Poem Theme/Issue Poetic Quote Explanation

Device

My Parents Parenting Diction -”My parents kept me The use of the word rough
from children who were shows how the parents were
rough” overprotective of their child

-”I longed to forgive He wanted to forgive the

them but they never children who bullied him but
smiled” they never smiled.

Loneliness/ Imagery -”They ran in the street This shows the freedom that
Isolation and climbed cliffs and the speaker longs for as he
stripped by the country watches the other children
streams” play outside together and
enjoy their freedom which
enhances the loneliness
he’s feeling.

Bullying/Fear Simile -"I feared more than Using hyperbole, the

tigers their muscles like persona communicates how
iron great his fear was of these
boys. Tigers are able to rip
a human limb from limb
with sheer animalistic
instinct and power, but he
still places his fear of their
muscles above that (hence
why it is an exaggerated
expression). Coupled with
the use of simile to compare
their muscles to the rigid
strength of iron, the
persona conveys a very
exaggerated fear along with
a possible amount of
admiration of their strength.
Being of a lower working
class, they would perform
more manual labour and
explore more, giving them
physical strength far
beyond the reach of the
persona.

Friendship/ Diction -”They threw mud while I -The use of the phrase
Desire for looked the other way, pretending to smile shows
Friendship pretending to smile.” how the persona, through
all the torment of them
throwing mud at him, still
pretends to smile to appear
as if the way the boys treats
him does not bother him as
he admires the boys and
desires their friendship a
lot.

Classism Simile -“ Who threw words like -This simile gives the reader
stones and wore torn insight into the character
clothes” and behaviour of these
children, as their use of
-”Their thighs showed words is compared to the
through rags.” destructive act of throwing
 stones. Their words,
therefore, are used with the
intention to harm
emotionally in the same way
stones are thrown with the
intention of causing
physical destruction.

Little Boy Crying Parenting Irony “But dare not ruin the Though the father wants to
lesson you should comfort his crying child he
learn.You must not make must be strict in order for
a plaything of the rain” the child to learn the lesson
he is trying to teach(not to
make a plaything of the
rain)

Love Dramatic Irony/ “You cannot This statement is made

Metaphor understand, not yet, the towards the end of the
hurt your easy tears can poem after seeing the boy's
scald him with” reaction to being slapped
and the father being
“This fierce man longs to painted as a monster. But
lift you,curb your on the contrary the truth is
sadness” that the father loves his
child so much that
punishing him and
watching him cry has hurt
him greatly but the child
can't see that.

Betrayal/ Anger Allusion “You hate him, you Here the speaker is alluding
imagine chopping down to Jack and the Beanstalk
the tree he's scrambling and is showing his hate and
down” anger for his father by
saying that he wishes he
could defeat him like how it
was done in the fairytale. He
is imagining being the
punisher instead of the
punished.

Metaphor “You stand there angling Here he is comparing the

for a moments hint” boy to a fisherman. Like how
a fisherman waits for a fish
to grab the hook, the boy
sits waiting for his father to
show some hint of guilt or
regret for the betrayal.

Discipline Metaphor/Hyp “The ogre towers above We get a window into how
erbole you, that grim giant, the boy views his
empty of feeling, a disciplinarian as a monster,
colossal cruel” a “colossal cruel” because
to him he is being unfairly
punished because he does
not understand the
importance.

Sibilance “Sorrow for the quick This recurring ‘S’ sound

slap struck” emphasises the swiftness of
the slap.

Ol Higue Motherhood Rhetorical “How would you, mother, Now, she identifies her own
Question name your ancient role in society. She also
dread?” names to whom she speaks
(when she says 'you')- she
 “And who to blame for refers to the mothers of
the murder inside your these newborn children. It
head?” seems that the Ole Higue is
simply a mechanism by
which these mothers may
name the longstanding
dread or fear of the
possible death of their
babies. Without her, she
contends that these
mothers would have no one
to hold responsible for the
death of their babies (even
if it was just of natural
causes).She suggests
something interesting
through these cryptic lines-
possibly that these mothers
blame the Ole Higue for the
death of their children even
in the event that they had
committed infanticide.
However, it could also be
that they need someone-
like the Ole Higue- to direct
their murderous rage for
the death of their baby
towards.

Survival Tone( annoyed, “And for what? a few She reasons that the whole
dissatisfied) drops of baby blood?” act of setting herself on fire
without skin and flying
around is far more effort
than it is worth. After all, a
baby's body contains barely
any blood, and for a
mythical creature to
compulsively go through
this routine for such a
negligible quantity is
ludicrous to her- it is not
rewarding at all.

Rhetorical “You think I like this The Ol’ Higue begins with
Question stupidness?” an explosive and
argumentative first line.
“And for what? A few Note that the diction
drops of baby blood?” (choice of words/language)
is distinctly Caribbean, and
reflective of her identity as
an old, irritable woman. She
expresses great
dissatisfaction with what
she does- however she is
compelled to do so
completely involuntarily.

