There is a certain warmth and intimacy about this poem about a house in Regent’s Park that the Skrzynecki family lived in despite being surrounded by factories. After years of wandering the world as displaced refugees, the chance to set down roots would have been irresistible so the poem conveys a sense of ownership and pride in the security it provides as the two references to “keys” and “well oiled lock” make obvious. The inclusiveness of the collective pronoun “We” is repeated 3 times emphasising their togetherness and cohesion. They belong to each other. The other pronoun “My” is possessive and indicates his identification with his parents.
This is elaborated in the poem “Ancestors”, the artwork “Speechless” and the poem “Feliks Skrzynecki”. Belonging is the journey of self-discovery, connecting the past with present experiences. Peter Skrzynecki depicts individual perception in the poem “Ancestors”. It explores the importance that antecedents have on personal identity. The poet reflects on himself through creating a connection to his
Belonging is an ambiguous concept which can offer individuals a sense of identity, security and connectedness. Experiences of belonging are closely related and can emerge from the connections made with places. Peter Skrzynecki’s poem 10 Mary Street, from the anthology Immigrant Chronicle, explores the positiveness of belonging, the feeling of security and self-identity. However, the lack of connections made with places can be very negative and lead to not belonging and self-alienation. This concept is explored in the poem St. Patricks College which is also from Peter Skrzynecki’s anthology, Immigrant Chronicle.
Year 11 Extended English Response When a person migrates to settle in another country, (particularly after going through a migrant hostel), there are both positive and negative consequences. One of the negatives is failing to belong or being socially accepted. Peter Skrzynecki’s poems 10 Mary Street and St Patrick’s College both give an outlook as to the positive and negative consequences that are experienced by migrants. 10 Mary Street 10 Mary Street is an interesting poem as it shifts in time from when Peter was a boy to when he is much older. It communicates with his experience of the life he lived with his family in a house at 10 Mary Street.
The neighbor, on the other hand, asserts that the wall is crucial to maintaining their relationship, asserting, “Good fences make good neighbors.” Over the course of the mending, the narrator attempts to convince his neighbor otherwise and accuses him of being old-fashioned for maintaining the tradition so strictly. The neighbor, all the while, holds his ground simply repeating his old adage. This poem displays a deep idea that is often overlooked. People, regardless of their relationship/closeness, still have boundaries, and walls must still exist around all people. The narrator questions the need for a boundary between them, while the neighbor insists on its presence.
How do the poems ’10 Mary Street’ and ‘Feliks Scrzynecki’ explore the impact of home and family on belonging? Reflecting back on his past, poet Peter Skrzynecki explores the positive impacts of home and family on belonging. In his poems ‘10 Mary Street’ and ‘Feliks Skrzynecki’, Skrzynecki retells the story of the persona’s childhood through the perspective of an adult. This allows for the responder to understand the persona’s feelings and emotions about his past and about what it means to belong. While ’10 Mary Street’ explores the importance of the family and the family home on belonging, ‘Feliks Skrzynecki’ portrays family and culture as important aspects of belonging.
Feliks’ perception of belonging is formed by his personal experiences and this revolves around his garden, in which he seems to have created another world of his own emphasised in the simile ’Loved his garden like an only child’, demonstrating his devotion towards his piece of earth in a foreign land. “He never lost his language, never even learnt English” demonstrates Feliks’ comfort with not belonging to Australian society. Feliks is depicted as never being able to be an Australian because his identity has been forged in the Polish culture. In contrast, Skrzynecki is depicted as not being able to belong to the Polish culture. Skrzynecki feels excluded while his family reminisce of Poland and jealous of his father’s stoic nature.
Peter Skryznecki’s poem ‘Feliks Skrzynecki’ celebrates his father and documents the migrant experience of belonging in a new country and culture. His second poem ’10 Mary Street’ reflects on the family home and how this was integral to his family having a sense of belonging in Australia. The film ‘Yolngu Boy’ explores indigenous society,
Edward Thomas Quotations – The power of language * “Silence/Stained with all that hour’s songs.” Synaesthesia of sound being described in a visual term (MARCH) * Conversational – “Now I know that Spring” (MARCH)/“But these things also are Spring’s” (BUT THESE THINGS ALSO) * Language and words prove that we love the Earth, “As the earth which you prove/ That we love.” (WORDS) The problems with language * Names are confusing and pointless. They “half decorate, half perplex, the thing it is.” (OLD MAN) * To someone that knows the name of something (herb), it is meaningful, “In the name there’s nothing to one that knows not Lads-Love, or Old Man.” (OLD MAN) * Words have their own ability to choose who they want to have relationships with – Problematic idea, “Choose me/You English words?” (WORDS) * Unable to express his love for the addressee – his language is literal and has no figurative meaning or imagery, “Loves this my clay”/”Its dying day.” (NO ONE SO MUCH AS YOU) Memory * Jealousy of his daughter’s ability to remember her childhood from smelling plant/his incapability to, “I sniff the spray and think of nothing” / “She will remember, with that bitter scent.” (OLD MAN) * Loss of memory and dreaming capability, “And have forgotten since their beauty passed.” (TEARS) * Very aware that death is inevitable and he is overly eager for death rather than life. Remembers that he will die as this is what he longs most for, “Remembering again that I shall die.” (RAIN) * Struggles with his memory-frustrated that he can’t remember things, “And silences like memory’s sand.” (THE SUN USE TO SHINE) * He has no memory of previous months and seasons to make him feel better/they have no importance to him as he is drifting in age and will die, “And August gone, again gone by, not memorable.” (GONE, GONE AGAIN) Joy * Other
Belonging, by definition is an individuals innate need for connection . A sense of belonging and not belonging can emerge from the connections made with people, places and the external world. To convey these connections poets use themes of belonging and not belonging. The Collection of poems immigrant chronicles in particular 10 Mary St exploring the composer coming home of a family, settling into suburban life , Though in order to effectively convey belonging one must also consider the implications of not belonging , enraptured through Migrant hostel , the recount of the 2 years the composer and his family resided in this hostel before they where allowed entry into a life of freedom in Australia . Migrant hostel is the environment where the family spent 2 years in their transient from Poland to Australia.