"Tree" by Australian Aboriginal poet Kevin Gilbert, expresses an
environmental or nature spirituality in which unity and wholeness accompany the understanding
that we are one with such elements of nature as a tree. Gilbert usesto emphasize this unity: the
tree and the clay address the reader with the "I" pronoun as if they are people. This
stresses how much we are interconnected with nature.
The poem also expresses
unity and wholeness through enjambment, which is when a thought doesn't stop at the end of the
line. For example, the speaking personified voice of the tree addressing humans says "you
are nothing" and breaks for a new line. Stopping here on the word "nothing"
creates a sense of alienation, threat, and anxiety, as if nature is humankind's enemy, sneering
at usuntil the continuation of the thought in the next line is revealed: "but through me
the tree." We are relieved: our unity and interconnectedness with the tree gives us life
and sustenance.
The technique...
No comments:
Post a Comment