The Giant Maggot
The Giant Maggot I am writing this from a ten by five foot room. From a small cell which ahs seven corroded bars on the window, the stench of unwashed clothes and oxidized metal formed from my own urine. A stiff and rough wooden bed. I feel my legs and arms and caress the swelled protuberances of my distorted and deformed body for my inevitable and failed attempt to escape. I stroke my back; one of the swellings is so bad it splits in the middle, all the blood clots overflowing after they've ruptured my skin. The fatal blow that ended my attempt of freedom. The food is dreadful. Thin soup where you can pick out the hairs of the cooks with both of your pupils shut. Bread which is either gone off or it's as stale and solid as a marble slate. A small bit of meat which luckily gets cooked a few times, as nearly every prisoner in the facilities has caught the salmonella bug; and finally a glass of tap water. There is no one to talk to. I am on my own. Secluded. Isolated. Inaccessible. Cut off from humans. There is nothing that will confront my brain, something that will stimulate it. Some days I end up counting and taking notice of stuff, like how many times the guards have their brakes, what times they have them in, who patrols where and on what day. I even know their personal problems their family and even their childhood. I just listen. Time passes slowly. It seems an
Touch with Fire Notes
Touch with Fire Notes Section E Mid-Term Break * The author is recalling an incident from his childhood. * In the first verse, given a hint of something wrong by the word 'Knelling' and the fact that he is taken out of school and driven home early. * His father is actually crying. * In the third verse, we have the contrast between the baby's innocently happy greeting and the old man's embarrassment. * Hints become stronger after third verse and worse. An ambulance, a corpse... * He's lying in a box = coffin. * The poet does not put it into words directly, but the mention of 'the bumper' tells us that the child, his brother was killed in a road accident. * The boy's age, final horrifying detail in the last line. " a four-foot box, a foot for every year" * The story told is through the eyes of the boy, bit by bit allowing the truth to reveal. * Tone restrain * Language plain * The poem is not a lament (to cry for) but it is deeply moving. Snake * The poem is set in Sicily, and the poet tells us how on a very hot day he went to fetch a drink and found that a snake was there before him drinking the water. * A poisonous snake * The poet believes that he should kill the snake but he cannot do so. Was it because the snake was quite? No harm? He was too cowardly? Drinking as if it was an invited guest? Or because he felt honors that such a creature should
"Betjeman has... very brilliantly made us think about being alive, being dead... while infact talking about a tea tray." What is your response to this view? In your answer you should examine in detail 'Death in Leamington' and one other appropriate poem.
Stacey Carlyle "Betjeman has... very brilliantly made us think about being alive, being dead... while infact talking about a tea tray." What is your response to this view? In your answer you should examine in detail 'Death in Leamington' and one other appropriate poem. Through Betjeman's use of language, form and structure he allows us to see death as an everyday occurrence and not as something that we should all fear. Betjeman cleverly uses everyday objects to symbolise the meaning of death and shows that it is something we will all experience. Death in Leamington is a moving poem about the death of an old and lonely woman. The poem has a regular rhyme scheme, which may symbolise that life and death are regular everyday events. Each stanza throughout the poem has a rhyme scheme of ABCB. Verse one allows us to understand that the woman experienced a peaceful and quiet death, 'by the light of the ev'ning star'. Betjeman uses the word star to symbolise that the death of the woman was natural and that she was in no pain. The verse runs on throughout until it comes to the end of the stanza. Betjeman did this as it was the beginning of the poem and wanted us to realise and feel what and whom the poem is all about Secondly we are illustrated with use of personification, as her 'lonely crochet' will not be able to grow anymore. The crochet beside her bed also shows us that
Compare and Contrast the Poetry of James Berry and John Betjeman, with particular reference to the Cultural Differences. Refer to at Least two Poems by each Poet
