Bruce Dawe Poem Analysis

Australian poets Bruce Dawe and Gwen Harwood explore ideas and emotions in their poems through vivid and aural poetic techniques, the poets also use symbolism to allow the readers to relate to the text. In Dawes “Homecoming”, the poet explores the ideas in the text using language techniques such as irony, paradox and visual imagery to construct his attitude towards war and the effect. While in Gwen Harwood’s, “The violets”, she uses prevailing imagery and mood to emphasize fertility and growth. Contrastingly, In Bruce daws, “Life cycle”, the poet uses the idea of sport to symbolise and represent religion with the use of clichés and juxtaposition to convey his ideas of religion, myths and Christianity in the language use, similarly Harwood poem

In “Life Cycle” Dawe uses the mixtures of Juxoposition and slang to explain the idea of sport being like a religion, similarly Harwood’s “The glass jar” uses multiple techniques including metaphorical imagery, religious connotations and ambiguous meanings which support her idea of the transition from childhood to adulthood. Dawe connects religious connotations to the poem when he describes the sports players being “In the pure flood of sound, they are scarfed with light, a voice, like the voice of God booms from the stands” using the “voice of God” metaphorically, likewise, Harwood uses the sun ambiguously as light- symbolising security and having the characteristics of the Son or the Saviour. Contrastingly, Through the use of clichés Dawe has been able to connect sport terms with religious connotations when he describes the winning team “going up the ladder into Heaven”, correspondingly Harwood uses imagery such as “disciples” to express the child’s belief in the “pulse of light beside his bed”. Both poets used forms Juxoposition and religious connotations to emphasize the tone of the poem as Dawe connects a sports to religion, Harwood uses fear and relates it to good and