Contrast/Audit “Pure blood running in These lines show that the

ory Imagery new veins singing the Ol’ Higue is running from
sweet song of life” death and in order to do so
she has to drink the baby's
“Holding her final note blood which is “ singing the
for years and years, sweet song of life” fro she
afraid of the dying hum” has been living close to her
death for years and years
which is only being held
back by the fact that she
 consumes the blood of
babies.

Social Rhetorical “You think I wouldn't This shows that humans are
Hypocrisy Question rather take my blood being hypocritical. While
seasoned in fat black they technically also eat
pudding like everyone blood they judge her for
else?” eating the blood of children.

Roles in Society Rhetorical “Then again, if i didn't fly This shows the need for the
question and come to that fresh Ol’ Higue in society. They
pulse in the middle of need someone to blame
the night how would you, when their children die out
mother, name your of nowhere in the middle of
ancient dread” the night, and to cope with
the loss of their child.

Tone (pride, self “Believe me as long as it The tone in this statement

importance) have women giving birth is pride. The Ol’ Higue is
a poor Ol’ Higue like me prideful of her role in
can never dead” society and holds herself in
high esteem because she
knows that as long as
women give birth to
children her role will always
be there and she will never
burn out.

The Woman Who Motherhood Metaphor “She carried him to full This shows not only the
Speaks to the term tight up under her literal way of how she was
heart” pregnant with him and he
Man who has lay right under her heart in
Employed her the womb but it also
Son metaphorically speaks to
the love she had for her son.

Metaphor “What she has are In this line we see that even
prayers and a mother’s when she could do nothing
tears and at knee city more to convince her son or
she uses them” take him out of the
company that he had made
she still prayed for him
fervently, as she was a
religious woman, and this
shows her motherly love for
her son.

Metaphor “She weeps for his soul

her eye water covers
you”

Diction “She says psalms for The phrase “She says

him” psalms for him” means that
“She reads psalms for the mother cares much for
you” her son as she prays for him
hoping while the phrase
“She reads psalms for you”
means that she wishes
something bad upon this
man who has taken her son
from her.

Parenting Diction “She raised him twice, The phrase “once as mother
once as mother then as then as father” indicates
father” how the mother is a single
parent who raised her son
the best way she possibly
 could by playing both the
maternal and paternal role
in her son’s life.

Imagery/pun “Her draw though is first

and last for she still
throwing two hands as
mother and father”

Child/Parent Biblical allusion “She is wondering what The statement which asks
Relationship kind of father would give the man who would give a
a son hot and exploding son hot and exploding
death, when he asks him death when they ask for
for bread” bread

This statement calls back to

the sermon Jesus gave on
the Mount in which he asks

“Which one of you, if his son

asks him for bread, will give
him a stone?”

The idea of that verse is

that a human father would
not refuse a basic desire
from his son. In this same
manner, the Woman used
this is state that no loving
father would give their child
something that will put their
life in harm's way. But the
Man (who employed her
son) was no loving father
but was instead using the
woman's son as one of his
slaves to do his dirty work

Biblical allusion “She is prepared, she is Compares the betrayal of

done. Absolom King David by his son
Absolm to her (The Woman)
own betrayal by her son.
However, she accepts that
her son is now on the path
which will lead to his
eventual demise and thus is
ready for what happens
next (her son’s death)

Diction “The man she made him The son’s biological father
with had more like him” was a ‘Deadbeat’ and had
other children whom he
“He treated all his abandoned/neglected
children with equal and
unbiased indifference”

Poverty Biblical allusion “What kind of father

would give a son hot
and exploding death,
when he asks him for
bread”

Potential vs Contrast “Set no ceiling for what The woman had high hopes
he could be” and expectations for the life
 Hopelessness / of her son (didn’t limit him
Expectation vs “But now he was telling on what he could become)
Reality her he is working for
you” However these dreams and
aspirations were crushed
once she found out that her
son was working with a
crime lord

Simile “She carried him like the Son was going to get her
poor carried hope” out of the hood

“Hope you get a break She saw her son as a way

or visa” out of poverty.

Crime and Metaphor/ “For the day he drew his The Son’s eventual death
Violence Diction/Pun bloody salary”

Dreaming Black Racism Allusion “ I wish torch throwers in Allusion is used when the
Boy the night would burn speaker speaks of the torch
lights for decent times” throwers in the night
alluding to the Ku Klux Klan
(KKK) who terrorised blacks
because they think whites
are far superior.

