Softly, in the dusk, a woman is singing to me;
Taking me back down the vista of years, till I see
A child sitting under the piano, in the boom of the tingling strings
And pressing the small, poised feet of a mother who smiles as she sings.
Repetion of sibilance
- smiles as she sings, Softly, in the dusk
- Soothing soft tone, comforted
Dusk
- A shift from day to night, like him shifting into his memory
To me
- the poet is the recipient, making it intimate
LINE 1
-Sets the scene
;
- Leads to memory
Vista
- Means a beutiful view, as if recalling all the plesant memories
A Child, a mother
- Unspecified, as if seeing ftom a distance his child self.
Under the piano
- Intime , safe comforted/protected
Boom
-Onomatopeia, contrast before, showing how strong his memories are, vivid
Small, Poised feet
- Graceful elegance of
mother. Shows admiration.
Emjambment
- flow of memory/ his meory taking him away
In spite of myself, the insidious mastery of song
Betrays me back, till the heart of me weeps to belong
To the old Sunday evenings at home, with winter outside
And hymns in the cosy parlour, the tinkling piano our guide.
Sibilance
- spite of myself, the insidious mastery of song
- now is agressive, unsafe
insidious mastery
-memory overtaking him, makes him loose control
Alliteration of plosive B
- Doesnt want to return, shows his struggle
heart of me weeps
- personification even his soul is upset, his core
old Sunday evenings at home
- Nostalgic tone
- unrevistable past
winter outside
- links to piano, how he felt safe
- winter symbolises bad things
- Contasts to cozy
+ literal- temp
+ metaphorical - family love/happiness
tinkling
- present continuous, longlasting/carries on, like his memory
- softer than present piano, contast + onomatopeia
our guide.
- central piano thmem
Emjambment
- puts focus on where he feels at home
So now it is vain for the singer to burst into clamour
With the great black piano appassionato. The glamour
Of childish days is upon me, my manhood is cast
Down in the flood of remembrance, I weep like a child for the past.
vain + burst into clamour
- is in vain
- pointless of the singer being emotional, as he is already qverflowing and overwhelmed/ memory is already more emotional
Glamour
- Childhood magic from the past
- romantisizing childhood
my manhood is cast
Down
- Lost all manliness, turned back into his child self, cannot keep being stoic anymore
Down in the flood of remembrance
- metaphor, shows him completely overwhelmed and consumed by memory
I weep like a child for the past.
- Simile, wants his mother/ a memory he cannot relive
Piano
Is the heart/anchor of the memory
The piano has am long range - forshdwon the fact that the poem is textures and emotional
Structure
3 quartrains
Regular consistent rhyme scheme
- AA BB
Lyric poem - emotional
Nostalgic tone
