Change is just and ordinary event that every individual encounters many times over throughout their life's journey. Whether this change is as dramatic as adjusting to a death, or a general change in your lifestyle, career, family or friends, changing self is a vital part of the learning process and life's path that should not be dismissed. By using her poems "In the Park", "Prize-giving" and "The Glass Jar" as a basis, and combining these with various poetic devices such as symbolism, juxtaposition, aural imagery and strong descriptive language, Gwen Harwood communicates her ideas on the various forms of change and changing self. Her poems make the reader aware of the fact that change can happen at any time, at any age and point of our lives, and on occasions when we least expect.

"In the Park" is a sonnet who's title sets the scene for the poem by indicating the simple and boring life the woman leads and echoes the isolating existence of suburban life. Harwood tells the story of a woman, a mother who is so caught up with bringing up her children that she has given up on lo

"The Glass Jar" is a narrative which uses episodic form to tell its story. Unlike the other two poems, it deals with childhood and the fears and insecurities associated with this stage. Once again, the poem holds a universal theme as Harwood speaks of "A child" which allows the reader to be more personal and relate it back to their own childhood. The young boy, just as most children, is scared of the dark and Harwood uses religious imagery such as "bless" and "exorcize" to emphasise his faith in the glass jar and that all his worries and fears will be diminished once he unravels it by taking off the scarf. He truly believes that this glass jar will make himself feel as safe at night as he does during the day. The strong and violent imagery of the monsters, claws and vampire fangs which he dreams of and the relation of his parent's love making to his father's abuse of his mother are used to make the extent of the child's fears and insecurities even more evident to the reader. The scarf and his mother are both representative of the sense of security for which he longs for, however both fail him in one night.

The concept of change, which Harwood explores in "Prize-giving", is that of inevitability and self-realisation that can strike when it is least welcome and expected. The Titian haired girl in the poem is representative of life itself and the entire unknown. Harwood, through this girl shows the reader that anything and anyone can spark a change and alter ones life, even a man in his prime, who feels that he own the world. The line "and felt his voltage fling his hold from his calm age and power" is a powerful line by which the reader explores the concept of a moment, as simple as a handshake between two strangers, changing from an ordinary hand gesture to a life altering moment, "turning his image upside down." The fact that Harwood makes the first half of the poem about him and the second half about her emphasises the switch of power between the two personas and indicates the beginning of his self change, the start of a new journey. Harwood's choice in using a man whom can be assumed to be at least of middle age, due to his "Professor" status, is to make the reader aware that change can happen to anyone regardless of sex, age, professional and social status.

oking after herself which is indicated in the line "Her clothes are out of

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Approximate Word count = 1587
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)