"if we dont change, we dont grow. if we dont grow we aren't really living" according to this change is an essential part of living. this epitomises the very nature of self change. change is growing up, the accumulation of experience, the passing of time and is inevitable. it cannot be avoided. all changes have consequences, "as stones thrown into ponds make ripples". but it is how one responds to such change and its consequences which determines its effect either positive or negitive, on our lives. this is illustrated in the peotry of gwen harwood, especially in the poems "barn owl" and "nightfall" as they are dictactic examples of change resulting in consequences.
             gwen harwood's "father and child" poem is divided between two individual poems "barn owl" and night fall" "barn owl" concerns a young child, a "wisp haired judge"who's experiences forced upon her a lifes lesson. the chil, believing she had the power, and the right embarks upon the barn owl with a gun, with the intention of killing it. but the child's misconception of death as quick and painless is shattered, as the owl refuses death, "wrecked thing ... hobbled in its own blood". the poem flollows a strict metre (6 sullables) and rhyme methodbut as "my first shot struck", the rhythm is destroyed as short and abrupt as the gunshot itself, it represents the destruction of tthe bird's life and the child's youth and innocence. the alliteration of the phrase "a bundle of sruff that dropped and dribbled" illustrates the callousness and brutality of the deed. the child's actions had serious ramifications and the consequences of the event resulted in the loss od childhood innocence. the phrase "i wept...for what i had begun" is lacedwith a metaphorical meaning. not only did the child weep for the killing of the owl, but also for the loss of innocence, and the journey into adaulthood that was now embarked upon. the poem is written from an adult prospective, as illustrates by examp...