To My Nine-Year Old Self -Dunmore

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  • Created by: MJ
  • Created on: 18-03-22 13:40
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  • "You must forgive me."
    • Starting sentence of the poem, suggests that the speaker feels a strong sense of guilt for something.
    • To My Nine-Year Old Self - Dunmore
      • "Look at the scars,"
        • Scars may be a way to show a sense of ageing that the body the speaker and her younger self share.
      • "Do you remember how, three minutes after waking we'd jump straight out of the ground floor window into the summer morning?"
        • this depiction of child-like eagerness to go out and play every day
          • to highlight this implies a change in behaviour - perhaps the speaker is at a point where they cannot experience that same motivation and energy as they had all those years ago.
          • the use of the pronoun "we'd" almost sounds like the speaker was there with their younger self, which is impossible.
            • presents a feeling of lonliness - perhaps they're an only child? And wish they had experienced this moment with someone else.
      • "That summer of ambition created an ice-lolly factory, a wasp trap and a den by the cesspit."
        • Another emphasis placed on ambition, again reinforcing the idea that the speaker has changed drastically in terms of behaviour to when they were younger.
      • "time to hide down scared lanes from men in cars after girl-children."
        • An extremely dangerous and scary situation.
          • as the poem is about an adult speaker looking back on core memories of her childhood, there's a sense of true comprehension and realisation of what was really happening, where as she would've most likely misunderstood the situation.
      • "balancing on your hands or on the tightrope."
        • Emphasises a child's agility, something that is lost as we age.
        • Also could stand as a metaphor for the risks that children may take. The younger we are, typically, the more adventurous and reckless we become.
      • "a baby vole, or a bag of sherbet lemons,"
        • "sherbet lemons"
          • sour middle, sweet exterior
            • a metaphor for the speaker and her younger self.
        • "a baby vole"
          • a baby animal
            • representation of harmlessness and innocence
              • a representation of how the adult speaker perceives her younger self.
      • "slowly peeling a ripe scab from your knee to taste it on your tongue."
        • Yet another core memory of the speaker's childhood.
          • some may find this imagery disturbing,
          • others will be able to relate, looking back on their own experience with fondness.

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