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Slessors Vision of Life

Life is transient in relation to the inexorable passage of


time Five Visions, Out of Time, Five Bells, Elegy
Memories are able to withstand the permutation of time
but are only temporary to the inexorable passage of time
Out of Time, Five Visions, Five Bells
Admires our capacity to feel and provides us with a sense
of enjoyment of living to soften the inevitability of
mortality (helps us create meaning in life) Sensuality
Life is harsh and brutal Sleep & Beach Burial (shown thru
futility of war)
Slessors Context and Milieu (social and cultural
surroundings)
Born in Orange, NSW 1901
Lived in apartment overlooking Sydney harbour
Most of Slessors watery poems were inspired by his view
of the harbour (Five Visions & Five Bells)
Was a war correspondent (covers stories firsthand from
warzone), influenced his writings Beach Burial
Appreciation of Slessors Oeuvre (body of work)
Appreciate him for his resonance of ideas
Presents the duality of life (torment and beauty)
Out of time & Sensuality
Intensity of his ideas
Unrelenting exploration of life and death, time and
change
Concerns about the meaning of life and death
The daring denial of the significance of human life
Out of Time
Synthesises concrete images (essentially blends
the art and literature to convey meaning)

Critiques
In many of Slessors poems, there is an unambiguous
expression of a desire to escape the influence of Time, to
exist in a paradise outside the normal processes of ageing
and decay Julian Croft (Out of Time, Five Bells, Sleep)
There is an increasing emphasis on the exploration of
Time and its major symbol, the sea T.L Sturm (Out of
Time, Five Bells, Five Visions, Beach Burial)
Even Cook, heroic and a scientific wizard to his men, is
subservient to Time Clive Hamer (Five Visions)
Ideas and Themes (they overlap)
Time (Out of Time, Five Bells, Five Visions, Elegy)
Time is incessant (never ending)
Cyclic structure of Out of Time and Five
Bells
Time is powerful
Simile in like a hundred yachts in Out of
Time
Personification in He keeps appointments
with a million years. Shows our existence is
insignificant. - Out of Time
Paradoxically, Time is powerless against itself
and succumbs to its own force his fate
pursues him Out of Time
Wave imagery is representative of Time. Our
hopelessness is shown by the waves:
The tide goes over, the waves ride over you
- Five Bells
The persona is taken by the suck of the sea
Out of Time
One wave shook their keel - Five Visions.
Shows that water can affect mortality.
Time brings about change (Elegy)
Gardens have changed In the autumn I
came where spring had used me better

Persona symbolises his change in feelings to


his altered view of Latin plant names: In the
past they were a Hateful name which
conveys disgust. Yet there is change: But
now the schools horticulturalists, come forth
triumphantly in Latin. And this change is
accepted: so be it now. The resigned tone
reflects the personas ambivalence.
Name of the house in the garden changed:
Georgian Headlong Hall has connotations of
mystery and stateliness. Now The National
Herbarium, coldly scientific and utilitarian
Memory (Out of Time, Five Bells, Five Visions, Elegy,
Sensuality)
Memories have the ability to
transcend/transfix/suspend/arrest time
Sweet meniscuslensed in a bubbles
ghostly camera
Peal of the five bells represent memories of
Joe Lynch. Develops pensive recollections of
him and persona effectively lives 30 years of
Joes life in a few seconds
The flood that does not flow Five Bells
Memories are powerful and forceful
Take Home from his reality in Scotland but
his eyes were dazzle-full of skies and water
farther round the world (dazzle conveys the
brilliance and strength of those memories)
Five Visions
Persona cannot let go memories of Joe Yet
somethings here, are you shouting at me
dead man? - Five Bells
Memories bring joy
Homes delight with Cook borders obsession
a man gone daft with Cook Five Visions
Remembered sensations in Sensuality. A
celebration of the feelings and sensual
experiences in life.

