Commentary on bushed The poem bushed by Earle Birney presents a disturbed man, who is alone in a forest, and could be thought of as a bit mentally challenged. It is a free-verse poem, with lines of irregular length, which suggests that the thoughts in the story are not well organized, like in the mind of the character. The purpose of this story is to show a disturbed in man an unknown environment. The audience of this poem could be anyone who experienced this situation. The title of the poem clearly contributes to the poem, with the double meaning. Bush means an area of wilderness far away from any area occupied by human. This meaning contributes to the first part of the work, where this area is described. The second meaning of bushed is …show more content…
Throughout the whole work no punctuations are used, which makes the poem hard to read, and forces the reader to focus on the story, even the smallest details. Although the work seems unorganized, because of the varying lengths of lines, there is a little organization. This relies in the fact that each new major idea starts in a new line with a capital letter, and until the next capital letter there is no new idea. Birney’s use of alliteration and assonance helps to focus on specific words, which could contribute to the music of the work. In line 2, for instance, “lake-lap” is a highly inventive and memorable phrase, while in line 3 the emphasis on “so” and “slowed” helps to slow the pronunciation of the line. Birney, is not only writing down words, ideas, and images, but he keeps attention to the sound effects of good writing. The phrase “shack on the shore” , for example, is much more effective and striking than “shelter on the beach” would have been. The use of animals and geographical landmarks are extensive and contribute greatly to the meaning of the poem. The mountain gives the impression of being locked in an area, while the animals like moose, and owl are not present in urban areas, which contribute to the fact that the character becomes more and more mentally
There are multiple examples of visual imagery in this poem. An example of a simile is “curled like a possum within the hollow trunk”. The effect this has is the way it creates an image for the reader to see how the man is sleeping. An example of personification is, “yet both belonged to the bush, and now are one”. The result this has is how it creates an emotion for the reader to feel
The repetition of the word, 'bush' in, " Bush all round - bush with no horizon.." creates a vivid visual image of the bush setting and emphasises the loneliness experienced by the drover's wife and her family. The family's loneliness is reinforced in, "...The everlasting, maddening sameness ...longs a man to break away and travel as far a way as trains can go...". This juxtaposes the traditional perception of the bush,which is that of beauty and pleasure, and depicts a tedious environment incapable of nurturing curious thought,an another hardship on the family. This is ironic as this iconic story symbolises Australia, it does this by portraying the country side in a negative light. Therefore, the harsh environment highlights the determination of Australians in the face of
In the poem “David” by Earle Birney there are a few themes. The major theme in the poem is life and death. For starters, the tone in the poem is a very bitter one, especially when David asks Bob to push him off the cliff. Furthermore, the poem is written in free verse style and often uses imagery in its description. The poems use of figurative language and poetic devices are used to create tension, complication and emotion. What makes this poem serious is the fact the verses in this poem do not follow the same rhyming scheme. The poem uses imagery with symbolism to help paint a better picture. For example, in contemplating killing the bird that has a broken wing, Birney shows that everyone is capable of getting hurt. Plus when David kills the
‘The Drover’s Wife’ opens with a vivid visual image of the house which becomes a character in itself, the lexical word chain “round timber, slabs, and stringy bark, and floored with split slabs” shows us the poor, rough materials used to build only what is necessary to survive. Thus, we can visualise the simplistic nature of the lives the drover’s wife and her children live in their environment. Strong visual imagery is employed to depict the landscape; “Bush all round – bush with no horizon, for the country is flat. No ranges in the distance… No undergrowth”. The repetition of “no” emphasises the lack of distinguishing features, the land is monotonous and contains “nothing to relieve the eye”. The environment is isolated; they are alone “There is nothing to see, however, and not a soul to meet”. This helps the audience to develop an understanding of the isolation and loneliness of Australians living in the bush during the Colonial
First of alll, the poem is divided into nine stanzas, where each one has four lines. In addition to that, one can spot a few enjambements for instance (l.9-10). This stylistic device has the function to support the flow of the poem. Furthermore, it is crucial to take a look at the choice of words, when analysing the language.
Poems are unique in that there are no set rules for how they are formatted (Kirszner & Mandell, 2012). Poems may rhyme, or not. They can be presented in a narrative or lyrical format. The use of proper punctuation can be omitted such as periods, commas, or question marks (Kirszner & Mandell, 2012). The use of punctuation or lack there of, brings into play the use of enjambment, which is another term for what is commonly known in poetry as run-on lines (Kirszner & Mandell, 2012). If a poem is considered more proper and the author wants the reader to clearly understand how a line in the poem is read, the use of punctuation such as commas and periods are used to stress this point. This style is commonly known as end-stopped lines. (Kirszner
The poet begins by describing the scene to paint a picture in the reader’s mind and elaborates on how the sky and the ground work in harmony. This is almost a story like layout with a beginning a complication and an ending. Thus the poem has a story like feel to it. At first it may not be clear why the poem is broken up into three- five line stanzas. The poet deliberately used this line stanzas as the most appropriate way to separate scenes and emotions to create a story like format.
