Gwen Harwood Essay Essay Example

Gwen Harwood Essay Paper Opportunities for an individual to develop understanding of themselves stem from the experiences attained on their journey through life. The elements which contribute to life are explored throughout Gwen Harwood’s poems, At Mornington and Mother Who Gave Me Life, where the recollection of various events are presented as influences on the individual’s perception of the continuity of life. Both poems examine the connections between people and death in relation to personal connections with the persona’s father or mother. By encompassing aspects of human nature and life’s journey, Harwood addresses memories and relationships which contribute to one’s awareness of life. Memories and meandering thoughts, related to personal experiences, are explored throughout At Mornington where the persona shifts between the past and present and dreams and reality. This is similar to Father and Child where Barn Owl is set in past test and Nightfall is set in the present, symbolic of appreciation and understanding of the complexities of life which the child learns. At Mornington opens with an evocation of an event from the persona’s childhood which establishes the temporary and ever changing nature of human life. Reflected through the shifts between past and present tense, the persona is attempting to use past experiences in order to appreciate the present and accept the future. The poem provides a reflective and personal point of view accompanied by the recurring motif of water which symbolises the persona’s transition from childhood to the acceptance of the inevitability of death. We will write a custom essay sample on Gwen Harwood Essay specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Gwen Harwood Essay specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Gwen Harwood Essay specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer In the third stanza, the persona refers to a more recent past where she had seen pumpkins growing on a trellis in her friend’s garden. The action of the pumpkins is described as â€Å"a parable of myself† which allows the persona to reflect on the meaning and quality of her own life and existence. The metaphor between the pumpkin vine and the persona suggests that like the pumpkin, human life also ripens and matures before coming to a closure and returning to the earth. Supported by the phrase â€Å"candlelight for eyesight,† the reader is made aware of the transience of life that the persona has grown to accept and understand. In Father and Child, as the persona moves on from childhood, her father becomes elderly and is entertained by simple things in nature, â€Å"birds, flowers, shivery-grass. † These symbols of nature remind the persona of the inconsistency of life and the certainty of death, â€Å"sunset exalts its known symbols of transience,† where sunset represents time. Both poems are indicative of the impermanence of life and that the persona has managed to mature and grow beyond the initial fearlessness of childhood moving onto a sophisticated understanding of death. The connection between life and death is expressed in a different way through Mother Who Gave Me Life, a poem of mourning for the dead. The poem can be seen as a personal farewell to the persona’s mother where the dominant images of the poem show evolution and the passing of time. Father and Child also demonstrates the passing of time as the persona moves from the innocence of childhood to the sadness of her father’s advancing age and inevitable passing. In Mother Who Gave Me Life, the reference to Halley’s Comet, which appears only once every seventy-six years, tells the reader that the mother was unable to see it once more before surrendering to death. The direct speech of the Sister is reported without the use of quotation marks as in, â€Å"When she died she was folding a little towel. † This provides readers with the knowledge that the mother addressed in the poem is dead. Without quotation marks, the flow of the poem is maintained and is therefore more easily absorbed into the texture of the poem. The parallel image of the â€Å"fabric of marvels† being reduced to the â€Å"little towel† raises the notion that whilst death may have brought a physical end to the persona’s mother’s life she remains a marvel of creation as the persona’s memories of her live on. The poem ends with the ‘fine linen’ recalling the memories of a typical childhood scene where the persona’s mother is calling for her to have dinner â€Å"as darkness falls on my father’s house. † This biblical reference to the House of the Lord, combined with the coming of darkness, reminds the reader of the inevitable ending of life and the respective movement into heaven. As the second section of Father and Child draws to a close, it is evident that the persona has grown to understand that she has limited time left with her father. The significance of Nightfall as the title of the second section, when considering the daybreak setting of Barn Owl, reinforces this. Sunrise symbolises youth whilst nightfall, in comparison, suggests an ending which implies death, a concept that the adult persona is beginning to acknowledge it as part of life. A particular instance in life can conjure different memories of the past as in At Mornington where the persona is drawn into recollections of childhood experiences with her father while standing by the graveside of her friend’s parents. A positive image of the father and child relationship is conveyed throughout the poem as in, â€Å"secure in my father’s arms. † This image conveys safety, comfort and protection which assists the persona in moving on and accepting the cycle of life. It is the security which stems from this relationship that enables the persona to mature from the perceptions and thoughts maintained as a child. Insight into the relationship between the persona, as both child and adult, with her father is also demonstrated in Father and Child. The dominance of the father is suggested through his imperative tone, â€Å"End what you have begun. † Despite the power-play in their relationship, there is still a sense of closeness, â€Å"I leaned my head upon my father’s arms. † This connection has enabled the persona to mature and grow through experiences. This personal relationship is also evident in Mother Who Gave Me Life where the imagery of light shows the persona realises the importance of her mother as she walks â€Å"in the light of the living. † This suggests that the persona is able to walk amongst the living due to her mother. The affirming experiences and enlightenment provided by this relationship enables the persona to see the life-giving role of women as part of the cycle of life. All the poems comment on an individual’s relationship with their mother or father which is essential in maturing and evolving as an individual. The relationships conveyed enable the persona to gain an understanding of life whilst considering its value and accepting its cycle. Ultimately, the exploration of memory and relationships with the persona and their father or mother enables an individual to comprehend human nature and the links between life and death. Throughout the poems At Mornington and Mother Who Gave Me Life, Harwood shows the reader, through memories and comparisons, different aspects of life which contribute to what it means to be human.