Memories give a kind of mortality


Personas memories of Joe Lynch - you have
gone from Earth, yet somethings there
Five Bells
Alexander Homes memories of Cook Five
Visions
War (Beach Burial)
War is futile, meaningless, a waste of lives,
accelerates our fated deaths
Irony in convoys of dead sailors as convoys
usually protect
pluck them from the shallows and bury
them in burrows exacerbates the lack of
human dignity. Burrows indicate mass graves,
which imply no proper funeral
meaninglessness of war
Unable to identify the sailor unknown
seaman -perverts status of man through
their insignificance and anonymity
Out of Time
Vision of Life
Life is transient in relation to the inexorable passage
of Time
Memories are able to withstand the permutation of
Time but are temporary to the unrelenting nature of
Time
How the poem portrays the Vision of Life
Image of Bony Knife and Enfolding me in its bed show
the powerful nature of Time (duality of Time too)
Cyclic structure of poem demonstrates Times
atemporal existence
Transience of Life shown in the repetition of moment
in successive sonnets and is synonymous to mans
life. A contrast can be made with Time keeping
appointment with a million years, emphasising our
insignificant existence

He must open doors or close them Time


ultimately determines our mortality
Man desperately attempts to defy time leaning
against his golden undertow (undertow
representative of Time)
Memories are used in the sweet meniscuslensed
in a bubbles ghostly camera to emphasise mans
defiance of Time to transcend it
Attempts are futile as persona is inevitably taken by
the suck of the sea
Quick Plot Summary
Sonnet 1
Establishes the nature of Time (duality)
Persona wishes to stop Time
Sonnet 2
Shows Time is powerful and is compelled to do
things. E.g. open or close doors. HIS FATE
PURSUES HIM Too powerful
Time is inexorable and makes our existence
seem insignificant in that it keeps appointments
with a million years
Persona attempts to defy Time (lean against
undertow)
Sonnet 3
Persona defies Time in a sweet meniscus
lensed in a bubbles ghostly camera essentially
transcends Time for a brief moment
Time overcomes the memories and takes the
Persona by the suck of the sea
Cycle of Time re-continues as it links with first
sonnet
Five Bells
Vision of Life
Life is transient in relation to the inexorable passage
of Time

Memories are able to withstand the permutation of


Time but are temporary to the unrelenting nature of
Time
How the poem portrays the Vision of Life
Cyclic structure similar to Out of Time Inexorable
passage
Peal of five bells representative of the memories of
Joe. Persona effectively relives 30 years of Joes life in
a few seconds. Relate to Sweet Meniscus.
Demonstrates the capacity for memory to uphold
Time
Memories the flood that does not flow
Relentless nature of Time shows mans mortality
The tide is over you
Watery grave implied in sea pinks bend like lilies in
your teeth exacerbate mans loss of dignity to death
and Time as he is not associated with the land
Memories of Joe fade away from the persona
(temporary memories) and the persona desperately
tries to contact him Are you shouting at me dead
man?
Memories of Joe are lost as persona hears harbour
sounds a boats whistle and scraping squeak of
seabirds Times overpowering of memories
Quick Plot Summary
When five bells are rung on a warship, the persona
relives 30 years of Joes life
Joe is given mortality through memories with the
persona
Persona desperately tries to communicate with Joe
(are you shouting at me dead man?)
Remembers 3 encounters with Joe, each represented
in a stanza and outlines his character. Moorebank,
Melbourne and Sydney
Moorebank Establishes that Joe was educated and
egalitarian. Also normal as he speaks of girls and love
Melbourne Joe becomes withdrawn from the world.
Loss of moral righteousness. Locked up with

protected goods curioes. Items are concrete


reminders of life, all without use and remind us that
perhaps our lives are pointless and only lead to death
Sydney Passion becomes darkly violent. Hyperbole
blowing up the world frustration.
Returns to dead Joe in next stanza. Expresses
uncertainty of Joes death and dying in general.
Where have you gone? The tide is over you.
Persona feels Joes death I felt your eardrums
crack. Slessor reminds us of reality of death.
Slessor implies death is relentless and all of us are
fated to die. He expresses this frustration as a wider
questioning of life. Slessor eventually loses
recollections of Joe as it fades away from him and all
he can hear are harbour noises such as a boats
whistle and scraping seabirds

