Weapons Training

Weapons Training is an anti-war poem that displays the the violence in preparations for war, reflecting the major social concern during the time as he illustrates the subjects in the text for being soulless. Through the structure of the poem, the reader can sense the sargeant's aggressive tone from the soldier's’ point of view as if the soldier was dosing off. The use of the dramatic monologue establishes an imagery of fast pace speaking which also reflects the rapid and uncontrollable violence on the battlefield. Moreover, this allows the audience to have an idea of the harsh preparations of war. In addition, the onomatopoeic word “pitter-patter” metaphorically suggests the sounds often found on the battlefield as shown through the harsh sounds of “t” and “i”, sounding like weaponry. This suggests the violent realities of fighting in war as it illustrates the soldiers turning into weapons themselves. Furthermore, the repetition of “dead, dead, dead” is also a syntax that emphasises the realities of living but dead the next moment as it also highlights the idea that the soldiers will end up dead hence the word is being exaggerated towards the soldiers. In addition, the emphasises on ‘dead’ further suggests that the sergeant is killing the humanity within the soldiers to rebuild them into emotionless and ruthless killing machines, hence the old civilised self is already ‘dead’. Ultimately, Weapons Training, a poem spoken by the cold, heartless sergeant explores the themes of violences in preparations of war as shown through his harsh insults towards the lifeless soldiers, depicting the composer’s views on anti-war.

Homecoming is an anti-war poem in a tone of an elegy which depicts the consequences of war, reflecting the major social concern during the time as Dawe illustrates the sorrowful aftermath in the text, highlighting that war is unnecessary. The rhythm within the first 10 lines of the poem consists of short and detached sentences which creates a staccato beat representing the soldier’s life, also indicating that they’re here but gone the next minute. This also establishes the uncertainty and sudden experiences the soldiers went through, as a result, the tragedy of war is expressed throughout the poem. In addition, the repetition of “day” in the first line indicates that bringing the bodies back to Australia has became a natural routine and is a casual action as an outcome of the shocking brutality. The fourth line of the poem indicates that the dead soldiers have became “green plastic bags” which is an allusion for garbage, suggesting that the have been used and are now nothing but rubbish due to the colour imagery of the sick colour of green symbolising the environment. Within the same line, “them” is referred to the nameless soldiers as the repetition also reflects the effect of their traumatising training where their identity were destroyed by the sergeant. Overall, the poem has an ironic title “Homecoming”, a term that means happily welcoming someone home however, the poem is focusing on the mourning and tragic of bringing dead bodies back to Australia. Ultimately, Dawe significantly establishes the themes of the aftermaths of war through the poem “Homecoming” through the vivid visuals and aural poetic techniques to raise awareness on his views on the unnecessary war.

“Enter Without So Much As Knocking” is a poem that reflects the overall complexities of life in our contemporary society as it displays the way a man is brought up in the world he lives in. Hence, the composer uses an array of techniques to raise awareness of the ongoing barriers, especially hypocrisy. The compound words used; “well-equipped, smoothly-run and economy-sized” alludes to words emphasised in advertisements, suggesting that life is sold to the child indicating the power of money in the world they live in, hence highlighting the concept of consumerism. The listing of these words also further illustrates the stereotypical society as “economy-sized mum” alludes to a sexist typical stereotype. In addition, the colloquial expression “number one every time” refers to the man in the poem caring for himself before caring for others which reflects the influence of the environment he lives in. Furthermore, the issue of society valuing appearance more than personality is expressed through the ironic line “the old automatic smile with nothing behind it” which shows how much the man has altered himself to be accepted by the expectations that the world has. This emphasises the loss of genuine emotions and the idea of looking good even when he is dead which significantly highlights the value of appearance rather than sympathy. Ultimately, the text displays the themes of the hypocrisy of society through showing how the man in the poem has grew up to find all the flaws within the world, eventually destroying the innocent nature he was born with. As a major issue, Dawe changes these ordinary scenes into extraordinary complexities in the contemporary society.

Homo suburbiensis is a poem depicting Dawe’s representation of post-war leading to a changing world as it is an ongoing complexity during the time. The poem illustrates a typical Australian man’s mind in the chaotic world and his strength to continue to cope with the changing exterior. This is evident through the mention of “rampant” in stanza 3 which metaphorically symbolises the strong and proud mind despite the danger. The ellipsis of “palings...” provides a trail off that reflects the man’s thoughts and allows the reader to witness the drifting mind. In addition, the alliteration “smelling the smoke of somebody’s rubbish” creates a negative and aggressive tone that changes the peaceful image as this suggests the constant changing