The Use of Language, Images and Themes in Australian Poetry - Examining poems by Judith Wright and Kenneth Slessor

Seminar paper from the year 2003 in the subject English Language and Literature Studies - Literature, grade: 1 (A), The University of Sydney (Anglistics), course: Australian Literature 1920-1960, language: English, abstract: When reading poetry I as a reader want to imagine a picture, conveyed to me by the language used in the poem. I want to be drawn into the poem, want to feel part of what is written and want to be able to see the images of the words in my own thoughts. The question therefore must be how a poet achieves such an effect in the reader. This paper will examine closely some of the means used by the two poets, Kenneth Slessor and Judith Wright, to make their language embody the image they are trying to convey. The paper will at first focus especially on short, individual passages to examine the use of stylistic devices and use of sound. The second part will focus on the bigger picture and look at the poem as a whole, examining the use of recurring images and themes. Judith Wright's poem Woman to Man reaches its climax in the last line of the poem in which a mother confesses the fear that comes alongside the birth of her child. The two lines before this confession seem to intensify the feeling of danger and threat that ultimately leads to the mother's fear. [...]