Les Murrays Morse is a poem about Bill Tuckett and his heroic surgery, however through the effective use of sound techniques several levels of meaning are created; of the Morse code and how poetry is dying out.

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How does Les Murray use sound features to convey the heroism of Bill Tuckett?

Les Murray’s “Morse” is a poem about Bill Tuckett and his heroic surgery, however through the effective use of sound techniques several levels of meaning are created; of the Morse code and how poetry is dying out. Les Murray emphasizes throughout the poem isolation, Morse code and conveys the heroism of Bill Tuckett using plosives, rhyme and rhythm.

One of the sound features used to convey the heroism of Bill Tuckett is plosives. Les Murray crafts “Morse” into a poem with words that is interpreted in more than one way. Plosives such as c, k, t and p sound like tapping noises, very much like that of Morse code. To the reader this link to Morse code is very entertaining because the constant tapping such as the “ck” and “tt” of “Tuckett” and the “p” and “t” of “patient”. This evokes a positive atmosphere; one to support the heroism of Bill Tuckett conveyed through this humorous tone. Furthermore Les Murray uses plosives in “pluck” and “epoch”. These are words that are rarely used in this age are considered archaic which in use matches the era of Bill Tuckett. This adds realism and humour to “Morse”.  This realism emphasizes the isolation of the area and how there is nobody except Bill Tuckett to do the surgery which increases the heroism of Bill Tuckett. Plosives also are very short syllables which speed up “Morse” evoking an urgent atmosphere. Les Murray conveys the urgency to give the effect of Bill Tuckett trying to quickly send Morse to others. Even though he is a hero because of the surgery, his fast sending of Morse has made a hero is Morse as well. The plosives in “Morse” convey heroism through the tapping noise, being archaic and the urgency.

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Another of the sound features is rhyme which conveys the heroism of Bill Tuckett through isolation, urgency and entertainment. Les Murray uses some assonance in “slit but slit” and “razor blade” portraying dark images of horror and evoking a negative atmosphere. However the words that rhyme end in plosives like “lack” “luck”, and “pluck” which creates an echo. The echoing of sounds is very entertaining to the reader which evokes a positive atmosphere. The contrast between the positive atmosphere and the negative atmosphere reduces the intensity of the horror which conveys Bill as being less horrible through is horrifying ...

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