Student Number When an author produces a text, that text has several levels of meaning, and is coloured to reflect

the life experiences and perspectives of its author. The role of the consumer of the text is to appreciate the text, but also to reach into the text and draw out the deeper meaning and value behind the words and techniques and extrapolate the authors perspectives and therefore experiences from this. In doing so, we gain a greater appreciation for texts. We do this by analysing how the texts use of form and language produce an integrated whole in terms of its meaning and value. This need becomes easily apparent when the consumer encounters poetry, as much of the meaning can be shrouded in the form and descriptive language used within poetry. This phenomenon can be viewed effectively through the analysis of Kenneth Slessors assorted works, particularly Five Visions of Captain Cook, Five Bells and Beach Burial. The first level of analysis of a poem is a simple visual examination of the form of the poem. This can give us the style, and from there, an indication of the content of the poem. The form is often an indicator of the poets school and culture, whether they are Modernists, Romantics, Western, Eastern or one of a multitude of other categories. The poem Five Bells is indicative of a modernist approach to poetry, as it employs a free verse format and only broken apart by the repeated use of the phrase of Five Bells, with little rhyme. This indicates that the poem consists of several distinct sections, distinct memories. From this, we can extrapolate that this poem consists of a series of separate, fragmented incidents, each with some impact upon the Poet. A similar format is used within Five Visions of Captain Cook, this time broken up by numerals, again therefore depicting separate views. The consistency in format between these two poems expresses the way that Slessor thinks, and the fragmented nature of his experiences. It helps build a ready consistency within our interpretation of Slessor based upon simple appearance. In apparent contrast however is another of his works; Beach Burial is a more elegiac and formal poem following typical romantic format if not the typical content of such a poem. It engages rhyme and set verse structure in order to set a more respectful tone to the poem and engage us in a deeper, more emotional way. The inconsistency of form between the two types of poem assists in determining the meaning of the poems. Language techniques are heavily relied upon in all types of poetry in order to express the feelings and values of the poet. Slessor makes great use of several techniques, most noticeably imagery, personification and metaphors, but also other techniques such as alliteration and assonance. Five Bells relies heavily on the use of metaphors such as The Night and water Pour to one rip of darkness as well as personification I felt the wet push its black thumb-balls in, in order to express the way in which he sees the world. They show that Slessor arranges his thoughts into concepts that he has experienced, or more easily comprehend. Beach Burial uses softer sounds in the first paragraph, followed by alliteration such as sob and clubbing of the gunfire in order to imply the feelings of those involved in the battle itself, along with imagery such as the convoys of dead soldiers to draw a more descriptive image for the reader. The fact that Slessor attempts to describe the aftermath of the battlefield in such detail implies that he is drawing from some personal experience, in this case that of his stint as a journalist at El Almein. The use of these language techniques helps to create an integrated meaning and value through the text as it kept the tone of the poems in line with what the content

depicts, and helps the content to make a greater impact upon the reader by drawing a more graphic image. Perspective is an important tool that Slessor employs within his poetry to portray his message as he understands it. Usually a single perspective within a poem is required within a poem to maintain a single integrated approach to the subject, as Slessor engages within Five Bells, in the form of Slessor himself remembering and imagining moments with Joe Lynch, and in Beach Burial an impersonal but still personally affected narrator to the unfolding story. However, in Five Visions, Slessor tells the story of Captain Cook from five different, but all effusively praise-filled perspectives. When we look at each of the personas used by Slessor and combine them with other devices used in the texts, we can gain an understanding of him and bring to the surface his motivations for writing each of the poems. Each motivation is based upon a simple but deep moment within Slessor's life; Beach Burial is a testimony to the effect that reporting on El Almein had on Slessor, that he should write with such description as written with such perplexity, with such bewildered pity / The words choke as they begin. Five Bells is a reflection on Slessors tortured memories of his time with Joe Lynch, before his drowning and subsequent haunting of Slessor. Five Visions recounts the perspectives of five different associates of Captain Cook, that of the Sailor, Officer, an observer of Cooks experiments, the Midshipman and Captain Homes, a friend of Cooks. Each of these perspectives praises Cook, and from this we can extract that Slessor was a great fan of Cook. Each perspective is a window to the soul, from which we can divine the poets intent and feelings. A certain level of consistency in the form and language of a poem in order to express an integrated portrayal of the meanings and values intended by the poet. This consistency is achieved within each of Slessors poems, giving each of them an individual meaning to both us and the poet, however, when we examine a collection of texts as a whole, noting disparities in form and language, we gain a deeper and broader understanding of the author, and therefore more effectively perceive the meaning of the text.