Harwood blends the intellectual with the emotional The human condition is such that there are distinct

contending principles that individuals seek to reconcile. Art is often an individuals response to their context and attempts to synthesise the dualities within the artist or their society and to communicate a resolution through creative faculties. This sense of constant negotiation with ones self through art is evident in the poetry of Gwen Harwood. In her poems, Harwood fuses inaries such as reason and emotion! certainty and am iguity in order to deal with competing aspects of the self and engage in a new and harmonised perception of the present. Harwoods poem "Triste, Triste# tries to negotiate the contrasting passions of the physical and spiritual, while "At $ornington# conveys Harwoods strife to reconcile the finality of death with the fleeting nature of life. Harwood also unites the past and present in her poem "The %iolets& in order to reach a state of acceptance. Harwood's a ility to com ine opposing principles resonates with an audience searching for a united sense of self, transcending the context of her poetry and proving its endurance. In "Triste, Triste#, Harwood explores the tensions etween the creative spirit and the limitations of the earth, a conflict etween passion and lucidity which resonates with the internal conflicts in her audience. Harwood expresses a yearning for continued physical passion in the intermittent "space etween love and sleep#. Harwood views this intangi le time as an opportunity to transcend the (prison of the heart. The poem is im ued with a strong sense of entrapment, with the ody o )ectified as a (stone! there is almost a necessity to escape the temporal and find a more spiritual intensity, reinforced y Harwoods allusion to the *hristian resurrection. The poem shifts explicitly (away from the physical, transcending earthly reality Harwood contrasts the spiritual with the mortal, appeal ting the readers desire to possess a passionate, intrinsic other self, (away from its tom of one. There is a divinity in the imagery pertaining to the creative spirit, a su lime perfection in the (un eara le light where the persona reaches a state of euphoria likened to that of physical passion. +et there is something divorced with the spirit (walking alone, representing individual experience in the imaginative realm where there is no intimacy. Harwoods personification of the spirit allows it to move from the purely sentimental to a conceiva le eing that resonates with oth the readers emotion and intellect. ,hile Harwood contrasts the imaginative and temporal selves, there is a recognition for the need to unify the two. At the height of inspiration, Harwood draws the reader ack to the (darkness of sleep and love, alerting us to the impossi ility of sustaining such intensity in the imaginative realm. The use of emotive language conveys the urgency of reconnecting the two selves. Again there is a removal from the surreal with Harwood's use of dialogue which creates a sense of the present. The last stan-a reunites the (heart with creative passion, conveying the need for the heart to draw certainty from the temporal, and also the evanescence of inspiration as the (spirits light is (dispelled. However Harwood recognises and alerts the reader that the heart can only (waken to peace if the creative self lies dormant. Harwood not so much lends as negotiates etween the two worlds to reach a harmonious state. However the poem (At $ornington conveys an evident strife to reconcile the opposing principles of life in the midst of grief. Harwood uses memory to fuse the past and the present which allows her to come to a realisation that there can e comfort in the thralls of grief. (At $ornington confronts the reader with the ultimate paradox of transience and finality! life and death. There is a som re, reflective tone

as the persona and friend (stand in silence amongst the avenues of the dead, which creates a need for solace to occur. Harwood's contrasts the stagnant (mar le and granite with the nature of memory (fugitive as light in a sea.wet shell /uestioning the significance of memory in the process if grief and its role in consoling the present state of loss. $emory is recalled to the persona in the form of childhood experience, where the persona desires to draw strength and certainty from her earlier conviction in her own power. However as she /uestions the role of memory Harwood speculates on its validity also as memory is influenced y the present and su )ect to emotion, emphasised y the uncertainty of (seem0ing1 to remem er and the am iguity of a father (half comforting, half angry. The innocent elief that defying gravity (was only a matter of alance is reflected in the personas present longing to transcend the gravity of death (in airy defiance of nature. Harwood aligns herself with nature, with the metaphor of a pumpkin, lending her state of contemplation with the pastoral as the force of inevita ility,! the cyclical (time of life depresses her defiance. There is an intensity in the tone of despair, that y articulating through the language of poetry, Harwood also communicates a deeply personal yet u i/uitous emotion. The poem returns to memory, though that of a dream through which the persona egins to recognise a means y which to reconcile transient life with death. The stan-a is steeped in fertile imagery of (day. right flowers and (water. The motif of water reappears, here sym olising not the overpowering force of death, ut the sustenance of friendship. That (there is still some water...enough to refresh is comforting, reshaping her perception of nature as progressing to inevita le loss. The raw emotion of the poem turns to a so er reflection where the persona (thinks of death no more ut is a le to confront death through the experience of (dreams, pain, memories, love and grief. 2rom the contemplation of mortality emerges a serenity and acceptance inspired y unifying the inescapa ility of death with an appreciation of memory and friendship. 3ikewise, in her poem "The %iolets#, Harwood lends the emotion of grief with a reflection on memory in order to achieve a state of reconciliation. The first stan-a depicts a "melancholy# setting where "frail# violets excite the personas recollection of a poignant childhood experience. The pathetic fallacy of the "dusk, and cold# atmosphere reflects the comfortless state of the persona, triggering empathy in readers who have experienced such a loss. Harwoods adult grief is mirrored y her )uvenile outrage at the time which had een "stolen# from her, and like death, the loss of time is irreplacea le. However the child is ultimately "reconciled# y the "sweetness# of the personas parents, depicted through Harwoods use of domestic, homely imagery of the "long hair# and "wood stove#. There is a conviction in "years cannot move# that conveys a sudden awareness that memorys "lamplit presences# can in times of despair, e as real to individuals as the present, and so a source of solace. The idea of there eing consolation in loss is one that will resonate with readers searching for relief, and the lingering "scent of violets# shows the longevity of memory and conveys it as eternal, continuing the presence of those physically lost.