Homecoming by Bruce Dawe Essay Sample

August 9, 2017 Music

In “Homecoming” . poet Bruce Dawe uses graphic ocular and aural poetic techniques to build his attitudes towards war. He creates a specifically Australian cultural context where soldiers have been contending in a war in Vietnam. and the dead organic structures flown place. However the verse form has cosmopolitan entreaty in that the insensitiveness and namelessness accorded to Precious lives reduced to organic structure bags are common attitudes towards soldiers in all historical struggles. Although Dawe makes several mentions to the Vietnam War. the sense of moral indignation at the futile. dehumanizing facets of war is a cosmopolitan subject. He besides speaks on behalf of the deaf-and-dumb person. dead soldiers who have no manner of showing their agony and loss of hope. By “speaking for those who have no agencies of speaking” . Dawe finally exposes the barbarous hopelessness of soldiers caught up in foreign struggles and the lurid impact on households.

The rubric “Homecoming” is used efficaciously to contrast the traditional cosmopolitan deductions of the word with the flooring world of dead soldiers flown place from Vietnam to sorrowing households. The word “homecoming” normally implies a jubilation or Heroic response for a great accomplishment. with a return to roots and household. It would farther raise a sense of expectancy for the return of a loved one whom has a existent individuality and a topographic point in the Black Marias of those expecting his reaching. However. the rubric operates ironically because the “homecoming” described in the verse form is related to decease. bereavement and loss and the reaching of a unidentified organic structure is rather different from the heartfelt joy extended to a loved one.

By set uping Irony through the globally understood rite of homecoming jubilation. Dawe generates cosmopolitan entreaty. Through the usage of Repetition. Dawe establishes the inhuman. machine-like processing of human organic structures. a ghastly world common to all struggles that use guiltless soldiers as cannon fresh fish. These soldiers will ne’er hold an chance to voice their protests or their sense of loss. hence Dawe offers a flooring unmasking of the futility of war and is able to voice his concerns of those who can non joint their positions. Repeated usage of the pronoun “they’re” . intimations at the impersonal relationship between the organic structures and their animal trainers. Repeat of the suffix “-ing” in “bringing” . “zipping” . “picking” . “tagging” . and “giving” . depicting the actions of the organic structure processors. establishes sarcasm. These verbs imply life and verve. in blunt contrast to the hitch. lifeless. cold organic structure that they handle each twenty-four hours. Repeat is used efficaciously to foreground the shocking ferociousness that has manifested in all wars throughout history.

We Will Write a Custom Essay Specifically
For You For Only $13.90/page!


order now

Word pick in “Homecoming” farther underpins the poem’s cosmopolitan entreaty where Dawe foregrounds the deficiency of individuality and indiscriminate slaughter of immature work forces in the Vietnam War. Mentions to green organic structures in “green plastic bags” . shows the deficiency of individualism. Soldiers are being categorised as “curly-heads. kinky-hairs. crew-cuts. balding non-coms” . a degage and anon. image. set uping the thought that category. race or background is no favor in war. further reenforcing the loss of individuality. It is flooring that “they’re giving them names” since a name is one of the few identifying characteristics left on the overplus of otherwise anon. . mutilated organic structures. “the mash. the splendour” . The separation of soldiers and their individuality is a world-wide construct. successfully illustrated through word pick.

Dawe uses graphic ocular imagination to underscore the emotional harm caused to friends a household through the loss of a loved 1. a deep agony that is frequently left unrecorded in the annals of history. “Telegrams tremble like foliages from a wintering tree” and “the spider swings in his acrimonious geometry” . represent the arbitrary heartache that affects those who receive notices. Personification of the wire shows them as “trembling” under the load of the intelligence they must present. stoping any hope for households wishing their loved 1s shall return alive. The relation of wires to foliages falling from a “wintering tree” is a powerful image. supplying the reader with some thought of the huge figure of dead soldiers. Dawe farther suggests that a “wide web” joins all states. with none able to get away the “spider grief” associated with war. By exposing the destructive and dehumanizing facets of war. Dawe entreaties to the multitudes. taking it from its falsely glorified place.

Through the farther usage of imagination. Dawe succeeds in composing poesy that has cosmopolitan appeal by underlining the barbarian nature of war. The Simile “whining like hounds” emphasizes the destructive features of war. besides picturing Canis familiariss as sympathetic antennas of human emotion. For these dead soldiers. there is no large parade and music. merely “the ululation of their homecoming” . The universe celebrated 21 gun salutation is besides mocked. “mute salute” . further set uping the world-wide impression of Canis familiariss as adult males best friend. who unluckily can non voice their heartache in words. Although these work forces have made the ultimate forfeit by giving up their lives. the fact that they get no acknowledgment for this act except from their Canis familiariss. emphasizes the planetary construct of war as dehumanising.

The scene Dawe describes in “Homecoming” is characteristically Australian but the issues related to the horrors and futility of war are cosmopolitan in their deduction regardless of the cultural context. Mentions to the “knuckled hills” and “desert emptiness” of the Australian landscape underscores the sarcasm of the “homecoming” since soldiers are unable to appreciate or grok the alone beauty of their land. Personification farther foregrounds the human qualities ascribed to hill and the landscape. whereas the soldiers are ironically barren of all life and humanity. The “desert emptiness” non merely refers to the enormousness of the Australian inside. but besides to the empty futility of war. With the assistance of imagination. Dawe establishes the inanity of war. in that of all the work forces who have of all time died in conflicts shall ne’er see their fatherlands once more.

The concluding line of the verse form creates the thought of Paradox. further backing the impression of mindless life loss. a cosmopolitan subject. “They’re conveying them place now. to late” because the opportunity to salvage their lives has now past. However. it is besides “too early” since all these soldiers are excessively immature. go forthing behind an unrealized life. Unfortunately these soldiers will besides ne’er receive the true acknowledgment they deserve for their attempts that would hold been given at the terminal of the war. By utilizing the technique of paradox. Dawe makes a concluding effort at clear uping international misconception of war as good.

Bruce Dawe successfully establishes the inutility of war is his poem “Homecoming” . He can be said to be “speaking for those who have no agencies of speaking” in the manner he presents the attitudes of the soundless. dead soldiers being flown place from Vietnam. With the assistance of aural and ocular poetic techniques he arouses understanding. carefully pull stringsing the audience to reflect upon his ain positions towards war. In this manner. Dawe has created a verse form that is unambiguously Australian. showing issues of planetary concern and bring forthing cosmopolitan entreaty.

x

Hi!
I'm Amanda

Would you like to get a custom essay? How about receiving a customized one?

Check it out