Compare and Contrast the Poetry of James Berry and John Betjeman, with particular reference to the Cultural Differences. Refer to at Least two Poems by each Poet James Berry's poems are written from the perspective of a lady named Lucy. Lucy moved to England because she had heard the streets were practically paved with gold there. She writes letters to her friend Leela in the form of poems. Lucy regrets her move to England in a lot of ways and finds it gloomy and cold. She misses Jamaica and doesn't really like London but she is too proud to admit that, so her letters also contain a number of positive yet vain sounding points about the advantages of living in England, such as, "An' doctors free." Lucy writes of how she has, "turned a battery hen," in the poem 'Lucy's Letters' because she feels trapped in London. She was used to a relaxed and friendly way of life in Jamaica so the culture in London came as a big shock to her. London is a lot bigger and much less friendly than Jamaica. In Jamaica everyone knows each other so Leela asked Lucy in a letter to her if she'd ever met the Queen. Lucy is used to the unspoilt beauty of the Jamaican scenery so London comes as a big change. She describes it to Leela as: "A parish Of a pasture-lan what Grown crisscross streets." In Jamaica Lucy could leave her door unlocked but write of how she can't do that in London:
Compare and Contrast the Ways in Which the Two Poets Present Their Memories
Compare and Contrast the Ways in Which the Two Poets Present Their Memories "Parliament Hill Fields" and "I Remember, I Remember" are poems involving memories of the poets. They approach nostalgia in different ways, however, therefore producing contrasting results within the poems. In "I Remember, I Remember" the situation he is in forces the poet into his memories, whereas, in "Parliament Hill Fields", the poet is looking back of his own accord. This results in a difference between the moods of the poems, giving "I Remember, I Remember" a more resentful tone that comes from being forced into his memories by visiting his birthplace. This is ironic, as, the title suggests "I Remember"-a voluntary act, but the feeling given is that the poet does not want to remember these things. Also, the repetition in the title suggests a certain level of wistfulness that demonstrates yet more irony, as these are definitely not fond memories for the poet. The tones of the two poems contrast one another for the duration of the poems. "I Remember, I Remember" is a bitter poem, depicting the poet's unhappy memories of childhood or even his sour feelings towards his memories. These feelings were apparent at the start of the poem as Larkin travels "by a different line for once". The use of "for once" was not a necessary phrase in his description of the journey but insinuates that his childhood
Compare and contrast 'Slough' and 'Belfast Confetti' - Comment on the poetic devices used and their effects.
Compare and contrast 'Slough' and 'Belfast Confetti'. Comment on the poetic devices used and their effects. I am going to study two poems based on conflict. The first poem is "Belfast Confetti" by Ciarán Carson and the second poem is "Slough" written by John Betjeman. 'Belfast Confetti' From what I understand, Carson comes from an Irish background and possibly used to be a local reporter. His attitude to conflict is that he feels war and conflict is confusing, so by associating with something he understands he can relate to, for example: 'journalism', he uses punctuation to explain the confusion in the riot. Belfast Confetti is a poem, which is from when Carson was a journalist in Belfast. It is a bleak picture of modern society and it's about when he became stuck in the middle of a riot - It describes how Carson runs down alleys to escape but is always trapped. He compares the riot, an unknown experience, to journalism a familiar experience. This is done by metaphorically describing the explosions, gunfire, and thrown missiles, linking them to punctuation and he describes it and his feelings to the reader. Carson also experiences an explosion while in the riot and is unfortunately deeply affected by the explosion-he loses his sense of identity because of what happens and he feels confused and disorientated. The poet doesn't actually mention whether he thinks the
Could The Suicide be The Executive after a life of failure?
Could The Suicide be The Executive after a life of failure? Although The Suicide might not be The Executive after a life of failure, there is strong evidence that he is. The Suicide might not be the Executive for an obvious reason and that is that the poets are different. Louis McNeice might not have read John Betjeman's poem 'The Executive' and this could just be a coincidence but I strongly believe the poets are talking about the same person. There is good evidence that 'The Suicide' is 'The Executive'. One good point is that they are both set in the late 60's. 'The Executive' is because it says 'I do some mild developing. The sort of place I need is a quiet country market town ', he is saying he needs a small town so it is easier to get away with. 'That's rather run to seed', this is a metaphor that the town has got past it's prime and not spending money anymore like the flower - all its efforts go into making seeds then after that it has gone past its prime and its pretty much useless. This is the 60's because there was not a licence of housing until after this period of time. No one could just knock down buildings then. Another aspect of the poem, which makes you consider it is in the 60's, is that Betjeman has written in his poem 'I have a Slimline briefcase', which were only used around that time because they are like the equivalent of modern palmtops. Therefore, if
How does Betjeman convey his attitude towards Slough?
