W.H.Auden's Shield of Achilles - Short Summary and Analysis
The Shield of Achilles W.H.Auden . Central Feeling/Themes A Juxtaposition between the cultured and civilized world and the corrupt and oppressed world War A Lack of freedom and independence Drawing the line between reality and the image one chooses to see The irony of what something that looks marvelous (what Thetis sees) is actually disastrous (what Hephaestos portrays on the shield) 2.What happens - Thetis goes to Hephaestos to create a shield for her invincible, "iron-hearted", "man-slaying" son, Achilles. - She expects to see prosperous "well-governed" cities, but she sees a lack of freedom and an artificial sense of wilderness. - There is a place, which is "bare and brown", with no sense of life on which where many people who lacked the ability to think for themselves, had gathered to listen to the orders of a "voice without a face" - She expects to see a celebration, a ritual complete with libation an d a sacrifice, but instead, on the altar she watched as three prisoners, bound and gagged were to be publicly executed. - An accepted and silent sight, the prisoners had given up much before they died. They didn't expect help and they didn't get it. - She sees a young men and women, growing, enjoying themselves and dancing, but they had no dance floor, no nurture, no support, only an uncared for "weed-choked field" - A homeless man takes rape and betrayal for
An Unknown Girl. Throughout the poem, devices such as symbolism, similes and metaphors are used to portray her desire of discovering her cultural identity
Throughout the poem, devices such as symbolism, similes and metaphors are used to portray her desire of discovering her cultural identity. The poem is based around the girl trying to develop a sense of belonging within her culture. The use of symbolism could imply her attempt to acquire her cultural roots and heritage. “I have new brown veins’. The ‘brown veins’ could represent her new identity as a woman in India. She has discovered her culture and a sense of belonging, which is evident through the use of symbolism where the henna is now part of her. In addition, her urge of becoming part of the Indian culture is given through the use of simile. ‘I am clinging to these firm peacock lines, like people who cling to the sides of the train.’ The peacock is the national symbol for India, which could represent her desperation to be part of the culture. The fact that she ‘clings’ on to these lines shows that her dedication and persistence to discover her heritage is great. She is ‘holding on’ to the henna, as if disregarding it would lead to her losing her identity. Furthermore, the use symbolism could portray her identity as being temporary and superficial. ‘I’ll scrape of the dry brown lines before I sleep…’ This symbolizes her identity as being artificial. The fact that the henna is her identity shows that this is only temporary, as it will
Compare and contrast Jackie Kays presentation of childhood in Yellow and Brendon Gallacher.
Compare and contrast the poet’s presentation of childhood in the two poems ‘Yellow’, by Jackie Kay, is a poem where Kay remembers her deprived childhood, linking many of her memories to the colour yellow. ‘Brendon Gallacher’, another poem by Jackie Kay, is a poem where Kay recalls the death of her imaginary friend. Both poems explore aspects of Kay’s childhood in very similar yet illustrative fashion. In ‘Yellow’, Kay utilises a negative and depressing tone to convey the desperate situation that her family was in and, also, she opts not to use a rhyme scheme in order to portray the lack of liveliness in her childhood. The poem’s acoustics display more sadness especially when Kay’s mother ‘weeps’ creating the impression of a tearful experience, thus further emphasising the sadness in Kay’s own childhood. Meanwhile, in ‘Brendon Gallacher’, Kay uses a contrasting tone to convey the change in her feelings. The first three stanzas have a bright and cheerful tone which shifts to a depressed one in the final two stanzas, resembling her sadness at the death of Brendon. The poem’s acoustics appear like pleading with Kay’s constant repetition of ‘my Brendon Gallacher’. As in ‘Yellow’, Kay does not utilise a rhyme scheme again. In both poems, it is obvious from the poignant acoustics and lack of rhyme that there is dullness engulfing her
Word choice, juxtaposition, contrast, irony and imagery are just some of the techniques that author MacCaig uses to convey his personal views on the hypocrisy of the church in his poem Assisi.
