In The Park Gwen Harwood Analysis

Some poets look from the particular to the universal to explore human experience. Discuss poems from at least two poets in relation to this statement, considering also the ways in which they achieve their effects. Some poets reflect on the particular and the universals of the world to unveil certain aspects of human experience. Through the use of particular and universal ideas along with intensive visual and kinesthetic imagery, the reader is able to adopt the same feeling of awe at these simplistic spectacles as once felt by the poet. Harwood’s poem; ‘in the park’ uses particular and universal themes and objects to discuss post-natal depression. Similarly, Heaney’s Poem; ‘Blackberry picking’, uses particular and universal themes and objects
Throughout the poem it is evident that persona is discontent with her lifestyle. The paratactic form of the poem, consisting of enjambment, ‘a small balloon…but for the grace of God’, and hyphens ‘passes by-too late’ reflects her disjointedness with her current lifestyle. The masculine rhyme in the first two stanzas emphasise the repetitive cycle of her monotonous existence. This shows her sheer desperation to communicate her unhappiness. Her children are able to ‘whine and bicker’ however, she is forever silenced, and this constant frustration leads her to talk to the wind ‘ to the wind she says, they have eaten me alive’. When Harwood refers to the wind, she uses the particular image to allude to the human experience of loneliness and frustration, as the mother feels like she has nobody else to turn to. Harwood’s choice of words is monosyllabic ‘they have eaten me alive’ suggesting a sense of weariness and despair throughout the poem, in turn adding effect for the reader. The children ‘Draw(s) aimless patterns in the dirt’ metaphorically emphasizes her disorientation and lack of direction. When Harwood describes the persona as ‘sit(ing) in the park’ she is using the particular image to figuratively emphasise her lack of energy and enthusiasm even in the midst of the energy radiating from the children surrounding her. She is portrayed as lifeless, static and ignored. Her clothes ‘out of date’, creates a particular image, which suggests her loss of identity and self-indulgence. ‘Nursing the youngest child’ reflects her inclined responsibility, which further underscores her need to care for others and therefore forget about herself. ‘Someone she loved once’ symbolizes the love, romance, and the life she once lived. The irony that she is ‘rehearsing the children’s name and birthdays’ is effective, as birthdays should be a