Gwen Harwood Poetry

Matthew Licata

Poetry bridges the gap between the needs of the flesh and the mysteries of the human soul in its search for the whole self (M.C. Richards) It is with great pleasure and satisfaction that I stand before the esteemed company representatives of Empa Recording !ty "td# to endorse the inclusion of $wen %arwood#s poetry on your impending C& entitled' !oetry (nthologies#. )he poetry of $wen %arwood e*plores the concept behind human e*istence+ the dichotomies of life+ youth and age+ loss of innocence+ memory+ and the inevitability of death in an attempt to e*plain and cater for the relentless movement of time+ thus investigating the social mores and values affecting the contemporary audience. )he poems ,ather and Child (-./0) and )riste+ )riste (-.10) enable %arwood to draw upon symbols to reconcile the parado*ical nature of our world amid a variety of literary techni2ues and devices including en3ambment+ allusions+ simile+ descriptive language+ synecdoche+ 3u*taposition+ repetition+ imagery+ and alliteration. Inspired by the philosophy of %olderlin and 4ittgenstein+ music+ family+ religion and the romanticism and modernism movements+ %arwood is able to fulfil a deep inner necessityto realize in words the moments that gave her life its meaning. It is %arwood#s definitive conte*t that sanctions the sustained contemporary appreciation of her poetry from a variety of perspectives+ including religious+ feminist and psychoanalytic readings. )he diptych that constitutes ,ather and Child' Barn Owl and Nightfall is essentially concerned with the loss of innocence through e*perience+ primarily that between the binary oppositions of life and death. %arwood 3u*taposes the youthful persona#s potential for both good+ obedient angel minded+ and evil+ horny fiend in an attempt to foreshadow the possible carnage that is soon to occur. )he theme of lost innocence through the passage of time# is similarly demonstrated in (t Mornington as this poem also deals with the transience of time and the alteration from innocence to maturity+ drawing on imagery to convey its meaning. )he child believes she could wal! on water only to eventually reali5e through her maturity that this is not possible. )hemes such as life#s fragility and morality are emphasised through the 3u*taposition of the poem#s titles+ Barn owl+ which represents morning+ signifying a new beginning+ and Nightfall+ symbolic of closure and death+ and its inevitability. (s Nightfall progresses+ the use of en3ambment becomes more fre2uent6 the last four stan5as are almost a sentence each. )his gives the poem an illusory+ philosophical 2uality that reflects both the father#s approaching death and the reflective mood of the child+ hence+ appealing to the contemporary audience. Imagery is also used to significant effect when %arwood describes the owl#s eyes as daylight riddled. %arwood applies synecdoche when the persona defies her father in the attempted illing of the predatory bird represented through bea! and claw. ( feminist reading can conse2uently be appropriated for ,ather and Child through the patriarchal loss of femininity by the persona as she fired+ which is symbolic of the child#s loss of youthful innocence+ but more importantly it outlines that' 7"n order for women to gain power they must sacrifice their femineity and attribute masculine #ualities. !ower roles have been inverted from the dominant+ comforting father leaned my head upon my father$s arm and wept to the now matured child+ as evident in Nightfall$s contemplative tone and diction+ %orty years lived or dreamed what memories pac! them home. )he child has now developed an understanding of &el transience de e'istencia$ (the transience of e*istence)+ grown to learn what sorrows no tears can mend + ac nowledging death as a component of life#s inveterate process+ a stage of humanity that is to be embraced+ as depicted through the simile' li!e light on the face of the waters that bear me away forever. )hroughout ,ather and Child+ %arwood encompasses interte*tuality providing significant depth and meaning to her poetry through references to 8ing "ear#+ Be your tears wet( )act iv scene vii* ' where "ear addresses Cordelia shortly before her hanging+ and through 4ittgenstein+ +hings truly named can never vanish from earth+ which echoes sentiments of his philosophies such as by giving names to things they become part of our culture.

