The poems Seamus Heaney's Blackberry Picking and Gwen Harwood's In the Park explore themes of loss and innocence 'innocence. Both Heaney and Harwood focus on the idea and themes of youth entering adulthood, from an innocent child or a period in their youth where they viewed life with hope and high expectations until as an adult who shows his harsh realities and disappointment. Both poets use symbolism to explore themes of loss of innocence, showing the contrast between youth and growing up, moving from happiness and youth to disappointment. Both poets use a negative tone in their poems and use imagery and similes to describe and explore the passage of time. Heaney uses imagery and a negative shift in tone to describe how the black berries became over time a "fur, rat-gray fungus" to show the audience the change in mood and the sight Heaney saw. While the first stanza, Heaney uses sensual imagery and a more positive tone to describe this type of stanza, he uses techniques like similes to explore the taste and smell ""sweet as thickened wine" Heaney describes blackberries before they rot. Harwood uses the passage of time for her poem, she uses images like “. Flickering lights” to describe the passage of time. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay “In The Park”, it has themes of young motherhood that Harwood uses. symbolism to show the reader how the man's life and the woman's life are represented. When the woman goes to the park, she meets her ex and realizes how different their lives have become and the opposite paths they have taken. Harwood describes how the woman has no time. to take care of herself "her clothes are out of fashion" symbolically meaning that she wears the same old clothes and her life is extremely focused on her children, she has no time to buy anything new new. The man is mentioned as having a "neat head", meaning he has a neat, trendy haircut and symbolically shows that he has all the time and money to take care of himself. Harwood describes how lucky he is to have moved on and not be around women and his three children, otherwise he would have ended up like her. When picking blackberries Heaney uses the symbolism of blackberries, fresh blackberries are a symbol mentioned in the first stanza where the berries are beautiful, sweet and fresh which can contrast with youth, hope and high expectations of life. Then, in the next stanza, there is the symbolism of rotten blackberries where the blackberries become "a fur, a rat-gray fungus, lying on our cache" and the blackberries have become fermented and gross, can symbolize and contrast with aging , the harsh reality, and the beauty fades, making the mother a more empathetic character towards the audience. Overall, both poets use symbols and themes to connect to the idea of ​​youth and the high expectations that come with aging, growing up, disappointment, and themes of loss. when hopes, happiness and dreams are shattered.