It has been said that James K. Baxter has “the ability to materialize what we all ignore”. Upon looking at one of his poems: ”Poem in the Matukituki Valley”, us readers realize that his ability to do this is due to his powerful fusion of language and theme. By combining religious symbolism and emotive diction in this poem with the theme of wasting time and wasting away Baxter does indeed present us with a message we ought not to ignore.

Religious symbolism is used in “Poem in the Matukituki Valley” to show how God and spirituality is reflected in nature. In turn this leads us to realize how our fear of both God and nature causes us to waste time in a life that seems so much easier. “For us the land is matrix and destroyer, resentful, darkly known.” We feel threatened by God, seeing him as both creator and destroyer but we fail to truly realize the miracles he creates in nature. We fail to see “sky’s purity; the altar cloth of snow” and the “daybreak that brings raincloud on purple ranges”. Instead we as humans choose to ignore such beauty and are unable to “endure the hermit’s peace and mindless esctasy.” I feel that by using such symbols of religion, Baxter shows us how beauty exists in spirituality and nature and that we should not fear either of these. Time is wasted conforming to a life that seems easier to cope with, a life dedicated to our careers, families and friends. We choose to turn to a life where “no wild tresspass of what’s eternal” exists. We dig ourselves into a “grave of time” not realizing that in the end, things like careers and money do not matter. So often, we as human beings feel that changing our lives and turning towards religion or spirituality sounds like too much work and it seems easier just to stay in the same monotonous life of socialising, work and having relationships with the same old people. It is these ideas that help prove that the fusion of language and theme is indeed very strong.

The emotive diction used in “Poem in the Matukituki Valley” helps to further emphasise the choice of humans to waste time and turn away from spirituality. The langauge found in this poem is very soft and reflective. “The forest blanket sheds its cloudy pollen and cloaks a range in undevouring fire.” From such examples, it can be revealed that God is a figure of might and power but just like the “undevouring fire”, he does no real harm. We do not see this however. We ignore the red deer that “lift  their innocent heads” or the “feathered moss and filigree of bracken”, instead turning to the “gentle dark of the human daydream”. Such soft emotive diction shows a philosophical side of a poet who has become more accepting of human faults but still wants us readeres to grasp an understanding of the fact that nature and in turn spirituality are indeed beautiful things. By fusing emotive diction with the idea of wasting time and wasting away, Baxter challenges us to think about why we choose to ignore this God-gifted world of miracles and wonder. For too long we have been ignorant of the simple things in life and for too long have we lived a life of conformity. If Baxter had not been so understanding of this then maybe he would not have been able to communicate his message of living a wasted, unfufilled life so clearly.

James K Baxter challenges us to disregard human limitations and become people who are true to ourselves. It is up to us whether or not we choose to do this. We are all products of our experiences but Baxter shows us trhough the fusion of language and theme that we can become new products of spirituality and understanding. Time is precious and it is what we as humans choose to do with it that will determine the paths we go along in life – one of conformity or one that has been less travelled.