Poems
Homecoming
POEM - HOMECOMING:The poem homecoming is about the journey to and from war for some of the unfortunate young soldiers. It goes through the repercussions of the fact that none of the men sent to war had any proper training in the battle field, which lead to the unfortunate case of them coming home dead. The title of the poem homecoming gives you a sense of happiness and joy. It makes you feel as if the war is over and this is their time to come home.
Bruce Dawe used the technique of repetition throughout the whole poem. The main word used is ‘they’re’. The use of repetition of this word evokes and promotes the characteristics of war. He also uses the technique of onomatopoeia, for the sound of “zipping”. The use of this word is important due to the fact it gives you a sense of such great visual detail and it brings you into the picture of what was happening around you. It is described in such a sense that you can hear what is happening around you.
When reading through this poem Bruce Dawe dehumanizes most of the soldiers, this is revealed through the saying “green plastic bag”. This gives you the sense that the soldiers that have been taken to Vietnam are being treated like rubbish or trash. They are being handled like carcasses, ‘they’re rolling them out of the deep-freeze lockers’. The word rolling represents that not much care is being taken for these young men, that had no choice but to go to war.
The quote is the last stanza “bringing them home, now, to late, to early” make you think and realise that these men are now being bought home after being forcefully taken to war. Finally being brought back, its too late though, they have passed away. Fighting for our country they were, in a war that was rightfully ours not to fight in. Too early, these last two words hit home and make you understand truly how young these kids were, and yes they were only kids. They were young and inexperienced and were defiantly not fit to fight in a war.
This poem promotes the mental journey that these people faced, it was the end of a life. A friend, a son, a brother, a father, someone close to you, or someone you just knew. It affected everybody
Drifters
The poem refers to his personal life. It is about Bruce Dawe’s father moving from place to place looking for work. Drifters can also mean “people who move one place to another” (Nomadic). In the poem the wife has no control of where they are going to go next. In the poem the first line starts of with “ One day soon” this line means that they know that they will be moving one day but they don’t know when it will happen or where they will go.
The family in the poem drifters are unable to establish their roots as they keep moving on a regular bases. Some of the family members don’t understand the meaning of the move, the younger ones are excited about the move and the older ones are in tears, as they want to stay.
Three quarters through the poem it states “past the blackberry-canes with their last shriveled fruit” is more evidence that they are not in one spot long enough to grow healthy crop.
These words are examples of imagery
“Green tomatoes” - pre—mature, preparing for uncertain future?
“Bottling set.. Never unpacked” fatalistic acceptance of instability.
“Ute bumps down the drive” life is not smooth (easy)
“Blackberry canes” foreboding of death
“Shrivelled fruit” unfulfilled dreams
“Hands bright with berries” hope of new situations
Weapons Training
The poem ‘Weapons Training’ is written in a monologue style, and is in the perspective of one person. The persona within the poem is the drill sergeant. This is poem is referring to a drill sergeant shouting at a group of untrained soldiers, as he instructs them on how to use their weapons. He uses a negative tone towards the young soldiers, using language that insults them in the aim to desensitize and toughen them up. The language the drill sergeant uses, is hateful and racist. He also tries to get the soldiers to discover ‘hate’, so they can learn to hate the enemies and kill ‘the enemies’. He does not portray an attractive figure, however he delights in the brutal sense of this fasttalking disciplinarian and, in an exaggeration of speech, which portrays the sergeant’ rich vocabulary and strong offense words, his purpose of the session he is conducting is to instruct them about how to take care of themselves in battle. Within the poem, Dawe uses a lot poetic techniques that add feeling within the poem.
• ‘I want to hear those eyeballs click and the gentle pitter-patter of falling dandruff’.
This line within the poem show that the drill sergeant has a rare command of onomatopoeia.
• ‘Too late. Your tripes are round your neck… you know what you are? You’re dead
dead dead.’ In this line, Dawe shows the realities of war: alive one moment, dead the
next. Here we see the explicit crudity of the sergeant, and the repetition of ‘dead’
emphasizes the message the officer wants to drill into his soldiers. They are taught
to hate, fear, and listen to authority, so they won’t just go out and die needlessly. The
officer does this by asserting his authority and convincing them that war is real, not a
game: they are sent out not only with a weapon, but also as a weapon.
• There is no clear structure and the rhyme scheme is low key, which emphasizes the
monologue form of the poem: despite the rhymes, the poem still sounds like human
speech.
• The repetition of ‘T” and ‘I’ sounds in words like ‘click’ and ‘pitter-patter’ are
onomatopoeic and sound like weaponry. The soldiers are being turned into weapons
themselves. (So that there gun is merely an extension of themselves).
