Download Gwen Harwood * Selected Poems (To Music)

GWEN HARWOOD –
SELECTED POEMS (TO
MUSIC)
By Chace Kay & Tyson Burton
POEM
You of the Minute Waltz and the Four Seasons,
you of the earthern flute and grand piano,
you with your immortal numbers:
the Nine, the Thirty-two, the Forty-eight,
you of the infant trying out the pitch
of its few syllables, you of the birds,
of the first cuckoo in spring, the lark ascending
to carve its empire in a thousand notes;
you of Gaudeamus and Miserere,
music, fitting yourself to any language,
at home with love and death and revolution.
Music, made of the very air we breathe,
with us from everlasting, always new, in throats,
in guts, in horsehair and wooden bellies.
Sleeping for centuries in forgotten scores,
hiding in crumhorn, shawn, theorbo, sackbut,
rattling in the tambourine, rejoicing
at the horse and his rider flung into the sea,
silent by Babel’s streams, hung on the willows,
loud in national anthems, marching up with
bagpipes,
jogging in headphones, waiting in lifts and
buses,
lurking in telephones, raging in discos
everywhere
nowhere without a human ear.
(1990)
TOPICS
To Music by Gwen Harwood is a testament to the art of music, specifically
referring to the human nature of music and it’s essentiality to people’s lives
whilst exploring various aspects of it including;
• Famous music throughout time
• Instruments
• Historic/ key references,
• places music is heard,
• techniques used in music
• and even everyday sounds that are similar to that of music.
FAMOUS MUSIC
(1) “You of the Minute Waltz and the Four Seasons.”
• The Minute Waltz is a famous piano Waltz composed by Frederic Chopin in 1847.
• The Four Seasons composed by Vivaldi is a famous set of 4 violin concertos, which
was published in 1720.
(9) “you of Gaudeamus and Miserere,”
• Gaudeamus Igitur was an academic ceremonial song in thought to originate from
1287.
• Gwen illustrates specific famous scripts of music, which are iconic to people and are
to be remembered throughout time
INSTRUMENTS
Gwen Harwood mentions various musical instruments used throughout time, exploring
the creative and imaginative side of music people have had throughout time.
These instruments mentioned include:
• Shawn
• Theorbo
• Sackbut
• Flute
• Piano etc.
The presence of these instruments mentioned in Harwood’s writing are used to
characterise the intricate relationship between humankind and music as well as the
inspired, imaginative expression involved through the use of the instruments by people
throughout time.
HISTORIC REFERENCES
Throughout Gwen Harwood’s poetic tribute to music, many historical
references are made as well as references to past tense.
Specific trigger words strewn throughout the piece evoke nostalgic jumps
throughout the time of musical history.
“at home with love and death and revolution”
“in horsehair and in wooden bellies”
“Sleeping for centuries in forgotten scores”
“the rider and his horse”
“babel’s streams”
PLACES MUSIC IS HEARD
• “Jogging in headphones”
• “Waiting in lifts and buses”
• “lurking in telephones”
• Pumping in discos”
Gwen explores some places where music may be heard, highlighting its
existence amongst society and its common presence through the
population of people.
TECHNIQUES USED IN MUSIC
• Gwen refers to various musical techniques used in her poem.
• “You of the infant trying out the pitch”
• “You with your immortal numbers; the Nine, The Thirty-Two, The Forty-Two.”
• The numbers Gwen mentions, refers to the beat or tempo used in music and
highlights common techniques used by musicians and that of poetry, whilst pitch
refers to the sound of which notes are played in music.
• While Gwen explores many other topics in her poem, this specific one has a
relation of that to poetry, as song writing is a form of poetry and her love for
music is ideally relative to that of music.
SOUND REFERENCES TO MUSIC
• Gwen lists various examples of everyday sounds which resemble similarities to
music, this topic like the others in the poem refer to the many examples of
music that surround us in everyday life.
• “of the first cuckoo in spring” “of the lark ascending”
• The cuckoo is a breed of bird, named after its distinct sound, as if a lark,
which is a songbird. Gwen’s use of these in her poetry is beyond music and
its connection to humanity but nature in general, such as her line “hung on
the willows”. Gwen’s connection to music is profoundly spiritual and is
illustrate precariously throughout her poem “To Music”, a testament to the
art of music.
SYNOPSIS
Overall Gwen Harwood’s To Music expresses music and its eternal and
essential presence to people.
Gwen shuffles through a timeline of music and human’s association with it,
through medieval times, classical era, to present and all spaces between.
Gwen’s writing speaks of music as a connection that all humans share
mutually “fitting yourself to any language”, “made of the very air we breathe”,
“at home with love and death and revolution”.
This piece of writing sanctifies music with references to biblical prophecies
such as “Babel’s streams”.
Overall, Gwen illustrates music to be at home with humanity and has a special
place within all people today, her poem highlights this by referring all of the
poem with a key linking sentence at the foot of her writing “Everywhere but no
where without a human ear.”
OVERVIEW
• Tone – appreciative, celebratory, reminiscent, nostalgic and worshipful.
• Techniques – rhythm, personification, inclusive, conversational, (no rhyming)
• Analysis – 2 stanzas, changing but relatively consistent rhythm.
• Summary – Gwen Harwood’s poem “To Music” explores the concept of music
and its spiritual connection to her, humanity and nature as a whole and
evokes these ideas to the reader through extensive use of various techniques
and examples not commonly used in poetry.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaudeamus_igitur
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tower_of_Babel
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horsehair
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Four_Seasons_(Vivaldi)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minute_Waltz
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miserere_(Allegri)
THANKS FOR
LISTENING
Presented by Tyson & Chace