Feliks
Skrzynecki
Poem Deconstruction Section III Belonging
GMacEnglish
KISS What are the
What is the
poem about?
What is
unclear?
main ideas/
aspects of
Belonging?
What is
obvious?
My gentle father
Kept pace only with the Joneses
Of his own mind’s making –
Loved his garden like an only child,
Spent years walking its perimeter
From sunrise to sleep.
Alert, brisk and silent,
He swept its paths
Ten times around the world.
times around the world.
Hands darkened
From cement, fingers with cracks
Like the sods he broke,
I often wondered how he existed
On five or six hours’ sleep each night –
Why his arms didn’t fall off
From the soil he turned
And tobacco he rolled.
His Polish friends
Always shook hands too violently,
I thought… Feliks Skrzynecki,
That formal address
I never got used to.
Talking, they reminisced
About farms where paddocks flowered
With corn and wheat,
Horses they bred, pigs
They were skilled in slaughtering.
Five years of forced labour in Germany
Did not dull the softness of his blue eyes
I never once heard
Him complain of work, the weather
Or pain. When twice
They dug cancer out of his foot,
His comment was: ‘but I’m alive’.
Growing older, I
Remember words he taught me,
Remnants of a language
I inherited unknowingly –
The curse that damned
A crew-cut, grey-haired
Department clerk
Who asked me in dancing-bear grunts:
‘Did your father ever attempt to learn
English?
On the back steps of his house,
Bordered by golden cypress,
Lawns – geraniums younger
Than both parents,
My father sits out the evening
With his dog, smoking,
Watching stars and street lights come on,
Happy as I have never been.
At thirteen,
Stumbling over tenses in Caesar’s Gallic
War,
I forgot my first Polish word.
He repeated it so I never forgot.
After that, like a dumb prophet,
Watched me pegging my tents
Further and further south of Hadrian’s Wall.
Thesis # 1
• An individual's sense of connectedness
to others is impermanent. This fluidity
manifests moments of solidarity, comfort
and affection, whilst there is also the
possibility of emotionally low troughs,
trauma and tension, even within a familial
context.
Thesis # 2
• There is often a generational difference
in the adaptiveness of an individual when
faced with the challenge of acclimatising
within a new environment. Young people
are usually flexible and explorative pushed by their hopes and dreams for
the future. Older generations are
physically and mentally less pliable pulled by their best experiences in the
past. These divergent attitudes to
belonging can cause significant familial
tensions.
Kept pace only with the Joneses
Of his own mind’s making –
•
Social and physical environments are usually
determining factors in providing a sense of identity or
connectedness, yet some individuals may seal
themselves off in a metaphorical vacuum, finding
solace in their memories of the past. The composer
establishes this characteristic in ‘Feliks Skrzynecki’
through the paradoxical statement (insert quote)
suggesting his father is ignoring the social pressures of
conformity, exemplified in the idiomatic ‘the Joneses’.
His determination to find his own sense of self is
reinforced through the alliterative ‘mind’s making’ and
the caesura that strikingly segregates Feliks through
the structure of the poem itself.
Kept pace only with the Joneses
Of his own mind’s making –
•
Social and physical environments are usually
determining factors in providing a sense of identity or
connectedness, yet some individuals may seal
themselves off in a metaphorical vacuum, finding
solace in their memories of the past. The composer
establishes this characteristic in ‘Feliks Skrzynecki’
through the paradoxical statement (insert quote)
suggesting his father is ignoring the social pressures of
conformity, exemplified in the idiomatic ‘the Joneses’.
His determination to find his own sense of self is
reinforced through the alliterative ‘mind’s making’ and
the caesura that strikingly segregates Feliks through
the structure of the poem itself and identifies him as a
character who has found comfort without the need for
broader social inclusion.
Spent years walking its perimeter
From sunrise to sleep.
Alert, brisk and silent,
•
He swept its pathsTen times
around the world.
As we grow older there is an instinctual yearning for
the past, especially those ‘rose tinted’ fragments of our
personal history. In the poem, this idea causes a rift in
the familial bonds between father and son, as seen
through the soundscaped imagery created through the
sibilance and assonance in (insert quote). These
memories from the persona are removed and distant,
only faint sounds, rather than events he has seen
directly, suggestive of a disconnection in the
relationship between father and son. This frustration is
further expressed in the hyperbole (insert quote) to
convey the exaggerated feelings of disunity within this
family setting.
Spent years walking its perimeter
From sunrise to sleep.
Alert, brisk and silent,
He swept its pathsTen times
around the world.
•As we grow older there is an instinctual yearning for the
past, especially those ‘rose tinted’ fragments of our
personal history. In the poem, this idea causes a rift in the
familial bonds between father and son, as seen through
the soundscaped imagery created through the sibilance
and assonance in (insert quote). These memories from
the persona are removed and distant, only faint sounds,
rather than events he has seen directly, suggestive of a
disconnection in the relationship between father and son.