Diction “Wish plotters in

pyjamas would pray for
themselves”

“Wish people wouldn't The use of the phrase

talk as if i dropped from “dropped from Mars” allows
Mars” the reader to clearly
imagine the high level of
mean and jeering looks and
insults that are said about
the speaker as if he wasn’t
human nor a native but
instead an alien who fell
from Mars because he is
black and looks different
from the others. The poet
says “dropped” indicating
that everyone treats the
speaker as if he doesn’t
actually belong on Earth
but as if he was accidentally
placed on earth due to
falling from another planet
showing the reader how
society mistreats blacks
and sees them as aliens
and not actual people.

Survival Personification “I wish life wouldn’t The use of the

spend me out opposing” personification “I wish life
wouldn’t spend me out
opposing” allows the reader
to understand the struggles
the speaker experiences to
survive as life exhausts the
speaker completely as he
constantly fights against
discrimination, assault and
oppression while he tries his
utmost best to live a
fulfilling life.
 Tone “I wish only boys were
scared behind
bravados”

Desire/Dreams Repetition/ “ wish” Throughout the entire poem

Diction the words ‘i wish’ are
repeated over and over
again. This shows just how
desperate the speaker is to
achieve his dreams and the
longing to be treated with
love like all the others. The
speaker yearns for a future
in which his skin colour is
accepted by society so he
can no longer feel
ostracised or prejudiced
against as if he was an alien
that does not belong on
earth alongside all the
others.

Metaphor “I wish I could be The speaker compares his

educated to the best of education to “tune up” as he
tune up” wishes for the best possible
education he can achieve
for himself. Cars are
normally tuned up to go
faster than the stock vehicle
or instruments are tuned to
play the perfect notes.
Similarly the speaker says
he wishes that he is able to
receive the best education
he possibly can so that he
can be a meaningful
individual and achieve
anything he wants with the
education he has acquired.

Oppression “I wish i could go every An instance in which

crisscross way of the oppression of the speaker is
globe and no person or evident is when the speaker
powers or hotel keepers hopes for a future in which
would make it a waste” he can travel the globe
without the restraints of
discrimination. The speaker
longs for unrestricted
access to places where
blacks are not oppressed
and discriminated against
due to their skin colour but
accepted as human beings
and treated fairly so that
blacks don’t feel like it is a
waste to travel as
everywhere blacks are
treated the same, meaning
they are all being
oppressed.

Childhood “I wish my teachers eyes An incident in which the

Experiences wouldn't go past me speaker shares his
today” childhood experiences in
when he says he wishes the
“Wish he'd know its okay teacher would not ignore
to hug me when i kick a whenever his hand is raised
 goal” in class to answer a
question.

An instance in which the

speaker’s yearn to be
accepted is evident is his
wish that the teacher or
coach won’t ignore his goal
but know it is fine to hug
him and celebrate his
achievements with him.

Once Upon a Loss of Repetition “Once upon a time” The poet uses this phrase
Time Innocence at both the starting and
ending which is used to
show that the poet has lost
his childhood innocence
and has now come to the
harsh reality of what the
world is actually like. And
that the time he is referring
to and is long gone in the
past almost like a fairytale,
hence the phrase “Once
upon a time”

Irony “So show me, son” This line shows just how
much the speaker cherished
his innocence and how
much he is being affected
by the loss of that
innocence to the point
where he would ask his son,
a child, to teach him, an
adult, how to smile a
genuine smile once again.

Deception Simile “I have learned to wear This author uses this simile
many faces like dresses” to show how the range of
personalities the speaker
has and how easily he is
able to pick and choose
which one to use for any
occasion like a dress that
can easily be changed,
replaced or taken off.

“For my laugh in the His laugh is deceptive and

mirror shows only my when he smiles at himself in
teeth like a snake bear the mirror the only thing he
fangs” can see is a deceitful liar
that can no longer form a
true smile even when he is
alone.

Selfishness Metaphor “Now they shake hands This shows how the speaker
without hearts while has been victimised by
their left hands search persons around them they
my empty pockets” use one hand to search as
a smile is plastered across
their face as they only want
plan to use, betray and
steal from the speaker but
they come across empty
pockets as he has nothing
left to take as he has been
 used so much he has
nothing left.

Real vs Fake Metaphor “But now they only laugh This line shows how fake the
with their teeth while people around the speaker
their ice-block-cold eyes are and that while they
search behind my appear to be friendly and
shadow” welcoming they are just
judging you and looking for
something to attack with
their ice cold eyes
searching into your secrets.

Hypocrisy Repetition/ “So I have learned many The author uses the word “I”
Contrast things, son” repeatedly in stanza 4 to 7
to show that he has now
“ I have learned to wear become like the people he
many faces like dresses” so once despised. The same
people who used him and
“ deceived him and now he
has become like them.
Which is in contrast to the
first three stanzas where he
uses “They” to separate
himself from those evil
deceitful people.

