poetic analysis of the surfer by judith wright

welcome to 2009! on Cassie's English Blog! Okay quickly, i am in year 8 and we have wrote short stories, read Emma by Jane Austen which we wrote a feature article for and now are studying peotry
Poetic Analysis of “The Surfer” by Judith Wright

This poem is about the joy of a surfer and the ever-changing mood of the ocean with the time period of a day. The poet wrote this from the persona from a viewers point as if you were on the sand watching this happen before your eyes. It heavily describes the actions of the surfer and the emotions that he felt when enjoying his passion of surfing. It is possible to get a crystal clear image of what the poem was telling us through her use of words. There is two symbolisms of the surfer to the gull and the ocean like a wolf.
Throughout this poem there is various messages all based on the time of day the poet was betraying. The tone of the first stanza of this poem was joy based on the fact that it was the start of the day and the surfer was enjoying the water and surfing, “as he is water, with delight”. This mood changes in the second stanza to Caution, wary, when the sun finally sets for another day, “turn home… last leaf of gold vanishes”. Nearing the end of the poem, in the third stanza the mood turns fearful and sombre as it illustrates the point that the ocean can and will be dangerous, “ the grey wolf sea lies, snarling”. The mood changes in this poem and proof of this is when the ocean has been described differently and has different meanings between the first and last stanza of this poem.
This poem is made up of three irregular stanzas and includes an acider describing the feeling of the foam as the surfer dove through it. The poet uses mainly hyperboles, and metaphors with some similes to describe actions and objects, These hyperboles are used to create images in readers heads. This technique is called imagery and the author uses this to extent. an example of imagery is " green- through weirs fo water" this is also a hyperbole and metaphor. The author changes her words to set and change the tones of the stanzas. For example in the 1st stanza the poet used words like "delight" to convey the tone of joy and pure pleasure. in the second stanza the tone changed and with it so did the words " turn home" and in the 3rd stanza which is fear "snarling...snatches" is used. as stated before the poet uses many metaphor to create a stronger connection between the object and what it is like. These words are very exagerated and picturesque- by this meaning it is easy to picture in minds and very beautiful. The poet also uses repition to stress certain themes and messages throughout the poem. For example the word "muscle" was repeated in stanza 2 to remind readers of the struggle between man and water and to compare them . In the last stanza she stresses "drops...again" to show readers the viciousness of the sea.

The poet uses similes, metaphors and personification excessively in this poem