Assisi Essay TASK:Chose a poem which conveys a clear message to the reader. After a brief account to the poem, explain what you believe the message to be and in some depth show how the poets use of language helps to achieve this message particular impact. Word choice, juxtaposition, contrast, irony and imagery are just some of the techniques that author MacCaig uses to convey his personal views on the hypocrisy of the church in his poem Assisi. MacCaig sets the scene in the first stanza by introducing us to a begger outside the church built in honour of St. Francis, a church that was built to help the poor and in need. The scence of irony is created when the poet shows no hint of sympathy or compassion for the plight of the man or his pain. THe use of the word "dwarf" in a non-medical context is derogatory. The poet describes the man as a "slumped like a half filled stack", this comparrison is almost inhuman. The alliteration "tiny twisted" describes the physical deformites in a callous manner. The alliteration is used to convey that the author has no sympathy for the begger as he is described as a freak of nature. The use of onomatiopia suggests the heaviness of the begger's body and the lack of contorl he has over it. Tone is created by the casual use of brutral language and sarcasm, "over whom" is callous but helps us to realise that the poet wants us to have compassion
Commentary on "Even Tho" by Grace Nichols.
Even tho by Grace Nichols Grace Nichols is from the Caribbean island along the Atlantic coast from the place called Guyana, a small village by sea. Guyana was a brutish colony so she was exposed to British culture and read the work of authors such as Enid Blyton, Jane Austen and Shakespeare. In Guyana she was influenced by myths legend and the landscape. She started to work as a teacher in the remote part of Guyana but at the age of 27 she migrated to England. The poetry is written from a female’s perspective and in this poem the narrator is addressing the lover (man). The poem is first person narrative, mainly expressed by the first person singular ‘I’. In 1st stanza the poet is talking about the woman’s fear that the man she loves will try to ‘devour’ her and destroy her completely by taking away her independence. In the 2nd stanza the poet refers to the natural world and the food imagery (fruit metaphor) to suggest that she is sweet, natural and delicious. The use of fruits describe the feeling of the poet that how does she feel when she is in a relationship to portray her as a weak character. Fruits like ‘water melon’ and ‘plums’ bruise easily implying that she is easily hurt and is more sensitive in characteristics. In the 3rd stanza we get the feeling that the woman seems very excited passionate and sensual when she is with the man. The use of
Analysis of 'Continuum' by Allen Curnow
Analysis of Continuum of Allen Curnow Continuum, by Allen Curnow, is a unique poem that explores very interesting themes regarding writing and thought. The poem revolves around a poets inability to find inspiration and ideas for a poem and highlights themes like Poetic Inspiration, Writers block and the ebb and flow of thought. Poetic inspiration is an essential part of writing poetry and in Continuum, Curnow attempts to get his motivation from the environment and the night sky. He conveys the necessity for poetic inspiration very effectively through his own desperate attempt to find ideas and inspiration Writers block, the condition of being unable to think of what to write or how to proceed with writing, is a compelling issue faced by many writers. In Continuum, we get a glimpse of what it really is like. This is a major problem for Curnow as he struggles to find ideas for his poem. The final theme of the ebb and flow of thought is beautifully portrayed in the Continuum where the poet acquires ideas but they swiftly slip away with the change of his mood. It implies the mercurial quality of mind and shows the quick discovery and disappearance of thoughts. The title, Continuum, suggests a tedious, unrelenting cycle; an unceasing, arduous series which is the process of writing a poem. It is the acquisition and the abating of ideas that goes on again and again. The
Drawing parallels with other poems in the Book of Matches explore the ways in which Armitage effectively conveys experience in Hitcher
Drawing parallels with other poems in the “Book of Matches” explore the ways in which Armitage effectively conveys experience in ‘Hitcher’. ‘Hitcher’ by Simon Armitage is a chilling poem in which a frustrated man, who picks up a hitcher with “just a toothbrush and the good earth for a bed”, takes out his anger on this ‘hippy’ and throws him out of a moving car: he is cheered up by doing so and says that “the outlook for the day was” now “moderate to fair”. This poem contains key ideas and concerns that are reminiscent of Simon Armitage’s other poetry and therefore parallels can be drawn between this poem and his other works in the collection, “Book of Matches”. This poem is much longer than the sonnets which form the central sequence of the collection. This shorter sequence, which gives the collection its name, is based on the pub game of telling your life story in the time it takes for a match to burn. However, these sonnets are often imperfect in form (irregular meter and pararhyme) and it seems that Armitage’s philosophy and experience influence his poetry and do not allow him to write in the perfect and romantic form of a true sonnet. In the poem ‘Hitcher’, there a five, five line stanzas, which almost have a syllabically regular structure, despite its irregular rhyme scheme. It is written in the form of a monologue that allows
