The Cicadas Analysis free essay sample

Judith Wright was a political poet who concerned herself with many social issues which eventually became extremely personal to her. These issues manifested themselves in her poetry. She mixed words with deeds which explored the spiritual dimension of the Australian land. She believed that the role of the poet was that of a public figure with a responsibility for opposing the negative social forces and inhumane attitudes that degrade human life and the environment. Consequently nothing in Judith Wrights poems are inane or arbitrary, everything serves a specific purpose. The values that she concerns her poetry with are same values that she fought for in the political arena. Judith Wright uses figurative language in her poetry as a vehicle to foreground these values and personal and social issues, and is evident in the poem, â€Å"The Cicadas.† Figurative language is Language that communicates ideas beyond the ordinary or literal meaning of the words such as metaphor, slimily, personification, symbolism and paradoxes. We will write a custom essay sample on The Cicadas Analysis or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Judith Wright felt it was her role to protect those who could not protect them self and passionately involved herself in many social issues such as the conservation of the environment and protection of the Aboriginal people, which in itself also became a personal issue of Wrights. Many of her beliefs stemmed from her father who taught her that we are a part of the environment, not the rulers of it. In the mid-sixties she co-founded the Wildlife Preservation Society of Queensland and increasingly threw herself into active environmental work and continued to do so until the last decade of her life. Along with her profound awareness of environmental problems came a new understanding of the terrible wrongs inflicted on the Aboriginal people, Consequently urging her to become involved in organizations attempting to rectify these situations. It is interesting that Wright has focused an entire poem on such a small and seemingly insignificant creature, the cicada. This conveys to the audience  that even such a simple, humble creature such as this is just as effective as any thing else in teaching us the importance of nature and the need to conserve and protect it. Even though the poem begins with a description of the harsh and scorching Australian landscape, that Wright so powerfully adores and works to protect, the mood in this stanza is light hearted and relaxed. The line â€Å"in yellow days in summer† uses the colour yellow as imagery which is symbolic of the heat and also sets the mood for this particular stanza as warm, comfortable and mellow, which is further emphasized by other words such as â€Å"stillness,† and the line â€Å"birds fall quiet.† The line â€Å"streams sink in their beds,† personifies the streams, creating the image of the stream resting and relaxing as if human and adds to the calm and joyous mood of this first stanza. This mood that is conveyed and felt by the reader makes them appreciate nature for what it is and by doing so brings to the fore Judith Wrights belief in the conservation of the environment, because it is so gentile and beautiful and the way it can make us feel, Wright makes the reader understand that it is essential to protect it. In the first stanza Wright uses personification in order to humanize and bring nature to life. This makes the audience feel connected to it on a deeper level almost as if it is human. Summer is personified as hands that press down and harden the earth. The fact that summer is said to have hands gives it a very human aspect. Wright connects with nature on such a deep level that it could almost be considered as a human relation ship, by personifying summer Wright intends to make the audience feel this way as well, which then poses the question, How can we destroy nature when it is so much like us? Wright refers to the nymphs, which are the wingless cicadas before they mature into their adult form, and describes them as having spent their entire life â€Å"crouched alone and dumb in patent ugliness enduring the humble dark.† Wright uses her extensive knowledge of the English language to create a paradox by using the word nymph, they are described as ugly, however the word has a double meaning and also refers to a minor nature goddess usually depicted as a beautiful maiden. This paradox could possibly serve the purpose of conveying that even the superficially ugly aspects of the natural world have a strong element of beauty if we are prepared to look for it. Due to her close affinity and love of nature Wright believes that every natural aspect of the world is beautiful, and no matter how aesthetically unpleasing they may be every living creature must be cherished and defended as they can not fend for themselves. The line â€Å"hanging on the trees blood dreamed vaguely the dreams of trees,† suggests the connection between flora and fauna. This connection is a primary belief of the aborigines and by mentioning this in her poem Wright subtlety foregrounds the cultural identity of the aborigines and grants them respect. Wright describes the life of the nymphs as sad lonely, ugly and dark. These creatures can live at this stage of their life for up to seven years waiting patiently until they are finally ready to mature into their adult form. The line â€Å"they neither slept nor woke† suggests a life of routine and dullness, lacking purpose. The third stanza resembles that of a birth, â€Å"an unmade body wakes,† and is highlighted by the imagery, for example â€Å"fights to break its motherly enclosing ground,† but it is not birth in the literal sense. It is the nymph maturing into the adult form of the cicada. Wright has employed a powerful paradox using figurative language in the line â€Å"these dead must dig their upward grave in fear.† When a nymph is about to mature into a cicada it digs upwards to the surface to leave its old life, which was described as death, behind , where finally it can begin to search for love. However when they reach the surface they only live for a couple of weeks, so are essentially digging upward graves and this happier existence is transient like many of the pleasures in our life. This theme of love is referred to in this poem a number of times. In the  fourth stanza Wright represents love as an â€Å"unmerciful blade† that â€Å"has pierced us through.† By personifying the cicada and making it feel love and other emotions, the reader can identify with it on a deeper level as they feel empathy for its struggles and sadness and triumph in its successes and love, they actually care about its existence and well being in the world, which consequently means they would hope for the conservation of this and other creatures of the world. A similar effect is created in the last line of the fourth stanza and onwards. The poet adopts the persona of the cicada and feels that she is one with them, which makes the poem much more personal, once again making it much easier for the reader to relate to the cicada. The last stanza conveys a triumphant mood where at long last the nymphs have matured into adult cicadas and can rejoice in love in the natural world, like in their dreams. In contrast to the dark imagery in the first stanza, light is used to create a sense of joy and love, which Judith Wright hopes can for ever exist, so long as we do our part in the conservation of this beautiful world.