The Body Under the Bed - Urban Legends

The Body Under the Bed - Urban Legends Heres an example of the scary urban legend known as The Body Under the Bed as shared by a reader: A man and woman went to Las Vegas for their honeymoon, and checked into a suite at a hotel. When they got to their room they both detected a bad odor. The husband called down to the front desk and asked to speak to the manager. He explained that the room smelled very bad and they would like another suite. The manager apologized and told the man that they were all booked because of a convention. He offered to send them to a restaurant of their choice for lunch compliments of the hotel and said he was going to send a maid up to their room to clean and to try and get rid of the odor. After a nice lunch, the couple went back to their room. When they walked in they could both still smell the same odor. Again the husband called the front desk and told the manager that the room still smelled really bad. The manager told the man that they would try and find a suite at another hotel. He called every hotel on the strip, but every hotel was sold out because of the convention. The manager told the couple that they couldnt find them a room anywhere, but they would try and clean the room again. The couple wanted to see the sights and do a little gambling anyway, so they said they would give them two hours to clean and then they would be back. When the couple had left, the manager and all of housekeeping went to the room to try and find what was making the room smell so bad. They searched the entire room and found nothing, so the maids changed the sheets, changed the towels, took down the curtains and put new ones up, cleaned the carpet and cleaned the suite again using the strongest cleaning products they had. The couple came back two hours later to find the room still had a bad odor. The husband was so angry at this point, he decided to find whatever this smell was himself. So he started tearing the entire suite apart himself. As he pulled the top mattress off the box spring he found a dead body of a woman. Analysis All it takes is one dead body under the mattress to spoil your whole honeymoon. Befitting its Sin City reputation, Las Vegas has been the setting of some horrific urban legends (see The Kidney Snatchers if you dont know what I mean). What sets The Body in the Bed apart from the rest is how frequently incidents resembling the one described above have actually happened in real life - just never, to my knowledge, in Las Vegas! The closest encounter between fact and legend Ive been able to document took place in Atlantic City (another gambling mecca, naturally) in 1999. This account comes from the Bergen Record: The body of Saul Hernandez, 64, of Manhattan was found in Room 112 of the Burgundy Motor Inn after two German tourists slept overnight in the bed despite a rancid smell that prompted them to complain to the front desk.The couple told motel officials about the smell Wednesday night but stayed in the $36-a-night room anyway. On Thursday, they complained again and were given a new room while a motel housekeeper cleaned Room 112. In July 2003, a cleaning crew discovered a dead body stuffed under the mattress in a room at the Capri Motel in Kansas City, Missouri. This report was filed by KMBC-TV News: Police said that the man appeared to have been dead for some time, but the body went unnoticed until a guest staying the room could no longer tolerate the smell. Officers were called to the Capri Motel in the 1400 block of Independence Avenue around noon Sunday after cleaning crews made the grisly discovery.KMBCs Emily Aylward reported that the man who checked into the motel room a few days ago complained to management about the odor two times over the three days. He then checked out on Sunday because he could not tolerate the smell. In March 2010, Memphis police responded to a call from a local motel where employees had noticed a foul odor in one of the rooms. According to ABC Eyewitness News: On March 15th, investigators were called back to room 222 at the Budget Inn, where the body of Sony Millbrook was found under the bed. Police say she was found inside the metal box frame that sits directly on the floor after someone reported smelling a strange odor. The box springs and mattress fit into the top of the bed frame. Room 222, according to investigators, had been rented 5 times and cleaned many times by the hotel staff since the day Millbrook was reported missing.Homicide investigators say Millbrook appears to have been murdered. Theres more than one moral to these stories, to be sure, but the most disturbing of all is that urban legends do sometimes come true.​ Further reading: Isle Mainland Traveler Shared Room with Corpse. Honolulu Star-Bulletin, 1 August 1996.