Mirror Identity/ Self Metaphor “She rewards me with The woman is upset about
Image tears and an agitation her ageing and takes out
of hands” her anger on the mirror and
she loathes how she looks
now that she has become
an old woman..

Allusion “Searching my reaches The woman desperately

for what she really is” searches for her true
reflection in the lake. Just
like how Narcissus spent the
rest of his life looking into a
lake and admiring himself,
the woman spends copious
amounts of time searching
the lake for a beauty that
she has lost.

Appearance vs Personification “Then she turns to those The mirror which has now
Reality liars the candles or the become a lake is pointing
moon” out that the woman is
looking to unreliable
sources to view her image.
Things that lie and distort
her image and project a
false reflection. She prefers
to be diluted by the
distorted images.

Truth Visual Imagery/ “I am silver and exact. I The mirror reflects reality
Personification have no perfectly as it is, it does not
preconceptions” lie or deceive, it has no
opinions.

Metaphor “I see her back, and This line is used as a

reflect it faithfully” metaphor to show that the
woman is turning her back
to the truth so that she can
run from her ageing image
and live in disillusionment.
 Personification “Whatever I see I swallow The mirror is defending its
immediately. Just as it actions and staging that it
is, unmisted by love or is unbiased and will tell the
dislike.” truth whether it is mean or
not.
“I am not cruel only
truthful”

Loss of Youth Metaphor “In me she has drowned The mirror is comparing the
a young girl, and in me woman losing her youth as
and old woman Rises” if she had drowned the
youth in the mirror where it
now resides as she grows
older and older.

Woman vs Aging Metaphor/ “In me she has drowned The ageing of the woman is
Simile a young girl, and in me being compared to a fish
and old woman Rises” that grasps for a worm at
the end of a fish that will kill
“Like a terrible fish” it the woman grasps at her
youth in her last days. And
like a terrible dead fish rises
to the surface of water so
does her now old image rise
to the surface replacing her
youthful one.

A Stone’s Throw Hypocrisy/ Irony “She’d felt man's hands They are trying to justify
Double Greedy over her body. their actions by separating
Standards But ours were virtuous what they are doing from
Of course” what others, the men who
have slept with her, have
done because they are
religious leaders so they
have done no wrong.

Imagery/ “And if our fingers Imagery and euphemism is

Euphemism bruised her shuddering used here as it shows how
skin, These were the woman's pain is being
love-bites” downplayed as well as the
comparison to the touch of
the authoritative figures to
love bites something that is
done out of lust and sexual
desire.

Gender Power Diction “Speaking to her (Should The speaker is upset now
Constructs never speak to them)” that Jesus has shown up
the power they hold is being
taken from them and given
to her and uses the word
them as a way to further
dehumanise her.

Symbolism “Squatting on the Jesus who was seen as a

ground - her level” teacher, a guru, a man, is
putting himself on her level
“Writing in the dust going down to her and
Something we couldn't acknowledging her, a
read” woman of the night, as a
person.

Judgement Diction “They often are” The author uses “they” in

this instance to stereotype
the woman and just place
her in a group, lessening
her individuality as a
 human being with feeling.
Which makes it easier to
dehumanise her.

Repetition/ “He turned his eyes on The word eyes is repeated

Diction us, Her eyes on us, Our here multiple times. It is said
eyes upon ourselves” that eyes are the window to
the soul so when the eyes of
others begin to look upon
them and they begin to turn
their eyes upon themselves
they are searching their
souls and realisation sets in
that they have also done
wrong and what they are
doing is wrong. They are
being forced to examine
their own actions, forced to
judge themselves like how
they were judging the
woman.

Abuse of Diction “For justice must be The speaker is using his

Religion done Specially when It religion to be able to justify
tastes so good” his perverted actions. He is
abusing his religion and the
laws set up to be able to
punish the woman which he
enjoys a little too much
almost like he is gaining
sexual pleasure from
committing these acts. The
capitalization of ‘s’ in
Specially puts emphasis on
the word and highlights just
how much this activity
brings him pleasure.

Diction “To come” This play on words is used

to show that the author will
be sexually satisfied with
the stoning of the woman as
he is fulfilling his sadistic
urges. The speaker is using
his religion and laws that
were set in place to fulfil his
sexual desires while using
the excuse of justice as a
facade.

Abuse of Power Euphemism “Tousled - we roughed Belittled her pain as they

her up A little, nothing felt as though she was less
much” than, so her pain meant
nothing.

Test Match Discrimination “Are caged, vociferous He is comparing them to

Sabina Park partisans, quick to take caged animals.
offence”

Pride Diction “Proudly wearing the The use of the words “strut”
rosette of my skin I strut and “rosette” in the poem
into Sabina” allows the reader to
understand how prideful
and arrogant the speaker is
as he walks into Sabina with
a sense of self-importance
for he considers his skin
 complexion a rosette, a
prize possession that makes
him better than the rest
showing how prideful the
speaker is of his skin colour.