Laura Bayon 12/1 How does Betjeman convey his attitude towards Slough? In his poem 'Slough' Betjeman uses a number of ways to put across his views. The title itself suggests he feels that 'Slough' is an appropriate title, that a poem on the place deserves no better or imaginative title than just its name because the place is dull and unimaginative also, or that 'Slough' says it all already. The first line of the first stanza means you immediately know what he thinks, his opinion being straight to the point, asking 'Come, friendly bombs, and fall on Slough' which is a good use of juxtaposition as bombs are never seen as friendly, but in this case they would be if they bombed Slough as they would be doing him a favour. Asking for bombs to fall on Slough is an outrageous, extreme demand which he repeats in the second stanza and in the final stanza to reinforce his plea, and he also uses other extreme terms such as the people have Slough having 'tasted Hell' which shows clear dislike. He is very flippant about asking the bombs to blow Slough 'to smithereens' as if he wants no part of it left and it's a reasonable demand. Betjeman's phrases such as 'It's not their fault that they are mad', 'they do not know' and 'they often go' makes it sound like he feels the people of Slough are alienated and are very different to himself, as if they were another species altogether,
Compare the Content, Style and Techniques of an "Ode on the Death of a Favourite Cat" With That of "To a Mouse".
Name: Nick Claydon Title: Compare the Content, Style and Techniques of an "Ode on the Death of a Favourite Cat" With That of "To a Mouse" Category: Pre 20th Century Poetry Comparison Date: 26th January 2004 The two poems I am comparing; "Ode on the Death of a Favourite Cat" by Thomas Gray and "To a Mouse" by Robert Burns were both written in the eighteenth century, which makes it interesting to make a comparison of their content, style and techniques, to see how poems of the eighteenth century differ from each other. Both of the poems feature an animal as the main subject of the poem. In Gray's poem he has a house cat as the main focus of the poem whilst Burns dedicates his poem to a field mouse. Both these animals come to an unfortunate end. The cat due to curiosity "tumbled headlong" into "a tub of gold fishes" This supports the well known phrase "curiosity killed the cat" In the poem it refers to the cat as actually loosing 9 lives: "Eight times emerging from the flood She mew'd to ev'ry watry God". No one arrives to save her: "No Dolphin came, no Nereid stirr'd : Nor cruel Tom, nor Susan heared". The dolphin is included in the list of possible rescuers because it is a reference to the classical legend of the harpist, Arion, being saved by a dolphin which had been entranced by his music, much in the same way the cat wanted to be saved by someone who heard its
Poems by John Betjeman
Jamie Lau 13 December 2004 Poems by John Betjeman John Betjeman writes interesting and contrasting poems, most of which are very personal and a recollection of his past. He is a vivid poet and never fails to set his scenes well. He always includes as much detail as possible and his poems are oozing with creative writing. 'Indoor games Near Newbury' is about a boy, maybe himself, going to a party and meeting a young beautiful girl. Betjeman conveys a rich surrounding and on entering the house, it has many wealthy attributes, 'Winding ways of tarmac, gabled lodges and tile-hung churches'. Also, there are motorcars, 'Hupmobile, Delage', but on top of this, posh places for them as well, 'private gravel, warm garage'. The atmosphere is cheerful and a time for 'Christmas cake' and the children are playing 'hide and seek'. When he meets Wendy, it's love at first sight and when Betjeman says 'you led me off', it gives you a feeling as though Wendy is an angel lifting him off his feet. Another example is when he describes him sleeping as Wendy 'holds him as he drifts to dreamland' like a Christmas angel guiding him through troubled times. Once he meets Wendy, everything seems to turn into fantasy, 'Fairies, pinewood elf and larch tree gnome', which shows his childlike mind. However, the whole poem changes its feel after you read the last phrase, 'slumber-wear'. This gives