Gwen Harwood: Poems Lesson Plan

What is the theme of “Songs of Eve I”? How is it similar or different to Harwood’s other Biblical poems? What is the effect of the emphasis on Eve as the first woman?

All of Harwood’s religious poems have shown how poetry can reimagine and give new meaning to Christianity, but the emphasis on Eve is more actively subversive. The poem shows Eve to be far more than just the first woman, and this variety opens her to be the mother of all people. The poem finds a fundamental power in Eve that often gets overlooked in many traditional religious narratives.

What is the theme of “To Music”? What does it suggest about the nature of art? What is the effect of the modern imagery...