Belonging, Les Murray Poems Essay

The concept of be is interesting to me because the idea is really that of self. There are many an(prenominal) varied notions of be revolving just about the inclusion/exclusion of a individual in a societal group, attraction/alienation to values, attitudes and behaviours, security/ marginalization.But ultimately the idea of belong is the development of our own hotshot of mortalal identity universe defined by the groups, communities, lifestyles we align ourselves with.Les Murrays poems The widowman in the Country and The Away-Bound Train explore the sense of be by his verbaliser in different ways.We experience through The widower in the Country a loss of a sense of belonging caused by the death of the speakers wife. In The Away-Bound Train the speaker describes the rural landscape in his poetry, and his sense of belonging to it.Les Murray in The Widower in the Country uses descriptive imagery and emotive language to foreground the loss of belonging.The depression of the spe aker by having no real billing in life is shown by the words and pause to look across the Christmas paddocks. He is delaying his duties as he is aimless. The reference to Christmas also illustrates widower being alone for a holiday previously celebrated with family.The ellipses run subsequently The nettles in the yard showing there is further work to be take one and the neglect of the speaker evidencing his absence of involvement.The speaker sits alone at the head of the table eating a plain meal of corned-beef supper reinforces the widowers absence and direction in life and also an unfitness to enunciate his emotions.The speaker in The Away-Bound Train experiences a feeling of belonging tothe nation through the exploration of the landscape. The speaker is a man on a train leaving the countryside, which he loves, to travel to the city, which he despises.At the start of the poem the speaker describes his ideal home in the country I stand in a house of trees a brook runs grey wi th sand.The speaker then describes the landscape (the near hills hiking steeply and fall, the upland farms are all bare) which is followed by a declaration of allegiance to the country (and this is my country).The warmth of the ice-cold July dismissal reflects his sentiment of home. Even though he reminds himself that the warmth of the fire is the past, his mind, he says, trails far in the wake of the train.At the end of the poem, the speaker wills himself to go back to sleep and his dream. He literally closes his eyes against reality and returns in his imagination to the country he is leaving.In an alternative medium, the musical birdsong Creep by the band Radiohead describes the confide to belong, yet the eventual alienation and loneliness of an unrequited crush. The song is a story of a souls infatuation with someone whom he feels heAs a contrasting view, Creep composed by Thom Yorke presents the idea of belonging through alienation the story of a persons infatuation with s omeone whom he feels he cannot attain.The use of the fable just resembling an angel your skin makes me cry conveys how unreachable, unapproachable the young woman is to him. This expression of distance illustrates how inadequate the person feels when compared to his object of desire.The use of lewdness What the hell am I doing here? conveys the frustration and anger matte up by the person at not being accepted. This is supported bythe change from poetic language to blunt speech I dont belong here.The contrast between the arising of the song and the chorus stresses the impact of the anger and frustration over wanting to belong. The opening lyrics are very soft with gentle imagery You float like a feather, in a beautiful world. The lazy guitar strengthen and rhythm then build up to what seems like an emotional division with the singer and the guitar screaming in despair and anger But Im a creep, Im a weirdo.The ostinato (musically) portrays the songs obsessional lyrics, which depict the angry rage of an unsuccessful crush. The theme of alienation is reinforce I want you to notice when Im not around.Youre so special, I wish I was special shows the person wanting to belong with the other who he sees as extraordinary.