'The Secret Life of Frogs (Poetry by Gwen Harwood)\r'

'‘The Secret life sentence of Frogs’ is a poem that delves into the puerility knowledge of contend, in particular piece fight I, and the experiences of their fathers. ‘The Secret life-time of Frogs’ deals with the theme of mis visitings incurred when children set out to translate gravid concepts. This is evident through and through the use of punning. The office ‘Frog’, which is ofttimes employ throughout the poem adds delight to the text because to the readers, it not only translates literally to a frog, but in any case be swallows the extend to French people in the state of contend through a controvert light.\r\nHowever, the fibber, who is excessively one of the children in the poem, does not understand this other meaning attached to the term ‘frog’. This can distinctly be seen in the final sentence when the narrator believes in protecting the amphibians, but does not distinguish the term ‘Frogsâ€⠄¢ to also represent the French people. The use of allusion, reference to World War I in the poem, emphasizes the melodic theme that children in their innocence, particularly children during the state of contend, can misconstrue what adults talk round.\r\nEvident in the line ‘some syllables we used as charms…Gallipoli’, where the children have heard of these words and the negative connotations attached, however they do not know of the order of magnitude of the events that are associated with the words. Throughout ‘The Secret Life of Frogs’ themes that are expressed include childhood innocence and the negative influence of war on children. The theme of the innocence of children is clearly conveyed through the use of the parenthesis, ‘(we thought a brothel was a French fieryel that served hot broth to diggers)’.\r\nThis proficiency is used to chime in a thought that the children had in their childhood, and helps to hike up emphasiz e the musical theme that they misunderstood the adult concept of brothels. The parenthesis also helps to veer the tone of the poem as it cuts the unassumingness of the stanza through their misinterpretation of the word brothel. This highlights the idea that the children did not understand the insinuations of the word. The notion that the war had a negative impact on children is discussed throughout stanza 3.\r\nThe use of the metaphor ‘ protactinium the Impaler’, accentuates the idea that children saw this term in a in truth positive musical mode when in actual fact it has negative connotations. This highlights the brutality of war, and the negative influence of war on children because the children in the poem used ‘Dad the Impaler’ in a adventurous manner. The use of simile in the cultivation stanza ‘matchstick hands as pale as the violet stems they lived among’ is used to compare a frog to violet flowers, which are very delicate and eas ily broken.\r\nThe innocence of childhood is painted through this visual technique as the narrator only sees the frogs organism very delicate, but to the readers the simile also realises a vivid image of the stipulate of the ‘Frogs’/ the French. The use of first person helps to create a reminiscent tone about the narrator’s experiences, and further helps to tenseness the ideas of childhood innocence and the influence of war on children because the poem is written from a child’s perspective.\r\nThe use of enjambment generates a conversational and personal tone, stress to the readers the reality of the themes discussed throughout the poem. The use of symbol of frogs as pets and also representing the French highlights the idea that adults saw ‘Frogs’ as insignificant or unworthy to speak about, whereas the children could not understand this adult thought, and they placed exemplary figure to the wellbeing of the frogs.\r\n'