Gwen Harwood With My Father's Gun Analysis
Gwen Harwood (1920 – 1995):
Harwood has fond memories of her childhood in Queensland which often appear in her poems. She was married in 1945 and moved to Tasmania. She began writing in her thirties to express the things that gave her life meaning.
Originally she preferred pseudonyms but changed to poetry because of her growing reputation. The poetry she writes is deeply personal and presents a strong sense of identity; she also presents unusual perspectives on everyday experiences and relationships.
A love of music and interest in theology and philosophy is also present in her work.
Her poetry often explores parts of life through past and present as well as innocence and wisdom. They usually emphasize strong connections between imagination, …show more content…
The father is portrayed as powerless “robbed of power by sleep”. The owls itself is portrayed as very high and powerful, it doesn’t flutter into the barn…it swoops in and stays “on a high beam” where it can view and be master of all. Sensory language such as “urine scented hay” increases the suspense of the poem. The child is also portrayed as a powerful figure “master of life and death” a “wisp haired judge” but one does get the idea that her power is foolish and evil.
“He swayed, ruined, beating his only wing” clearly shows that she immediately regrets her action. “Afraid by the fallen gun, a lonely child” shows that she is not high and mighty anymore but is weak and pathetic.
Again sensory language appears, such as “obscene bundle of stuff” and “dribbled through loose straw,” but these now emphasize a feeling of horror and despair that the child is feeling. “Mirror my cruelty” is a very good phase; basically it is metaphorically suggesting that the child can see her cruelty mirrored in the owls eyes. Using the term “fallen gun” may have religious connections to Satan and the fallen angles but I think it just means that she dropped it in horror or that the gun is not powerful
Harwood has fond memories of her childhood in Queensland which often appear in her poems. She was married in 1945 and moved to Tasmania. She began writing in her thirties to express the things that gave her life meaning.
Originally she preferred pseudonyms but changed to poetry because of her growing reputation. The poetry she writes is deeply personal and presents a strong sense of identity; she also presents unusual perspectives on everyday experiences and relationships.
A love of music and interest in theology and philosophy is also present in her work.
Her poetry often explores parts of life through past and present as well as innocence and wisdom. They usually emphasize strong connections between imagination, …show more content…
The father is portrayed as powerless “robbed of power by sleep”. The owls itself is portrayed as very high and powerful, it doesn’t flutter into the barn…it swoops in and stays “on a high beam” where it can view and be master of all. Sensory language such as “urine scented hay” increases the suspense of the poem. The child is also portrayed as a powerful figure “master of life and death” a “wisp haired judge” but one does get the idea that her power is foolish and evil.
“He swayed, ruined, beating his only wing” clearly shows that she immediately regrets her action. “Afraid by the fallen gun, a lonely child” shows that she is not high and mighty anymore but is weak and pathetic.
Again sensory language appears, such as “obscene bundle of stuff” and “dribbled through loose straw,” but these now emphasize a feeling of horror and despair that the child is feeling. “Mirror my cruelty” is a very good phase; basically it is metaphorically suggesting that the child can see her cruelty mirrored in the owls eyes. Using the term “fallen gun” may have religious connections to Satan and the fallen angles but I think it just means that she dropped it in horror or that the gun is not powerful