Gwen_Harwood_English_Poem_Evaluation

Gwen Harwood’s poetry has withstood the test of time to become a collection of very relevant, engaging poetry. Her underlying themes, particularly in At Mornington and The Violets, have ensured the longevity of her work. Harwood’s poems, on a very simplistic level, are about change and time and the impact on the persona. The reader recognizes this theme because it is an essential part of every person’s life. By doing this, Harwood engages the reader with an initial personal interest in her poetry. When delving deeper into a more critical aspect of her works it is evident that whilst change and time are central themes, Harwood’s extensive use of literary techniques offer a much more diverse range of ideas including universal experiences of memory, emotions and relationships which relate to every reader. This element of personal identification is central to an appreciation of Harwood’s poetry. The Violets is a poem that simple narrates experiences in the personas childhood. The Violets presents memories in an introspective view illustrating the journey through time, beginning with of memory towards discovery and understanding. It does this through anecdotes in a narrative form. The use of this form ensures the accessibility of the meaning to the poem to every reader. In The Violets, the poem connects the past and the present, and illustrates the view that while time will change many things, memories are always personal and untouchable. This poem rests on the view that memories and the effect of time on people reflect mortality and the inevitable passing of time. The acceptance of time passing is a major issue when addressing the poem At Mornington by Gwen Harwood. The poem begins with the belief that the child can walk on water (“I could walk on water”) and then as the child has grown and changed, the initial belief is the same. The persona still believes that time cannot change her (“in airy defiance of nature.”) This line is in relation to the pumpkins on the trellis and their desire to reach towards the light as the persona is attempting to do. No change has occurred in the persona’s determined nature. In saying this, by the end of the poem, she realizes that while determination will allow you to survive through life and the voyage of time, “no hand will save me” from the ultimate; death. Time and death is inescapable and this is seen in The Violets when the child, through innocent eyes, sees the violet’s as beautiful “spring violets in their loamy bed.” The beauty of the violets in their current state amazes the child and the child’s belief that the violets will stay like this shows their lack of understanding of time. The adult because of their experiences knows that the flower will die and that beauty doesn’t last forever, “melancholy flowers among ashes and loam.” This shows the understanding of death and how everything, right from people, down to a violet, undergoes a change of some sort that will take them to the next area of their life. Harwood’s use of dualities of past and present shows that our childhood experiences are responsible for shaping our adult lives and its how we allow them to affect us that determine our future person. The nature of change and time and how Gwen Harwood expresses these themes contribute to the overall energy of the poem and its ability to convey meaningful messages that last for decades. The stanza's and lines that deal with memory/past in The Violets are all indented thus she uses form to accentuate content by differentiating between parts that deal with present to those that deal with the past. In comparison with At Mornington, Harwood uses repetition of words that are associated with time to show how whimsical time is and that it will pass regardless of what happens. “We only have one day, only one.” Some contrasts are evident between At Mornington where Harwood’s idea of memory recognizes the reality of time altering memories, to The Violets which says “years cannot move nor death’s distorting scale distort those lamplit presences,” which suggests the persona’s ability to retain the memory even through changing situations and the passage of time. By doing this, Harwood ensures that personal perspective is vital to fully appreciate her poetry. The Violets address not only memory and childhood but also focuses strongly on death and how with the acceptance of the passing of time, will come the acceptance of death. Death is a substantial part of time and the inevitability of death is likened with the inevitability of the passage of time. The Violets impart the child’s inability to rationalise the passage of time, the thing she “cannot grasp or name”. The child-like belief in immortality is juxtaposed by the simile of the sunset which is “striped like ice-cream” This symbolizes the approach of death. By using such a rich simile, the child can enjoy the sunset and life as it is, whilst an adult view would understand that the sunset, like the violets, would eventually die and fade away. Harwood's use of multi-faceted similes gives depth to her work and appeals to a wider audience, ensuring the continuing popularity of her work. Gwen Harwood is a personal and subjective poet who represents characters and their situations clearly, emotively and accurately. As is seen in both At Mornington and The Violets peoples experience and response to the passing of time and the effect of change on a person are varied and diverse. What Harwood has done in each of these poems is to present to the reader the continuity of time regardless of the persona’s feelings and experience. Her use of the child’s relationship with time and understanding provides a strong pillar for which to expand her universal themes of memory and death. In doing this she captures the underlying tones of each human emotion that triggers within the reader a very emotive response. Her use of imagery and personal pronouns engages the reader and makes the poems very personal experiences not only for Harwood but for the reader as well. As death relates so heavily to time, Harwood has cleverly included aspects and attitudes of death in her poems. Using this element she encompasses the raw human emotions and the way that they are dealt with. Her use of similes and metaphors softens the often-harsh reality of death. Gwen Harwood’s extensive and personal method of writing has ensured that her poems will continue to impact readers for many years to come.