Kenneth Slessor Speech: Critical studies of Texts Essay

The gulls go down the body dies and rots, and clock flows past them like the hundred yachts. Kenneth Slessor, a renowned poet and journalist was natural on the 27th of March 1901 in Orange, New South Wales. Throughout his eventful life, Slessor was able to root an array of verse forms through which he was able to convey his experiences through life. But why exactly be his verses still considered so relevant and significant in this era? Firstly, Slessors poems were widely recognised for their cogency to accurately depict his beneathstanding of humanity, life, expiry and change. Across his oeuvre he conveys a unique merely consistent view of the meaning of life and death. He presents this through the use of poetic techniques such as metaphors, repetition, similes and alliteration which atomic number 18 evident through all of his poems. Good morning/afternoon Mr Younes and Yr. 12.The poems Out of clipping and Beach Burial are two compositions of Slessors later work that a re considered memorable and potent by many of his critics. They are said to reveal his interaction with the environment and clearly depict his warm emotions. I am sure that you impart all agree that Slessors work is significant in todays era because of his ability to cleverly and creatively use features to inter-relate the true essence of his poems. The poem Out of magazine vividly initiates the essence of life and humanity as being primarily prevail and controlled by clip. Many critical analysis of Slessors work convey that his perception of time is that of a mystery, something that cannot be clearly defined and comprehended. His personal connection with time is deluded with the fact that it can be both a destructive force and a pleasure found in a moment.The adamant and unbeatable constitution of time causes it to solely control and thus highlight the vulnerability of the human existence. As spy in the first sonnet the destructive nature of time is expressed through the l inages Or time, the raddled knife, it runs me throughtime takes me, drills me, drives through bone and vein. Metaphorically, time is referred to as a knife which is usually link with the feelings of betrayal and deceit. Thus, Slessor finds that time is a masked identity victimising humanity the faceless host and moving on without hesitation or remorse. Similarly, Slessors experience as a war correspondent in El Alamein observing Convoys of dead soldiers rolling to shore led to the inspiration of composing the elegy Beach Burial.He explores the nature of time and the unfortunate occurrence of war. The intense and futile nature of war educates Slessor to conclude that time is the conqueror that withholds the universal fate of death. Have you ever felt invisible in a herd area? Well, this is precisely what Slessor conveys death to be like. Death is commonly interpreted as the termination of life, a force that has an eternal end. Once our time is up we have no link to this world but are rather taken up to the Other front. Slessor clearly states that once death has its grasp, humanity will lose its identity as they will eventually be lost in a store taken by time. This is reinforced in Beach Burial in the lines Unknown seaman- the ghostly pencil wavers and fadesthe wet season has washed their inscriptionsThe styles of Slessors poems are unique yet there is still a relative consistency evident throughout his oeuvre. In the poem Out of m Slessor presents the poem in a cyclical pattern that imitates the nature of time. The last line of each sonnet is the beginning line of the next thus indicating a link throughout the poem. Slessor makes this style distinctive by beginning the poem with I saw Time flowing like the hundred yachts and ending with And Time flows past them like a hundred Yachts. Wouldnt you agree that his use of repetition and personification of time clearly expresses the primary(prenominal) value of this poem? Through these techniques Slessor cleve rly delineates that time is a continuous force that will neer come to an end but will always have its command over humanities life.On the contrary, the style of the poem Beach Burial is that of an elegy. By presenting his poem in this style, Slessor conveys the empathy that he felt as a result of his experience in El Alamein. The use of onomatopoeic reference The sob and unite of gunfire accurately depicts the futility and harsh nature of war. He then primarily expresses that death has the last tell apart because in the end all of humanity will ultimately be untied by death through fate. This is portrayed in the line Whether as enemies they foughtthe sand joins them together. A common technique that I am sure you all are aware off is that of water imagery. Water like time is a vast force that is eternal in nature, its ability to be both rough and calm precisely reflects the nature of time and the gloominess of death. The imagery of water is commonly used throughout Slessors oeuv re.It is reinforced in the stanzas of Out of Time in the lines So time, the wave, enfolds me in its bed.water bendsthe tide goes over. And in Beach Burial in the lines They sway and wander in the waters far under As you may have noticed, the structural integrity of Slessors work can be seen as a solid representation of the values that he so intricately portrays. Both Out of Time and Beach Burial are composed with completely different structures yet still effectively portray the values of each poem. Composed of an ensemble of three quatrains and a couplet forming a sonnet, Out of Time is characterised by three sonnets. In each of these sonnets Slessor expresses a different aspect of time, linking them together to form a poem that is similar to that of an anecdote.However, the irregularity of the lines in Beach Burial mimics the movement of waves creating an atmosphere and mood that is both solemn and humble. Dont you agree that this creative use of imagery precisely delineates the d epth of Slessors emotions? Hopefully I have given you a thorough insight as to why Slessors poems are still relevant and significant today. It is evident to see that the themes and values that he expresses through his poems are off a universal significance and his ability to convey them through poetic devices accurately depicts the rudimentary notions of his poems. Thus, readers such as us and even critics are able to relate and recognise the articulate nature of his work and for this reason Slessors work will continue to be of a great significance.