Gwen Harwood paragraphs

At mornington

Gwen Harwood in her poem “At Mornington” provides an uplifting exploration of the potential

for memory and human relationships to transcend the physical limitations of age and time and

the suffering associated with it. She initially develops a childhood flashback with a religious

allusion, “As a child, I could walk on water –/The next wave, the next wave –/It was only a

matter of balance” in which she elevates her memory to a spiritual level by comparing her

childhood beliefs to the miraculous powers of Jesus Christ. Through the repetitive “The next

wave, the next wave –/It was only a matter of balance” both her childhood naivety is revealed

as well as the water motif is developed to demonstrate the ephemerality but cyclical nature of

memory in the human experience. Then through natural imagery, Harwood further reveals the

potential for the nature to incite transformation “So it seemed that the vines were rising …In

airy defiance of nature/- a parable of myself” where the personification of the vine superseding

its supposed physical limitations ‘in airy defiance of nature’ symbolises the potential that

memory has to transcend the barriers imposed by time and age. This is emphasised again in the

metaphor “a parable of myself... a skinful of elements climbing/ from earth to the fastness of

light” where the ‘skinful of elements’ symbolises both the pumpkin and human life, thus

revealing how ‘fastness’ or security is found by people in transcending the physical boundaries

of ‘earth’ to the ‘light.’ This transcendence is emphasised through the antithesis between the

physical nature of earth and the spiritual and religious connotations in ‘light.’ Harwood

implements the water motif again, utilising its connotations as a symbol of rejuvenation,
replenishment and spirituality, “you said/’There is still some water left over.’/We have one day,

only one,/ But more than enough to refresh us” which reveals the potential for human

relationships, and the memories developed from such experiences, to provide solace and

nourishment despite hardship to an individual. In re-examining this water motif initially

developed through a childhood perspective of innocence and blind faith she demonstrates how

her childhood naivety is replaced with an awareness of the importance of human relationship in

her later years. Ultimately, Harwood develops the motif of water to be a metaphor for death,

“The peace of this day will shine/ Like light on the face of the waters/ That bear me away for

ever,” where the religious connotations of ‘light’ and the cyclical nature of ‘water’ reveals

Harwood’s belief in the spiritual regeneration following death. In doing so she argues against

the suffering associated with death and instead reveals how the water, which was previously

associated with both her relationships and childhood memories, will be the instrument through

which she metaphorically transcends her mortal existence. In demonstrating this

transformation from innocence to a stark awareness of mortality and the fragility of life

through the water motif, Harwood provides a potent and celebratory perspective on the

fragility of life as she finds solace in her memories and relationships when confronting it.

Violets paragraph

Through “Violets,” Harwood demonstrates the potential for memory to explore and

encapsulate the relationship between the joy and suffering associated with the aging process in

the human experience. Inspired by the Renaissance awareness of the stark mortality in the

human experience, Harwood demonstrates the importance in finding significance in life and
relationships despite its brevity. The introduction of the motif of the violets, “I kneel to

pick/frail melancholy flowers among/ashes and loam” initially highlights the disjunct between

the vitality of youth and the unforgiving nature of aging where the harshness of age is revealed

by the transferred epithets “frail melancholy.” Furthermore, memory’s potential to reveal the

complexities in the aging experience is developed by the juxtaposition between the brutality

and stark awareness of death associated with ‘ashes’ and the beauty of new life from ‘loam.’ In

particular, Harwood then develops the ambiguity and complex relationship between the

pleasure and hurt associated with exploring these ephemeral childhood memories through the

anaphoric, “Ambiguous light. Ambiguous sky,” where the imagery of the celestial “light” and

“sky” symbolise the transcendent properties of memory, while the repetition of “ambiguous”

emphasises the ambiguity between joy and pain in accessing memory. Despite this ambiguity,

Harwood nevertheless argues for the power of memory to elicit this dichotomy, “Years cannot

move/ nor death’s disorienting scale/distort those lamplit presences,” where through creating a

rhythm mimetic of the “Ode of Remembrance” Harwood demonstrates the dependability of

memory to evoke the complexities of the human experience as it is not hindered by neither

“years” nor “death’s disorientating scale,” which is symbol for the unfathomable and

cacophonous nature of death. The metaphor, “lamplit presences” also demonstrates how her

memory of her parents is both present and bathed in the soft spiritual light of memory and her

love, thus demonstrating how she finds joy through memory in the harshness of death.

Harwood concludes her poem with a final reference to her predominate motif, “Faint scent of

violets drift in air” where the violet acts as a symbol of the beauty, joy and her transcendence of
mortality through her faith in spiritual renewal, whilst also hinting at the painful ephemerality

of these memories as they “drift in air.”

Prize-giving paragraph

In her satirical poem “Prize-giving” Harwood demonstrates the futility of the pride associated

with age and academic authority compared with the potency of youth and talent in forming a

complete human experience. Harwood’s disapproval towards her character Professor Eisenbart

is developed in the aside where she describes him, “to lend distinction (of a kind not

specified),” her sarcastic tone demonstrates the lack of substance in the authority of this figure

and the senselessness in the reverence of this academic figure. Then Harwood implements a

metaphor of the Professor as “Academic dress/became him,” which demonstrates how

intertwined his identity and self-worth is with the academic accolades he has received, thus

revealing his pointless vanity. The Professor’s imposed academic authority is then juxtaposed

with the vitality of the girl, “He took/ her hand, and felt its voltage fling his hold/ from his calm

age and power” where the metaphor of 'voltage' represents the potent and sudden upheaval of

the professor's supposed authority by the girl.