Commentary on 'The Wasps Nest'
Commentary on 'The Wasps Nest' Rosenberg's 'The Wasps Nest' is a poem that on a literal basis tells the tale of a pair of wasps building their nest in a persons mailbox and the struggle of that person about whether to destroy the nest. Yet Rosenberg uses the idea of the nest as a microcosm of the human reality to explore the fragility of our existence in a world where we think ourselves masters of all that we survey. Rosenberg uses a sharp sense of contrast to crate a struggled tone within the poem. This is intended to examine Rosenberg's juxtaposition of strength and weakness, his strong sense of setting and powerful onomatopoeic description in the body of this essay. Rosenberg's key technique is his use of contrast between strength and weakness to expose our inherent fragilities. This contrast is tellingly revealed when he talks of "the fragile cradles of love", a metaphor which sums up the entirely of Rosenberg's poem. There is a sense of strength in the image conveyed through the word "cradle"- it brings to the reader's mind an idea of castles and physical strength that the walls and stone bring. Yet this "cradle" is "fragile" - a word more commonly used to describe a glass object than stone, but which highlights that within this bastion of strength, where people appear to be in control of their own destiny, they are instead at their weakest. This idea is reinforced as
Poetry from different Cultures
Essay Describing Devices Used in 'Blessing' When we read poems, very few people actually take in the devices used and make sense of the way the poet uses them and still fewer people take the time to decipher why the poet has used that specific device in that specific place. The devises often have hidden meanings, and are used to make the poem flow better. In this essay, I will be describing, analysing and evaluating why and how Imtiaz Dharker has used the devices she has incorporated into the 'Blessing'. The title of the poem alone, 'Blessing' is a strong word which could mean that what happens in the poem is special, almost like a miracle, which helps set the mood of this poem very early on. The first line, 'The skin cracks like a pod' is not only an effective simile, but it's a way of setting the scene and cultural aspects of the poem as the first image of a pod that comes to mind is a cocoa pod, which cracks in the sun's heat or is cracked open to get to the cocoa beans. The cocoa pod is from somewhere like Africa. In the second line, the way the words are placed really emphasises the word 'never' as it catches you out when reading out loud. You would normally say that phrase as 'is never', but in this poem, to emphasize the rhythm and the word 'never' the sentence is 'never is'. In the second stanza, onomatopoeia plays a fairly big part, taking over 3 words, 'drip',
Continuum by Allen Curnow
Continuum The poem ‘Continuum’ by Allen Curnow revolves around the central theme of poetic inspiration, how it ebbs and flows. He describes himself and his thoughts on a particular night, when he is unable to sleep because his mind is alive and restless. He seems to be in the grip of a poetic impulse that struggles for expression within him. This poem is the medium through which he conveys his experience, and he does so in a very interesting manner. ‘Continuum’ begins with a striking image of the moon “roll[ing] over the roof” and falling behind the poet’s house. It is an animated image of the moon, which has the lucidity of a child’s imagination and so successfully grabs our attention. But even as the reader reacts with mild surprise and pleasure at the novelty of this queer idea, the poet cuts us short with a very matter-of-fact and obvious truth: “the moon does neither of these things”. Curnow is referring to himself. The image of the moon may be interpreted as a symbol of his unsteady train of thought. This and the contradiction thus serve to establish the confusion and indecision in the poet’s mind. Also, the moon is a symbol of poetic muse. Thus the falling moon becomes a metaphor for his sinking poetic abilities. The moon is supposed to be steady but it has lost its balance, as if to suggest that poetic inspiration is not a steady source; it
Base Details is a war poem written by Siegfried Sassoon in 1918. The year of 1918 was a crucial one in the First World War, and Base Details seeks to explore some of the bitterness and cruelty
Base Details Base Details is a war poem written by Siegfried Sassoon in 1918. The year of 1918 was a crucial one in the First World War, and Base Details seeks to explore some of the bitterness and cruelty of the war era, expressed from the point of view of a common soldier. The poem consists of a single stanza, with ten lines. The rhyme scheme is pretty straight forward and consistent, utilising a standard "A,B,A,B" format throughout the poem. The stylistic devices used are, however, quite distinct. Unlike many poems, metaphors don't seem to play a vital part - in fact, the poem doesn't have a single metaphor. Instead, there's quite an excessive use of subjective adjectives, which greatly helps setting the tone and message of the poem. Most notable is perhaps how the author chooses to purposely understate serious issues, in order to suggest patriotic and sympathetic feelings for the reader. An example of such an understatement would be line 7 which says: "Yes we've lost heavily in this last scrap." "Scrap" in this context means "battle". However, we'd normally see "scrap" used in context with normal, unimportant fights, and even used as another term for "junk" or "garbage". This implies that the 'major' who articulates this line is obviously understating and fails to acknowledge the consequences, dramatic events, and horrors of the particular battle, thus making the
Sheenagh Pugh is for me, a passionate and powerful poet; the majority of her poetry has contained the themes of the earth and how it will be ruined if we are not careful.
