"Lines Written at Thorp Green" by Anne Brontë

An analysis of Anne's "Lines Written at Thorp Green"

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  • Created by: Marrino13
  • Created on: 29-04-14 11:38
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  • "Lines Written at Thorp Green" by Anne Brontë
    • Context
      • Anne wrote the poem whilst working at Thorp Green. Her position lasted 1840-1845. She was 20 when she began.
      • Anne was only allowed home once a year, at Christmas
    • This poem is about the significant importance of HOME on one's life, and the wasted days spent wishing for familiar surroundings
    • Structure
      • AABCCB
        • Delayed couplets suggest the agonising wait for home.
      • Four stanzas to reflect four seasons - the time she waits to return home
    • Language
      • Words like 'soft' and 'gently cools' illustrate the soothing power of nature.
      • Pathetic Fallacy - weather reflects Anne's mood.
        • The sun must 'cold and silent be'  - The summer needs to end before she can go home. She anticipates the end of Summer.
      • Pain related vocabulary illustrates both her weak constitution and her home sickness
        • The thought of being away from home 'pierces' and 'chills' her as she begins to 'mourn' home.
          • The use of the word 'mourn' suggests that she is dying while she waits for home, but also that she is mouring the loss of her home.
        • Her 'fevered brow' could refer to her ill health as well as her home sickness.
      • The 'whispering breeze' represents Winter coming closer.
      • The 'bright flowers' must 'droop and die away' - she had to have a longing for home so that she can truly appreicate it when she gets there,
      • The 'long, dark nights, and landscape drear' are 'far sweeter' to her than 'sunny, summer time' because that is 'Home."
        • Winter (symbolising times of difficulty) is easier to bear when you are somewhere familiar, with people who love you.
        • The cold of Witner warms her heart
        • The personification of home highlights the significance that home has in her life, and the power it has over her emotions.
        • By looking forward to home, Anne is looking forward to Winter.
          • This is ironic because Winter is often associated with death, but Anne's Winter is renewal.
            • This illustrates the paradox of nature: it can heal, but it can kill.
  • 'Far sweeter is the winter bare'
  • 'And these bright flowers I love so well....Must droop and die away."
  • 'And rustling music, they must fade/And every one decay'
  • "That summer sun...must cold and silent be"

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