Place “Not the game they play The speaker is comparing

at Lords” the atmosphere at how
cricket is played at Lords,
the most famous place to
watch cricket in England, is
different from how it's done
at Sabina.

Culture “Whoever saw a crowd At At Lords they are all seated

a cricket match” and orderly but at Sabina
everyone is standing and
moving around which
makes it seem as a
disorderly crowd. This shows
the cultural difference.

Sport “England boycotting This is showing that the

excitement bravely English players are having
something badly amiss” a poor performance and
the words “boycotting
excitement” makes it seem
as though the English
players are being boring as
a choice but in reality the
game is just boring because
of how bad they are playing.

And something is badly

amiss because this is not
how they usually play in
their home country.

West Indies, USA Racism/Discrimi Tone- sarcastic “Subtle Uncle Sam, Uncle Sam is a metaphor
nation Irony afraid too many for the USA. The tone here
Metaphor/ desperate blacks might is sarcastic as the speaker
Metonymy re-enslave the Island of uses the word subtle when
Diction the free” they are in fact not being
subtle at all as they are
bluntly stating that they
don't want them to get off
the plane unless this is their
final stop.

It is ironic that they think

that the “desperate blacks”
might re-enslave Puerto
Rico when black people
were the ones who were
enslaved in the first place
and now America is scared
that they might get revenge.
They also say “blacks” which
is an extremely derogatory
way to refer to a group of
people. And it is ironic to
call the island “free” when it
is owned by the USA and
the passengers are not
even allowed to get off the
plane.
 Allusion “Island of the free” This line alludes to the line
Diction in America’s national
anthem “land of the free
and home of the brave”,
they call it the land of the
free but it really is not free.
The ‘I’ in island is also
italicised to reinforce the
ownership and claim that
America has on Puerto Rico.

Allusion “Give me your poor” This line alludes to the

Tone-Sarcasm poem that can be found on
the bottom of the Statue of
Liberty, “Give me your tired ,
your poor…”. The speaker
points out that America
says to the world give me
your poor but in reality they
do not want the poor in
their territory to stain or
ruin what they have.

Place Metaphor/ “Dallas of the West This use of metaphor shows

Allusion Indies” that Puerto Rico is the most
prosperous country in the
west Indies.

Simile/ Imagery “ The islands seem like The islands are being
dice…” compared to dice that are
scattered on a casino table
“Some come up luck, and represent chance. The
other not” number which each die or
country has represents
their luck in wealth.

Diction “Puerto Rico takes the The words “takes the pot”
pot” allude to when winning in a
casino the winner takes
everything. This line states
that out of all the countries
in the West indies Puerto
Rico has won. It can also
symbolise that the riches
that Puerto Rico has
accumulated has been
taken from the other
countries just like how the
winnings in a casino is
made up of the money that
everyone has bet and the
winner gets to take it all,
essentially taking money
from everyone else.

Simile/ imagery “San Juan glitters like a San Juan is wealthy and
mavericks gold ring” even though they may not
have obtained this wealth
by the most honest means,
like a maverick someone
who does not follow rules,
they still claim that wealth.

Diction “Plush San Juan” The word plush infers that

San Juan is luxurious,
expensive and the opposite
from all the other countries.
 Dcition “Piarco’s sleazy tourist The word sleazy indicates
art” that the art is cheap, low
quality, sexually tasteless
and perverted. This art in
the airport reflects on the
country, Trinidad, as a
whole.

Diction “:the lethargic contempt “Lethargic contempt” shows

of the baggage boys” that the baggage boys are
lazy, unprofessional and
have terrible customer
service.

Classism Diction “Cadillacs shimmying The word shimmying is used

past Rastas with push here as the Cadillac drivers
carts” quickly/ hurriedly drive past
the Rastas as they do not
want to be near them. They
think of them as lesser than
and try their best to not
have to be around them for
too long. They view them
with contempt and disgust.

Diction “Galvanised shanties “Overseen” here is used to

overseen by show the superiority
condominiums” between the two,literally
and figuratively. The
condominiums are looking
down on the shanties, they
are overlooking, ignoring,
disregarding the poor.

Appearance vs Metaphor “The shattered innards The country is being

Reality of a TV set that has compared to the shattered
Simile fallen” innards of a TV, it may
appear to be beautiful on
“The roads like twisted the outside but in reality
wires’ has an ugly inside, and has
a more complex, confusing
and malfunctioning society.
The society is split in two
with the rich on one side
and the poor on the other.

Repetition “It’s sharp and jagged The repetition of the word

and dangerous” “and'' emphasises all that is
wrong with Puerto Rico. It
shows that the reality is not
pretty and is actually quite
the opposite. Puerto Rico is
not the free beautiful
country that it is adi to be
but is actually the property
of the USA that has many
deeper rooted issues in the
society.

