Poetry of Australian Poet Gwen Harwood

Gwen Harwood’s poetry is very powerful for its ability to question the social conventions of its time, positioning the reader to see things in new ways. During the 1960’s, a wave of feminism swept across Australian society, challenging the dominant patriarchal ideologies of the time. Gwen Harwood’s poems ‘Burning Sappho’ and ‘Suburban Sonnet’ are two texts that challenge the dominant image of the happy, gentle, but ultimately subservient housewife.

Instead, ‘Burning Sappho’ is powerful in constructing the mother as violent to reject the restraints placed on her by society, whilst Suburban Sonnet addresses the mental impact of the female gender’s confinement to the maternal and domestic sphere. Harwood employs a range of language and structural devices in order to criticise the stereotypical repressed roles of the female gender. Thus Harwood encourages the modern reader to perceive Australian social structures differently and hence reject the inequitable role of women in modern society.

Structure is used in many of Harwood’s poems to challenge the dominant perception of the happy, caring mother. In ‘Suburban sonnet,’ the structure is (obviously) the sonnet, two four line stanzas followed by a six-line stanza. This choice is deliberate as the traditional romanticised love poem jars against the reality presented in the poem. Similarly, ‘Burning Sappho’ challenges the dominant stereotypes of the time however, rather than a sonnet, the poem’s structure is also relevant to the poem’s criticisms, thus revealing a duality in the mother’s actions and inner thoughts.

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Throughout the day, the mother is constantly interrupted by her supposed ‘duties’ and ‘roles. ’ “Scandals and Pregnancies” mediates that the women (a kind friend) talk, however the subject of the conversation presents a typecast of stereotypical gossip, therefore positioning the reader to perceive their conversation as lacking substance. In contrast to this stereotype however, the persona’s thoughts are deeply personal and challenging to the reader. Vivid imagery of a “monster grin(ning) and stick(ing) her child with pins conflicts with the stereotype of the loving mother.

Instead, the alliteration of “pours prussic acid” presents sharp diction to emphasise the concept of violence in regards to the mother. As a result, the reader is positioned to reassess the image of the caring, gentle mother, instead seeing the resulting emotionally repressed women as a direct reaction to the constraints placed on her gender. Language and imagery plays a dramatic role in portraying relationships and feelings/thoughts of the persona.

Whilst in ‘Burning Sappho,’ the mother’s attitude towards tasks is portrayed as emotionless (“the child is fed, the dishes are washed, the clothes are ironed and aired,”), language is utilised within ‘Suburban Sonnet’ to construct the mother’s mental state and situation as dire. “Zest and Love drain out with soapy water. ” The use of two personal, passionate adjectives and the depiction of them being physically overcome by soapy water directly link the mother’s loss of feelings and fiery emotion to the household chores and duties.

For example, she “scours crusted milk,” as a part of her role as mother and housewife as the reader is positioned to reject this requirement as a result of the huge impact to her quality of life (“Veins ache”). The literal image of a dead mouse symbolises the mother’s situation as the ‘soft corpse’ directly represents the mother, that is, emotionally dead as a result of the entrapment by society.

The reader is positioned to fully sympathise with the mother in her repressed position and thus question the stereotypical contented mother figure that is compartmentalised to the domestic sphere of Patriarchal society. Both poems suggest that their forced social roles of women as mothers and housewives come at the cost of career opportunities and personal aspirations. Music and writing, in particular, are significant, as Harwood believed they played an integral part in emotions and peace of the mind. She practices a fugue though it can matter to no one not whether she plays well or not. ” The fugue in musical terms is a piece of repetitive writing that is utilised by Harwood to suggest a form of monotony and recurrence. As well as this, the negative alliteration of the words, “No, not and now” can be linked to the repression of the mother’s ability to play the piano. The persona is depicted as a good pianist within the poem, reflecting Harwood’s own skills on the instrument.

However, due to her femininity, the persona is unable to pursue her career. Similarly, in “Burning Sappho,” the repetition of the persona writing (“I pick up my pen and start to write”) across the four stanzas emphasises the mother’s need for creative and emotional release. The construction of the children in both poems is also instrumental in representing the social expectation of the home mother, rather than worker. In “Suburban Sonnet,” imagery collusive with the children such as “Chattering and then screaming” is very stressful and negative.

In contrast, the diction and language in “Burning Sappho” is shocking to the reader as the poem not only depicts a very difficult child in contrast to the stereotypical innocent construction, but the mother’s relationship with her is fragmented – “Something like hatred forks between my child and me. ” Clear negative diction is used to challenge these stereotypes of the mother/child relationship, therefore challenging the views of society, which dictate that women must look after their children rather than pursue a career.

Through the use of poetic structure and language in “Burning Sappho” and “Suburban Sonnet,” Gwen Harwood challenges established patriarchal ideas in regards to the domestic sphere of women as housewives and mothers. Her powerful voice and rhetoric is key to her argument and consequently I am positioned to readdress my perception of these particular groups in society, sympathising with the restriction of gender roles and therefore challenging the further implementation of them on Australian Society.

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