Though the way it relates to people in the 19th century and the way it relates to the modern world greatly differs, the symbolism in the poem and shift in tone throughout it shows a great appeal to human nature, and how desperate one can be to change it. The symbolism in the poem paints a ghastly picture of a man’s life, falling apart as he does his best, and worst, to keep it safe from himself. In lines 1 through 8 (stanza one), he gives a brief description of an incident in his life where things have gone wrong. “When the tiger approaches can the fast-fleeting hind/Repose trust in his footsteps of air?/No! Abandoned, he sinks into a trance of despair,” He uses these lines to show the lack of control he has over his actions, how his will to change his circumstances has weakened.
The bush and its unique landscape was something that distinguished Australia from the European sceneries familiar to many new immigrants. Australians romanticized the bush in their attempt to establish self – identity.
The novel has confused many critics and readers because it reads like poetry, yet in actuality it is a narrative. Cisneros admits that many of the vignettes are "lazy poems." This means that they could be poems if she had taken the time to finish them (Olivares 145). At many times throughout the novel the words rhyme and can almost be put to a catchy tune. For example, the chapter "Geraldo No Last Name" reads like a poem with end rhyme and a structured pattern. "Pretty too, and young. Said he worked in a restaurant, but she can't remember which one" (Cisneros 65).
"The thing could barely stand." ("The Bull Calf" line 1). The calf is referred to as a thing not an animal or creature. This is the way the author blocks emotion. The first line in the first stanza is a contradiction from the rest of the stanza because the rest of it has a positive attitude and the first sentence shows that the animal is weak. The third and the fourth line show the glory of the animal by hinting to royalty. The last line in the first stanza helps to back this information up by pointing to Richard the second. In the fifth line the narrator uses thee word us this connects him to the event. "The fierce sunlight tugging the maize from the ground" ("The Bull Calf" line 6). This is imagery, the sunlight showing promise and hope, maize is yellow this refers us back to the sun through the similar color. The last line refers to Richard the second this makes the poem flow better into the next stanza, Richard the second was lowered from his rank much like the calf is going to be.
Roughing it in the Bush is a story that chronicles the hardships and triumphs faced by early settlers in Northern Canada. Susanna Moodie creates vivid portraits of through the way she stresses the degradation relating her status as a gentlewoman, the necessity for manual labour in a new world, and the discrepancy between refined society and the pioneer community. Relaying a cautionary tale, Susanna Moodie uses a straightforward prose filled with hyperbolized descriptions that show a negative bias influenced by her personal hardships and way of life to inform potential emigrants about the realities of living in the bush and to forewarn readers that the pioneer life is not suited towards the upper class and rather, is detrimental to their economic and social status.
Nature is often a focal point for many author’s works, whether it is expressed through lyrics, short stories, or poetry. Authors are given a cornucopia of pictures and descriptions of nature’s splendor that they can reproduce through words. It is because of this that more often than not a reader is faced with multiple approaches and descriptions to the way nature is portrayed. Some authors tend to look at nature from a deeper and personal observation as in William Wordsworth’s “I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud”, while other authors tend to focus on a more religious beauty within nature as show in Gerard Manley Hopkins “Pied Beauty”, suggesting to the reader that while to each their own there is always a beauty to be found in nature and nature’s beauty can be uplifting for the human spirit both on a visual and spiritual level.
Many poets are inspired by the impressive persona that exists in nature to influence their style of poetry. The awesome power of nature can bring about thought and provoke certain feelings the poet has towards the natural surroundings.
Through alliteration and imagery, Coleridge turns the words of the poem into a system of symbols that become unfixed to the reader. Coleridge uses alliteration throughout the poem, in which the reader “hovers” between imagination and reality. As the reader moves through the poem, they feel as if they are traveling along a river, “five miles meandering with a mazy motion” (25). The words become a symbol of a slow moving river and as the reader travels along the river, they are also traveling through each stanza. This creates a scene that the viewer can turn words into symbols while in reality they are just reading text. Coleridge is also able to illustrate a suspension of the mind through imagery; done so by producing images that are unfixed to the r...