English Literature 0475 Theory

ZNOTES.
ORG
UPDATED TO 2023-2025 SYLLABUS
CAIE IGCSE
LITERATURE IN
ENGLISH
SUMMARIZED NOTES ON THE POETRY (2023 LIST) SYLLABUS
CAIE IGCSE LITERATURE IN ENGLISH
Stanza 7
1. The City Planners - tracing the panic of suburb
order in a bland madness of snows
Margaret Atwood
1.2. Overview
1.1. Poem
Structure - 38 lines, 7 stanzas
Stanza 1 Themes:
Order and control
Cruising these residential Sunday Environmental destruction
streets in dry August sunlight: Stanzas get shorter as the poem continues, showing the
what offends us is deteriorating stability of the environment.
the sanities:
the houses in pedantic rows, the planted 1.3. Stanza 1
sanitary trees, assert
levelness of surface like a rebuke The word ‘cruising ’ gives the idea of a peaceful and calm
to the dent in our car door. motion and one which is not rushed in any manner. This
No shouting here, or image of calmness is reinforced by the usage of the word
shatter of glass; nothing more abrupt ‘Sunday’, which is often indicative of rest and thankfulness
than the rational whine of a power mower in many cultures.
cutting a straight swath in the discouraged grass. This line seems to give the impression that the speaker is
carrying out a very ordinary and everyday activity.
Stanza 2 The juxtaposition of the words ‘offends’ and ‘sanities’ sets
up what is a recurring theme throughout the rest of the
But though the driveways neatly
poem - the speaker’s disdain for the overly rectified and
sidestep hysteria
mathematical way in which the suburbs have been
by being even, the roofs all display
constructed.
the same slant of avoidance to the hot sky,
The word ‘pedantic’ typically has a more negative
certain things:
connotation than similar words such as ‘meticulous’, and
the smell of spilled oil a faint
Atwood reinforces that the speaker disapproves of the
sickness lingering in the garages,
ordered way the houses are placed.
a splash of paint on brick surprising as a bruise,
The word ‘planted’ works as a double entendre here - it
a plastic hose poised in a vicious
can both be interpreted as just a simple reference to how
coil; even the too-fixed stare of the wide windows
the trees have been planted there or can be interpreted
as a reference to the alternative meaning of plant as a
Stanza 4
person placed in a group as a spy or informer.
The fact that even the trees have been stripped of their
give momentary access to
natural randomness and all made ‘sanitary’ shows the
the landscape behind or under
extent to which humanity is willing to go in order to attain
the future cracks in the plaster
order and control.
The word ‘assert’ gives the trees and rows of houses an
Stanza 5
almost hostile impression in the reader’s mind. The fact
when the houses, capsized, will slide that they are asserting the ‘levelness of surface’ is
obliquely into the clay seas, gradual as glaciers significant, as perfectly level surfaces do not typically exist
that right now nobody notices. in the natural world, and the fact that the houses and
That is where the City Planners trees are all perfectly levels gives an insight into just how
with the insane faces of political conspirators many of their features have been changed and
are scattered over unsurveyed ‘perfected’.
territories, concealed from each other, The word ‘rebuke’ shows how the dent in the car door
each in his own private blizzard; seems to stand out in the highly ordered landscape that is
the suburbs. The dent in question acts as a marker of
Stanza 6 reality, and a reminder to the reader that nothing is
perfect.
guessing directions, they sketch The speaker then talks about the absence of all kinds of
transitory lines rigid as wooden borders natural sounds and noises in the suburbs, how there is no
on a wall in the white vanishing air ‘shouting ’ or ‘shatter of glass’. The only sound to be heard
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is the ‘rational whine of a power mower / cutting a straight other structures.

swath in the discouraged grass’. The word rational is a
reminder to the reader that the lawn mower is also man- 1.6. Stanza 4
made, just like the rows of houses.
The words ‘straight swath’ shows how even the lawn The fourth stanza continues with the same enjambement
mower is being operated in a very straightforward and as the third.
controlled manner, the word ‘discouraged’ being used to It says that the ‘houses’, which are representative of the
describe the grass shows natural features and tendencies false perfection that the suburbs have attempted to
have been repressed. create, will slide into the ‘clay seas’, which represent the
natural world.
