It is said that to achieve status as a masterful poet an author must convey the complexity of human emotions through succinct, efficient, empathetic, and powerful prose. Kenneth Slessor displays his position as a masterful poet through his poem “Five Bells”
In Five Bells, Kenneth Slessor displays the complexity of human emotions as he discusses death, memories and their relation to time, relationships, and existentialism through dense and empathetic stanzas which include powerful imagery and prose.

 The death of Joe is troubling to Slessor, as decades later he experiences involuntary reminiscence of Joe through triggering images and faces perplexity regarding why he remembers Joe. Joe “lives between five bells” as his death occurred between the bells of a ferry. Upon hearing the bells, Slessor is reminded of Joe’s death and thus overwhelmed with emotions; although Joe died, he still lingers in the fading memory of Slessor. He is perplexed by the haunting of Joe; he wishes for Joe to reach out and explain why he lives in the mind of Slessor. In his confusion, he asks “Are you shouting at me, dead man, squeezing your face /In agonies of speech on speechless panes? /Cry louder, beat the windows, bawl your name!” which shows his frustration and desperation to gain closure regarding Joe’s death. Slessor utilises a hypothetical question and apostrophe to detail his struggle in coping with the death of Joe. Slessor displays use of powerful prose within these empathetic lines; he captures the inner struggle related to death and closure that is abundant in grieving through the use of powerful poetic techniques.
Another emotional struggle faced by Slessor is his fading memory of Joe due to the inevitability of passing time. He links his memory to the water and states “Where have you gone? The tide is over you, /The turn of midnight water's over you, /As Time is over you, and mystery, /And memory, the flood that does not flow.” In which he links memory to water. By stating it “does not flow”, he presents the issue of his fading memory of Joe. Slessor link between water, memory, and time allows for dense passages with multiple meanings. This is testament to Slessor’s masterful composition in regards to efficient and succinct poetry.
Slessor details further emotional complexity in regards to relationships.  Slessor’s description of Joe’s father provide multiple ironies, such as “the old man gone blind,” … “that graveyard mason whose fair monuments” which relate to both Joe being lost in the darkness throughout his life, and the fact that he did not have a burial. This shows Joe’s relationship with his father as they hold traits relating to each other. Slessor is able to contrast Joe and his father through the use of irony. This serves as powerful prose as it provides a deep insight into human complexity regarding relationships.

Slessor utilises many forms of sensory imagery through powerful prose in order to capsulate human complexity. Slessor conveys his deep empathy through the use of kinesthetic imagery “The night you died, I felt your eardrums crack” shows the resounding pain felt by both Slessor and Joe on the night of his death. Slessor is able to condense his deep connection to Joe through one line, which is evidence to his position as a masterful poet.
Slessor incorporates powerful prose regarding existentialism. He states “But I was bound, and could not go that way,” which concerns his ties to the real world; he could not follow Joe into the unseen. Slessor contrasts his responsibilities to Joe’s ability to act irrationally and ‘go that way’.


Although this poem is longer than many other of Slessor’s works, each paragraph delivers a succinct yet enlightening insight as to the struggles of Slessor and his issues regarding the death of Joe. Slessor is able to prove his position as a masterful poet in regards to the requirements