Symbol for death
In “Beach Burial with German Translation”, the narrator describes a large number of soldiers being dragged to the bottom of the sea in the middle of the night. These soldiers, as the narrator points out, will never be seen again and they will find their end in the impenetrable darkness. The sea is used in this context as a symbol, standing for the brutal death suffered by countless soldiers during the Second World War.
Symbol for deception
In the “Night Ride” the narrator puts down the blinds when he feels he can no longer look at what is happening outside. The blinds help the narrator feel safe from the dangers of the outside world but he also admits they offer to protection. The blinds are thus used in this context as a symbol for deception, or rather for the way in which a person may lie to themselves to make dealing with reality a bit easier.
Symbol for misery
The people describes in the poem “William Street” are all described as drunks who are unable to take care of themselves and their families. Every person also takes possession of a liquor bottle which they carry with them wherever they go. The liqueur bottle becomes used here as a symbol, representing the ways through which the people living in the area described by the narrator tried to deal with the pain they were feeling.
Symbol for death
Another symbol used to represent death is present in “A Bushranger”. In this poem, the narrator focuses on a horse which has the ability to travel extremely far and is not inhibited by the presence of any obstacle. The horse’s description is also similar to the way the horses rode by the Three Horsemen in the Bible appear and they are also associated with death and misery. Because if this, we can argue the horse in the poem is used as a symbol for death.
Grapes
The poem “Wild Grapes” describes an orchard which is extremely old and which was abandoned a long time ago. Fruits continued to grow there and while almost every tree withered in time and disappeared, the grapes continued to thrive. The grapes and the orchard are used as symbols, the first symbolizing the people who survived the war and the second the societies and countries affected beyond recognition by the wars which took place in the 21th century.
