Bullocky:
Imagery:
- Sight- “Till the solitary tracks etched deeper”
“Populous before his eyes”
“The half light pillars of the trees”
“Campfire’s crimson ring”
“Star struck darkness cupped him round”
“Grass is across the wagon tracks”
“Vineyards cover all the slopes”
- Sound- “Shouted prayers and prophecies”
“ sweet uneasy sound.”
- Touch- “Hold it with your rooted hand”
“Chilled with rain”
- Taste- “Thirsty with drought”
“Feeds the grape”
Sound/Rhyme/Rhythm:
- Each line is made up of four strong beats. This is evident with the beginning of the poem “ Besides his heavy-shouldered team”. This can also be an example of a tetrametre.
- The rhyme scheme is this poem is made up of an ABCB pattern. This is were the second and fourth line of any stanze within the poem is rhyming. For instance:
“Till the long solitary tracks”
“etched deeper with each lurching load”
“were populous before his eyes”
“ and fiends and angels used his road”
Allusions:
- “fiends and angels”- allusion to moses
- “the half-light pillars of the trees”- Pillar of fire. Allusion to moses
- “ a mad apocalyptic dream”- allusion to the end of the world.
- “The prophet moses feed the grape and fruitful is the promised land”- again and allusion to moses and describing his experiences.
Mood/tone:
- The tone is relatively gloomy, as it focuses more on the journey of the narrator and his experiences with the cattle.
- The mood depicted is of despair at many stages in the poem and is driven by hope to raise the cattle’s even though they pose a huge problem on him. There’s also this sense of monotony and movement which is depicted in the poem at several stanzas.
Voice/Persona:
- The poem has been narrated from a third person perspective.
- The bullocky in the poem is perceived as having a very stressful and tiring life.
The structure of bullocky is regular and all stanzas have four lines and the poem has regular rhythmical pattern, after each line there are natural pauses which is being used by the writer to emphasise certain points. The style of the diction used by the writer throughout the poem is very biblical, this is evident as there are constant allusions made to Moses and the use of words and phrase with biblical origins. The last two lines in the final stanza are more reflective to the rest of the poem “ The prophet moses feeds the grape and fruitful is the promised land” could be said that it is used to emphasise that the land of Australia will never be tied with Englishmen and will always be tied with its cultue.
Woman to man:
Imagery :
Imagery:
“the arc o flesh that is my breast”
“a blaze of light along the blade”
“The eyeless laborer in the night”
“foresees the unimagined light”
“the precise crystals of our eyes”
“the blind head butting at the dark”
“the selfless, shapeless seed I hold”
“the third who lay in our embrace”
“This is the strength that your arm knows,”|
“Oh hold me, for I am afraid”
Sound/Rhyme/Rhythm:
- The rhyme scheme is ABCAA which means in each stanza of the poem, the first line rhymes with the fourth and fifth line. For example :
The eyeless labourer in the night,
the selfless, shapeless seed I hold,
builds for its resurrection day -
silent and swift and deep from sight
forsees the unimagined light.
- The writer has structured each stanza with 5 long lines which adds a lot of detail to the poem in terms of imagery and symbolism.
Allusions:
- The consistent light and dark references could be seen as an allusion to birth and pregnancy. “the blaze of light along the blade” The blade severs ties to the mother as the umbilical cord is cut and also represents the fears of the author about birth. “the blind head butting at the dark” Not only does this fill the readers mind with negative and violent images but also emphasises that the baby needs to born into the world but it may face a difficult pathway.
Voice/Persona:
- The poem is from a first person’s perspective and as the titles suggests it seems that the women is telling the story to a man.
- The first three stanzas of the poem emphasises the wonder of creating new life. However there are changes made in stanza three which focus on the development of the unborn child. For example “ This is the strength that your arm knows, the arc of flesh that is my breast”.
Tone/Mood :
- The tone for most stages of the poem is very hopeful, positive and is filled with wonder and joy. Through out the poem it seems as if she is telling the man how beautiful the baby will be. They share the joy and the love and the wonder of creation.
- The tone till stanza three was filled with excitement and wonder, but however in stanza four we see a sudden change of tone to a more darker and worrying tone. Images of violence and allusions to light and dark are brought in,This can be emphasised by the line “oh hold me, for I am afraid” which brings out the fear in the narrator for childbirth or the baby may not be as she imagined.
- The mood of the poem throughout is filled with the excitement of the mother of the unborn child and how beautiful she thinks it going to be. However, in the last stanza there is a dramatic and mind rocking change of mood which emphasises her doubts on the unborn child.
Woman to child :
Imagery:
- Sound- “all the world you hear and see”
- Sight- “all the world you hear and see”
“and coloured birds and fishes move”
“you dance in living light”
“I hold you deep within that well”
“You who were darkness warmed my flesh”
“hung upon my dreaming blood”
“All time lay rolled in me,”
- Taste- “I am the stem that fed the fruit”
Sound/Rhyme/Rhythm:
- Each stanza within the poem is 5 lines long.
-
The rhyme scheme in this poem is ABCCB. This means that the 2nd and 5th line of each stanza rhymes and same with 3rd and 4th line. For example :
O node and focus of the world;
I hold you deep within that well
you shall escape and not escape-
that mirrors still your sleeping shape;
that nurtures still your crescent cell.
Voice/ Persona :
- The poem is narrated from a first person perspective from the mother.
- As the title suggests the mother is talking to her new born child about the difficulties the baby might face wile entering the new world.
Tone/Mood:
- The tone is similarly carried on from woman to man and brings out a very caring and loving tone. Her doubts on the trouble the baby will face in the new world has carried upon in this poem “O node and focus of the world, I hold you deep within that well, you shall escape and not escape” This stanza emphasises the mother concerns over the baby’s presence in the world and fears that baby would be vulnerable.
- The mood in few stanzas if the poem seems to depict happiness and joy, however as we progress in the poem the mood switches over to a more concerned and mournful mood.
Allusions:
- Similar to Woman to man where there references to light and dark which alluded the birth of the child, the same pattern has continued however in this case rather than depicting images of violence and gore it alludes to a more positive and comforting image. “You who were darkness warmed my flesh, where out of darkness rose the seed “