Two poems that have captured the essence of emotional survival are Katrina by Bruce Dawe and A Soldiers Farewell to his Son by Sapper Bert Beros. Although they cover the notion of physical survival, both poems show the emotional survival required when

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English Oral - Australian Poetry

Survival

Survival has been a part of Australian history and culture since the beginning. When white man first settled on Australian soil, it was a survival of the fittest. From the many wars that Australian diggers fought in (and won) to the Great Depression to the present in this economic crisis, Australia has been surviving through it all. But physical survival is not the only type of survival. Many people overlook the emotional survival that goes hand-in-hand with physical survival. Poetry is an excellent tool to express this and convey it to people. Two poems that have captured the essence of emotional survival are Katrina by Bruce Dawe and A Soldier’s Farewell to his Son by Sapper Bert Beros. Although they cover the notion of physical survival, both poems show the emotional survival required when saying goodbye to a loved one, however, both in different ways. Katrina depicts a father and his sick infant daughter who is neither alive nor dead and A Soldier’s Farewell to his Son describes an Australian digger who is saying goodbye to his son before going to fight in World War II.

The poem Katrina, written by Bruce Dawe for his two-month-old daughter, represents survival in its most basic form, literally, physically surviving. However, it is also shown strongly through the parents’ feeling that their own emotional survival is threatened. In this poem, there is evidence of endurance because the parents will always live with the ‘scars’ of this terrible time of their lives. This is exaggerated through the fact that the baby has a twin brother who is perfectly healthy which is emphasised in the line “Your twin brother’s two-month-old vigour hurts us.”

It can be seen that the parents have already given up and are preparing to say goodbye. This is shown in the line “miracles do not tempt us”, indicating that they no longer wish for miracles because they do not want to give themselves false hope. This is also emphasised through the use of ‘when’ rather than ‘if’ in the line “the karate-blow when it comes”. Also, the line “your mother grieves already, so do I”, shows that even though the baby is still alive, the parents are already behaving as if she is not.

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Throughout the poem, Dawe uses a lot of imagery to show the reader the fragility of the baby. In the very first line, the reader automatically has a sense of the seriousness of the situation when comprehending “suspended between earth and sky”. There are many connotations that can be drawn from this line such as; the baby is half way between heaven and earth and therefore is not alive but not dead either, she is in ‘limbo’. This is also shown in the line “is your life opening again or closing finally?” showing the emotional ‘ups and downs’ that ...

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