Comparing Gwen Harwood's Suburban Sonnet And Burning Sappho

Gwen Harwood to a large extend, takes marginalised groups such as women, and privileges their experiences by giving them a voice through poetry. Both ‘Suburban Sonnet’ and ‘Burning Sappho’ express the frustrations of women who feel tapped by motherhood and the expectation that they will conform to domestic roles. Harwood comments on the inability of women to pursue personal happiness as she shows that motherhood can be both rewarding and all consuming. Meaning is therefore drawn from each poem through Harwood's intricate use of stylistic features such as figurative language and imagery, shaping readers to understand that it is often those we love that cause the most intense feelings of resentment and internal frustration.

Through both ‘Suburban

This is shown through the metaphorical pot boiling over as “zest and love drain out with soapy water as she scours the crusted milk.” Through this metaphor, Harwood shapes meaning through insinuating that the women’s passion has been “drained out” and lost through her obligation to household chores. With this, she creates the image that women should sacrifice their dreams and aspirations to become a mother figure to their children. Through references to “Rubinstein’s yawn” - known to be a famous pianist - Harwood implies a masculine judgement causing the persona to question whether she has ever really had a captive audience as “She practices a fugue, though it can matter to no one now if she plays well or not.” ’Suburban Sonnet’ is told from the persona’s point of view, leading readers to question whether the women in the sonnet could perhaps be the poet herself. Harwood therefore articulates the experiences of the 1950’s suburban housewives who were expected to forget the other aspects of their lives and simply be content with the joys and burdens of

Harwood therefore uses the poem as a social commentary on 1950’s Australia. Through figurative language, she shows a dark side to motherhood and how the repetitive and mundane lifestyle can be exhausting. The line “hatred forks between my child and me” shows that the persona is an honest reflection on how ultimately, a mother can resent her children at times. Harwood therefore uses the rhythm of her ‘vengeances’ to form the final couplet in each of her stanza’s which stress that they are related humorously. The quote “inside my smile a monster grins, and sticks her image through with pins.” contains a child like rhyme that contrasts against the dark statements suggesting that the humorous exaggerations could be the persona’s way of dealing with her own confinement. The relationship between the mother and child is shown through the authors use of connotative language in words such as “wines” “monster” and “hatred” which mirrors the persona’s frustration and shows that their relationship is often one of hatred and resentment. Through the metaphor of “the devils burning in my brain” as well as the “monster grins”, Harwood conveys a metaphorical suggestion of her internal frustration. ‘Burning Sappho’ was written under the female