The poignant words "Too late" at the end of the first stanza indicate that it is to late to change her self.
Harwood writes the poem in the present tense with time shifts to the past "Someone she loved once- to indicate the causes of time in the process of changing-self. In the final line of the poem Harwood uses the perfect tense, which emphasises its importance and again showing that it is too late for her to change.
Like Harwood's "In the Park", Miroslav Holub's poem "The Door" shows the importance of time and attitudes towards changing-self. Through the constant repetition of the imperative "Go and open the door" the urgency of seizing the moment is presented suggesting that the change of self must be done before it is to late. The speaker of the poem suggests that any change is a positive one through the constant reinforcement of positive visual imagery "a tree, a wood, a garden or a magic city" as well as "if there's a fog it will clear". This positive reinforced visual imagery shows the range of possibilities, which the change of self can bring. The significance of ones attitude is shown through the silent resistant voice throughout the poems entirety, frustrates the speaker and causes him to speak with an increased sense of urgency building up to the final stanza "At least there"ll be a draught". The empathetic rhythm in the second last stanza "Even If / Nothing / is there /Go and open the door" implies that to change self one needs encouragement and positive reinforcement. The speaker shows that changing self requires risk taking but it is essential that we move forward and not remain behind a closed door, much like the character in Harwood's "In the Park".
"First day of school" a cartoon by Michael Leunig (Sydney Morning Herald May 2001) represents a young boy holding his teddy bear on his first day of school. The young boy then has a confrontation with a bully who proceeds to tear the young boys teddy bear in two pieces.