POEM - HOMECOMING:The poem homecoming is about the journey to and from war for some of the unfortunate young soldiers. It goes through the repercussions of the fact that none of the men sent to war had any proper training in the battle field, which lead to the unfortunate case of them coming home dead. The title of the poem homecoming gives you a sense of happiness and joy. It makes you feel as if the war is over and this is their time to come home.
Bruce Dawe used the technique of repetition throughout the whole poem. The main word used is ‘they’re’. The use of repetition of this word evokes and promotes the characteristics of war. He also uses the technique of onomatopoeia, for the sound of “zipping”. The use of this word is important due to the fact it gives you a sense of such great visual detail and it brings you into the picture of what was happening around you. It is described in such a sense that you can hear what is happening around you.
When reading through this poem Bruce Dawe dehumanizes most of the soldiers, this is revealed through the saying “green plastic bag”. This gives you the sense that the soldiers that have been taken to Vietnam are being treated like rubbish or trash. They are being handled like carcasses, ‘they’re rolling them out of the deep-freeze lockers’. The word rolling represents that not much care is being taken for these young men, that had no choice but to go to war.
The quote is the last stanza “bringing them home, now, to late, to early” make you think and realise that these men are now being bought home after being forcefully taken to war. Finally being brought back, its too late though, they have passed away. Fighting for our country they were, in a war that was rightfully ours not to fight in. Too early, these last two words hit home and make you understand truly how young these kids were, and yes they were only kids. They were young and inexperienced and were defiantly not fit to fight in a war.
This poem promotes the mental journey that these people faced, it was the end of a life. A friend, a son, a brother, a father, someone close to you, or someone you just knew. It affected everybody
Drifters
The poem refers to his personal life. It is about Bruce Dawe’s father moving from place to place looking for work. Drifters can also mean “people who move one place to another” (Nomadic). In the poem the wife has no control of where they are going to go next. In the poem the first line starts of with “ One day soon” this line means that they know that they will be moving one day but they don’t know when it will happen or where they will go.
The family in the poem drifters are unable to establish their roots as they keep moving on a regular bases. Some of the family members don’t understand the meaning of the move, the younger ones are excited about the move and the older ones are in tears, as they want to stay.
Three quarters through the poem it states “past the blackberry-canes with their last shriveled fruit” is more evidence that they are not in one spot long enough to grow healthy crop.
These words are examples of imagery
“Green tomatoes” - pre—mature, preparing for uncertain future?
“Bottling set.. Never unpacked” fatalistic acceptance of instability.
“Ute bumps down the drive” life is not smooth (easy)
“Blackberry canes” foreboding of death
“Shrivelled fruit” unfulfilled dreams
“Hands bright with berries” hope of new situations
Weapons Training
The poem ‘Weapons Training’ is written in a monologue style, and is in the perspective of one person. The persona within the poem is the drill sergeant. This is poem is referring to a drill sergeant shouting at a group of untrained soldiers, as he instructs them on how to use their weapons. He uses a negative tone towards the young soldiers, using language that insults them in the aim to desensitize and toughen them up. The language the drill sergeant uses, is hateful and racist. He also tries to get the soldiers to discover ‘hate’, so they can learn to hate the enemies and kill ‘the enemies’. He does not portray an attractive figure, however he delights in the brutal sense of this fasttalking disciplinarian and, in an exaggeration of speech, which portrays the sergeant’ rich vocabulary and strong offense words, his purpose of the session he is conducting is to instruct them about how to take care of themselves in battle. Within the poem, Dawe uses a lot poetic techniques that add feeling within the poem.
• ‘I want to hear those eyeballs click and the gentle pitter-patter of falling dandruff’.
This line within the poem show that the drill sergeant has a rare command of onomatopoeia.
- ‘If you had one more brain it’d be lonely’. This show that the sergeant is narrowminded and is clear that he has a rough type of discipline.
• ‘Too late. Your tripes are round your neck… you know what you are? You’re dead
dead dead.’ In this line, Dawe shows the realities of war: alive one moment, dead the
next. Here we see the explicit crudity of the sergeant, and the repetition of ‘dead’
emphasizes the message the officer wants to drill into his soldiers. They are taught
to hate, fear, and listen to authority, so they won’t just go out and die needlessly. The
officer does this by asserting his authority and convincing them that war is real, not a
game: they are sent out not only with a weapon, but also as a weapon.
• There is no clear structure and the rhyme scheme is low key, which emphasizes the
monologue form of the poem: despite the rhymes, the poem still sounds like human
speech.
• The repetition of ‘T” and ‘I’ sounds in words like ‘click’ and ‘pitter-patter’ are
onomatopoeic and sound like weaponry. The soldiers are being turned into weapons
themselves. (So that there gun is merely an extension of themselves).