Lit poems

Quick and brief overview of lit poems

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  • Created by: Amina
  • Created on: 22-05-11 19:06

Havisham

Beloved sweetheart *******. - Oxymoron- mixed emotions of anger and love?
Dark Green Pebbles for eyes- Colour Imagery- Shows Miss Havisham has been crying she is upset however the colour green connotes envy (jealousy) so she is jealous because her ex fiance is able to get on with life and is able to move on yet she isnt.
Spinster- She hates him, its because of him (her ex fiance) she is a spinster.
Cawing Nooooo- Cawing is what birds do so its turned into a mockery?
Yellowing- This describes the white dress decaying, becoming old like her, emphasies how long it has been.
Full-length, her, myself, who did this- She is so shocked, how could she do this to herself, or allow it to happen?
End of second stanza last two sentences are long fluent phrases to give a sensual and flowy effect.
Love's hate- Oxymoron ... again, she is confused she loves him still but hates him for leaving her.
Red Balloon Bursting- sexual connotations of her virginity teasing her? Colour Imagery. 
Bang.- Onomatopoeia.
Stabbed at the wedding-cake.- Violent Imagery
b-b-b-breaks.- Onomatopoeia- Her mind is breaking, her mental state.
Structure- To look at it is a lot neater than most poems, this is to represent what Havisham looks like on the outside, she is neat (collected) but then the long lines which disrupt the structure represent her inner emotions, it is messy because her mind is messy.

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Anne Hathaway

"Item i gyve unto my wife my second best bed..."- this is an epigraph
The use of past tense "we loved" suggests she is reflecting on William Shakespeare's death.
"forests, castles, torchlight, clifftops, seas where he would dive for pearls."- this list emphasises how brilliant being in a bed with William Shakespeare was- sexual innuendo,
"shooting stars" sibilance "s" reflects fireworks.
Infact the use of enjambment shows how passionate they were. THIS IS A STRUCTURAL TECHNIQUE. It
also shows the sex life of Anne Hathaway and William Shakespeare was constant.
"fell to earth as kisses" - SIMILE.
The words "rhyme, assonance, Romance, drama" all describe sex, and also shows the techniques Shakespare was the best at.
This is a an unconventional Sonnet as it does not follow an ABAB structure because it represents their relationship, how it had no rules!
"by touch, by scent, by taste"- SENSORY IMAGERY.
"My living laughing love"- Emphasises he isnt there but shows he's always in her mind.
So the fact she got the second best bed shows that in that bed was where they had the most pleasure.

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Salome

"I'd done it before and doubtless i'll do it again"- Exploring the element of human nature... she has killed before.
BIBLICAL CONTENT- Salome was the stepdaughter of King Herod, she danced for him and in return she asked for John the Baptists head on a platter.
Her desciptions of men are very vague because she doesnt pay much attention to them.
The use of elipses (...) > represent slurred speech? or reflects on what she said?
Colder than pewter- the man next to her is dead.
Peter?Simon?Andrew?John?- Biblical names
lines 15- 23 suggest she doesnt think things through properly.
"I need to clean up my act"- She wants to change, she wants to stop!
"Sticky red sheets", "head on a platter"- Graphic, gruesome images.
"like a lamb to the slaughter"- Lamb= innocent, she traps them as though they are HER prey.
No stucture because she has no structure to her life.

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Before You Were Mine

Tribute poem- Dramatic Monologue.
"I'm ten years away"- Past tense
"bend from the waist down, holding each other, or your knees"- Iconic image she compares her mother to Marilyn Monroe.
"I knew would dance like that"- shows how upset child is that her mother doesnt do anything like she used to anymore.
"eh?"- Hint of jealousy from child as her mum had more fun in the past.
"small bites on your neck sweetheart?"- She wants to know who gave her mum those lovebites.
"ghost clatters"- Mothers youth has gone.
"Red shoes..Cha cha cha!"- Symbolise youth and experience.
"Wrong pavement"- Almost as though she thinks her mother regrets ever having a baby.

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We Remember Your Childhood Well

Dramatic monologue.
"moors"- context= 1960's
"Nobody locked the door"- constant denial through repetition of "Nobody."
"The whole thing is inside your head"- Manipulated child's memories- psychological control.
Defensive tone.
Repeated Denial Statements shift the blame esp in last stanza.
"older..wiser...bigger"- Strong violent intimidating words, suggest child was abused.
Parents are trying to avoid the responsibility.
"skidmarks of sin"- Unsettling, sense of abuse, sexual abuse?
"What does it matter now?" - Sense of guilt
"We remember your childhood well."- Disguising the truth.
Structure is ordered because the parents ordered the child life, it is as though this "speech" has been rehearsed because the parents were expecting the child to ask one day, so they have always been ready for it.

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Stealing

"I wanted him, a mate"- Suggests he is lonely.
"The most unsual thing I ever stole?" - the "?" could suggest someone is asking him something... perhaps he is questioning himself or repeating a question someone else asked him.
"with a mind as cold as the slice of ice"- Similie suggests the speaker is a cold and malicious person.
"Life's tough"- Short sentence creates a jauntier effect and suggests that the speaker has had a tough life.
"Sometimes i steal things i dont need"- suggests the speaker is bored and has nothing better to do.
"Aah."- ambiguous tone, could be read as satisfaction or maybe self pity?
"booted him. Again. Again"- Violent Imagery to show anger/ frustration through repetition of "Again"
"I could eat myself."- Self harm/ destruction?
Speaker doesnt want to steal, they just do it to occupy the time.
"You dont understand what im saying, do you?"- Suggests speaker is unable to articulate their feelings.

Speaker comes across to be male as Duffy is a feminist and likes demoralising men hence why the majority of her poems give women a voice.

