Hardy Structure

Question 1

Neutral tones

Answer 1

1. ABBA- sense of trapping and closing in, idea of reflection
2. No regular metre- stumbling and hauling due to speakers unstable sense of mind

Question 2

I look into my glass

Answer 2

1. Hymn- mainly about praising God but he is begging to God, questioning his fate
2. ABAB- ticking clock, image of ageing, central meaning of the poem

Question 3

Drummer Hodge

Answer 3

1. Ballad- extended stanzas, Hodge’s importance
2. Hymn- never had a funeral
3. Iambic tetrametre alternating with iambic trimetric- beat of drum
4. ABAB- beat of drum
5. Roman numerals- classical feel, keeping his memory alive

Question 4

Darkling thrush

Answer 4

1. Volta- goes from negative to hope through thrush

2. Hymn- reflects lexical field, does not end with a certainty in God, ironic

Question 5

On the departure platform

Answer 5

1. Punctuation- stanza 2 there is none, she is moving away from him faster than he can think, stressing how distraught he is about to become
2. Indents- she is moving further away from him

Question 6

The going

Answer 6

1. All one sentence- can’t breath, breathless
2. Constantly shifting metre- shows its not fixed, trying to make sense of the events
3. Stanza 6- ellipsis and hyphenation mimics the speakers feelings on how he is struggling to get the words out

Question 7

The voice

Answer 7

1. Cyclical- woman calling, inescapable
2. Last stanza is shorter- he is giving up
3. Dactylic tetrametre- fading, makes him seem unsure (like the reader)

Question 8

At the word farewell

Answer 8

1. Shattered ballad- metre is disrupted, ghostly presence, another force is actin against them but Fate overpowers it

Question 9

During wind and rain

Answer 9

1. ABCBCDA- A repeats, cyclical, death is inevitable, D is damming rhyme which doesn’t rhyme with anything else
2. 4 stanzas 7 lines- 4 seasons 7 days, inevitability of time passing, circle of life
3. Spondees- lines 6-7 are slower, corrupts vignettes leaving the reader with a sour taste at the end of each stanza and the poem

Question 10

In the time of breaking nations

Answer 10

1. Ballad rhyme scheme- order and continuity of life and how it moves on
2. Metre- almost ballad, doesn’t quite fit, stumbling like the horse but still goes on, life is partially affected but never stops

Question 11

No buyers a street scene

Answer 11

1. Irregular line- like the wagon wavering

2. Inconsistent rhyme scheme- like the way they are walking

Question 12

Nobody comes

Answer 12

1. Lyric- personal expression of speakers emotions

2. Iambic trichroic metre- falling like the leaves as the second beat is unstressed