Gwen_Harwood

Harwood uses the concepts of sorrow in change, struggle with pain and the sharpness of memory as a foundation on which she builds her poetry from. The changing perspectives on mortality through childhood to maturity are shown through the recollection of memory and language techniques. Certain techniques and recollection also construct the pain in which the sorrow of change brings into Harwood’s life throughout the years of her life. Biblical references and intertextuality help emphasise these concepts. With the combination of exterior references, figurative speech, and writing techniques, the sharpness of Harwood’s memory, which ease the struggle of pain and the sorrow in change within her poetry, contributes to the three elements on which she bases her poetry on. ‘At Mornington’ and ‘Father and Child Part I - Barn Owl - and Part II - Nightfall” are two poems from Harwood’s anthology. As Harwood’s perceptions on death, as a child, are transformed, the element of the sorrow in change is clearly portrayed as she bases this idea throughout the poem “Father and Child - Barn Owl”. This poem is a recollection of a primitive moment in her life, as Harwood as a child disobeys her father and kills an owl with her father’s gun. Through this experience, Harwood’s eyes are opened to the reality of death where she “believed death clean and final”. This quote shows the innocence Harwood had as a child, as it juxtaposes to the other side of death she witnesses as it is referred to as “this obscene/bundle of stuff” Harwood’s sorrow in the realisation of death’s brutality is shown as she “leaned my head/upon my father’s arm and wept”. Through the weeping of Harwood onto her father’s arm after the death of the owl, the sympathy for the owl and herself is symbolized, for when she shot the owl, she destroyed her wisdom as well. The owl in a postmodernist interpretation symbolizes the Greek goddess of Athena in Greek mythology, who is the Goddess of Wisdom. Therefore, the owl being dead, Harwood’s wisdom has died with it. Harwood’s disobedience, through a postmodernist reading, could be seen as a link to the disobedience of Eve from the Bible as she disobeys God and becomes wide aware of her nakedness, as well as the knowledge on good and evil. This biblical reference emphasises not only the rebellion of Harwood as a child, but the awareness of death’s cruelty that became the consequence. The change in the representation of Harwood’s father is shown in “End what you have begun” from “Barn Owl” and “Be your tears wet'” from “Nightfall”. The first quote shows the stern power Harwood’s father has over Harwood, and the second shows a more loving and warmer personality of the father. Through a postmodernist reading, this change is similar to the change of portrayal of God in the New Testament, in which God is shown as more of a serious God, and the Old Testament, in which God is displayed as more of an affectionate God. This reading emphasises not the sorrow of change, but the acceptance of change in Harwood’s father from Harwood. This idea also portrays the comforter role that Harwood’s father played throughout his life during the painful times of Harwood’s life, as Harwood “leaned my head upon/my father’s arm and wept” and as she refers to her father as “my stick thin comforter”. In “At Mornington” the change in the perception of death is also conveyed through the recollection of memories throughout the poem. As Harwood remembers thinking “I could walk on water”, the faith and innocence she had is conveyed. The postmodernist reading could interpret this quote as the faith Harwood had in God as a child, referring to the Biblical story in which Jesus walked on water, and Peter tried to follow and succeeded due to the inextricable faith Peter had in Jesus. This biblical reference emphasises the faith and belief Harwood had in life and in God as a child through her innocence, which is later within the poem is contradicted, as as an adult she is “rolled in.....pain, memories, love and grief”, all knowledge gain through maturity. A dominant reading, however, could read this quote as symobolism for Harwood being thrown into life, like being thrown into a powerful wave. The rolling of Harwood’s body within the wave shows powerlessness of control in life, which juxtaposes the idea of “believing/as a child, I could walk on water”, with water symobolizing life. Both interpretations of the quote can be seen by a reader as similar as they equally show the changing ideas of Harwood on her mortality. In “At Mornington”, Harwood struggles with pain whilst standing at her friend’s parent’s grave, as she tries to accept the existence of death as well as her mortality. Through the use of imagery of a pumpkin, Harwood describes herself as “climbing/from earth to the fastness of light”. This symbolizes the strive within her life to grow as a person emotionally and physically. Harwood’s pumpkin imagery in “I think of death no more......I laughed at a hollowed pumpkin” is a memory in which she looks back to as she reflects on her friendship with a close friend, claiming that death has as much power as a hollow pumpkin, which is a halloween image of death intended to frighten children. Friendships are also used to help Harwood ease the struggle in the pain of death’s reality. As Harwood feeds off the memory of her and her friend “drinking the water” and stating “there is still some water left over”, the continuity of her friendship is symbolized. Water being the symbolism for life throughout the poem, the importance of friendship to Harwood is clear, as she stresses the inability of death to break bonds of friendship and erase memories. Harwood, whilst recalling her friendship then goes onto “think of death no more”, which symbolizes the power of memory to calm pain, and transcend death. This comfort Harwood receives is portrayed as similar to the comfort she gained in the memory of laughing at the pumpkin. This then leads to the merging of water and light in the last stanza as Harwood describes her future death as “light on the face of the waters”. This symbolizes the peace Harwood has developed in death, the new perception on mortality and the convenience of the use of memory. In conclusion, the successful achievement of Harwood to build her poetry upon the bases of sorrow in change, sharpness of memory and struggle with pain is to a high extent true. The wide ranged and multiple language techniques, references to exterior literacy and the repeated sentimental tone in which Harwood writes in, proves this argument. Even in the most dissimilar topics or focuses within Harwood’s various poems clearly agree to this statement.