Katrina
by Bruce Dawe
Katrina, now you are suspended between earth and sky.
Tubes feed you glucose intravenously. Naked you lie
In your special room in Ward Fifteen. Is your life
Opening again or closing finally? We do not know, but fear
The telephone call from a nurse whose distant sympathy
Will be the measure of our helplessness. Your twin brother’s
Two-month old vigour hurts us, remembering
Thin straws of sunlight on your bowed legs kicking
In defiance of your sickness, your body's wasting.
Against the black velvet of death threatening
Your life shines like a jewel, each relapse a flash of light
The more endearing. Your mother grieves already, so do I.
Miracles do not tempt us. We are getting in early,
Although we know there is no conditioning process which can counter
The karate-blow when it comes,
No way can we arrange the date-pad to conceal
The page torn-off, crumpled, thrown away.
Katrina, I had in mind a prayer, but only this came,
And you are still naked between earth and sky.
Transfusion-wounds in your heels, your dummy taped in your mouth.
1.
The last three lines of the poem reflect the first.
What is the effect of Dawe’s direct address to Katrina?
Discuss the appropriateness of the mood that the opening lines establish.
2.
Dawe manages to communicate both the miracle of life and the terror of imminent death.
Which words convey Katrina’s near-death existence?
3.
What is the effect of the question on lines 3 & 4?
How does this connect to and illustrate the central theme of the poem?
4.
It has been observed that some of Dawe’s best work is characterised by a grim stoicism. In
“Katrina” he displays his grief and anguish without becoming melodramatic or sentimental.
How does he achieve this? (refer to tone, mood, style)
5.
What does Dawe mean when he says
“Your twin brother’s / Two month-old vigour hurts us”?
6.
Dawe employs both metaphor and simile on lines 10 & 11 to achieve one of those haunting
images for which he is famous.
Analyse and evaluate them.
7.
Almost as an afterthought Dawe includes is own feelings and those of the mother.
Discuss them.
8.
What do lines 14 – 17 have to say about Dawe’s attitude to death?
9.
The images in the final line are graphic, almost cruel.
What do they achieve?
10.
Despite the very personal nature of this poem, its appeal is wide, tearing at the heart strings
of any parent.
What is your personal response to the poem?