Notes on "Elegy For My Father's Father".

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Elegy for my father’s father

James K. Baxter

Basic – First Impressions:

Different kind of title – very direct

Written in past tense – reflection

Written is second person – author describing the death of someone else

Idea of ‘Death’ – universal idea

Poem is one stanza long (written on two pages but actually one stanza)

Tone is dull and slow

References to nature and water

Free Verse

Ideas of poem (general):

Death – natural process

Remembrance of the past

Grief/Praise

Time

Aging

Skill

Seasons – change

Phases of life

Analysis:

‘He knew in the hour he died

That his heart had never spoken’

‘He’ – personal pronoun

Used to refer specifically to the author’s ‘Father’s Father’

‘in the hour he died’ – didn’t know before of after

Point of realisation – stuck in a period of realisation

Long death – peaceful or painful?

‘        died’ – strong with more impact instead of ‘passed away’

‘his heart had never spoken – personification

the father’s father never truly expressed his real feelings or emotions

He was more reserved and detached – that was his personality

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‘heart’ – centre of emotions and essential organ for life

“The human heart feels things the eyes cannot see, and knows what the mind cannot understand”

‘had never spoken’ – silenced/unemotional

The heart has not functioned it part – he underestimated his feelings but realised too late

Masculine character – strong figure linked to the ‘tall tower’

 ‘In eighty years of days

O for the tall tower broken’

‘eighty years of days’ – used instead of eight years of life

Each day was unique and a challenge for Baxter’s grandfather

Draws out the time – shows adds to the distance ...

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