Part 1 of The Ballad of Reading Gaol

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  • Created by: nittyniz
  • Created on: 07-04-21 14:42

Part 1 of The Ballad of Reading Gaol

Key features of the poem to look out for:
Sestets
ABCBDB rhyme scheme and internal rhyme 
Iambic tetrameter and trimeter 

Proletarian ballad form
Anaphorae and caesurae
Assonance and plosives 
Compounds and noun phrases 
Quotes:
"He did not wear his scarlet coat, For blood and wine are red, And blood and wine were on his hands..."
"...his step seemed light and gay; But I never saw a man who looked So wistfully at the day." - at peace with death
"Upon that little tent of blue Which prisoners call the sky..." - defamiliarisation, Romantic
"With sails of silver by." - evokes feelings of freedom
"I walked, with other souls in pain..."
"Dear Christ! the very prison walls Suddenly seemed to reel, And the sky above my head became Like a casque of scorching steal..."
"The man had killed the thing he loved, And so he had to die."
"The coward does it with a kiss, The brave man with a sword!" - Jesus betrayed by Judas - parallels Bosie's betrayal?
"For each man kills the thing he loves, Yet each man does not die." - metaphorical death
"Who watch him lest himself should rob The prison of its prey." - zoomorphism - prison is a predator 
"Nor, while the terror of his soul Tells him he is not dead, Cross his own coffin..." - as Jesus carried his own cross
"Nor feel upon his shuddering cheek The kiss of Caiaphas." - Caiaphas made sure Judas betrayed Jesus 

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