Gwen Harwood's poems "The Glass Jar" exhibits the life-changing events, as does the first half of Father and Son, "Barn Owl", while the second half of the duo, "Nightfall", shows the process of transformation through maturation, as does "Sky High" by Hannah Roberts. These self-changes are shown through a variety of poetic devices.
             In "The Glass Jar" we are witness to a little boy's dramatic conclusion that his faith will not always be reciprocated with loyalty. Putting his faith first in a "monstrance" of light, and then in his own mother, the boy finds himself betrayed by both, and has to come to terms with the implications of this realisation.
             In the first stanza, we are shown how this boy "soaked" a jar in sunlight, in order to protect him from the horrors of the night. The first two stanzas hold an image of this jar as a powerful, holy figure, "ready to light with total power" his bedroom when the monsters of his nightmares "whispering would rise" in the dark. This powerful imagery shows the nativity of the child, who only realises his foolishness when, after waking from his nightmare, gropes away the scarf protecting the light from escaping the jar, and finds no light beneath it. His "hope fell headlong from it's eagle height", and this undercutting image invokes pity in the reader for the child who's faith has not been rewarded.
             Nor does he find comfort or refuge in his mother, who lies "in his rivals fast embrace", once he enters their room. The description of his father as a contender for his mother's love shows how he is realising that his mother does not exist solely for him. Dramatic irony is used at this point, where Harwood communicates directly to the reader that "love's proud executants played from a score/no child could read or realise.", showing how the child is mis...