Continuum by Allen Curnow

The moon rolls over the roof and falls behind my house, and the moon does neither of these things, I am talking about myself.

Its not possible to get off to sleep or the subject or the planet, nor to think thoughts. Better barefoot it out the front.

door and lean from the porch across the privets and the palms into the washed-out creation, a dark place with two particular

bright clouds dusted (query) by the moon, ones mine the others an adversary, which may depend on the wind, or something.

A long moment stretches, the next one is not on time. Not unaccountably the chill of the planking underfoot rises.

in the throat, for its part the night sky empties the whole of its contents down. Turn on a bare heel, close the door behind

on the author, cringing demiurge, who picks up his litter and his tools and paces me back to bed, stealthily in step.

Continuum

that which extends continuously

Privates hedges Demiurge creator

Continuum / Songs of Ourselves / Grade 8 / Dept of Lit / Hiriya School / 2012 / Term 1

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Thomas Allen Munro Curnow (1911-2001) was a New Zealand poet and journalist. A prominent satirist, the satirist in Curnow is certainly explored with a greater degree of emotional connectivity and self reflection. His works concerning the New Zealand landscape and the sense of isolation experienced by one who lives in an island colony are perhaps his most moving and most deeply significant works regarding the New Zealand condition. His poetry specially concerns landscape/isolation. C K Stead has written, "It was as if no one had quite seen New Zealand in the English language until Curnow saw it." This sense of discovery is re-enacted in a late poem about childhood memory, 'A Sight for Sore Eyes'. Throughout his career, Curnow maintained this independent vision. His cynicism may have led him to reject religious doctrine, but he continued his philosophical investigations, in particular into the way the human mind creates its own reality. This concern and his characteristic tone is present in 'Continuum' which combines abstract musings on the nature of thought with a wry, colloquial language. The poem Continuum is a poem on the continuity of poetic inspiration. The poetic source of stimulation of great poets since ages has been the landscape. The moon has been a persistent metaphor for poetic inspiration in celebrated poems like Samuel Coleridges Dejection: An Ode. The poets quality of being a satirist is prominent here. He first asserts that the moon rolls over the roof, and falls back. This is to imply that his poetic capabilities are sinking. Subsequently, he goes on to substantiate that the moon does neither of these things, he is talking about himself. When poets do generally stumble in poetic output or due to lack of inspiration, they tend to blame the external circumstances .However, Here Allen Curnow asserts that the poet himself is to be blamed; for, Poetic inspiration comes from within and not from outside. Being sleepless is not an excuse for writing a poem. Sleeplessness does not necessarily allow one to ponder over a subject, or planet or subjective thoughts. The condition of insomnia can also be dodged conveniently by walking barefoot on the front. The speaker is then visualized as an onlooker of nature. As he stands at the porch he beholds an objective view of himself, as he discerns across the privets/and the palms a washed out creation. This portion is a dark space. The poet moves to his satiric tone yet again. This dark space contains two particular clouds, one was supposed to be a source of inspiration for the poet, and the other for his adversary-the other fellow poet. Bright clouds dusted (query) by the moon, ones mine The others an adversary, which may depend on the wind or something. The clouds seem to dust the moon for the poet in his quest/query for poetic stimulation. Nevertheless as one cloud functions in his favour, the other (cloud) poses as an adversary that may shadow the cloud, accompanied by the wind. Poetic brainwave or competence must not mar the others inspiration, for each poet has his individualistic insight the springs from within, and does depend on external features. The poet gets the feeling that he has overcome his writers block .As creativity begins in impulses, there are gaps. The next gap is a long one, and obviously the next poetic impulse is not on time. Corresponding to the inner lack of productivity, the feet outside lack warmth as the chill of the planking underfoot rises. As the poet cringes for poetic output based on external inspiration, the night sky seems to empty all it contents down, as in an action of excreting or vomiting. The speaker then turns on his bare heal and closes the door, signaling the end of his creative endeavour. This is He, the objective Author, feeding on this litter of the scenic sky and employing his poetic tools in the process .Therefore, he is aptly the cringing demiurge. The poet Allen Curnow asserts that he neither is he original, nor his poetic source of insight. This is because the motivating stimuli did not spring from Him. It is objective, when it should be rather subjective.