Five Visions
Vision of Life
Life is transient in relation to the inexorable passage
of Time
Memories are able to withstand the permutation of
Time but are temporary to the unrelenting nature of
Time
How the poem portrays the Vision of Life
Quick Plot Summary
Sleep

Vision of Life
How the poem portrays the Vision of Life
Quick Plot Summary
Supporting Techniques/Quotes

Sensuality
Vision of Life

How the poem portrays the Vision of Life


Supporting Techniques/Quotes
Elegy
Vision of Life
How the poem portrays the Vision of Life
Supporting Techniques/Quotes
Beach Burial
Vision of Life
How the poem portrays the Vision of Life
Supporting Techniques/Quotes

Out of Time and Five Bells


Appreciation of Oeuvre
Synthesises concrete images (essentially blends the
art and literature to convey meaning)
Vision of Life
Life is transient in relation to the inexorable passage
of time
Memories are able to withstand the permutation of
time but are only temporary to the inexorable
passage of time
How the poems convey this vision
Out of Time (Mans attempts to defy time are futile)
Image of Bony Knife and Enfolding me in its bed
show the powerful nature of Time (duality of
Time too)
Cyclic structure of poem demonstrates Times
atemporal existence

Transience of Life shown in the repetition of


moment in successive sonnets and is
synonymous to mans life. A contrast can be
made with Time keeping appointment with a
million years, emphasising our insignificant
existence
He must open doors or close them Time
ultimately determines our mortality
Critique
In many of Slessors poems, there is an
unambiguous expression of a desire to
escape the influence of Time, to exist in a
paradise outside the normal processes of
ageing and decay Julian Croft
Man desperately attempts to defy time
leaning against his golden undertow
(undertow representative of Time)
Memories are used in the sweet meniscus
lensed in a bubbles ghostly camera to
emphasise mans defiance of Time to transcend
it
Attempts are futile as persona is inevitably
taken by the suck of the sea

Five Bells (Memories are transient to the passage of


Time)
In Five Bells, memory is the flood that does not
flow
Peal of five bells representative of the memories
of Joe. Persona effectively relives 30 years of
Joes life in a few seconds. Relate to Sweet
Meniscus. Demonstrates the capacity for
memory to uphold Time
Memories of Joe fade away from the persona
(temporary memories) and the persona
desperately tries to contact him Are you

shouting at me dead man? highlights Times


capacity to distort memory
Relentless nature of Time shows mans mortality
The tide is over you
Watery grave implied in sea pinks bend like
lilies in your teeth exacerbate mans loss of
dignity to death and Time as he is not
associated with the land
Memories of Joe are lost as persona hears
harbour sounds a boats whistle and scraping
squeak of seabirds Times overpowering of
memories
Cyclic structure similar to Out of Time
Inexorable passage
Appreciation of Oeuvre
Resonance of intense ideas which is why we study
Slessor today

Out of Time and Five Visions


Appreciation of Oeuvre
Synthesises concrete images (essentially blends the
art and literature to convey meaning)
Vision of Life

Life is transient in relation to the inexorable passage


of time
Memories are able to withstand the permutation of
time but are only temporary to the inexorable
passage of time
How the poem portrays the Vision of Life
Out of Time (Mans attempts to defy Time are futile)
Image of Bony Knife and Enfolding me in its bed
show the powerful nature of Time (duality of
Time too)
Cyclic structure of poem demonstrates Times
atemporal existence
Transience of Life shown in the repetition of
moment in successive sonnets and is
synonymous to mans life. A contrast can be
made with Time keeping appointment with a
million years, emphasising our insignificant
existence
He must open doors or close them Time
ultimately determines our mortality
Critique
In many of Slessors poems, there is an
unambiguous expression of a desire to
escape the influence of Time, to exist in a
paradise outside the normal processes of
ageing and decay Julian Croft
Man desperately attempts to defy time
leaning against his golden undertow
(undertow representative of Time)
Memories are used in the sweet meniscus
lensed in a bubbles ghostly camera to
emphasise mans defiance of Time to transcend
it
Attempts are futile as persona is inevitably
taken by the suck of the sea

