Poetry is a timeless form of storytelling that can connect people of all generations, races, and religions. Rosemary Dobson’s “Cock Crow” and Gwen Harwood’s “Suburban Sonnet”, both explore the idea of motherhood being a timeless sacrifice made by women every day. Harwood’s sonnet exposes the audience to the reality of a mother’s life where she has accepted the sacrifices made for her children, whereas Dobson’s quatrains show the journey of a mother stuck in a conflict between staying with her daughter and discovering herself. These ideas are portrayed through the various language techniques and stylistic features used by each poet.
The sacrifices of motherhood are established comparably in Dobson’s and Harwood’s poems. The poem “Cock Crow” commences with the first-person narration of a mother who wants “to be [her]self” but feels confined by her
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In “Cock Crow”, the mother has inescapably succumbed to the guilt of leaving her mother and daughter believing the “too brief [was the] illusion”. As the “cock crow[s]” three times, Dobson’s biblical allusion referencing the story of Peter betraying Jesus, she is transported back to reality and the story she is reminded of sinks in. Believing she knows “his meaning well”, she reluctantly bears the sacrifices of motherhood at her own expense. Likewise, the mother of “Suburban Sonnet” involuntarily stays with her discontent as she ironically “comforts” her children while she is left with no one to comfort her in her misery. Nevertheless, she carries on with her life making “tasty dishes from stale bread” which metaphorically represents her effort to find enjoyment within her “stale” life. While the mothers in neither Dobson’s nor Harwood’s poems are entirely content with the situations, they have found themselves in, they have ultimately chosen to make the necessary sacrifices because a mother’s love for her child is
Stories and poems utilize literary devices to deepen the meanings of their tales and keep the reader thinking. “The White Heron” by Sarah Orne Jewett, “The Things They Carried” by Tim O’Brien, and “Cathedral” by Raymond Carver exemplify masterful use of symbols in their stories. The symbols in these stories further expand the character’s narratives and drive a more meaningful message to the reader. “The White Heron” follows a young girl, Slyvia, who encounters a hunter searching for the coveted white heron. Being a girl with little companions besides her cow, she finds fancy with the hunter and you believe that she will hand over the innocent bird to the man.
In this essay I am going to explain how Clarke explores human relationships through the study of two of her poems. The poems that I will be analysing in detail are “Catrin and Baby-sitting”. Firstly, both poems have something in common, which is they both talk about human relationships in our day to day life. Secondly, they also talk the people love and our feeling towards another child. The first poem, that I have chosen is an autobiography and the second poem express of approach to someone else’s child.
In Ave Maria, O’Hara dedicated this poem to the “Mothers of America…” as stated in the first line of the poem. Throughout the poem, O’Hara discusses issues that mothers try to avoid and protect their children from, regarding modern society. The title of this poem suggests that there is a relationship between a mother’s protection of their children to religious standards and traditions. This relationship helps create a tone that is critical to the poem in which it guides children to fight for a new world based on encountering the acknowledged and unacknowledged things in life. When O’Hara states, “get them out of the house so they won’t know what you’re up to,” (l.3), he suggests to mothers that their children does not hold onto the standards
In Anna Bradstreet’s poem, “The Author to Her Book,” the speaker is a woman whose book has been stolen by her friends to be published. Since she is not proud of the writing, she tries to fix it, but to no avail, and eventually she gives up her efforts. Bradstreet illustrates the complex relationship of this author and her book through the use of an extended metaphor that demonstrates a mother’s relationship with her child throughout time. With this metaphor, Bradstreet conveys the speaker’s shifting tones and negative attitudes towards her book that culminate in a feeling of resignation.
There are many differences that can be highlighted between a hawk and a dog. However, in “Hawk Roosting” and “Golden Retrievals” the use of specific elements helps the reader to understand the characters themselves and how they view the world around them. Respectively, Hughes and Doty each use specific sentence structure, tone, and strong diction to characterize the speakers and present differing views of the world. The use of specific sentence structure throughout the poems further underlines the differences in the two characters and the attitude towards the world. Hughes’s use of sentences which exemplify complete thoughts illustrates to the reader that the hawk will take its time when completing a task and gives its full and absolute attention.
