English Different Cultures Poetry

Structure:

• Free verse Form - effective use of rythm
• Rythm suggests musical beat of west indian limbo dance

Meanings:

• West indian dance
• A prison for unwanted people
• A place where according to christian religion the unbaptised are sent

Many of the key words in this poem are single syllable eg. "Stick", "dark", "deck", "whip", "knock","drum", "still" They are sharp sounding constanants and create a regular beat like the drum used to accompany the dance. 

Repetition of "dark" emphasises the lonliness and the fear of being on the slave ship.

The refernece to sunrise is used as a symbol of hope. The rythem becomes quicker suggesting excitement, however it suggests these feeling are to be short lived as suffering witll continue as they step on the "Burning Ground"

Summary:

• Narrator picks his way across scrubland of district 6.
• A modern restaurant has been openend offering expensive food
• No sign outside syaing it but you know blacks are not welcome
• Luxuary lifestyle of whites is contrasted with blacks
• Narrator is angry as nothing has changed, linking back to the title of the poem

Opening walk suggests the ground underfoot strewn with stones and cans is uncomfortable and unwelcoming, and resistant to visiters only the "amiable weeds" seem to be at home. 

Links with other poems:

Sense of place: All

Political and social comment: two scavengers, Vultures and what were they like

Summary:

• The man wakes up hearing in his head sounds of the sea
• These sounds evoke pictures of early morning on his island
• He hears real sounds of London traffic which blot out the sounds in his head
• He faces another london day

Structure:

• Free verse from - reflects island man state of mind, past is always with us
• No puncuation - trying to replicated dream

Poem starts positively, and ends negatively 

The whole poem is constructed as a kind of dream sequence in which images and impressions of the carribean and london life merge.

The whole poem reflects how much our surrounding environment influences our lives