Widowed :
Hardly a day passes That she doesn’t work In her garden – pruning and weeding On bended knees, Watching the dance of bees In clumps of lantana Overgrowing her paths. She pauses longest Among the roses – fingering petals and buds As if they were the hem Of a wedding or christening dress – Shyly, almost reluctant. Again and again She returns to a hedge Or vine – stands As though waiting For something to happen. Kneeling on leaves She won’t burn, On decayed rain That has turned to moss, She tends to violets and marigolds – Her dress gathered about her Like a garment of ceremony: Her face overshadowed By a hat which summer can’t pierce, Her future entangled Among thorns and evergreens. Peter Skrzynecki |
Analysis :
'Widowed' is a poem composed by Peter Skrzynecki. It is a 'free verse' poem which means that it doe not have a regular rhyme or meter. This poem is about a woman in the garden gardening, it is also talking about the past of the woman, what she lost and how sad she is. In this poem she's all depressed while around her is filled with joy like the bees are dancing and etc. The message and the main themes of this poem is when people loose loved ones, they can sometimes feel left out or separated from the rest of the world. The main themes were loss, this theme was shown a lot in the poem because the poem was mainly about the lost of her life. Tragedy, in the poem there was a lot of tragedy cause her husband died and etc. Sadness because she feels left out and she seems lonely. The tone created in this poem was sorrowfulness pitiful and peaceful. This poem was mainly about negativity. Some language technique Peter Skrzynecki used were rhyme, personification and simile. An example of rhyme was 'bees and knees', an example of personification was 'hat which summer can't pierce' and an example of simile was 'petals and buds - hem of a wedding of Christmas dress'. In my opinion I think the poem is really relaxing to read, although I don't like too much or the negativity. |