Five Visions (Time is inexorable and powerful,


demigod Cook dies)
Cook portrayed as a powerful figure a warlock,
a mesmerist that mocks the typhoon
However is still vulnerable to forces of time and
death. Shown in ironic death with natives when
he gave them a knife. Cook was carried on a
sailors back shows loss of dignity and status.
His death illustrates Times relentless passage
Alexander Home, a pathetic frail man old
captain in the corner illuminates life of Cook
through fragile memories. Gives Cook a sense of
mortality.
However memories are fleeting in relation to the
purposeless temporal progression of Time that
overcomes Homes memories, bringing him
back to reality as he felt a chair in Scotland and
Sat down.
Times powerful nature further emphasised in
image of two chronometers. One that quickly
dances over Greenwich like a lunatic and one
that slowly climbs out of yesterday with sticky
feet. This mechanical time shows that mans
attempts to control Time are futile and that
Time is dominant.
Appreciation of Oeuvre
Resonance of intense ideas which is why we study
Slessor today

Sleep and Sensuality


Appreciation of Oeuvre
Synthesises concrete images (essentially blends the
art and literature to convey meaning)
Vision of Life
Sleep - Life is harsh and cruel
Sensuality - Although life can be cruel, we can soften
the inevitability of mortality through feelings and
sensations (helps us create meaning in life)
How the poems portray this Vision of Life
Sleep (A nihilistic view on life)
Uses sex and gestation of a baby as a metaphor
for sleep
First Stanza Surrendering to sleep
Abandoning oneself to enter subconscious
world do you give yourself to me utterly
Second Stanza Deep unconscious sleep
Slessor shows that in sleep, we become
unaware of our surroundings, that we
forget lifes complications. Shown in the
imagery of blindly in the bones that ride
above you. The mothers ribcage is
nurturing the baby and is synonymous
with sleep protecting the sleeper from
the reality of life
Third Stanza Unpleasant shock of awakening
(childbirth)
Conveys the harsh cruel reality of life.
Compares awakening from sleep to
childbirth. Both sleeper and baby
experience it as a tearing apart of their
refuge by their protector. And this is
explicitly shown in the violent act of
expulsion that is riving and driving forth.

Last two lines suggest a deep unhappiness


in Slessor. He sees life with remorseless
forceps beckoning, threatening to drag
sleeper into life. The forceps suggest a
brutal mechanical force that we cannot
resist, reinforcing Slessors negative view
on life
His last line pangs and betrayal of harsh
birth propose that it would be better to be
unborn or stay asleep than to suffer the
experiences of life
Sensuality (while Slessor tells us that Life is brutal
and cruel, he shows that we can alleviate pains of
mortality through feelings)
Sensuality is an optimistic poem that entails
Sleep in that it gives mankind a medium in
which they can enjoy life.
Slessor establishes the harsh side to life in
negative sensations of hunger, cold, pity, pain
However he follows each negative sensation
with its positive reciprocal hunger to food, cold
to fire conveys his acceptance of the
adversities and challenges of life
Many contrasts are made of the senses such as
cedar, sweat and petrol and sea. These
contrasts ultimately portray the richness of our
lives, that it is one worth living.
Poem is a list of remembered sensations
presented in unstructured form enjambment
reflects poets appreciation and enjoyment in
life.
The ellipsis at the end suggests that Slessor can
carry on and on, that it is hard to encapsulate all
our rich experiences and feelings
Appreciation of Oeuvre
Resonance of intense ideas which is why we study
Slessor today

Out of Time and Elegy


Appreciation of Oeuvre
Synthesises concrete images (essentially blends the
art and literature to convey meaning)
Vision of Life
Life is transient in relation to the inexorable passage
of time
Memories are able to withstand the permutation of
time but are only temporary to the inexorable
passage of time
How the poem portrays the Vision of Life
Out of Time (Mans attempts to defy Time are futile)
Image of Bony Knife and Enfolding me in its bed
show the powerful nature of Time (duality of
Time too)
Cyclic structure of poem demonstrates Times
atemporal existence
Transience of Life shown in the repetition of
moment in successive sonnets and is
synonymous to mans life. A contrast can be
made with Time keeping appointment with a
million years, emphasising our insignificant
existence
He must open doors or close them Time
ultimately determines our mortality