Mary Oliver’s poem “Wild Geese” was a text that had a profound, illuminating, and positive impact upon me due to its use of imagery, its relevant and meaningful message, and the insightful process of preparing the poem for verbal recitation. I first read “Wild Geese” in fifth grade as part of a year-long poetry project, and although I had been exposed to poetry prior to that project, I had never before analyzed a poem in such great depth. This process of becoming intimately familiar with the poem—I can still recite most of it to this day—allowed it to have the effect it did; the more one engulfs oneself in a text, the more of an impact that text will inevitably have. “Wild Geese” was both revealing and thought-provoking: reciting it gave me
“The Mother” is a poem by Gwendolyn Brooks where she conveys themes of deep regret and remorse after a mother has gone through with an abortion. By utilizing types of repetition to enhance the impact of the speaker’s words, providing apostrophes to enable the speaker to share their inner thoughts of guilt and desperation, and by incorporating enjambment to build emphasis on specific lines and ideas, Brooks is able to clearly illustrate how our actions, regardless of how certain we may be in them, will always have lasting consequences that we will ultimately be left to deal with. Brooks utilizes repetition throughout her poem for a few different purposes, though firstly she introduces anaphora by saying, “I have heard in the voices of the
She writes in a “confessional” writing style that emphasizes imagery that is precise and true to life, which reflects her moral sense. The first stanza is from the Bishop’s point of view. The second stanza is from the bird’s point of view. The third stanza is from the dog’s point of view. The fourth stanza is back to the Bishop’s point of view.
Furthermore, Harwood uses “Suburban Sonnet” in order to describe how her true passion of music is somewhat hidden by her role of being a housewife. She appears to be tired of being bound by
The multifaceted nature of the human condition encompasses all aspects of human life at both an individual and collective level and delves into the notion of humanity and the values it comprises. Gwen Harwood’s poems’ “Father and Child” and “Mother who gave me life,” and Shirley Jackson’s short story, “The Lottery” (1998), explore the dynamic and often contradictory nature of the human condition. Harwood portrays the transience of time and inescapable truth of mortality, illustrating the ever changing complexion of the human experience. Whereas, Jackson examines the capability of all humans to be violent and cruel while questioning whether such tendencies can be masked by a constrictive society’s heartless ideals. Harwood explores the brevity
Every story consists of different elements, such as characters, plotlines, and settings. Nonetheless, many stories portray the same messages or ideas. “My Papa’s Waltz,” by Theodore Roethke, depicts a reckless father who is loved by his child, while “Those Winter Sundays,” by Robert Hayden, depicts a hardworking father whose child is indifferent to him. Though the poems depict exceptionally different childhoods, both contribute to the idea that perceptions of parents alter as one grows into adulthood. Both poems use harsh words and critical tones in order to convey this notion, however in “My Papa’s Waltz,” they signify the recklessness of the father and how the narrator perceives his father as an adult, while in “Those Winter Sundays,” they
Harwood suggests that the role of motherhood forces one to give up their passion and careers. In the poem, 'Suburban Sonnet ', Harwood uses the pseudonym of Miriam Stone to explore the loss of identity that a mother can experience. The use of personal pronouns not only shows the loss of identity of this women, but also Harwood suggests that this is universal and is affecting many other women. The women 'who played for Rubinstein ' shows that this poem is more than a personal lament, but rather a comment on society that in order to become a mother, you must sacrifice your passion and career. The use of unpleasant imagery 'children chatter, then scream and fight ' highlights the burn and 'annoyance ' of the children.
Furthermore, the owl’s “eyes that did not see” is used as a symbol for the knowledge and “blindness” to the extent of her own cruelty the child is forced to recognise. Harwood demonstrates the consequences of the child’s rebellion as reflected in the severity of the owl’s death and the child’s reaction to her brutality. As the the poem’s sentences progressively become longer and more subdued after she shoots the owl, Harwood im plies the child’s new understanding
Comparing and contrasting Sylvia Plath’s “Daddy” and Theodore Roethke’s “My Papa’s Waltz”, one finds the two poems are similar with their themes of abuse, yet contrasting with how the themes are portrayed. Furthermore, the speaker 's feelings toward their fathers’ in each poem contrast. One speaker was hurt by the father and the other speaker was indifferent about how he was treated by his father. The fathers’ feelings toward the children are also different despite how each treated the child. Both poems accurately portray the parent-child relationships within an abusive home, even if they have different
“Bishop’s carefully judged use of language aids the reader to uncover the intensity of feeling in her poetry.” Elizabeth Bishop’s superb use of language in her introspective poetry allows the reader to grasp a better understand of feeling in her poetry. Bishop’s concentration of minor details led to her being referred to as a “miniaturist”, however this allows her to paint vivid imagery, immersing the reader in her chosen scenario. Through descriptive detail, use of metaphor, simile, and many other excellently executed stylistic devices, the reader can almost feel the emotion being conveyed. Bishop clearly demonstrates her innate talent to communicate environments at ease.