To begin with, Duffy writes about childhood as ultimately a loss of innocence as children ‘come of age’. This is clearly portrayed in ‘in Mrs Tilcher’s class’, as in the last stanza of the poem Duffy writes “sexy sky.” This use of the word “sexy” represents the protagonist of the poem growing into adolescence and becoming aware of sexual interests. The use of assonance emphasises this message as the repeated ‘s’ sound rolls off the readers tongue in a very sensual sounding way which forces them to mirror the exciting and intriguing experiences now known to the growing child. A loss of innocence is also revealed in ‘Lizzie, Six’ as initially the repetitive questions at the beginning of every stanza appear to be innocent “what are you doing?”, yet as the poem progresses, the true nature is revealed as Duffy writes “I’ll give you dark and I do not care”, illustrating the true nature of the poem and the child’s “dark” loss of innocence. The use of the term “I do not” as opposed to the abbreviation “I don’t” is very successful as it creates a harsh monosyllabic rhythm and a hollow, eerie tone.
Although some may disagree when asked whether or not a poem has the same affect and as other forms of literature when telling a love story, I would agree. For instance, Street Love, by Walter Dean Myers, is a wonderfully written book of poetry that tells a tale of a young woman, by the name of Junice, who is rescued from a life leading to crime and later, prison, when she falls in love with Damien (a young man from a much better part of town). As one reads through the book they are taken on a journey, through Junice’s eyes and mind. You get to experience her life of hardship and sadness, which ultimately makes one feel a deeper connection with Junice and what she is put through. Even before one reads this book they cannot understand what it truly means to break away from hardship and into love without reading and comprehending the passion and love in each and every line of this poetry.
Heaney cleverly intertwines the poetic elements of setting to provide a description of the characters’ sentiments. He purposely picks spring, ‘la saison de l’amour’ (the season of love), to emphasize the breathtaking experience that these two adolescents endure. The two are youthful and inexperienced but spends a heavenly time together. The twilight dusk of March comes out as a “vacuum of need” and at the same time also mocks the unstable and hesitant feelings of the two youngsters. Heaney picked March because it is the mating month
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By using these moods, Burns allows the reader to appreciate the central morals of the text; to not drink till you’re delusional, to be faithful to your wife, and your god. Near the start of this poem, Burns creates a humorous mood by using Tam’s wife, Kate, to show her view on her husband’s behaviour: “She tauld thee weel thou was a skellum, A blethering, blustering, drunken blellum;” Burns’ use of alliteration and sound makes Kate’s rant humorous, as it imitates the noise Tam would be making as he returns home after a late night at the bothy. Kate then lists offences at Tam, showing her extreme dislike of his late night drinking: “That ilka melder wi’ the Miller, Thou sat as lang as thou had siller; That ev’ry naig was ca’d a shoe on The Smith and thee gat roarin fou on;” By using repetition of the “th” sound at the start of each line, Burns emphasises Kate’s distress at Tam, and helps to drive home the list of Tam’s wrong doings. The humorous tone created allows us to distinctly recognize how much Kate is against Tam’s drinking, and how she tries her very hardest to prevent him from going out again, or atleast from drinking so much. The mood changes from a humorous to a jolly one, with Tam at the pub, drinking happily with his friends: “And at his elbow, Souter Johnie, His ancient, trusty, drouthy crony:
“An Interlude” The John Gardner’s fiction excerpt “An Interlude” from the novel October Light is a literary narrative portraying young love relying primarily on description. Gardner’s excerpt could be called a love scene, but it is hardly traditional or cliché. His main purpose seems to be to create similarity between the two characters by giving physical descriptions of Margie and Terence, and describing the setting they are in. The writer’s main tactic is simple literary narrative, as he illustrates the short interactions between the young boy and girl who like each other. In one of Dr. Polnac’s comments on the excerpt, he says “Gardner creates verisimilitude…” throughout the narrative between Terence and Margie using physical, characteristic, and setting description.
The last stanza reaffirms the strong bonds of family love. The line ‘Faint scent of violets drifts in air’ recalls the past and enriches the present where the persona is going through hardships in life. As she has looked back to the childhood memories for sustenance and support, it shapes her life and allows her to gain strength from comforting memories. The idea that the past is irreclaimable and neither death nor time can distort the memory of the moment is evident. “Father and Child” is essentially concerned with the loss of innocence through a negative experience, which allows the persona to grow.
Compare how poets use language to present feelings in “The Manhunt” and one other poem (Nettles) In ‘Manhunt’, Simon Armitage uses rhyme to reflect the togetherness of a relationship. He says “After the first phase, after passionate nights and intimate days.” As the poem goes on, the reader can start to recognise that the un-rhymed cuplets show how fragmented their relationship has become. In ‘Nettles’ Vernon Scannell uses elements of nature, the nettles, to portray his keen anger towards the pain his son is going through. At the beginning of the poem, Scannell uses soft ‘s’ sounds to emphasise the soothing of his injured son who has fallen in a nettle bed. The child is presented using emotive language.
James’s Joyce’s short story, “Araby” may appear to be a romantic tale of a young boy’s infatuation with his friend’s beautiful sister; however, once the reader delves beyond the surface of Joyce’s words, the subtlety hidden layers are revealed on a more strong level. Every detail becomes important and meaningful as the plot progresses, until the reader recognizes that the story is not about romance at all; but rather the initiation from childhood to adulthood that the narrator’s young self experiences in this coming of age story. This is apparent in the point of view, the use of light and dark to represent his youthful reality and adulthood fantasy, and the representation of the adult characters in the story. It is key that the reader be aware the story is written from the point of view of the adult version of the narrator and not the young boy portrayed in the story. This can be seen in the style and tone of writing.
This poem is my favourite poem due to the double meaning of the poet’s words you could read one thing but it truly means something else. That is why I chose this poem for my Culminating Activity. Shel Silverstein is a children’s poet who wrote “Where the Sidewalk Ends” as a child’s poem but was really intended for adults. In the poem he is hinting that adults need to take a step back and put themselves back as children to find joy and passion again. I feel that this message is important in everyday life because people take life too seriously and later regret not had enjoying themselves more.