Bruce Dawe Essay -- Australian Poets Poetry Poems Essays

Bruce Dawe Bruce Dawe is a prominent Australian poet born in 1930, in Geelong.His experiences as a laborer, postman, gardener, and in particular his9 years as a sergeant in the Royal Australian Air Force, have enabledhim to think of and articulate his memories into a renownedcompendium, Sometimes Gladness, which has been described as perhapsthe most successful book of verse by a contemporary Australian poet.His anthology contains a variety of poems. The three I will bediscussing include The Day that They Shot Santa Claus, The WhollyInnocent, and Homo Suburbiensis, all of which focus on manners (or thelack of it) and its ups and downs.The Day That They Shot Santa Claus tells a story through the eyes of abystander obviously in central Melbourne (the reference to BourkeSt). It elaborates not the death of Santa Claus, merely rather theconsequences of the event. It tells of extreme sadness after the deathof the highly prominent symbol of innocence, happiness and festivespirit, key them es of this verse. The speaker is portrayed very sadly,(yet in a way...