In the Forest by Thomas Shapcott

Thomas Shapcott, a well educated writer who took up writing full time after being an accountant. He has achieved many recognitions and roles in the literature world. He was the past director of the Literature Board of Australia Council (1983-1990) and now a Professor of Creative writing at the University of Adelaide.

"In the Forest" by Thomas Shapcott is a poem that displays humans interactions with the natural landscape. In the society we live in today inhabitants (humans) believe that they are able to 'waltz' into any natural landscape and demolish it without thinking about outcomes that may arise in the future. Within this poem the poet allows the viewer to understand what takes place during an event of deforestation and become more aware of the impacts human destruction has on the environment.

The inhabitants interaction with the natural landscape is one of disrespect and manipulation. The recurring motif of the 'axe' acts as a catalyst, illustrating demolition and destruction.

The poet cleverly depicts a perfect environment in Stanza 1 through the use of natural connotations such as 'forest', 'birds' and 'lizards'. Although the use of repetition of 'wait' creates a suspenseful atmosphere in conjunction with the visual imagery of animals that are still and not moving. This indicates that something is wrong and urges the read to read on.

Reading on the poets breaks the suspense in Stanza 4 where he juxtaposes the previous three stanzas. The truncated sentences reinforce the change that is occurring in this environment, 'The tree is tenses. In its green height the possums clutch their young. They flee.' displays the struggle the animals go through to survive which in turns makes the audience realize that our actions are unacceptable.

In Stanza 6, vicious connotations are shown in 'The late slow lives have been taken, in the sheltering tree they have been crushed.' was purposely intended by the poet to straight forwardly inform the reader that we are ruining the natural habitat without even realizing it and should empathize with nature.

The last Stanza uses a metaphor in 'The accepted world is quickly broken, the skull of the forest is opened up.' compares the land to 'us'. The poet effectively poses that the land needs as much looking after as much as we need looking after. Therefore the inhabitants must take care of the environment if they want it there in the future.

Finally, Shapcott's poem explores the interactions humans have with the physical landscape and urges the reader to think and change their actions towards the environment

In the Forest Annotations