Apology for Impatience for Gloria. On first reading, this poem seems quite incomprehensible. Out of context, the poem appears to be about love and relationships. Apology for Impatience was written in 1963 (wife dead?) and it was written for Gloria, his wife. Dawe rarely uses a first person persona and it is through his use of the first person persona and the fact that it was written for his wife, that leads me to believe that Dawe was not just making a comment on love, but on his love for Gloria. Dawe, when asked What good, finally, does publishing, going public, do? replied If we are lonely then it will help us recognize that we are not alone in our loneliness. If we are hopeful, or angry, or loving, or sad, then it will help us see these as universal experiences that proclaim us human It is through the context of the relationship Dawe had with Gloria, and this quote that transformed my understanding of his poem Apology for Impatience. Transforming from that of a poem about a relationship, to a poem intended as a farewell (or preventing a farewell) and an expression of the inexpressible lost love.The poem is free verse. Dawe uses the flow of the stanzas to reflect the recurrent image of growth; this image is reinforced by the metaphors of plants and nature used in the poem. The stanzas seem to be heading nowhere, but they are always moving forward. This reflects the growth of the personas character and the growth of the love throughout the poem. Beans, beans are climbing, climbing is a metaphor for his love and for the development of his character. Incomplete, not having reached their full potential but ever growing.Lying hunched in darkness represents the lack of direction and loss of hope, it is a critical point in the relationship, he is fearful of an end to the relationship. It shows how lonely he is in this time of uncertainty. Dawe may be reflecting on his past, or he may visualize the future as bleak should the relation...