Critique
In many of Slessors poems, there is an
unambiguous expression of a desire to
escape the influence of Time, to exist in a
paradise outside the normal processes of
ageing and decay Julian Croft
Man desperately attempts to defy time
leaning against his golden undertow
(undertow representative of Time)
Memories are used in the sweet meniscus
lensed in a bubbles ghostly camera to
emphasise mans defiance of Time to transcend
it
Attempts are futile as persona is inevitably
taken by the suck of the sea

Elegy (Persona pessimistic of Time but accepts it due


to its inexorable nature)
Gardens have changed In the autumn I came
where spring had used me better - Times
nature to bring about change
Symbolism of colour is exploited to convey
change where red pebbles become a pale
watermelon pink change
A sad tone is established in all gone today; only
the leaves remain to express the personas
despair at the change but his powerlessness to
challenge it. The leaves that remain are
representative of his memories of his youth
Persona symbolises his change in feelings to his
altered view of Latin plant names: In the past
they were a Hateful name which conveys
disgust. Yet there is change: But now the
schools horticulturalists, come forth
triumphantly in Latin. And this change is

accepted: so be it now. The resigned tone


reflects the personas ambivalence.
Name of the house in the garden changed:
Georgian Headlong Hall has connotations of
mystery and stateliness. Now The National
Herbarium, coldly scientific and utilitarian,
reflects a pessimistic attitude towards Time
Appreciation of Oeuvre
Resonance of intense ideas which is why we study
Slessor today

Out of Time and Beach Burial


Appreciation of Oeuvre
Synthesises concrete images (essentially blends the
art and literature to convey meaning)
Vision of Life
Out of Time - Life is transient in relation to the
inexorable passage of time and is
meaningless/insignificant. Memories are able to
withstand the permutation of time but are only
temporary to the inexorable passage of time
Beach Burial - Life is harsh and brutal
How the poem portrays this Vision of Life
Out of Time (Life is meaningless in relation to Time)

Image of Bony Knife and Enfolding me in its bed


show the powerful nature of Time (duality of
Time too)
Cyclic structure of poem demonstrates Times
atemporal existence
Transience of Life shown in the repetition of
moment in successive sonnets and is
synonymous to mans life. A contrast can be
made with Time keeping appointment with a
million years, emphasising our insignificant
existence
He must open doors or close them Time
ultimately determines our mortality
Critique
In many of Slessors poems, there is an
unambiguous expression of a desire to
escape the influence of Time, to exist in a
paradise outside the normal processes of
ageing and decay Julian Croft
Man desperately attempts to defy time
leaning against his golden undertow
(undertow representative of Time)
Memories are used in the sweet meniscus
lensed in a bubbles ghostly camera to
emphasise mans defiance of Time to transcend
it
Attempts are futile as persona is inevitably
taken by the suck of the sea
Beach Burial (Life is meaningless but why do we
accelerate our mortality through war?)
Uses the theme of war to convey vision of life
brutal, cruel, meaningless
Slessor was a war correspondent (influenced
him)
Enormity of number of dead men in convoys of
dead sailors portrays the brutality of war. Is
also ironic as convoy and dead further

emphasise futile notion of war as convoys


usually protect
Slessor applies water imagery that has been
established in Out of Time to show Times
cruelty as a medium of death.
In the imagery of morning rolls them in the
foam, the water dehumanises the men as they
are at the command of the water and rolled,
highlighting the paucity of their dignity
The quick plucking of bodies from the shallows
and burying them in burrows exacerbates the
lack of human dignity
Burrows indicative of mass graves which imply
no proper funeral war is meaningless
Unable to identify the sailor unknown seaman
-perverts status of man through their
insignificance and anonymity
Although the indelible pencil attempts to
remember the fallen, these inscriptions are
ultimately washed and faded away by the tide.
This act symbolises Time overpowering
memories and synonymous with the persona
being taken by the suck of the sea in Out of
Time.
Appreciation of Oeuvre
Resonance of intense ideas which is why we study
Slessor today

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