1.4. Stanza 2 The speaker describes this motion as being ‘gradual and
glaciers’ and states how ‘right now nobody notices’. These
The second stanza begins with the word ‘But’, which two phrases can be interpreted as references to the slow
indicates that not everything is as it seems in the suburbs. impact of climate change and environmental destruction,
The words ‘neatly’ and ‘even’ being used to describe the and how it is often ignored and played down by people
driveways and the roofs once again re-iterate the and the media.
mathematical precision with which the suburbs have been
constructed. 1.7. Stanza 5
The word ‘hysteria’ in the phrase ‘driveways neatly /
sidestep hysteria’ seems to show the unstable mental The fifth stanza finally introduces the reader to the titular
state of the speaker. City Planners, described as having the ‘insane faces of
The phrase ‘slant of avoidance to the hot sky’ has two political conspirators’. This shows how the speaker
points of note - first, the words ‘slant of avoidance’, which believes these Planners to all be together in a political and
act as a reference to how the suburbs’ construction is an immoral plot - the plot to create these false perfections.
attempt to avoid the reality of life, and second, the word These City Planners are ‘scattered over unsurveyed
‘hot’, which has a very harsh and negative connotation. territories’, showing how the Planners wish to take over
The speaker follows up this description by providing a every part of the world they can.
short list of all of the subtle imperfections that they have They are described as ‘concealed from each other’,
been able to make out in this highly controlled and showing how despite each of them acting independently,
‘perfect’ landscape. This list is juxtaposed with the list of they all share the same final motive of creating
mathematical perfections which was given through the mathematical precision and perfection.
first stanza and the beginning of the second stanza. The word ‘private blizzard’ seems to show nature’s
The word ‘sickness’ being used here shows how the smell attempts to fight against the Planners and their
of oil seems to be almost foreign. perfectionist regime.
The speaker also compares a ‘splash of paint on brick’ as
being as ‘surprising as a bruise’ using a simile. It uses the
image of a bruise standing out on fair skin to show how
1.8. Stanza 6
prominent the paint stain seems.
The sixth stanza is another very short paragraph, just like
The word ‘vicious’ describing the way in which a ‘plastic
the third and fourth stanzas before it. These short
hose’ is ‘poised’ contrasts the winding pattern of the hose
paragraphs, and the abrupt ways in which they begin with
with the perfection of the houses.
enjambement, are indicative of the rushed manner in
which the speaker’s thoughts are flowing, and the gravity
1.5. Stanza 3 of what is being said.
This paragraph describes what the Planners are doing in
The third stanza begins with enjambement, as the their territories. The speaker is informed that they are
sentence from the second stanza continues on without ‘guessing directions’, which shows how they do not truly
any punctuation demarcating the two stanzas. know what they are doing despite the magnitude of the
The speaker explains that these imperfections give perfection that these Planners are capable of creating.
‘momentary access to / the landscape behind of under / The lines that they sketch are told to be ‘rigid as wooden
the future cracks in the plaster’. The word ‘landscape’ borders’. The rigid lines being made on snow show how
shows the massive scale of the world that the perfections they are bound to disappear as the snow melts, once
of the suburbs have hidden away. again reiterating the theme that the Planners’ illusions of
The phrase ‘future cracks’ shows how the temporary perfection are temporary in nature.
illusion of perfection that the suburbs exude is not bound
to last for a very long time.
The word ‘plaster’ refers to the fact that plaster is often
1.9. Stanza 7
used to cover up cracks and imperfections on walls and
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The final stanza is a short couplet, which summarizes

2.2. Overview
what the Planners are trying to do.
The word ‘panic’ shows how the suburbs exude a Structure - 27 lines, 3 stanzas
concealed air of madness and hysteria despite seeming
Themes:
orderly and controlled.
Order and control
The words ‘panic’ and ‘order’ are juxtaposed from one line
Environmental destruction
to the next, showing the contrasting views of the Planners
and the speaker.
The couplet ending with the word ‘snows’ is significant as 2.3. Stanza 1
well - ‘snows’ is not a grammatically correct word, and this
grammatical imperfection seems to be a sort of last stand The first stanza begins with a sequence of short
of the speaker’s and comes off as an attempt of the sentences, one after another - ‘They plan. They build.’. The
short phrases highlight how this planning and building
speaker’s to safeguard the imperfection and randomness
of their surroundings. seems to happen very quickly and show the monotonous
manner in which the process constantly repeats itself.
The next sentence spans lines 1 and 2 using
2. The Planners - Boey Kim enjambement and reads, ‘All spaces are gridded, / filled
with permutations of possibilities’. The word ‘gridded’
Cheng gives the first insight into the mathematical precision of
the planning and building that will be described later
throughout the poem.
