanzas: “that's not the road you want,/ though you have it to yourself.” This emulates the feeling of regret. In continuation of the metaphorical self-evaluation of the poem, it supports the idea

Within the poem “The Century Quilt” created by Marilyn Nelson Waniek, she describes a girl a quilt that reminds her of family. The author uses a literary technique that helps the readers find out the complex meanings she had towards the blanket. Firstly, a technique the author used with structure helped the character described in the poem tells the readers about the special blanket. The author picks her words very carefully using only kind descriptions, such as being in love and having good dreams, to give the audience a relaxing feeling as they read the poem.

“The five o’clock by the chimney still marked the time, but the oriole nest in the elm untenanted and rocked back and forth like an empty cradle” (Hurst 416). James Hurst, the author of the short story, “The Scarlet Ibis” uses imagery like this in his story to create a mysterious feeling for the reader. This short story is about two brothers, their relationship, and the regrets we all feel after loss. Hurst not only uses the narrative to create a sorrowful tone, but also various literary elements to get through to the reader. Through the use of figurative language, imagery, and symbolism, James Hurst creates a sorrowful tone in his short story, “The Scarlet Ibis”.

The appreciation of nature is illustrated through imagery ‘and now the country bursts open on the sea-across a calico beach unfurling’. The use of personification in the phrase ‘and the water sways’ is symbolic for life and nature, giving that water has human qualities. In contrast, ‘silver basin’ is a representation of a material creation and blends in with natural world. The poem is dominated by light and pure images of ‘sunlight rotating’ which emphasizes the emotional concept of this journey. The use of first person ‘I see from where I’m bent one of those bright crockery days that belong to so much I remember’ shapes the diverse range of imagery and mood within the poem. The poet appears to be emotional about his past considering his thoughts are stimulated by different landscapes through physical journey.

In addition to this, belonging to a family is a key concept in this novel. The novel opens with an alluring introduction to the family; a blissful atmosphere is created through the picturesque icons of their family life. The composer uses small photograph like icons to allude towards the widely acknowledged contentment that is readily associated with the memories in a picture album. Tan introduces the motif of the paper crane which he carries through the length of his novel as a symbol of affection and belonging between the family members. The next pages signify the break in contentment as the man begins his journey and a salient image of the couple with their hands grasping the other’s parallels the anxiety and despair in their downcast facial expressions. Although the gloomy atmosphere, the light sepia tones in the picture allow an insight into the tender and loving relationship that the family members share. Upon the man’s departure the paper crane motif returns and he hands it to his daughter as a token of his undying love for her. His migratory experience is studded by the comfort and ease that he obtains from a picture of his family. In paralleled scenes on the boat and the new apartment, the

The use of symbolism and imagery is beautifully orchestrated in a magnificent dance of emotion that is resonated throughout the poem. The two main ideas that are keen to resurface are that of personal growth and freedom. Furthermore, at first glimpse this can be seen as a simple poem about a women’s struggle with her counterpart. However, this meaning can be interpreted more profoundly than just the causality of a bad relationship.

With happiness in relationships continuing to decline as well at the rate of divorces rising it is no surprise that marriage and love has lost the value it once had. Edgar Lee Masters writer of the “Spoon River Anthology” also seems to feel that romantic relationships have also lost its value during his time. He is able to display this though several of his poems within the anthology. His unhappiness with love, romance, relationships and marriage are shown through his poems that illustrate unhappy marriages as well as the deaths connected to them.

This can be seen in the poem “Brothers and Sisters” in which the literal and figurative levels of reality are joined. Wright does this through the use of pathetic fallacy, ensuring that she moves beyond simple description, to show that every aspect of the siblings’ lives is reflective of the environment that they live in. This is represented in the metaphor ‘the road turned out to be a cul-de sac, stopped like a lost intention”. Wright implies that the dead end of the street is reflective of the lack of fertility both in and outside the house, there is no movement forwards as the lives of those within it have ceased, the siblings are unmarried with no children, thus there is no new life being created. Wright has done this to ensure that that audience is aware of this process, rather than providing simple descriptions which can often be misleading. Neither the surrounding environment or the siblings are taking part in the evolutionary process of creating life, this sense of fruitless passing of time is furthered through the employment of the simile “years grew like grass and leaves” suggesting, although hindered there is an emotional connection present. By representing their lives as slow- growing and little- moving it continues to showcase the similarities between the landscape and its inhabitants, demonstrating that the environment grows old just as they do. Yet another representation of the landscape within the characters is seen in the inevitability of death, for the landscape and its inhabitants. This can be seen through the use of direct speech “There is nothing to be afraid of. Nothing at all”. This repetitive reassurance demonstrates their fear of death and the destructive nature of it, as witnessed in the landscape. The irony here is that with each

The poem describes the weather and its effect on cotton flower by pointing out the dying branches and vanishing cotton. The image of insufficiency, struggle and death parallel the oppression of African American race. The beginning of the poem illustrates the struggle and suffering of the cotton flower; which represent the misery of African Americans and also gives an idea that there is no hope for them. But at the end the speaker says “brown eyes that loves without a trace of fear/ Beauty so sudden for that time of year” (lines 13-14). This shows the rise of the African American race, and their fight against racism. The author used mood, tone and

This clearly demonstrates links with agriculture which makes up a large portion of Australian culture and identity. Symbolism and imagery used - "And when the… last shrivelled fruit" - to represent death as the family leaves for a new home making their life seem aimless and distant. A metaphor - "she'll only remember… bright with berries" - is used to represent hope and unfulfilled dreams held by the family. By comparing the two quotes it allows a clear image that their hope for a long-term home is destroyed. Although Drifters and EWOSMAK display two contrasting ideas, their major theme is

From the physical journey of driving through a town the reader will experience a second journey, a spiritual journey when they oversee the lives of the people within the town. The composer utilizes a 2nd person perspective to engage his audience and hopefully take them on the same physical and spiritual journey. He uses personification such as “The houses there wear verandas out of shyness” to give the audience a sense of the community and set a harmonizing tone. I believe this poem really captures Les Murrays hypothesized concept of journeys, as it’s much deeper than a simplistic drive.

Wherein this is the extent of the metaphor, where in this poem it is a changeable anomaly subject to the readers interpretation of taking the road less travelled and whether it be a positive (sigh of satisfaction) or negative (sigh of regret). This is all one can hope when using a metaphor relating to the readers life, that they substitute their own feelings and create their own meaning, their own attitude towards to such decisions and subsequently, such journeys.