Sheenagh Pugh is for me, a passionate and powerful poet; the majority of her poetry has contained the themes of the earth and how it will be ruined if we are not careful. Even within her children's poetry, these themes are prominent. The other major theme within the poetry of Sheenagh Pugh is 'the bible' this theme is quite often in association with divine love for earth. She deals with this in a startlingly refreshing and compassionate way, often with the sense of melancholy but never with depression. Sheenagh Pugh refers in the title of 'The craft I left in was called Esau' that the pilots name is Esau and she is suggesting that mankind has made a bad bargain like Esau did in the bible. The settings of the poems are different from each other; 'The craft I left in was called Esau' is set in an spacecraft while 'Do you think We'll ever get to see Earth again, Sir?' is set in a classroom on a different planet evoking memories of home. In 'Do you think we'll ever see earth again, sir?' the setting is in a classroom and the teacher referring about earth. Sheenagh Pugh has set this poem in another world and in a class because she wants to show how it would make us think of home. She is uprooted from her culture or roots and she speaks 'I can't fancy a tour through the ruins of my home' which suggests that she has no intentions of seeing her old traditions and earth. The theme
How the Author Conveys Tragedy in Out, Out
How The Author Conveys Tragedy in "Out, Out" "Out, Out", is a poem written by Robert Frost that covers the tragic story of a death of a young boy as a result of bleeding from a heavy injury and the lack of treatment. The author, Robert Frost, manages to convey this sense of tragedy very successfully by utilizing a few literary techniques such as personification and direct speech. In the story, a young boy is introduced, working on a saw in a yard. He has no other choice, as he needs to earn money in order to support the family, even if he is only of young age. He is described as a "boy", telling the readers that he is in fact very young, and most probably not even in his teenage years yet. He is working and his very stereotypical sister comes along and announces that dinner is ready. At this point, his hand becomes "fed" into the saw as depicted and because of this; he suffers heavy injuries and eventually dies of what seems to be a lack of blood within the body. Although this event in itself is already very tragic, the author manages to augment this greatly by using a number of literary techniques. The author uses personification in the story in order to emphasize the violence and danger of the machine. In the story the boy is seen working with a saw and it is depicted as very violent. "...And the saw snarled and rattled, snarled and rattled..." The words "snarled" and
Analysis of "Harmonium" by Simon Armitage
Reading Record: Harmonium Main ideas/Message/Feelings/Attitudes: The poem 'Harmonium' explores the relationship between a son and his father. Taking this into consideration, I feel that Armitage has made this poem specifically for parents and children since they would be able to relate to the bond being portrayed in the poem. In the poem 'Harmonium', Armitage is able to take the love he has for an inanimate object and personify it in a way where it is able to reflect the love he has for his father. In the beginning of the poem, the narrator specifically states that he was in 'Marsden Church' to possibly make the poem more realistic - seeing as 'Marsden Church' is a genuine Church located in the West of Yorkshire. The church's harmonium has been left in the church porch, ready to 'be bundled off to the skip'. The narrator asks his elderly father to help him carry out the harmonium out of the church. As the two men carry the harmonium the father makes a joke where that the next time the son carries a heavy weight out of the church in a box it will be his coffin. The persona of the poem tries to respond but he is unable to, perhaps due to the emotion he feels at the thought of his father's death. Structure/Shape of the poem/Form: The poet has chosen to use the repetition of structure in a number of places throughout the poem. For example, in the last stanza on the fifth
Sonnet 29. This sonnet by Edna St. Vincent Millay is attempt to explain her worry of time aging her beauty away, resulting in her lover to loose interest in her.