2.1. Poem The phrase ‘permutations of possibilities’ is especially
impactful. Both ‘possibilities’ and ‘permutations’, when
Stanza 1 utilised in the correct context, can act as synonyms, so
‘permutations of possibilities’ seem to show how the
They plan. They build. All spaces are gridded, different ways grids can be constructed are enclosed.
filled with permutations of possibilities. Moving on, the speaker describes the mathematical
The buildings are in alignment with the roads precision which was hinted at earlier. They state that the
which meet at desired points ‘buildings are in alignment with the roads’, which shows
linked by bridges all hang
how everything has been constructed to be as perfect as
in the grace of mathematics. possible.
They build and will not stop. The roads ‘meet at desired points’, which refers to how
Even the sea draws back everything they build follows the titular Planners’ desires.
and the skies surrender. The reader is informed that the points are ‘linked by
bridges’ that ‘hang / in the grace of mathematics’. The
Stanza 2 references to ‘bridges’ are relevant, as they often
symbolise connection and change.
They erase the flaws,
The phrase ‘grace of mathematics’ shows how
the blemishes of the past, knock off
mathematics is the ‘God’ of this world and how everything
useless blocks with dental dexterity.
in existence exists because of it.
All gaps are plugged
Until this point in the stanza, it seems like the reader
with gleaming gold.
approves of what the Planners are doing, and they even
The country wears perfect rows
seem to be showing some admiration for the perfection
of shining teeth.
that is created. However, this changes with the last three
Anaesthesia, amnesia, hypnosis.
lines of the stanza, which begin with ‘They build and will
They have the means.
not stop’.
They have it all so it will not hurt,
This shows the relentless pursuit of the Planners, and the
so history is new again.
phrase ‘will not stop’ indicates how they refuse to
The piling will not stop.
acknowledge the negatives of this pursuit and how they
The drilling goes right through
simply keep going.
the fossils of last century.
The last two lines of this stanza read, ‘the sea draws back
and the skies surrender’. This shows how nature seems
Stanza 3
wounded and negatively impacted by the Planners’
But my heart would not bleed actions.
poetry. Not a single drop ‘Draws back’ shows how nature has been repressed, and
to stain the blueprint ‘surrender’ gives the impression that the skies are under
of our past’s tomorrow. attack.
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2.4. Stanza 2 2.5. Stanza 3

The second stanza uses an extended metaphor to The concluding stanza of the poem is only four short lines
compare the work of the Planners with that of a dentist. in length.
The highly clinical and cold way in which the Planners’ The speaker says that their ‘heart would not bleed /
actions are described shows their emotionless and dry poetry’ and that they would not want a ‘single drop to stain
nature, and how they have trivialised the destruction that the blueprint / of our past’s tomorrow’. This statement is
comes with perfection. ironic, as, in a poem about the Planners, the speaker is
The phrase ‘erase the flaws’ show the almost unnatural stating that they would not write any poetry about the
way in which the Planners simply eliminate all ‘flaws’, Planners.
which are the imperfections of nature. The word ‘stain the blueprint’ seems to imply that poetry
The phrase ‘blemishes of the past’ seems to refer to the would have some form of negative impact on the
history and legacy of those who lived in the past, but the Planners’ plans for the future, and here, the speaker
Planners wish to ‘erase’ that as well, showing their seems to be, in a veiled manner, trying to encourage any
complete disregard for their history. The reader is poets reading the poem to follow suit and also write
informed that the Planners ‘knock off useless blocks’. poetry about the future the Planners are trying to create.
The phrase ‘knock off’ seems crude, and shows how The poem’s final words, ‘past’s tomorrow’, are an
despite their pursuit of perfection, the Planners are not as oxymoron, and once again reiterate the Planners’ wish to
sophisticated as the world they are trying to build. erase the ‘past’ in order to create ‘tomorrow’ in their
This action is described as being done with ‘dental image.
dexterity’, and this marks the beginning of the dental
metaphor.
The speaker goes on to say that ‘All gaps are plugged / 3. The Man with Night Sweats
with gleaming gold’. Here, gaps is a metaphorical
comparison of imperfections to gaps between teeth. The - Thom Gunn
‘gold’ here is the artificial perfection created by the
Planners to get rid of this imperfection. 3.1. Poem
The word ‘gleaming ’ seems to be a reference to how the
perfection of the Planners seems to be a good thing
Stanza 1
initially, but upon closer inspection, it reveals itself to be
more than what meets the eye. I wake up cold, I who
The speaker compares the rows of houses to ‘perfect Prospered through dreams of heat
rows of / shining teeth’, with the ‘perfect rows’ being the Wake to their residue,
suburbs and rows of houses, and the ‘shining teeth’ are Sweat, and a clinging sheet.
the houses.
