Trace the changes in the poet's emotions in the poem, explaining how and why they change.

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Ronak Punjabi 10N

Trace the changes in the poet’s emotions in the poem, explaining how and why they change

“The Almond Tree” by Jon Stallworthy describes through the eyes of an expectant father’s supreme emotional joy at the prospect of birth of his child. The poem begins on an optimistic tone. However, this excitement and joy quickly turns to despair and hopelessness later on in the poem when he is told that his son is a Mongol. Soon enough the father experiences an epiphany where he gains new acceptance for his disabled child and a new outlook on life.

In the first stanza, Jon Stallworthy uses a variety of images which capture the euphoria of learning that he is about to be a father. Everything is going well and in his favour; this is clearly evident when he expresses that all “the lights were green”. He feels that everything is just perfect and that even the green traffic lights are encouraging him in the right direction too. The use of the word “peppermints” conveys a child’s image of new, fresh and sweet happiness.

The poet uses a fairytale image to create a lack of realism in order to re-enforce the optimistic tone.

He describes himself as “the lucky prince in an enchanted wood”, which shows that he feels fortunate about the fact that he is going to be a father. This imagery is appropriate because it suggests that through the birth of his child, he feels as if he is re-entering the world of childhood.

By imagining he has the power of “summoning summer” and “banishing winter”, he hints that good times are coming in his direction. When driving he describes himself as being “swung by the road from bend to bend” which represents the speed he is travelling at to reach the hospital in time for the birth. This is another child’s image as it illustrates a child on a swing, which is fitting here as it further projects his happiness.

In the following line, the poet suggests that he is conscious about the fact that through the new baby, the family bloodline is now extended, when he expresses that “blood was running down through”. This is also linked to the line later on in the same stanza “Centuries, continents it had crossed…” which emphasises his awareness of ancestors in the family genealogy, possibly from lands far away, being united together through the birth of the newborn. He doesn’t know when the family started: “… from an undisclosed beginning…” and because of this baby he realises that this genealogy is “spiralling to an unmapped end” towards the future.

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Another point which could be made from the line “I was aware that blood was running down through the delta of my wrist and under arches of bright bone” is that he is sensing his own living being. It reflects the fact that he is a living being filled with excitement.

The poet goes on to describe his journey to the hospital in the third stanza. It is apparent that he cannot wait to arrive at the hospital. He claims that he is “crossing (at sixty) Magdalen Bridge”, which means that he is travelling at a speed that ...

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