Australian Poetry – Survival Essay Example

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"It can be seen that the parents have already given up and are preparing to say goodbye. This is shown in the line "miracles do not tempt us", indicating that they no longer wish for miracles because they do not want to give themselves false hope. This is also emphasised through the use of 'when' rather than 'if' in the line "the karate-blow when it comes". Also, the line "your mother grieves already, so do I", shows that even though the baby is still alive, the parents are already behaving as if she is not.Throughout the poem, Dawe uses a lot of imagery to show the reader the fragility of the baby.

In the very first line, the reader automatically has a sense of the seriousness of the situation when comprehending "suspended between earth and sky". There are many connotations that can be drawn from this line such as; the baby is half way between heaven and earth and therefore is not alive but not dead either, she is in 'limbo'. This is also shown in the line "is your life opening again or closing finally?" showing the emotional 'ups and downs' that the parents have had to endure throughout this ordeal.Another image that is created by Dawe is that the child wants to live but just is not strong enough. This is shown in the line "Thin straws of sunlight on your bowed legs kicking in defiance of your sickness".

When hearing this line, the reader imagines tiny, fragile little legs trying to kick but not having enough strength to do so. This is also shown in the very last line "transfusion wounds in

your heels, your dummy taped in your mouth", indicating that she is too weak to hold the dummy in for herself and she is too inaccessible for her parents to do so.Throughout the poem, there is an overall feeling of helplessness from the parents. It is clear that they know they can do nothing to help and so they must just wait. This is shown when Dawe writes "I had in mind a prayer, but only this came.

" This indicates that he wanted to help and pray but all he could do was write this poem. He then goes on to say "and you are still naked between earth and sky"' indicating that he has done all he can do and he is still helpless, that by writing this poem nothing has changed.Dawe also uses many metaphors to show the preciousness of the child's life. The most obvious of these is "against the black velvet threatening your life shines like a jewel".

This not only provides a contrast of death and new life but also connotes the image that her life is the only thing that they can see at the moment and everything else seems to fade into the darkness.The structure of this poem, being all one stanza, indicates the ongoing ordeal that the parents are facing. This is reiterated by the use of run-on lines, which shows both the never ending battle and the confusion that the parents have. Also, the use of long vowel sounds throughout slow the rhythm of the poem, creating the effect that the two months that the child has been like this are probably the longest two months

of the parents lives.The poem Katrina by Bruce Dawe shows both the physical survival, or lack thereof, of the child and the parents' emotional survival that goes along with it. It is really about the parents preparing for their child's death rather than hoping and wishing for her survival.

However, there are many different ways of coping with terrible experiences and this may just be their way of enduring themselves.A Soldier's Farewell to his Son by Sapper Bert Beros, an Australian soldier who fought on the Kokoda Track in World War II, deals with the same issue of a parent, in this case a father, saying goodbye to his child, however, in a different way. Unlike Katrina which deals with the parents reaction to the event, this poem is more about the father going to fight in World War II and wishing and hoping that the son never has to go through what he is about to.It is understood that the man does not think he will be home for a while, if at all, and that this may be the very last time he will see his son.

This is indicated through the line "your mother is your daddy now", showing that the child will no longer have a father around and, as such, he will look to his mother to fill that void. It is also shown that he thinks he may die when he says "in mother's care - till stars again from peaceful heaven smile".Also, in the last stanza when he says "I must give up your tender years, the joys ill sorely miss" the father indicates that he is going

to miss the boy grow up and will miss the little things like seeing him learn to ride a bike or catch a ball, things that a father should always be there for. However, at the same time, he is telling the son that he knows he will grow up and that he is proud of him when he calls him "my little man".

Once again, in this poem, imagery is used to paint a picture in the reader's mind. The first stanza gives the reader a very clear picture of the child through the use of words such as; "curly hair" and "your cheek, a gaily coloured ball". However, the strongest image is painted with the metaphor "my little snowy son". Snow is often associated with the colour white and white, in the English language has come to suggest purity and innocence. This is then juxtaposed with lines such as "slope a gun". It seems absurd for someone so innocent to hold a gun, let alone use it in a war.

The repetition of the idea of dying throughout the poem through the lines "their loads of death", "die a lingering death" and even lines such as "see your cobbers blown to scraps" are used to show how dreadful the situation really is. Also, the metaphor of the dive bombers dropping "their load of death" shows the complete destruction that these planes create and that everything around them dies when they drop their bombs.Strong images of war and fighting are just another indication of the horror of what the father is about to face. Lines such as "when the blood-flow chokes the breath" and "vapours foul

and filthy", indicate to the reader how horrific war is by evoking the sense of the smell of rotting flesh and blood, once again indicative of death and suffering.

In this poem, it can be seen that the father is not only regretful to leave his son behind but also is scared of what he has to do. Throughout the poem, the father refers to the war and it comes across that he is fighting for the son and in the hope that the son will never have to do the same. This is shown through the line "I hope that you will never slope a gun" and "I trust that you will never need to go abroad to fight".It is also shown that the father tells his son why he has to go. This is indicated through the line "that is why I leave you now to hold your liberty", showing that he is fighting so that his son can have freedom and the life he deserves.

Within the last two lines of the poem, Beros subtly shows the reader that the father believes that this may be the very last time he sees his son. The use of words such as "farewell, so long I leave you with a kiss" gives a poignant reminder that this may be the last image that the father ever has of his son if he is killed in the war.This poem is about survival as, throughout the poem, the father is indicating that he may not return and the son will have to survive without him. However, it can be said that the father knows he has to both

physically survive so that he can see his son again and emotionally be strong to endure the ordeal of being away from him.

In this poem, neither the father nor the son are physically sick or injured but both are struggling to be resilient in the face of such emotional challenge.Both of these poems show parents saying goodbye to their children. Like Katrina, A Soldiers Farewell to his Son is about a parent saying goodbye to a child, however they are both very different in their views of survival. Katrina shows how the parents must survive after the child does not and A Soldiers Farewell to his Son is about the father surviving one of the most horrific events in history so that the child does not have to survive without him. Both poems indicate parents wanting to do everything they can for their children. However, in Katrina the parents feel helpless, knowing nothing they do is going to help and in A Soldiers Farewell to his Son, the father feels that going to war and risking his life is the only way he can save his son's.

Although these poems are so different, they depict the same essence of survival in that both poems describe the parents' need to survive.Both of these poems depict two completely different ways of dealing with the need for survival. They discuss both physical and emotional survival, something that has been very much a part of the Australian history and culture since it first began. Australians are survivors.

We still have soldiers fighting and surviving wars, we still have parents surviving the death of children and there are still

people coping with the challenges of everyday life. Katrina and A Soldier's Farewell to his Son are true examples that poetry is timeless and that 30 or even 50 years after they were written, they are still just as meaningful and as applicable today as they were all those years ago. If one looks back through Australia's history, it becomes very obvious that Australians truly are survivors.