Disillusionment/ Allusion/Metap “San Juan’s fools glitter” “Not all the glitters is gold”
Disappointment hor This is the saying that is
being alluded to. The
speaker is saying that
although San Juan may
glitter it is not real gold and
any one that falls for its
fake riches is a fool. This
 contrasts with the earlier
statement “ San Juan
glitters like Mavericks gold
ring”, as the speaker comes
to the realisation of the
country's true nature.

Contrast “Galvanised shanties This is a contrast as the

overseen by speaker is looking from the
condominiums” aeroplane window he
notices that things that
“Cadillacs shimmying would be considered poor
past Rastas with push or things that indicate
carts” poverty are in San Juan
and are seen right next to
the indicators of wealth.
This juxtaposition shows a
side by side comparison as
the speaker has an
epiphany and starts to
realise that Puerto Rico is
not all it is made out to be.

Race and Simile/ “ airports are like Each airport represents the
Culture Metaphor? calling cards, cultural status of the country like a
diction fingermarks” card that gives a brief
synopsis of an item. They
are like fingerprints and can
be identified by their
airports.

The word fingermarks is

used to show that the
airports are like the
country's identifying feature,
that will tell you what
country you're in, like a stain
that is determined by the
culture of the country.

Bird Shooting Gender Roles Personification “My fathers house turns Personification is used here
Seasons macho as from far the to show how the house
hunters gather” becomes macho as it is
filled with the masculine
energy as bird shooting is
regarded as a masculine
sport.

Contrast “All night long This poet uses contrast as

contentless women stir to show how while the
their brews” women are working hard to
prepare the items for
“Tonight men drink white tomorrow's sport unhappily,
rum neat” the men are all drinking
and merry which represents
the gender roles that have
been set up by society.

Man vs Nature Irony / Diction “In darkness, The word “shouldering” is

shouldering their packs” used here as if the men are
taking on some big
responsibility, as if what
they are about to do is
extremely important and of
great difficulty when in
reality it is just a sport.
 Childhood Diction “Little girls whispering: The word whispering here
Experiences Fly Birds Fly” tells that even though the
girls want to be on the sides
of the birds that the men
are about to hunt, they
cannot be vocal about it.

A Lesson for This Man vs Nature Imagery “Until I hear the cries Of This is a shift in the tone of
Sunday two small children a poem. The cries of the
hunting yellow wings” children disturb the
peaceful atmosphere as
they hunt the butterflies.

Diction “She shrieks to The word shrieks shows that

eviscerate its abdomen” as she cuts open the
butterfly she makes high
pitched noises of joy, as she
inflicts pain on the creature.

Foreshadowing “With frail kites of This is a telling of what is to

furious butterflies” come as the kite is
something that children
play with and it is being
compared to the butterflies
which the chi;ldren later
treat as a plaything.

Nature Personification “The growing idleness of The summer grass is lazy,

summer grass” calm and relaxed as it
depicts the relaxed mode of
the stanza.

Personification “Requests the lemonade The grass is swaying in a

of simple praise” way where it is requesting
Metaphor praise.

Metaphor “And everywhere the This shows that behind the

frocks of summer torn” apparent beauty of nature,
there is an evil lurking
behind that image of
beauty.

Personification “As summer grass sways This alludes to death as the

to the scythe’s design” scythe is seen as the
Allusion weapon used to reap souls.
So now the grass which was
Metaphor peaceful and lazy has now
become a weapon of death.

Religion Irony “Who break my sabbath The speaker is painting the

with the thought of sin” children who are usually
seen as innocent and good
at being painted as evil as
they taint his sabbath with
their sinful thoughts and
action.

“I tell you the truth, unless

you change and become
like children, you will never
enter the kingdom of
heaven.”

Suffering and Imagery “The girl, in lemon frock, This shows the girl in a
Sadness Irony begins to scream as the more innocent and childish
maimed, teetering thing light as she goes around in
attempts its flight… Not a lemon frock. This line
 marked for some late paints the little girl as if she
grief that cannot speak.” is the one in pain, while she
screams, when the butterfly
“She herself a thing of is the one who is actually
summery light. Frail as a suffering. The girl is
flower in the blue screaming when the
August air” butterfly is in pain.

Metaphor “Heredity of cruelty This is the lesson. Human

everywhere” cruelty is a hereditary thing
that is passed down from
watching another person.
The children perform these
acts of cruelty as they do
what they follow from
example.

Metaphor “ the mind swings inward The speaker is reflecting on

on itself” himself and the world, so
much so that the things he
“Swayed towards nausea once saw as normal now
from each normal sign” have a very dark undertone
that causes the speaker to
become nauseous as he
begins to realise the evil of
the world.

