Analysis of ' A Leisure Centre is Also a Temple of Learning' by S. Boyle

• Lives in Bath
• she has written a book of poems 
• she was praised for the 'humble attentiveness these poems pay to their subjects' 

• Links to the poem ' To my Nine Year Old Self' poem by J.Copus 
• as it is also about the observer and the observed 
• women descriped in poem is like that in a magazine
• also intertextuality as links to Song of Solomon in Bible
• Theme of Greek mythlogy - goddess 

• Vision of beauty 
• 'is absorbed in making her body more beautiful' - 'isolation
• self obsessed 
• she is unaware/dreamy
• 'she flexed and toned every muscle with a morning swim.'
• sound pattern
• vanity 
• 'and showered away the pool chemicals' - harshness
• she cares about her apparance
• 'using an aromatic scrub and a gentle exfoliant' - pleasant , fragrant smell

• 'Lithe as a young leopard ,she has perfect bone structure:' -elegant 
• animal is feminine ,small ,beautiful ( like her ) 
• the flow of the verse - her sense of enjoyment from the process of getting ready
• a sensual vision
• 'her secret cleft is shaved as neatly as a charlatan's moustache 
• a charlatan is someone claimiing to have special knowledge or powers 
• so the moustache is their disguse 
• she is acting older than she is - shaving it is part of her routine
• 'the secret cleft' refers to her credentials

• language referance 
• '... every part that might be love.'- she wants to be loved.
• she is using perfume 'sprays perfumes' - fragrance
• 'her long hands move in rhythm like a weaver's at a loom-' - graceful /swan like
• 'the little kisspoints below her ears,' - behind her eyes
• 'the nuzzle between her breasts , her willow thights. ' - sexual , intimate movement /gesture
• 'She brushes her hair so clean it looks like waterfall'- naturally beautiful like waterfall

Verse 4

• 'A bee could sip her.' - pollination , rip for reproduction
• she is a flower in bloom
• 'She is summer cream slipped over raspberries '
• luxury - refering to her complextion 
• 'She is so much younger than the rest of us'-  she is trying to fit in 
• personal context 

• the line 'she is so much younger..' -contrasts to the build up to the end 
• split into three seperate lines 
• 'She should look around.' - conformity 
• 'We twelve are the chorus:' 
• twelve - apostles -religious
• or twelve- like a jury -judging her 
• greek chrous - mythology 
• foreboding 
• is she preparing to meet someone? 
• if so the poem may be a referance to the timeless process of girls preparing for romance 
• maybe the women know that she is preparing for a romatic or sexual experience 
• 'we know what happens next.' - undercuts seriousness with stark effects- change
• the line is ominous - dry humour is used effectively 
• maybe the line is referring to the futility of what the girl is doing- a commentary on how she cannot avoid growing old- exploring the idea of aging 
• maybe the other women are jealous of the girl 
• they could be about to say to her 'you look lovely' or they could be about to critise her 

• Greek images used throughout
• 'learning' - what does  the reader 'learn' from the poem
•  female readers can use personal context / their own experience which may influence what they think the ending of the poem means
• poem is about the secular and spiritual
• poem is about the modern and ancient/ religious 
• it has brought all these contrasting themes together sucessfully in a witty way