In the next line, the speaker lists some of the methods Stanza 2
that the Planners have of getting what they want done:
‘Anaesthesia, amnesia, hypnosis’. Anaesthesia refers to My flesh was its own shield:
the feeling of numbness and shock, amnesia refers to Where it was gashed, it healed.
forgetfulness, and hypnosis refers to the Planners’ ability
to manipulate and control the way in which people think. Stanza 3
The speaker follows up this list with the statements, ‘They
have the means. / They have it all so it will not hurt’. These I grew as I explored
declarations are ominous, and makes the Planners out to The body I could trust
be villainous and authoritarian. The Planners seem to be Even while I adored
trying to play God in the new world that they are building. The risk that made robust,
The speaker explains that the Planners wish to make it so
‘history is new again’. This is an oxymoron - ‘history’ and Stanza 4
‘new’ are opposites, and this shows how the Planners are
willing to completely erase history and replace it with the A world of wonders in
present. Each challenge to the skin.
The stanza ends with ‘The drilling goes right through / the
fossils of last century’. The word ‘drilling ’ ties back to the Stanza 5
dental imagery. The phrase ‘fossils of last century’ is a
reference to how the Planners are willing to erase the I cannot but be sorry
past to create a ‘perfect’ future. The given shield was cracked,
My mind reduced to hurry,
My flesh reduced and wrecked.
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Stanza 6 themselves from external stimuli. This shows the impact

of the disease.
I have to change the bed,
But catch myself instead 3.4. Stanza 2
Stanza 7 The second stanza introduces the aforementioned shield
metaphor, with ‘My flesh was its own shield: / Where it
Stopped upright where I am
was gashed, it healed’.
Hugging my body to me
This stanza being only two lines long can be interpreted
As if to shield it from
as a subtle reference to the finality of this statement, and
The pains that will go through me,
how the speaker’s body no longer supports them like it
did.
Stanza 8
The word ‘was’ indicates usage of past tense, which is
different from the tense used in the first stanza of the
As if hands were enough
poem. This indicates that the speaker is no longer in the
To hold an avalanche off.
present, and how he is reminiscing back to the past. This
indicates that what the speaker is talking about is what
3.2. Overview used to hold true in the past, and that his situation is
different in the present.
Structure - 24 lines, 8 stanzas The word ‘gashed’ is a much harsher word than other
Themes: similar words such as ‘cut’ or ‘scratch’. The intent of using
Solitude ‘gashed’ seems to be to show the great extent to which
Illness the speaker could, in the past, tolerate physical damage.
Lack of creativity It also shows just how strong the ‘shield’ of the speaker’s
The entire event described has been narrated in the ‘flesh’ was, and sets up the descriptions of the speaker’s
present tense, making the speaker’s description of their present weakness which follow in the poem by
struggle seem much more real and genuine to the reader. contextualising the change and allowing the reader to
understand the type of metamorphosis AIDS has put the
3.3. Stanza 1 speaker through.
The word ‘cold’ clues the reader in on the fact that the 3.5. Stanza 3
speaker has fallen victim to the titular ‘night sweats’ but
does not obviously state this. The third stanza is still in past tense.
The word ‘heat’ is juxtaposed with the word ‘cold’ from the It begins with ‘I grew as I explored’. The words ‘I grew’
poem's first line. The word ‘prospered’ indicates success, shows how this is the same body which the speaker grew
but the wealth and success the speaker feels like he up in, and the same body with which the speaker has
attains in his ‘dreams of heat’ are all not actually real and experienced everything which he has done up to the
are just - dreams. present.
Here, ‘dreams of heat’ is a metaphorical reference to
The word ‘explored’ indicates that the speaker has
dreams of passion and love, which is a reference to how experimented and taken many risks in his life, and it leads
AIDS, the disease which the speaker suffers from in the the reader to wonder whether it was one of these such
poem, is transmitted. mistakes that led to him having lost his ‘shield’ of
The speaker states that he wakes to the ‘residue’ of these protection.
dreams, with the ‘residue’ here being ‘sweat, and a The speaker describes their body as ‘The body I could
clinging sheet’. The word ‘residue’ describes the sweat trust’, and the fact that this is in past tense really shows
and how these dreams have a longer-lasting impact on the extent of the effect of AIDS on the reader - he can no
his mental state and strength. longer put his trust in his own body. This line evokes a
The reader’s possible suspicions from the first line are sense of sympathy for the speaker in the reader’s mind.