Sonnet 29 Commentary This sonnet by Edna St. Vincent Millay is attempt to explain her worry of time aging her beauty away, resulting in her lover to loose interest in her. Millay explains that this natural happening; is not her fault. Therefore, she wishes that it were easy to learn from her passed love experiences of blindly following her heart. As she starts the first line with 'pity me not', she uses reverse psychology since she is actually saying that she wants people to pity her for her aging and her love life. This is repeated again in the 3rd line and throughout the sonnet to emphasize its effect. The connotation to death is made in 'at close of day' you conclude that the women is near to death, which leads us to think that she is old. Therefore, the phase 'passed away', which implies that something is gone or that it disappeared, showing us that what was 'passed away' was her youth. Furthermore, in the phrase 'field to thicket', 'field' illustrates that something free and limitless; representing her when she was young. In this case the 'thicket' is old age; Millay is explaining to us that old age overcame their youth and that is the reason it ended. Her reference to 'wreckage' represents destruction of her beauty; suggesting she was exposed and vulnerable to it. The tone of this sonnet is painful and regretful. Millay's voice can be heard as calm and exhausted
Compare and contrast Tony Harrisons poems Bookends and Long Distance 2
Zoe Nunn Compare and contrast Tony Harrison's poem's "Bookends" and "Long Distance 2" In both Tony Harrison's poem's "Bookends" and "Long Distance 2" the main idea of the poems follow the relationship between the three people in his family: him, his father and his dead mother. The poems concern the loss of his mother, and how both he and his father grieve over her, and how they try to accept and deal with her death in very different ways. Harrison also conveys the strained relationship he has with his father, which was held together by his mother before she died. This comes across very strongly in "Bookends" where he uses the title as imagery in the form a simile to depict the differences between his father and himself. They are "like book ends", they "sit, sleep, stare", facing away from each other, and never seeing eye to eye. When Harrison refers to the "books" which separate them, the books represent Harrison's education, which his father always resented. This was due to his belief that his son the "scholar" would be led into the illusion that he was in a higher class or rank than his father who was "worn out on poor pay". His father believed you were born into a certain class, and that you should seek a profession and education within that class. Another image portrayed in "Bookends" is that of his mother and the "apple pie" which they are "chewing". It is as though
How the narrator is portrayed in "Nettles" by Vernon Scannell.
Nettles In Nettles poem the narrator seems to be hating plants, I really disagree with him as plants provide us with life but because "nettles" are harmful plants and he described them as enemies saying "green spears" shows that they are sharp and dangerous and it's a metaphor to give the impression of conflict and war as the poet was in the military, that's why we find too many war images in the poem. The narrator uses very violent descriptions in the poem. "Regiment of spike" its personification shows that the plants are soldiers and the father feels compassion for his son. He is a really protective father and he should back him up, and he wouldn't leave his son injured like that, "It was no place for rest" he has to help him, he is motivated and sensitive. He feels worry about his son "sobs and tears" it's a metaphor to show he is upset and he would cry for his son who shows an example of loyalty and love. The narrator uses an imagery of the war showing that "nettles" are the enemies describing them as "blisters beaded" it's alliteration using heavy "b" to show how harmful the pain is to carry for an young child "his tender skin" shows that his son is soft and slender, the a connotations of war contrast with his son innocence and the fierce nettles. "we smoothed him" he has an experience to treat people injuries as he was in the military .He feels so angry