Explore how the poet presents his thoughts and feelings about what is happening in the world around him in One World Down the Drain
Explore how the poet presents his thoughts and feelings about what is happening in the world around him in “One World Down the Drain” Simon Rae’s “One World Down the Drain” attempts to raise the awareness over the issue of pollution in the world, and the need to take responsibility. Throughout the poem a casual tone is maintained as a blithe statement to attract the reader’s attention and maintain interest, as well as the constant use of monosyllabic words to show the underlying frustration of the poet to the reader. The title of the poem “One World Drown the Drain” was used by the poet in order to represent the risk of the world going “down the drain”, which the audience can link to the problem of pollution and rising sea levels. The title also makes use the words “down the drain” as a metaphor for people not realising that the problem of pollution is likely to affect them in the future, and is not limited to the countries stated throughout the poem. The poem opens with the casual statement: “It’s goodbye half of Egypt, The Maldives take a dive, And not much more of Bangladesh, Looks likely to survive.”, Demonstrating the use of blithe statements where the poet chooses to use a casual tone in order to draw the reader in, presenting the opening stanza with a similar tone to a song in order to create a positive effect on the reader and
Explore the ways in which Simon Armitage presents the experience of the speaker in the poem, "Out, of the Blue"
Explore the ways in which Simon Armitage presents the experience of the speaker in the poem, "Out of the Blue" The writer Simon Armitage presents the speaker and his emotions in a depressing manner. The techniques that are used in the poem will be, personification, repetition, idioms and more. The poem is written in the 1st person to give the effect of intimacy and personal experience which the reader would not feel if the poem was in the 3rd person. The extract is called "Out of the Blue", which is an idiom and it has a literal meaning and a metaphorical meaning. The literal meaning is that there were literally planes that had come out of the blue sky, also metaphorically speaking, it was taken by surprise, and nobody was expecting such a horrible disaster to occur. The speaker is in a very high position in the crashing building. We can tell this by them mentioning that they are in the "small clouds, but waving, waving. By mentioning the clouds, we get an image of the height of where he is and of the smoke in the burned down building. The writer uses repetition in the phrase above. He uses this technique many times and the repetition of these verbs slows the pace of the poem and echoes the sense of falling through the air. This gives a mournful atmosphere. The present tense verb endings in "ing" such as "waving""bullying""driving""leaving", creates a sense of movement and
Nettles by Vernon Scannel. Vernon Scannells poem Nettles, creates a sense of pity when you read it as the image of a young boy falling in a nettle patch isnt pleasant.
Cameron Burns - Critical Essay - Nettles Vernon Scannell's poem Nettles, creates a sense of pity when you read it as the image of a young boy falling in a nettle patch isn't pleasant. And as a human race, we feel sorry for good people who experience unnecessary pain. The constant reminder of the pain felt creates an atmosphere comparable to when nettles sting you. "White blisters beaded on his tender skin" Is a great way to show pain as it describes the effect of the nettles on the skin and also uses sensitive words normally associated with pain to help describe it. Although these constant reminders of pain are quite depressing, they are in a way balanced out by the rhyming found at the end of second line: "My son aged three fell in the nettle bed Bed seemed like a curious name for those little green spears That regiment of spite behind the shed" This scheme of rhyming the last word of every second line continues throughout the poem's entirety and in a strange way is quite comforting. Although the subject matter is nettles and being stung by them. The theme of this poem is war, although at first this may be unnoticeable. But once you reads it again you'll find many connotations of war contained within descriptions. Such as: "Green spears" "Regiment of spite" "Fierce parade" "Recruits" Although all of these examples are related to war (the theme) they are also
