Judith Wright: Poetry Essay Questions

Is the great-great-grandmother's attitude in "Request to a Year" admirable or callous?

The poet asks the Year for her great-great-grandmother's attitude and the "firmness of her hand," then gives an anecdote to explain what she means. In the story, the great-great-grandmother witnesses her son's almost-death and, as a painter, paints the scene. She cannot stop what is happening, and, given the fact that she has eight children and no time to paint, it makes sense that she might do what she does. The poet admires that the woman turns to her art when she can, and that she does not become hysterical. Yet there is an unsettling aspect about the poem as well, for it is hard to imagine a mother deciding that since "Nothing, it was evident, could be done" that the best thing to do was to sit back and draw a picture. Both conclusions about the poem are valid, demonstrating Wright's brilliant complexity.

Why is no one listening to Old Dan, and whose stories "go walking" in the poet's sleep?

Dan tells stories of the old days, days of droving and outlaws and adventure. They are stories he has repeated again and again, and "True or not, it's all the same," the poet comments wryly. But she says to him that "the yarns are over" and "No-one is listening." This could mean that people do not care about the old days anymore in general, but most critics of the poem suggest that she is saying the Euro-Australian's stories of a glorious colonial past are no longer compelling to her, and the ones she cannot get out of her head are the "old stories that go walking in my sleep"—stories from the aboriginal Australians.

In "Five Senses," why does the poet say the "rhythm that dances" is "not mine?"

Wright creates a swirling, hypnotizing image of her five senses coming together and compares it to a rhythm and a dance, but adds at the end that it is "not mine." Why is it not hers if she is talking about what her five senses are doing? In short, Wright is writing about how she is experiencing the world outside of her, and it is acting upon her. She is not dominant over the world; the world presents itself to her and she is perceiving and absorbing it.

In "Metho Drinker," how does the poet depict addiction?

The man addicted to metho in the poem is in a markedly terrible condition, languishing in the winter city and hoping for death to obliterate his pain. But what makes it even more tragic is that no one seems to care: the man desires to end "the cruelty / of human eyes that dare not touch nor pity." Addiction is a social issue, but it is one that most people consider a purely personal one; thus, they turn away from those in need, blaming them for their own deleterious condition and going about their lives oblivious and/or hostile to their fellow man in dire need of assistance.

Why does the poet describe the magpies like "gentlemen"?

First, this personification is a charming and amusing literary device that makes the poem more whimsical and delightful. But second, even though Wright respects animals and flora and fauna for what they are in themselves and does not make a case for their otherness in order to exalt man above them, she is also suggesting the interconnectedness of man and nature. Some of the magpie's appearance and traits are familiar to us—it can be like a gentleman, can stroll and talk, can sing. This is a reminder of how we are all inhabitants of this earth and are all valuable.