Gwen Harwood Essay

To what extent does your response to Father and Child allege your judgement of this poem and Harwoods poetry as a exclusively? (In your essay refer to at least one other poem) For a true appreciation of the sanctity of aliveness and for true spiritual maturation, an respective(prenominal) must accept and come to terms with the frail mortality of human being lifetime. Harwoods poetry holds truly harrowing language to convey how her bear personal contracts and relationships have led her to an en igniteened state of being, with continual use of religious metaphor and allusion to convey her ameliorateed spirituality.One of her poems that shows this is, At Mornington, is a upbraiding of her life, from her early tikehood experiences at the beach, to her empower middle-aged self, by the grave of her parents. Another that examines this is Father and Child, which is in two separate sections, the first portraying her initial confrontation with oddment as a child and the sancti on conveying her acceptance of mortality when she is forced to part ways with her demise father. Life is a fleeting and impermanent state that must be treated with an almost religious sanctity in preserving and protecting it.In Father and Child, Harwood uses the innocent and protected narrative voice of a child to convey the distressing emotions she experiences while watching the pain and suffering of a barn owl, and her shock when witnessing the true nature of death. This is shown in the recurring hookup of graphic, pathologic imagery of the owl as this obscene bundle of lunge that dropped, and dribbled by loose straw, tangling in bowels. This confrontation leads her into a self-discovery of her own ferociousness (in the metaphor eyes mirror my cruelty) and the need to preserve life.It similarly develops her mental and spiritual maturation while coming to terms with the briefness of life. Experiences and relationships can also shape ones appreciation of life and discernmen t of the nature of death. This is shown in part two of the poem, Night Fall, when, through a mature narrative voice, Harwood explores how, through loss, we can accept the morbid nature of death and truly appreciate life, as evidenced in the last two lines of accumulation as the narrator mourns the loss of her father, pornographic to learn what sorrows, in the end, no ords, no tears can purify. This ultimately furthers her ability to realise the value in appreciating the sanctity of life and accepting the inevitability of death. An acceptance of the transient nature of life is an inborn part in achieving an enriched state of being and acknowledging the limits of human existence. The second poem, At Mornington, juxtaposes the innocence of youth in her first stanza with the mature and understanding of her present self, throughout the rest of the poem, to signify the changing perspectives induced by experience and age.The recurring water motif in caught by a beckon among rattling sh ells on what flood are they borne fugitive as light in a sea-wet shell is symbolic of the various stages of her life and the conflict nature of emotion, conveying the impermanent and fragile nature of life as she comes to an understanding of its sanctity. Upon reflection, an individual may also find an acceptance of death in an understanding of the transient nature of life, through reminiscing old memories and appreciating the varied yet cyclical nature of life.This is shown through the consideration of past sentiments in the last stanza, using symbolism, metaphor and an accepting tone in the love-in-idleness of this day will shine like light on the event of the waters that bear me away for ever. Harwood is able to convey this kernel through her poetry so that a responder may be able to reflect upon their own experiences and come to a better understanding and acceptance of life, giving one the opportunity to further their own experiences and enrich their own lives with these wi sdoms.It also leads an individual into a self-discovery of their own personal truths in terms of an appreciation of the life they live. For it is only through an acceptance of the tenuity of human life and the inevitability of death that an individual can move over true spiritual maturation and fully appreciate life.