Bruce Dawe’s “Enter Without So Much As Knocking” Essay

Remember, macrocosm, thou art but dissipate, and unto dust though shalt return. This is a translation of the quotation which begins Dawes song, Enter Without So Much As Knocking. The repeat reminds us that feel is non forever and that we be all faced with mortality.The poem itself is discussing a mans journey from birth to death and how all around him life is interpreted by solid possessions. At the ancestor of the startle stanza, the sentences have been made very short and simple, as if to demonstrate the thoughts of a new born child. The first vowelize that the baby hears when he is born is Bobby Dazzler, atomic number 53 of Australias first game shows. The very first thing that the baby hears is not the voice of his mother, nor the voice of his father, but the voice of materialism. This first stanza instantly creates the feeling of a home in the 1950s, where television was something new. The ellipsis that connects the first and mo stanzas demonstrates a change in time , in this case, a change of a couple of years.The words utilise in the second stanza, such as well-equipped and economy-size, be words that were constantly used in commercials at the time, as if life was being sold to the child. This use of a commercial corresponding structure is alike evident in the way that the family is depicted, each with its own stereotype an Economy Sized Mum, a sexist description typical to the 50s an Anthony Squires Coolstream Summerweight Dad, Anthony Squires referring to an Australian brand of suit and two other kids unbent off the Junior Department Rack, referring to the babys siblings, each free of gender and epoch and recognised nevertheless by the type of clothing that they wear. From these two stanzas, Dawe is adequate to create not only a vivid image of the typical family in the 1950s, but also give us an acumen to the TV culture that they are living and what effect it has on the family.The thirds stanza discusses what happens when the Mum reference wins the Lucks-A-Fortch Tricky-Tune Quiz. She takes the son shopping. They set off in the good-as-new station-wagon, yet more advertising jargon whichdescribes the familys second-hand car. The short pronounces that hold fast are describing a childs view of a road trip and the m all rules that spot with it. The statements begin as typical road warnings WALK. DONT WALK. and become more satirical as they continue, for example NO BREATHING EXCEPT BY ORDER. These phrases represent the signs that a child may recognise on a trip. After these, there are the sounds that are present on a car trip, as well as the sound of Mum complaining.The numerous beeps that are present may represent both the beeping of a car horn as well as censorship of asseverate words, a likely situation especially in the last capitalised beep. This situation creates an image or a race to get somewhere. It could be seen as Dawes expression of likening a traffic passel in the hurry to get to somewhere to the race of people to get to a certain identify in their career or in their life. This entire stanza dictates fast and hectic circumstances, which change suddenly when arriving at the fourth stanza.The first word in the fourth stanza, however, fol petty(a)ed by a comma, immediately slows the reader drop by forcing them to pause. The stanza goes on to tell of how although the boy is surrounded by so much commercialism and fast life, such as the fifty-foot screen and the giant faces projected onto it, he is able to enjoy a congenital wonder of the world, the stars. It is here that there is the first key out of the boys emotions, where Dawe writes of the boy enjoying something.When describing the way the starts are sprinkled over the sky, Dawe has used the word littered, which usually has negative connotations. This could be because the stars had not yet been changed by our world, and if they were left hand as they were, untouched, they were not as good as what we had created on our Earth. The stanza ends on a slightly low note because of Dawes metaphor of the stars being like kids at the circus Dawe is trying to show how the stars are close enough to the Earth for the boy to reach, and therefore, for the boy to get kicked, or hurt.As in the beginning of the fourth stanza, the first word of the stanza brings the reader back to a different part of the boys life and a different event. This new event shows the character as no longer a boy, representing innocence, but in the company of godless money-hungry back-stabbingmiserable so-and-sos. We can tell from this that Dawe is trying to show that the boy has now grown up and has been introduced to the real world and is now already a middle-aged man. The phrase goodbye stars relates back to the fourth stanza. He must also farewell the soft cry in the corner a farewell to any emotions. It is at this point that Dawe includes the adult voice of the boy.The character speaks the invite to care for yourself first a nd foremost, no need to think about the effect it may have on others, shown in the statement hit wherever you see a head and kick whoevers atomic reactor. This harsh change from innocent boy to selfish man is how Dawe is creating the character. The adult man is shaped by his dialogue in the poem. The character has grown up and no longer discusses his family, yet no mention of a wife or children is present until the next stanza, and then only to criticize. This fifth stanza is the first one to portray him as an adult, and Dawe has managed to make the character seem harsh and unkind.The sixth stanza introduces Alice, most probably the characters wife. The character also criticizes Clare Jessup, indicating his hypocritical nature. The sixth stanza is very short, as it seems as though it was cut short because of what happened next. ostensibly the car is involved in an accident, shown by the last two words of the stanza watch it followed by a dash, leaving the reader to imagine the inc ident. The dash that ends the stanza shows how short the moment between life and death is, and how it happens in the blink of an eye. Until this point, Dawe has been able to create the entire persona of the character, starting from birth and ending at death. Dawe is able to show how through different events a person is moulded into the character which they become.As the character has died, the narrator returns at one time more to an outsider, and observer. The reaction to those who possibly attend his funeral where they see his body, is strangely surreal as they focus not on his life and personality, but on what a good job the morticians did on giving him a fake tan. The idea here is that hes dead, but at least he looks good. The cable system the old automatic smile with nothing behind it describes how much of a disguise he had created for himself. No-one knew him for who he was because he had spent so long trying to conform to society and kill hisindividualism. The last fewer agate lines of the poem relate back to his life. winding the whole show up refers to the mans life as if it were a television show, now finished, as well as the ending of the poem. The end of the poem also states what the man has left, the parking tickets, taximeters and Bobby Dazzlers.These are all material things. There is no mention of any loved one, such as his wife or the rest of his family that are spoken about originally in the poem. Instead, there is talk of him leaving the grieving over halitosis, flat feet, shrinking gums and falling tomentum cerebri. The term grieving is usually used to describe the process after someone has passed on, yet in this case is used to show worry over such trivial matters. The second last line in the poem, six feet down nobody interested shows how society regards the dead he doesnt walk out people anymore, so nobody cares. The last line links back to the first. Blink, blink. CEMETERY. Silence. Just like he came into this life, the man blinks into death and into silence, an ending.