Sonnet Places Simile “This City now doth, like The city wears the natural
Composed upon a garment wear the beauty of the morning like a
beauty of the morning” garment that hides its
Westminster dullness and without the
Bridge morning's beauty the City
would be bare and naked.

Diction “silent, bare, Ships, The use of the words silent

towers, domes, theatres, and bare indicate that the
and temples…” place is void of people as it
is the early morning.

Visual Imagery “All bright and glittering The place is pure and clean
in the smokeless air” for a moment, and the
beauty of the city and
nature is not shrouded by
the smoke coming from the
surrounding factories.

Nature Hyperbole “Earth has not anything The speaker shows his
Personification to show more fair” admiration for the view he is
witnessing in this line, he
uses an exaggeration to
portray just how much he
admires the sight before
him.

Diction “A sight so touching in The word ‘majesty’ is used

its majesty” here to compare nature to
royalty, and emphasise just
how majestic nature is to
give the reader a better
picture of what he views
nature as.

Diction “Open unto the fields The word open here tells us
and to the sky” that man made structures
are vulnerable and
susceptible to natural ones.
 Sibilance “”The very houses seem It is so peaceful, quiet and
Personification asleep” tranquil that houses,
something that cannot
sleep, something that is not
living, seems as though they
are sleeping.

Metaphor “And all that mighty This is a metaphor for the

heart is lying still” heart of the city, London,
and the own man’s heart.
This lively and energetic city
is sleeping in the grandeur
of nature.

Personification “The river glideth at his The poet is making the river
own sweet will” seem as though it is alive
and controlling where it
goes and how it flows, as if it
has a mind of its own. This
shows that the river is
flowing at its own pace not
affected by the state of the
city.

Personification “Never did sun more In the last stanza the poet
Visual Imagery beautifully steep… and goes into detail once again
all that mighty heart is about the beauty around
lying still” dim and how magnificent it
is.

Landscape Nature/ Places Personification “The mountains pose for They mountains are unified
Painter him” and wanting to be
praised.They way they are
set it is like they are posing
to take a family picture.

Personification “Dignified, The use of the words

Diction self-conscious” dignified, self-conscious are
Oxymoron used to show that the
mountains are aware of
their majestic appearance.

Comparison “Low green foot-hills The foothills are being

Simile Sprawl like compared to the mountains
Personification grandchildren” which are dignified elders
while the foothills are
sprawled like hyperactive
grandchildren.

Metaphor “And behind them, aloof, The Blue mountain peak

Visual Imagery shouldering the sky, has a distant and
patriarchal serenity, stand-offish feeling
Blue Mountain Peak compared to the foot-hills.
bulks” They are bearing the
responsibility and are
peaceful, calm and
unbothered as they are like
the patriarchs of a family
who take charge. When they
bulk they are posing for the
picture , emphasising their
greatness.

Art Metaphor “A tireless humming-bird, This highlights the

Visual Imagery his brush” movement of the painter
and how the way they
“Dips, darts, hovers noe handle their brush reminds
 here, now there” the poet of a hummingbird
hovering and darting from
flower to flower.

Metaphor “Both straddling This shows that the painter

Personification precariously” and the easel are partners
and they are both sitting
dangerously to capture the
picture of nature.

Visual Imagery “Where puddles of These lines connect the art

Metaphor pigment bloom in the to nature. These lines show
Hyperbole palette’s wild small how colourful the painting
garden” is and the transformation it
goes through from being
just a puddle of colours,
which represent a splotchy
mess, to a wild small garden
which represents a beautiful
combination of colours.

Oxymoron “The little hills fidgeting, This shows how the artist is
Personification changelessly changing, having trouble finding the
artlessly frustrating” perfect moment and angle
to paint the hills, so much
so that it seems as though
the hills, which cannot
move, are moving and
fidgeting like children in a
photograph. This shows the
artist's frustration.

And the Oxymoron shows

that even though the hills
are not moving they seem to
be moving.

Personification “And the professional The artist is trying to

gaze studies positions, capture the foothills that
impatiently waiting” seem to be moving but it's
hard to capture all their
details because of their
size.

South Nostalgia/ Alliteration The sound that the

Homesickness “But today I recapture alliteration elicits, when
the islands”
spoken, is a positive one.
“bright beaches: blue This is the case because
mist from the ocean” the alliteration forces the
reader to sound cheerful,
“rolling into the
thereby facilitating the
fishermen's houses.”
interpretation that the
persona is happy to be
home.
 Personificatio The shadows, in this
n to this house in the context, represent his
forest where the
past life and experiences
shadows oppress me
on the island. The
and the only water is memories of his island
rain and the tepid elicits feelings of
taste of the river. sadness, even
homesickness. These
memories cast an
oppressive shadow over
his life in the north.

Alliteration “By these shores i was The alliteration gives off

Tone(pride) born: sound of the a sound that allows for
sea” the soft gentle hush of
the sea. He has a
prideful tone as he
speaks about his
homeland.