finally confirmed here, with the reason for the speaker’s The speaker states that they ‘adored / The risk that made
coldness being revealed to be sweat. The sweat links robust’. This shows how the speaker once used to live a
together the ‘cold’ and ‘heat’ from the first two lines, life of taking risks, and their body allowed them to sustain
showing how heat can lead to feeling cold, contextualising their lifestyle.
those lines and making their meaning clearer to the The usage of the word ‘robust’ once again re-iterates how
reader.
strong the speaker’s body was at that point in time.
The words ‘clinging sheet’ are also relevant. As the
speaker later discusses in the poem, their flesh once
acted as a shield, but now, they require a sheet to shield
3.6. Stanza 4
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The fourth stanza is once again only two lines long, much It also shows how he has gotten used to the disease by
like the second stanza. now, and knows that something bad or painful is about to
This stanza reads ‘A world of wonders in / Every challenge happen soon.
to the skin’. The phrase ‘a world of wonders’ shows just
how much the speaker enjoyed experimenting and 3.9. Stanza 7
challenging themselves. It shows the reckless lifestyle
which the speaker once led, and the risks they took The seventh stanza starts with ‘Stopped upright where I
Even though the reader cannot help but feel sorry for the am’, which shows how he is completely stationary.
speaker, lines like this one make the reader completely He knows by now that he is about to experience pain,
aware of the fact that the speaker did live a dangerous something which is reinforced by his statements in the
and reckless lifestyle. last line of this stanza, which reads, ‘The pains that will go
‘Every challenge to the skin’ once again reminds the through me’.
reader of just how strong the speaker’s skin used to be, This gives an idea to the reader of how painful and chaotic
and how they used to get pleasure from challenging his life is now and how his normal function is impaired by
themselves and experimenting. the constant cycle of pain that he goes through.
Every event and act of intimacy would change him, and The speaker states he stands there, ‘Hugging [his] body to
would make him develop as a person. [him] / As if to shield it’. This shows his subconscious
instinct to protect himself.
3.7. Stanza 5 Once again, the word ‘shield’ is brought into play, but
unlike the earlier descriptions of his body as a shield, the
The fifth stanza returns back to the present, with ‘I cannot writer understands that his hands are useless as a shield.
but be sorry’. This can be seen from his utilisation of ‘As if’.
The speaker regrets having been less careful in his
younger days, and regrets having taken his body for 3.10. Stanza 8
granted.
He refers to his body as his ‘given shield’, which The final lines of the poem read ‘As if hands were enough
strengthens the idea that he took his body for granted in / To hold an avalanche off’. This shows how the speaker is
the past - he took what he was given (his body) and did not aware of the futility of his gesture, of wrapping his arms
take enough care of it. around himself.
He states that his given shield has been ‘cracked’. This However, he still does it anyways, subconsciously, and it
shows how he thinks of his body as broken. A cracked demonstrates a sort of regret of his, and a wish of his to
shield cannot protect anyone, for any blow to it would have his old, strong, healthy body back.
shatter it into pieces, and this is what he is comparing his The word ‘avalanche’ here is a metaphorical reference to
body to. the speaker’s pain.
Since AIDS reduces your immunity and makes you more The poem ends on a melancholy and sombre note, by
vulnerable to other diseases and afflictions, he is likening giving the reader a visualisation of just how bad the pain
the effect of the disease on his body to a cracked shield. and suffering of the speaker is, along with leaving them
The word ‘reduced’ is repeated twice in the following two with an important message - to not take their ‘given shield’
lines: ‘My mind reduced to hurry, / My flesh reduced and for granted, and to take care of their body properly.
wrecked.’, which shows how the speaker believes that his
mental and physical capacity has been reduced. It shows
how harsh AIDS truly is, and how impactful it has been. 4. Night Sweat - Robert
3.8. Stanza 6 Lowell
The sixth stanza is once again a couplet, and it reads, ‘I 4.1. Poem
have to change the bed, / But catch myself instead’.