Continuum / Songs of Ourselves / Grade 8 / Dept of Lit / Hiriya School / 2012 / Term 1

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Mood And Effect In the poem continuum by Allen Curnow, the poet creates a sense of depression, loneliness and restlessness. This in turn causes the reader to experience an effect of insignificance and powerlessness. The restless mood is made clear in the first stanza when the poet is talking about the moon as a symbol for himself. He explains that the moon rolls behind the roof and falls behind my house in an assumedly never stopping, never ending cycle. This shows that he feels in much the same way, unable to stop the cycle of his boring life. Also, the poet feels that it is not possible to get off to sleep and has to walk around. He also finds it hard to get off the subject at hand, which is his poem, further proving that he is restless about his ideas. Furthermore, a long moment passed since he went out the door, showing that he doesnt notice the time gone, which is common in restless people. This shows that he has been here writing his poem for such a long time and doesnt even feel tired. In addition, he cant rest until he finished his poem, at which time he picks up his litter and goes to bed. The fact that paces is used at the end shows that he still may not have recovered from his restlessness as restless people pace around doing apparently nothing. The poet is also depressed. This is shown by the fact that he feels insignificant amongst the stars and space. He talks about the dark place and washed out creation. The fact that the poet believes that the world is a dark place with only a few bright clouds shows how the poet is depressed and thinks that there is little hope in the world for him. This shows the reader how insignificant and little each individual is when compared to the vastness of the outside world. The fact that he thinks that even creation is washed out shows how he has lost hope for everything that was pure and bright in the world. Also, his lack of regard for the world shows his loss of faith. The person is trapped outside of his normal life and cant seem to escape the almost never-ending continuum of life. Themes: Identity, human condition Do you think that the poet needs to set outside of himself in order to write this poem? Continuum: anything that goes through a gradual transition from one condition, to a different condition, without any abrupt changes or "discontinuities". Metaphysics: is the branch of philosophy investigating principles of reality transcending those of any particular science. Further Reading: The moon rolls over the roof and falls behind/ my house, and the moon does neither of these things,/ I am talking about myself. This poem centers around the writer, whose creative struggle wont let him sleep and thus causes him frustration. Him trying to understand himself while at the same time writing. One of his mayor problems is that he himself those not know neither him nor is he sure of what he is talking about on the wind, or something. The name of the poem itself leads us to believe that he is trying to change something while at the same time continue it, most likely a book or poem he is writing. This can be seen through the poem in which all is a series of events that leads to another series of events that never ends. Also if one notice the pattern in which he wrote the first two stanzas with a capital letter in the beginning then follow by two more with minuscule letters and the same process is repeat it from the fifth stanza with capital and the two that follow in minuscule, this shows how the writer insists on keeping on with the same train of thought none stoop until he thinks of something else. In this poem, Curnow explains the hardness of poem. He is waiting for inspiration for his poem and he is bored about thid and wants to sleep. He explains that writing a poem is an endless cycle. He personifies
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moon as a symbol for himself which creates a restless mood. The poet can not rest until he finished his poem. I am talking about myself this sentence suggests the reader that the poet is lonely and isolated. His source for inspiration is nature in this poem and he says Better bare-foot it out the front because he wants to connect directly with the nature. He cannot concentrate anything because of his restless mood. washedout creation and dark-place imageries suggest that he wants to find sth unique. A long moment stretches, the next one is not on time. this sentence means that the poet doesnt notice the time had gone. Curnow used (query) because he want to explain his sense of questioning. The cringing demiurge is the creative side of the persona and he is in an inner-conflict because one side of him wants to sleep the other one wants to write a poem. At last stanza, we are not sure but we understand that he found sth like inspiration and he turns to his bed, stealthily in step. Curnows punctuation suggests his lack of control. His commas show that he is jumping from thought to thought. The poems structure is also explains the theme and title of the poem, Continuum. The poem is also composed of very long stanzas which explain the confused mind of the speaker. Questions: 1. Write a short note about the poet Allen Curnow. 2. Write a summary of the poem.

3. List the Imagery in Allen Curnow's poem Continuum?

4. Explore how Allen Curnow uses language and literary devices to convey his feelings in the poem "Continuum".

5. Discuss the main themes highlighted in the poem.

Continuum / Songs of Ourselves / Grade 8 / Dept of Lit / Hiriya School / 2012 / Term 1

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