In the park by Gwen Harwood

By tanya neuendorf, Student

Poetry appreciation of works by Australian poets

An essay hosted at LiteratureClassics.com

The poem In the Park by Gwen Harwood concentrates on the issue of parenthood at a young age. The issue of poverty is also addressed, however it is done so in a typically stereotypical manner – the young mother sits in a park with her children, her clothes are old and unfashionable. The image is a rather sat and pathetic one, and portrays how society views the woman for having to raise three rambunctious children on her own.

She sits in the park. Her clothes are out of date.
Two children whine and bicker, tug her skirt

Harwood attempts to evoke feelings of compassion and sympathy for the woman from the reader. The poor mother is struggling to live her own life and come to terms with decisions she has made in the past that have ultimately affected her life.

A third (child) draws aimless patterns in the dirt

Is this what her life has become? Little more than meaningless patters? This striking imagery leads the audience to not only understand the emotional turmoil the mother is feeling, but also feel sympathetic towards the grimy and dirty existence (poverty) that the family has to endure.

Someone she once loved passes by- too late

The word love is a very emotional term. The word love can stir many feelings for the reader. Especially since her love is "passing by too late." This causes the audience to relate this feeling to his or her own life, and love that has passed by for them. It can make one feel loneliness, regret, or sadness.

Harwood then adopts an ironic tone when the mother stops to talk to the man about her children.

…It’s so sweet
to hear their chatter, watch them grow and thrive,

This mention of chatter contrasts plainly with the earlier description of the children’s whining and bickering. The woman stating how the children have grown and thrived could almost be interpreted in an horticultural sense – the children to her are little more than bothersome weeds or overgrown grass that have taken over her very being.

The man she once loved appears shocked to see the her in her current state of poverty, while he, with his ‘neat head’ seems to exude confidence and grooming. He makes the effort to say ‘how nice’, however, this is an obvious forced statement.

The poem ends with the woman seated in the park once again as the poem had started. She:

Sits staring at her feet

This statement holds a much deeper meaning. This image is symbolic of the shame and degradation that the mother feels and despises. When staring at her feet, her head is hung, and unquestionable sign of sadness, embarrassment or defeat.

The poem ends with a very powerful line that can be linked with the earlier image of the children being little more than rogue pests in her eyes.

To the wind she says, "They have eaten me alive."

Her children have devoured her, overtaken her as an individual free to love and laugh, free to live.