Literary Analysis Of Bruce Dawe's 'Homecoming'

By the centre, march! Left right, left right…. Can you imagine dying for your country’s freedom as a frontline combat soldier, or does the thought of studying poetry make you feel like firing a bullet into your own head? Take heart; don’t pull the trigger just yet, poetry can invigorate your senses and teach you valuable lessons.

War destroys thousands of lives, but yet, the heroism of our fallen allows us to enjoy a privileged lifestyle, but their sacrifice often goes unnoticed. For this reason, Georgie and I have chosen war for our theme.

Bruce Dawe was born in Fitzroy, Victoria and is one of Australia’s most highly regarded poets. While serving in the air force, he was infuriated by the senseless slaughter of the Vietnam War. This motivated

Repetition and rhyme was used a copious amount. Rhyme was used at the end of every line in every stanza making it easy and an easy flow when reading for example; pride, inside, rains, slain are all important words being empathized by the main topic and theme but makes it more pleasant to read. Another device used through the poem is repetition which is used to highlight words that are important to the meaning of the poem but also for the listener and readers to feel emotion towards this subject. Example: We honour was repeated serval times as the poet wants people to honour more. Also ‘they’ were mentioned an abundance amount of times, referring to the soldiers or the fallen saying ‘they fight’. Alliteration also has an impact when reciting the poem as it is a repeating on a constant sound which makes it easier to comprehend what the message is or the tone of how the poet wants the words to come across for example Suicide Stealth is highlighting the ‘S’ in the words to add emotion and

Bruce Dawe wrote his poem “Homecoming” in 1968 during the Vietnam War. It expresses the author’s negative view of Australia’s involvement in the dehumanizing conflict and emphasizes our disrespect and disregard towards the soldiers that fought in this war. Conversely, nearly fifty years later, David J Deloney wrote “New Generation Veterans. He acknowledges the honoring of our old veterans including those that fought in Vietnam, but resolutely believes that our military fighting terrorism today deserve recognition. Essentially, our war on terror has become the new Vietnam. This is why the study of poetry is paramount. It is vital for us to ‘read of all the horrors they have carried deep inside’ so we can demonstrate our gratitude