The Manhunt?
ABOUT
- A Man that has gone to War and come back with wounds around his body.
- He is not the same as he was before war.
STRUCTURE
- Some rhyming couplets but some “half-rhymes” that show how relationships are up and down.
- Couplets, 2 line stanzas shows how they are two people in a couple.
LANGUAGE
- Uses contrast “mind and attend”, “damaged, porcelain collar bone” shows how he is delicate and she wants to help.
- Use of third person “he” shows the distance between the two people. This is grown with the use possessive language such as “his body”. Use of “closed” shows this.
- “Foetus of metal” shows how a piece of the war is planted with in him, like a baby. Now it grows.
- “Frozen” shows how he is numb, emotionless.
- Uses positive language to talk about his flaws, “parachute silk of his punctured lung”.
THEME
-War phrased and metaphors of war, “unexplored mine”, “foetus of metal”, “climb the rungs”.
COMPARISON
Neutral Tones?
ABOUT
- How a relationship has ended and he has lost love.
- Emotionless.
STRUCTURE
- Cyclical structure, starts and ends in the same way of “we stood by a pond” and “a pond edged with greyish leaves”.
- Fixed ABBA rhyme scheme.
LANGUAGE
- Creates a pessimistic tone that is bleak and miserable.
- “White”, “Grey” are neutral colours that show no emotion.
- “Ash” shows how there was once a great fire (passion) in the relationship that has now burned out.
- “Sibilance” (posh word for alliteration of “S” sound) in “starving sod” which creates a bitter tone that shows writers feelings”.
-However, this poem has traces of powerful language suggesting passionate feelings such as the imagery of angry Gods. Energetic language and imagery like this portrays a feeling that contrasts with neutrality and creates an affect of hiding deeper, more emotional feelings. The use of action verbs “swept” and “rove” show a powerful energy that support the idea of hidden emotions that are not neutral.
THEME
-Neutral colours and themes.
COMPARISON
-“A Complaint” shows how relationships come to an end.
La Belle Dame Sans Merci?
ABOUT
A possible supernatural woman,
A seductress who does not want the knight,
Romantic movement,
STRUCTURE
“And no birds sing”, cynical structure - “I saw pale kings, and princes too”, use of plural “kings” and “princes, comma and “and” show the abundance and represent the repetition like the cyclical structure,
Folk ballad tradition - a story delivered in a poem,
A conventional ballad - each stanza is a quatrain,
“Lulled” - lulled to sleep or lulled into a false sense of security, goes with “manna-dew” which is a heavy potion,
LANGUAGE
”Knight-at-arms” - he’s supposed to be strong, also described as “palely loitering” which shows he looks ill,
“And no birds sing”, - break down “and” and the pathetic fallacy,
Passionate feelings - full of the romantic movement”,
THEME
Nature, “cheek a fading rose”, “and no birds sing”, “cold hills side”, ”honey” - bees and being stung,
Supernatural, “and her eyes were wild”, “and sure in a language strange”, “wild wild eyes”, “elfin grot”, “a faery’s song”, “and nothing else saw all day long”,
Death, “starved lips, “pale warriors”, “death-pale”, “fast withered too” - John Keats dies at 26,
COMPARISON
My Last Dutches?
ABOUT
A duke who killed his Dutches because she was happy with other men,
STRUCTURE
Dramatic monologue - he thinks he’s important,
Run of consciousness,
Rhyming couplets in an iambic pentameter: 10 beats or syllables per line, this shows how he is deluded and unemotional because he can deliver a chilling story in a level, rhythm led way,
LANGUAGE
”That’s my Last Dutches”, “that piece”, “my lady’s wrist” - possessive pronoun, patrician society,
“None puts by the curtain I have drawn for you”, she controls who sees her, he found this difficult to do when she was living,
Euphemism - “A heart - how shall I say? - too soon made glad?” shows how duke politely calls her a slag, “she thanked men - good!”,
”ranked my gift of a nine hundred year old name with anybody’s gift” - shows how he is vain, his dramatic monologue supports this,
“I gave commands; then all smiles stopped together” - euphemism again, “as if alive”,
“Neptune” shows duke sees himself as a God,
“Taming a sea horse” shoes he is taming the Dutches, use of “sea horse” shows her innocence,
THEME
Body - “wrist”, “throat”, “cheek”, “breast”, suggest how the Dutches has been impacted physically,
COMPARISON
My Father Would Not Show Us?
ABOUT
Conflicting feelings towards a woman’s father and her childhood,
STRUCTURE
Fred verse - supports how the writer does not have a fixed mind set and opinion toward her father,
LANGUAGE
“It’s cold in here” - to preserve body or to describe lack of emotion with dad,
“Fathers wry smile”, “half-turned face” - ambiguous language, “wry” can mean an indulgent smile and he’s turned toward them which shows attachment. However, “wry” can also mean mocking and “half” shows a distance,
Ambiguous language shows how writer is confused,
“My father would not show us” repeated at title and line 16 and “my father could not show us” on line 25, shows he was incapable,
“He bears is white”, “white” holds connotations of innocence and positivity,
“Behind the curtains” - he hid, shut people out,
“Face to wall, he lay”,
THEME
Ambiguous language,
Confusment,
Hiding - “behind the curtains”, “half turned face”, “he turned, he turned away”,
COMPARISON
I Wanna Be Yours?
ABOUT
Several metaphors to show his desire towards his lover to be useful and protective,
STRUCTURE
Fixed rhyme scheme - A B A B C C C D,
No punctuation which shows how there’s not rules to his love - makes your read quickly and builds tension and passion, allows him to express himself,
Run on lines in the last stanza (13 lines, all others are 8) shows there’s no limit to his passion,
LANGUAGE
Informal language at end of each stanza, “I wanna be yours” - shows how there’s no rules to his language towards the woman, could also show the comfort towards her, could also relate with how he is part of punk era (1970) reflects non conformity to tradition,
“Let me be your raincoat” shows how the writer is willing to drown in order to keep his lover happy, this could be interpreted as destroying himself over love (different perspective),
“Breathing in your dust”, shows how she’s uninterested,
“Let me be your coffee pot” - not physically possible which shows the extent of his love (another interpretation),
THEME
Loves Dog?
ABOUT
STRUCTURE
LANGUAGE
THEMES
