Physical Artifacts In Adrienne Rich's "Aunt Jennifer's Tigers" And Seamus Heaney's "The Harvest Bow"

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artifacts provides a freedom to express that
which the characters in each poem lacks in their lives. Though unable to
grasp the images that they create, each character in the poems gains a
sense of self awareness. These utopian moments expressed by the creations
are frozen, images that surpass the lives of their creators and remain
intact with meaning. Through the utilization of physical artifacts, Aunt
Jennifer and the Ornament maker depict idealized situations through the
use of visual imagery, applying symbolism onto the physical artifacts in
turn allowing the grasp of self awareness.
In each poem visual imagery is expressed through the intrinsic
detail provided in the making of a straw ornament and needle point screen.
In Aunt Jennifer's Tigers, Aunt Jennifer is introduced as a feeble
character caught amidst her needle work. Aunt Jennifer's reality is
contrasted with the scene in which she is creating. Aunt Jennifer is
burdened by the “massive weight of Uncle's wedding ...

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Jennifer's reality lacks the control the tigers have over
their environment . The illustration is an image of Aunt Jennifer's ideal
world where the limitations found in her reality vanish. Instead of
feeling inferior towards the opposite sex, she would in turn dominate. The
visual images represented by Aunt Jennifer's screen allows further
interpretation through the comparison of Aunt Jennifer's reality and her
vision of equality.
Aunt Jennifer displays weakness by merely referring to the tigers.
She does not blame anyone for the lack of an equal world. Through the
creation of the tigers she conveys that for such a world to materialize
persons that have strength as exemplified ...

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