This frustration is further expressed in the hyperbole
(insert quote) to convey the exaggerated feelings of
disunity within this family setting.
I often wondered how he existed
•
The different perspectives and assumptions about our
place in the world, and our sense of identity can often
cause a dislocation between individuals who foster
these divergent views. The composer elucidates this
sense of bewilderment through enjambment (insert
quote). The responder naturally lingers on this key
word ‘existed’ and we gain a sense of the existential
musings and confusion that abounds between father
and son. The inquisitive, childlike tone questioning
notions of his identity, and how his father seems to
benignly struggle through life seem completely foreign
and alien to the composer. This further accentuates
the generational devisions that exist when
acclimatising within a new physical and social
environment.
I often wondered how he existed
•
The different perspectives and assumptions about our
place in the world, and our sense of identity can often
cause a dislocation between individuals who foster
these divergent views. The composer elucidates this
sense of bewilderment through enjambment (insert
quote). The responder naturally lingers on this key
word ‘existed’ and we gain a sense of the existential
musings and confusion that abounds between father
and son. The inquisitive, childlike tone questioning
notions of his identity, and how his father seems to
benignly struggle through life seem completely foreign
and alien to the composer. This further accentuates
the generational devisions that exist when
acclimatising within a new physical and social
environment.
Always shook hands too violently
•
How different groups affiliate and form their collective
identity may seem peculiar to those not directly part of
the coterie. They form traditions and shared practices
that are completely foreign to those on the the outside.
The composer conveys this feeling through the
paradox (insert quote). The collision of the handshake,
a symbol of camaraderie, and the incongruous
description of it’s violence, perplexes the composer as
he struggles to decode these strange interactions
between his elders. This generational split leads to
feelings of alienation and an emotional chasm between
father and son, at a time when both are trying to find
their sense of belonging within Australia.
Always shook hands too violently
•
How different groups affiliate and form their collective
identity may seem peculiar to those not directly part of
the coterie. They form traditions and shared practices
that are completely foreign to those on the the outside.
The composer conveys this feeling through the
paradox (insert quote). The collision of the handshake,
a symbol of camaraderie, and the incongruous
description of it’s violence, perplexes the composer as
he struggles to decode these strange interactions
between his elders. This generational split leads to
feelings of alienation and an emotional chasm between
father and son, at a time when both are trying to find
their sense of belonging within Australia.
About farms where paddocks flowered
With corn and wheat,
•
When an individual finds themself in a nonnative
environment, they may mentally regress to a place of
sanctuary. Feliks Skrzynecki reminiscing with his old
friends allows this group to transcend the physical
barriers of their current milieu to return to their
homeland. The simple, bucolic imagery in (insert
quote) represents their uncomplicated lives and sense
of belonging to their homeland. The symbols ‘corn’ and
‘wheat’, simple, staple food, further demonstrate the
oneness Feliks and his friends have to this natural
environment - and provides a barrier from assimilating
to life in Australia in the same way the Peter has
embraced.
About farms where paddocks flowered
With corn and wheat,
•
When an individual finds themself in a nonnative
environment, they may mentally regress to a place of
sanctuary. Feliks Skrzynecki reminiscing with his old
friends allows this group to transcend the physical
barriers of their current milieu to return to their
homeland. The simple, bucolic imagery in (insert
quote) represents their uncomplicated lives and sense
of belonging to their homeland. The symbols ‘corn’ and
‘wheat’, simple, staple food, further demonstrate the
oneness Feliks and his friends have to this natural
environment - and provides a barrier from assimilating
to life in Australia in the same way the Peter has
embraced.
‘but I’m alive’
•
In an ever changing, contemporary world the desire to
be more and more connected through different
spheres of our lives is endemic. Young people are
more connected than ever, and this may be at odds
with a generation of their forebears who appreciated
simple gifts during the World Wars, such as food,
shelter and life itself. This paean is in homage to Feliks
Skrzynecki, and the short, simplistic declarative syntax
(insert quote) encapsulates the totality of his character.
In the face of adversity, cancer and Nazi concentration
camps his own sense of identity and self efficacy has
been unshaken. This is heavily contrast to the
composer who is searching through the recesses of his
own experiences and relationships to unveil who he is
and his place in the world.
‘but I’m alive’
•
In an ever changing, contemporary world the desire to
be more and more connected through different
spheres of our lives is endemic. Young people are
more connected than ever, and this may be at odds
with a generation of their forebears who appreciated
simple gifts during the World Wars, such as food,
shelter and life itself. This paean is in homage to Feliks
Skrzynecki, and the short, simplistic declarative syntax
(insert quote) encapsulates the totality of his character.
In the face of adversity, cancer and Nazi concentration
camps his own sense of identity and self efficacy has
been unshaken. This is heavily contrasted to the
composer who is searching through the recesses of his
own experiences and relationships to unveil who he is
and to find his place in the world.
Growing older, I
Remember words he taught me,
golden cypress
Caesar’s Gallic War, Hadrian’s Wall.