Essay
The poet’s intention is to provoke thought. Discuss the statement in relation to the poetry of Bruce Dawe. Refer to two poems.
It is undeniably the poet’s intention is to make us think about the issues and thematic concerns (themes) of his/her poetry. This is indeed the case with the Australian poet, Bruce Dawe. Dawe is considered one of Australia’s leading poets. His main body work was written in the context of Australia in the 1950’s and 60’s. A time of great social change and upheaval. These ideas can be seen in two of Dawe’s poems, “Enter Without So Much As Knocking” (from now on referred to as “Enter…”) and “Americanized”. In these poems Dawe provokes thought about such issues as consumerism, materialism and foreign policy. Dawe is able to clearly show his ideas through the use of multitude of poetic techniques and variations in structured form. Therefore, this essay will clearly show that it’s very much Bruce Dawe’s intention to provoke thought.
The poem “Enter…” tells the story of a life cycle ' from birth to death, focusing on one guy. His whole life is based on materialism and a consumeristic society. He enters the world “Blink, blink, HOSPITAL. SILENCE” a young and innocent child, not knowing the consequences a consumeristic society will have on his life and upbringing. His whole family seems as though it has been bought and is too worried about materialism then the love for their kids. As he grows up he tries to have a connection with the natural world and the “stars”. But consumerism is too strong a pull and takes over. After a while his individuality and innocence is lost and he turns into every other “godless money-hungry back-stabbing miserable so-and-so”. He is then involved in a fatal car crash. At his funeral people are still worried more about what they look like. Even in death the man cannot escape the “metropolis”. He then leaves his life the same way he came in “Blink, blink CEMETRY, Silence.”
In the poem Dawe is critical of...