The bay james k baxter essay

James Keir Baxter (1926-1972), a New Zealand poet, was also known as an activist for the preservation of Maori culture. Here, in this poem, the poet’s voice reflects sympathy for the loss and an underlying protest against the cause of it, modernization. However, Baxter wrote extensively on this theme of cultural loss.

However, Baxter’s view of humanity’s progress and its impacts on nature is paradoxical. The underlying sense is definitely of pain and the representation of the past is vibrant enough to incite awe for the beauty of the landscape.

Baxter. ‘The Bay’ by James K. Baxter is a poem that laments the loss of the natural beauty of the bay and the surroundings. The contrasting images of the childhood of the poet and the present scenario create a lasting impact on the poet’s mind. However, Baxter’s view of humanity’s progress and its impacts on nature is paradoxical.

The farmhand in Baxters poem is very closely related to nature and the hard work on the farm displays the characters masculinity. The farmhand at first glance seems a self-conscious young man with a placid attitude. He will stand leaning his back against the wall, smoking a cigarette or telling some new joke to a (male) friend.