(s a result of the persona delivering the death sentence on the owl+ biblical illusions such as from 9amson# are evident through the verses' robbed of power by sleep+ early sun+ and time$s long promised land which enable the poem to be read from a religious and perhaps from a post6modern perspective as well. :ualities li e biblical illusions+ similes and the importance of understanding the dichotomies of life+ as mentioned earlier+ provide the contemporary audience with a continued machination+ interest and value towards %arwood#s wor . 9uch strong religious connotations are also resembled through %arwood#s other poems including Mother 4ho $ave Me "ife where in stan5a two %arwood presents a biblical illusion to ;esus' "t is not for my children " wal! on earth in the light of the living. "t is for you.+ and in ( <alediction+ where in stan5a five another biblical illusion is made+ this time to ,aint +herese of -isieu'. Poetry is when an emotion has found its thought and thought has found words. (Robert ,rost) 4ritten under the pseudo of 4alter "ehmann+ )riste+ )riste is yet another of $wen %arwood#s poems which is deeply personal as she reminisces on the past+ writing about themes of memory+ death+ and the transience of time. )riste+ )riste places immense prominence on life after death+ describing the soul as symbolic to eternal life with $od in heaven+ and the heart as emblematic of the earthly body. )ranslated to 9ad+ 9ad+ )riste+ )riste can be best described as a declaration of faith in which %arwood refers e*tensively to biblical illusions specific and significant to teachings and events from the Christian Church. )hrough verses such as risen spirit wal!s to .aster light and a direct 2uotation from the =ible ("u e >0?0@6A0) " was with you in agony. /emember your promise of paradise and hammers and hammers /emember me.+ %arwood is able to e'press her belief in the power of poetry to infuse e'perience with value + in doing so+ she reinforces modern and contemporary morals and values upheld within society. )he interte*tuality present from this biblical passage is reference to the crucifi*ion of ;esus Christ and $od#s promise of paradise. )echni2ues such as fre2uent alliteration blood0blac!' harrow hearts+ simile body rolls bac! li!e a stone and repetition hammers and hammers enhance the overall 2ualities of the poem in which a contemporary audience would value. ( religious reading can therefore be applied to )riste+ )riste as the responder is inclined to adopt and relate with the immanent dimensions of human e*istence+ therefore increasing the audience#s understanding of the te*t. Poetry is the revelation of a feeling that the poet believes to be interior and personal which the reader recognises as his own. (9alvatore :uasimodo) )he attached persona of )riste+ )riste enables %arwood to reflect poetry in a personal sense as she articulates between life and death+ in epitome+ referring to the purpose of life as love and the inevitable outcome of life+ being death+ as sleep. In the first stan5a she illustrates vivid imagery by depicting the death and conse2uence of the risen spirit+ %arwood conveys that a heart imprisoned in a departed soul#s body is immoral and dissipated meaning that perhaps she is against anti6 religious pessimists+ movements or behaviours which defy acceptance of $od#s will. In the second stan5a+ %arwood spea s of the confrontation with $od that we must all face at some stage+ again creating vivid imagery by describing her perceived setting' wal!ing alone to unbearable light with angelic gestures. )hrough such descriptive language+ and the underlying values and morals she presents to the responder+ the contemporary audience would subse2uently admire and respect her wor . In the third stan5a there is a reciprocation of the words love and sleep to sleep and love signifying that the departed loved other has left the earthly body and is now spending eternal life with $od in heaven. %arwood implies that the true pain and agony of death is not with the departed individual+ but with the residual family members and friends' ,o the loved other is held for mortal comfort. 9imilarly+ )he 9harpness of &eath also discusses death as its centralised foci+ and to an e*tent personifies it through the lines' 1eath you$ve become obscene. )riste+ )riste also deals with the theme of memory to a considerable e*tent+ evident when ;esus addresses his father in the biblical passage' /emember your promise of paradise+ /emember me. %ere stri ing resemblances are also correlated with )he <iolets where memory is fundamental to the recollections of her childhood and the love shared for her parents+ the violets acting as a trigger to recollect such reminiscences. Conse2uently+ through the analysis of memories and the unconscious mind in )riste+ )riste+ a psychoanalytical reading can be imposed where %arwood e*plores the inner psychology as opposed to the e'ternal geography. 2 poem is never finished only abandoned (!aul <alery)

In essence+ the poetry of $wen %arwood is representative of several 2ualities and values that appeal to a contemporary audience+ particularly through the poems ,ather and Child and )riste+ )riste. In con3unction with these two poems+ a variety of techni2ues and devices including en3ambment+ allusions+ simile+ descriptive language+ synecdoche+ 3u*taposition+ repetition+ imagery+ and alliteration as well as through the inspiration of %olderlin+ 4ittgenstein+ music+ family+ religion and the romanticism and modernism movements+ have enabled %arwood to effectively communicate these 2ualities and values that appeal to the contemporary audience. =y interpreting these two distinct poems from different perspectives and readings such as religious+ feminist and psychoanalytic+ the contemporary audience is able to increase their understanding of the te*ts and their holistic concept of poetry. It is my sincere hope that eminent company representatives of Empa Recording !ty "td# consider my proposal for the inclusion of $wen %arwood poetry on their impending C& entitled' !oetry (nthologies#. ,or it is without a doubt that the introduction of $wen %arwood#s poetry will only be beneficial to the company in its endeavour to promote and endorse poetry. Poetry is language at its most distilled and most powerful (Rita &ove)