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Mother any distance

"second pair of hands"- she needs help.
"you at the zero-end"- mother has been their from the start
"back to base"- the child (speaker) needs a mother
"Anchor"- represents the mother, taking all the heavy weight and holding it she is stopping her child from leaving her.
"Kite."- The kite represents freedom, the child wants to be free but they can't because of the mother acting as an anchor.
"ladder"- Represents growing up.
"breaking point"- somebody has to let go but the mother is finding it difficult.
"your fingertips still pinch"- it is difficult for the mother to let go, and this can also be a representation of the fact she wont let go of the measuring tape another symbol of their flimsy relationship.
"fall or fly."- the child is either going to fail in life  or succeed in life.

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Homecoming

Second stanza uses present tense to make it look at though the reader is witnessing it. Second idea links to trust.
"two and two together"- colloquialism suggests there is a light hearted side the relationship.
"proper fist of it"- mother wants to have an argument.
Infact second stanza is an ANECDOTE.
"Bed."- colloquial punishment.
"father figure"- could be the child grown up, with children? or a reminisense?
"pleats...seams...sleeves...buttons...clasp....zip"- ALL PARTS OF THE YELLOW CANARY JACKET, a metaphor of trust.
"Step backwards into it"- Again linking to the first trust exercise.

Title HOMECOMING mean reunited, so this could foreshadow that the yellow canary jacket means trust and the fact that the childs mother didnt trust the child tells the reader that the yellow canary jacket will always "fit", the child will never forget the incident.

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November

November- the weather in November is dark, gloomy, winter...
Autobiographical poem.
"badly parked car"- want to get it over with- a sense of rush and panic.
"parcel her in the rough blankets"- There is an image of death- coffin.
"John: we are almost these monsters"- John is uneasy about what is going on. Indicates fragility of life.
"numb ourselves with alcohol"- Sense of guilt, it is a weakness.
"out of this life"- Ambiguous, out of life itself or never grow old?
This is a pessimistic poem as there is a sense of loss and no hope explored.
It is a literal poem.

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Kid

Dramatic monologue by ROBIN (batman's sidekick)
Themes of loss and growth.
Uses Iambic Pentamtor - everyline has 10 syllables similar to the batman theme tune.
"er" endings mock the Batman theme tune.
Lines 6-9 show denial of Robin ever being assosiated to Batman in a family way, Robin ridicules Batman.
"married woman"- Batman is having an affair.
"Holy"- Robin starts his sentences with "holy" in the animated cartoon/***** too!
"Sherwood-Forest-Green"- Robin Hood.
"chicken giblets"- shows Batman can't cope without Robin.
"You baby."- Belittles Batman.
There is a jealous/ angry tone and it is a rant.

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Hitcher

Irregular line length, mimesis of free flowing life of hippie?
"ansaphone kept screaming"- personification to emphasise how this is normal.
"Vauxhall Astra"- Materalistic speaker?
"blowin' in the wind"- A song by Bob Dylan.
"I let him have it"- Violent tone.
"six times with the krooklok in the face"- violent imagery, represents anger.
Use of enjambment reflects hippie's free-flowing life.
There is a lot of significance of weather in this poem as it links to Bob Dylan's song and the hippie.

The driver (speaker) is a cowards as his argumetn is with his boss yet he takes it out on the hitcher (hiker) who has nothing to do with it.

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On My First Sonne

Mocks a sonnet as the last two lines are incomplete perhaps this is because the speakers life is incomplete without his son.
"right hand"- biblical reference to Jesus.
Poem uses archaic language.
"sinne"- The sin was that he loved his son too much.
"loose all father now"- If he could lose all fatherly feelings he would.
"scap'd worlds, and fleshes rage"- child is lucky to have escaped the angry human race.
"miserie, yet age?"- the older one gets the more misery and suffering you have to go through.
The punctuation used reflects emotion.
Poem uses Iambic pentametor.

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The man he killed

- A situation of war.
A mans guilt after war as he reflects on killing someone he didnt even know and could have been friends with if it wasnt for the war.
"face to face"- enemies, they didnt have a choice as they both shot each other.
Quaint- Strange.

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Sonnet 130

12 lines of ABAB structure and the last 2 lines= rhyming couplet.
The comparisons are insults, and suggest Shakespeare doesn't love Anne Hathaway.
The way it is written suggests it is going to be about love however when we do read it we are shocked.
Shakespeare leave the last two lines as rhyming couplets to convey his message so that it sticks into the readers head.
The question at stake is "What is more important about love?" and the rhyming couplet tell us the answer... truth and honesty or "belied with false compare".
Rhyming couplet changed our opinion of his lover, he doesnt need to lie about her because his love for her is so strong. The point he is trying to make is that your loved one doesnt have to be perfect it shows if you can be fake about your descriptions then what is your love really like?

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My Last Duchess

Story- this poem is about a Duke who is showing his guest a portrait of his late wife. He is talking about her in a negative way and speaks about her maliciously. He killed his wofe because he was JEALOUS that the people of Italy loved her more than they loved him.
Tone- The tone comes across as malevolent (EVIL), arrogant and contolling. It also comes across as remorseless.
Rhythm- The poem uses Enjambment, it also uses Iambic Pentametor and rhyming couplets.
Imagery- "Spot of joy" - this metaphor suggests that when the duchess smiles or blushes the duke describes it as a stain, a symbol of her tainted nature.
Viewpoint- The speaker viewpoint is obviously negative as the duke speaks of the duchess in such a negative and nasty way.

Poem is a dramatic monologue and entertains the reader through the speakers brutality and bitter persona.

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Comments

Rishvana

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Very helpful thnx...

buh wat abt the laboratory poem??

Sam

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the only poem on there we're doing is My last duchess, not very helpful

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