Bruce Dawe Poetry - Remaining Relevant

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Bruce Dawes poetry has always been appealing and still remains to be so to this day. Part of the reason for this is that his themes and ideas are still relevant to a contemporary audience. One of these themes is the ceaseless need our society has for war. Since the beginning of our race, we have encountered conflict, violence and great wars and battles. We continue to see this in modern society. Another theme that Dawe often relates to is popular culture and interests that society holds in a high light such as religion, popular sports and nature. These concepts are the basis of society and have always been popular. Thus the appeal of Bruce Dawe’s poetry is that it remains relevant to a contemporary audience. One theme that will always be relevant to modern audiences is war. Many people have great interest into what goes on at war and is often an emotional topic. Conflict and resolve are threaded throughout the history of the human race and wars and large-scale battles were often fought. This is still seen in modern society. It can have very large impacts on the life of an individual and lead to lifestyle changes. As it can impact on people so drastically, even in modern day society, the audience will often feel connected to the theme of war. In Dawes poem “weapons training”, the audience is thrown right into the military group and shocked into the situation with the drill Sergeants cruel manner. Almost the entire poem is written in one sentence and the harsh language used creates a sense of being yelled at. With repetitive insults such as “queer” and “elephant ears”, it is obvious that the sergeant means business and will not tolerate nonsense. He is quite racist towards the enemy, with reference to “their rotten fish sauce breath” and calling them “little yellows”. The harsh words spoken by the Sergeant creates an adrenaline filled scene for the audience which is

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