Beth Cuthand’s poem, “For All the Settlers Who Secretly Sing”, portrays a character, a Settler, who is referred to as a you throughout the poem, although this is just an assumption. The settler has moved into an indigenous land, unaware of the cultural beliefs, ignorant about the spiritual beings and unaware of nature’s importance to the land. Cuthand’s poem, “For All the Settlers Who Secretly Sing, portrays cultural acceptance and how a person is able to achieve spiritual awareness, through nature’s presence. Cuthand uses personification and imagery to demonstrate the different stages of self-awareness and the role of nature in the process of cultural acceptance.
Cuthand uses the image of land to portray the settler’s cultural awareness. The …show more content…
Formerly the settler may have never seen nature’s importance to a culture but once he or she gained cultural awareness the relationship changed. When the speaker says, “her song rises in you/ yet it rises and you sing secretly/ to the land” (line 33-34), it is assumed that the settler has accepted the indigenous culture and begins to join the gatherings although he or she is hiding this acceptance from other settlers. This particular settler doesn’t want to be judged by other settlers. In Cuthand’s poem nature plays a key role because nature functions as an agent of bonding. Nature is personified through out this poem; it also shows how the settler starts to accept a different culture. When the speaker says, “and then she knows sister brother, that you belong here too” (line 36-37), the settler’s curiosity about the land broke the boundaries between two cultures. Beth Cuthand’s poem “For All the Settlers Who Secretly Sing” shows the readers cultural boundaries can be broken. Through the use of personification and imagery, Cuthand’s characters demonstrate cultural acceptance, spiritual awareness, curiosity about other cultures and how nature affects an individual exposed to a different cultural group. Perhaps the poet used this poem to tell the readers that cultural boundaries can
Cuthand uses the image of land to portray the settler’s cultural awareness. The …show more content…
Formerly the settler may have never seen nature’s importance to a culture but once he or she gained cultural awareness the relationship changed. When the speaker says, “her song rises in you/ yet it rises and you sing secretly/ to the land” (line 33-34), it is assumed that the settler has accepted the indigenous culture and begins to join the gatherings although he or she is hiding this acceptance from other settlers. This particular settler doesn’t want to be judged by other settlers. In Cuthand’s poem nature plays a key role because nature functions as an agent of bonding. Nature is personified through out this poem; it also shows how the settler starts to accept a different culture. When the speaker says, “and then she knows sister brother, that you belong here too” (line 36-37), the settler’s curiosity about the land broke the boundaries between two cultures. Beth Cuthand’s poem “For All the Settlers Who Secretly Sing” shows the readers cultural boundaries can be broken. Through the use of personification and imagery, Cuthand’s characters demonstrate cultural acceptance, spiritual awareness, curiosity about other cultures and how nature affects an individual exposed to a different cultural group. Perhaps the poet used this poem to tell the readers that cultural boundaries can