Gwen Harwood

Some questions for group discussion.

Father and Child

"Barn Owl"

What realisations might the child have, in this poem?

What realisations/insights might the speaker of the poem have?

Compare and contrast the two. How is the experience of the child different from the memory of the adult?

In what ways did the experience described here change the child?

How does it continue to change the adult?

"Nightfall"

Why does the apeaker say "Now the season that seemed/incredible has come."?

 What are her feelings about her father’s aging and imminent death?

How does she view his experience of life?

How does she view/measure the changes in hersefl?

What major aspects of change in the self are dealt with in this poem?

Both poems:

How has the speaker’s relationship with her father changed between "Barn Owl" and "Nightfall"?

These poems appear as a "diptych" – i.e. they are bracketed together. What are some of the ways the poems could be regarded as a contrasting pair? Can you see any links between the poems in terms of comparison or contrast? (think of the poet’s use of language, setting inc. time, themes, tone, mood and imagery, point of view…)

For homework, write your own individual answers to these questions.

"Prize Giving"

Why does Profesoor Eisenbart at first refuse to attend the prize giving?

What do you think causes him to change his mind?

What do the first 9 lines of the poem tell us about his character?

What impression does he make on the assembly and the Headmistress?

What do you imagine might be Professor Eisenbart’s feelings as the evening commences? (Find evidence from the poem to support what you say).

What impression does the Professor try to convey, and to whom, and why?

What is the girl’s attitude to the Professor, and why does he find this disconcerting?

Describe the moments which follow, firstly from the girl’s point of view (how is this conveyed in the poem???), and then from the Professor’s.

Which words and images in the poem most capture the moment of change for the Professor? Why?

How has the Professor’s image of himself changed by the end of the poem? In what ways might this be significant for him as a person?

"Change may be predictable; it may also be unexpected". To what extent does this statement apply to the poems we have looked at so far?

Some key words/concepts for this poem: look these up if you are not sure of their meanings:

Complacency arrogance power dominance pride humiliation passion reason status sexuality … can you think of others?

"At Mornington"

Briefly sum up the nature of the change this poem deals with.

What is the significance of the child’s early experience as retold in the opening of the poem?

How does the language of the first section of the poem create a sense of energy and urgency, and what aspect of childhood does this capture?

In what ways has life turned out differently from the child’s expectations?

In what ways is the second section of the poem different in tone and mood? How is this achieved through language and ryhthm?

Do you think Gwen Harwood successfully captures the passing of time? How does she achieve this?

Find images in the poem which symbolise life, death, change, stability.

What is a parable and why does she say the pumpkins are "a parable of myself"?

Why is friendship so important in this poem? How does it relate to the idea of change?

Explain the poet’s dream of the pitcher of water. Why is this a particularly apt image for friendship? What else does water symbolise in the poem?

What might be the deeper meaning in the lines "We have one day, only one,

but more than enough to refresh us"?

Why does the poet compare her lack of the fear of death, to the moment when "I laughed at a hollowed pumpkin/with candle flame for eyesight." Why is this an appropriate image? (What occasion makes use of a hollowed pumpkin).

Is there a religious meaning in the last lines of the poem? Or can the poem be read as equally moving and relevant without one?

"The Glass Jar"

Why do you think Gwen Harwood uses religious, and specifically Christian imagery, in the first and second stanzas of the poem?

Why does the child experience "monsters" in his dreams, and what is meant by and symbolised by the "intricate wood"? (How is this image balanced by "the commonplace of field and flower")

Explain the use of the word "sidelong".

Why do the fiends in his dreams see "his heart entire"? What aspect of the child’s developing psyche and consciousness are suggested here?

Why are the demons’ instruments of torture ("Pincer and claw, trident and vampire fang,") "envenomed with his (my italics) most secret hate,"?

What does the child then do, and what does he see, and how does he interpret what he sees?

What is the significance of calling his mother his "comforter" and his father his "rival"?

Why is she "faithless"?

Why is the act of love then compared to the dance of death?

In what ways is the day which now dawns totally different from the day before? (Compare the language in the last stanza to that in the first – in terms of tone, rhythm and imagery)

In what ways has this experience changed the child forever?

What other aspects of change do you think are captured by this poem?

"Mother Who Gave Me Life"

Why does the speaker say "Forgive me the wisdom/I would not learn from you"?

How does the poem communicate through its rhythm and imagery a sense of power and mystery in the first four stanzas.

What do you think is the major theme of these stanzas?

How effectively do you think the poem achieves a change of focus, and what lines give effect to this, and how?

Why does the speaker give her mother’s life span as "thirty thousand days"? In what ways might this usage connect with the first four stanzas of the poem?

What does the "ward door" symbolise, and why does the poet remark on it being "of heavy glass"?

In what ways are her mother and father similar as they approach death? (Compare "Nightfall")

Compare the way in both poems there is a balance of grief and acceptance.