Essay: Bruce Dawe's "Homecoming"
Journeys are taken by every individual.
Such an idea is seen in Bruce Dawes Homecoming. Dawe provides the idea
that the journey can be taken by more than one individual “curly heads,
kinky-hairs, crew-cuts, balding non-coms”. Dawe creates a sense at the breadth
of the undead whilst also showing the numerous varieties of people whom take
this journey. He also subtly hints at the idea that this journey has been
counterproductive, with them being characterised by only their haircuts. Dawe
though the use of repetition of the word “they’re” at the beginning of each
line creates the sense of the scale of the dead – through the continuity of the
dead being brought back home. The hyperbole suggests the idea that large amount
of people have undertaken this journey into war.
Journeys do not often end at the right
time. This idea is shown at the end of the poem where Dawe suggests that those
whom have died, have died “too early, too late”. This suggests that they the
journey of life has ended too early for the soldiers; however the journey into
war ended too late for them to be saved. This sentiment is shown through the
symbolism of the sunset “the frozen sunset”. The sun is often used to measure
time, with the sunset symbolising the end of a journey. This indicates that
time has stopped, implying that the journey has ended at the wrong time.
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