Diction “But today I recapture The word today shows

the islands” urgency. He is ready to
reconnect now, not
tomorrow or next week,
but right at this very
moment.

Migration “Moved far from the

beaches”

Prejudice/
Racism

An African Man vs Nature

Thunderstorm
Colonisation Personification "Trees bend to let it The trees 'bend' to allow the
pass." wind to pass by. This
personification shows, of
course, the power of the
wind in its ability to force
the trees to bow.

Nature

Death, be not Death Tone- mocking “Thou’rt slave to fate, The speaker is mocking and
proud and ridicule chance, kings, and ridiculing Death. He is
desperate men” saying that death really has
no free will or power over its
own doings because he is
even a slave to desperate
men, mortals.

Diction “And dost with poison, The speaker is saying that

Tone war, and sickness dwell” Death is friends with the
scum of the earth, and
 therefore he is scum as well
as the saying says “Birds of
a feather flock together”

Diction “Death, be not proud” The speaker starts the

Irony poem with saying that
death should not be proud,
which is also ironic because
being prideful is a sin. So
the speaker is saying Death
do not not and feel proud.

Euphemism “From Rest and Sleep, This line shows how the
Biblical Allusion which but thy pictures speaker sees death as sleep
Alliteration/Rep be, Much pleasure, then , as Jesus refers to Death as
etition from thee much more sleep and eternal rest many
must flow times, so why must he fear
Death if it is merely a long
rest, something that should
bring pleasure not fear.

The alliteration at the end is

used to emphasise the
point the speaker is trying
to make.

“Mighty and dreadful, In this line the author

for thou art not so” begins to denounce Death’s
reputation.

God and Paradox “And soonest our best In these lines we see how
Religion men with thee do go- the speaker thinks about
Rest their bones and Death the opposite of what
souls’ delivery” everyone else thinks about
it. He says that to die early
is lucky and the best
people die early as a
reward, while most people
try to run from death their
whole lives. The speaker is
basically saying that Death
is doing the complete
opposite of what it thinks it's
doing because death
begins the start of eternal
life.

Appearance vs Biblical allusion “One short sleep past, Even though Death appears
Reality we wake eternally” to be something scary that
will last forever, like being
plunged into darkness and
loneliness for what feels like
forever in reality it is but
one short time before you
wake to eternal life. We see
this is Corinthians 15:26

“The last enemy that shall

be destroyed is death”

Power and Diction “Die not, poor Death: for In this line the speaker is
Powerless Paradox yet canst thou kill me” saying that death cannot
kill him which is
contradictory to what
everyone else thinks of
death. He calls death poor ,
which shows how he pities
 Death, basically mocking
Death, something which is
feared by many people so to
mock death is not the norm.

Rhetorical “Poppy and charms can This line shows that even
question make us sleep as well though Death may think
and better than thy they are important and be
stroke. Why swell’st thou proud, the author uses
then?” rhetorical questions to ask
Death why he’s so proud if
things like poppy and
charms can do the same
thing he does, and even
better than he can.

Tone “Death, thou shalt die!” In this line the speaker is

Paradox claiming that Death will die.
This shows that Death is
actually powerless against
who lives and who dies.

Personification “And death shall be no Here we see how the

Dcition more; Death, thou shalt speaker uses a lower case d
Tone die “ to take away death’s
Paradox identity, death’s name that
has been used this entire
time.

The tone being used here is

victorious and triumphant
as the speaker ridicules
Death basically saying that
Death shall die and he is
triumphant and victorious
over death.

It is the Constant Love

Image of Your
Face Patriotism Personification “My land takes The speaker believes that
precedence of all my his loyalty to his country
loves.” should be prioritised over
all other loves.

This is the Dark Love

Time, My Love
Death Personification “The shining sun is The poet uses
hidden in the sky Red personification to portray
flowers bend their heads the theme of death as he
in awful sorrow” says “the red flowers bend
their heads in awful sorrow”
meaning that even the
flowers and the environment
around them are
responding to the dark time
of death and sorrow. The
flowers are also described
as red which symbolises
blood which could mean the
blood shed during this time
of death and sorrow.

War

Patriotism
Dulce et War Violence Imagery “He plunges at me,
Decorum Est guttering, choking,
drowing.”

“In all my dreams, before

my helpless sight he
plunges at me”

Death Simile / diction “As under a green sea I

saw him drowning”

Simile “Obscene as cancer,

bitter as the cod”

Paradox /Irony “His face hanging like a

Simile devil’s sick of sin”

Betrayal/ Anger Tone - anger/ “You would not with such

accusatory high zest children
ardent for some
desperate glory, The old
lie; Dulce et decorum est
Pro patria mori”

Poems- Situation -Chart 2- Simplified