The language of the text has an interesting rhythm effect which has some underlying regularity mixed with variation. In the first, middle and last text, the last word in each stanza all rhyme, however the last word in the second and fourth stanza rhymes.which appears to look like this: -
1st text all rhymes
2nd text 2nd and 4th stanza rhymes
3rd text all rhymes
4th text 2nd and 4th stanza rhymes
5th text all rhymes
I have also noticed that when looking at the poem, these rhythmic words have only one-word syllables, when pronounced they are stressed.
The first, third and fifth texts have four lines and the second and fourth text has four. The reason why I think the writer forms the poem in this particular way is because he is introducing the deathly child in the first text and describing him after that until the fourth texts. The last text changes from his description to his perception, which concludes the poem so therefore ends with three lines to distinguish from the other four.
The stanzas go in and out. The second and fourth text do not extend to the right-hand edge of the page, it appears to be short, not only in words but also in length while the other text are not. In comparison, text 2 and 4 has nearly the same amount of words.
When reading the poem out loud, there tends to be a rhythm in the language, such as: -
1 2 3 4 5 6
The deadly child is very gay
There are 8 syllables in the sentence, 4 strong, 4 weak. The weak syllables are before the words dead-, child, ver- and gay. This gives rise to a regular ‘di dum di dum’ pattern for the whole of this sentence, which helps us to see this interesting rhythmic effects. After this, the rhythmic affect changes.
Poetic orthography within the text shows the word Café, which expand to two syllables in order to conform to the metrical pattern.
This poetry has a significant proportion of run-on lines (enjambment). When we get to rather and the we know that that there is still more information to come. Therefore the final word of the stanza is single out on the next line. Enjambment only occurs twice in the text. Both these words have the same amount of syllables in their stanza. The first text has 8 syllables in the first stanza, 13 in the second and 14 in the third which run-on to the next line. The third text has 8 words in the first stanza, 14 in the second, which run-on to the next line and 13 in the fourth. Both these text have the same amount of syllable, except that the enjambment is on the 3rd stanza in the first text and the 2nd in the third text.
There are Alliterations within the poem that has the repetition of the letter [t] in the last text, stanza 1; it says tables the talk is going to and fro. There is also repetition of the word delicate, however the term delicate in the fourth text 1st stanza has the suffix ly. Another repetition is the phrase “more pale than” within the same stanza, “He is more pale than the silver leaves more pale than these”.
The words “The deathly child” is repeated, several times in the poem and instead of giving “the deathly child” a name, the writer of this poem uses social dexis.
In this poem the writer confronts us with a series of paradoxes. “There is sun where there is no shadow” and “He leaves no mark at all where the dust is spread”. I think that the writer writes in this particular way, because the writer is describing the deathly child as something different from the humans. If someone does not have a shadow, it means that they do not have a soul. When it says “he leaves not mark at all where the dust is spread” is shows that the deathly child cannot be seen.
Graphology: all lines begin with a capital letter because to give relations between speech and writing. And there are no two sentences within the same line, except the last stanza, which not only has a capital at the beginning of the line but also in the next sentence. I have also noticed that all the stanzas in the middle text begin with the letter “h” and the first letters in the first and second texts are also represented in the third and fifth text but in different order.