Him stating that he has to ‘change the bed’ is a reminder Work-table, litter, books and standing lamp,
of the fact that the bedsheets are soaked with sweat, and plain things, my stalled equipment, the old broom-
this can be interpreted as a metaphorical representation but I am living in a tidied room,
of the impact which his disease has on the people around for ten nights now I've felt the creeping damp
him. float over my pajamas' wilted white…
However, he is unable to do so, and instead ends up Sweet salt embalms me and my head is wet,
stopping in his tracks and standing still, showing his everything streams and tells me this is right;
inability to reverse the damage which the disease has had my life's fever is soaking in night sweat-
on him and the people around him. one life, one writing! But the downward glide
and bias of existing wrings us dry-
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always inside me is the child who died, The usage of the word ‘nights’ instead of ‘days’ is
always inside me is his will to die- interesting, as it shows how the speaker has lost track of
one universe, one body… in this urn time, and shows how he has been unable to accomplish
the animal night sweats of the spirit burn. anything during the days, as he does not find them
Behind me! You! Again I feel the light significant enough to even mention them.
lighten my leaded eyelids, while the gray The phrase ‘creeping damp’ is a veiled reference to the
skulled horses whinny for the soot of night. speaker’s titular night sweat, and the presence of this
I dabble in the dapple of the day, sweat indicates just how much effort he has put into
a heap of wet clothes, seamy, shivering, attempting to write.
I see my flesh and bedding washed with light, The word ‘float’ being used to describe the sweat shows
my child exploding into dynamite, how it seems detached from his body, as if it is not
my wife… your lightness alters everything, something physical but is more like a feeling, thus
and tears the black web from the spider's sack, showing the impact which the sweat has on him and his
as your heart hops and flutters like a hare. thinking.
Poor turtle, tortoise, if I cannot clear The usage of ‘wilted’ to describe the colour of his pyjamas
the surface of these troubled waters here, is also significant, as it can be interpreted as a
absolve me, help me, Dear Heart, as you bear metaphorical reference to how flowers wilt and droop
this world's dead weight and cycle on your back. when they lose water.
The speaker continues by describing the sensations that
4.2. Overview he experiences as he is drenched in sweat.
He initially refers to the sweat as ‘Sweet salt’, which is an
Structure - 28 lines, 1 stanza oxymoron.
Themes: He states that the sweat ‘embalms’ him. This is a
Anguish reference to the process of embalming, which is when a
Frustration dead body is treated in order to preserve it and prevent it
Power of love from decaying.
The entirety of the poem takes place over a single stanza. In this way, the speaker is metaphorically likening himself
The lack of demarcation indicates the frenzied nature of to a corpse, which shows the lethargic state that he is in.
the speaker’s thoughts, and their lack of organisation He is also stating that the sweat is keeping him in this
It can be broken down, however, into two sonnets corpse-like state, preventing the lethargy from decaying
condensed into a single stanza, the first being a and preventing him from being able to write.
Shakespearean sonnet, and the other being a Petrarchan He states that his ‘head is wet’, which can be interpreted
sonnet as a reference to how the sweat has not only impacted his
This combination of two different styles once again shows body, but also his mind, since the head is often associated
how the speaker’s thoughts are not very organised and with the mind and one’s thought process.
how he is unable to focus in only one direction at once. He finally, for the first time, states that the issue he is, in
fact the titular night sweats, by saying ‘my life’s fever is
soaking in night sweat’.
4.3. Sonnet 1 He exclaims, ‘one life, one writing!’, which shows the
speaker’s intentions with writing - he wishes to create one
The poem begins with the speaker listing various items
great work, only one, but one that will make him famous
that he can see around him in his room.
for eternity.
The varied list of items shows how the speaker is unable
Going on, the speaker states the ‘downward glide and bias
to focus their thoughts on one direction, and is unable to
of existing wrings us dry’, a statement through which he
write or come up with anything productive.
communicates that living itself tends to strip a person of
Instead, in an attempt to possibly gain inspiration, or to
all creativity.
simply calm his thoughts, he is looking around and listing
The word ‘dry’ here is juxtaposed with all of the references
everything he sees.
to being ‘wet’ earlier on in the poem, and signifies a shift
The word ‘stalled’ being used to describe the ‘equipment’
in narrative away from the significance of the night sweat.
shows how it is not in use, and is indicative of the fact that
The speaker says, ‘always inside me is the child who died,
the speaker is unable to get any work done at the
/ always inside me is his will to die’. The child, here, refers
moment.
to his hope and child-like spirit, which he claims has ‘died’.
The speaker describes the room that he is in as being a
He also claims that this child’s ‘will to die’ is always inside
‘tidied room’, which is in contrast with the description of
him, which is indicative of his depression and how he
items in the room which was given in the first two lines.
constantly feels like a part of him wishes to die.
This once again shows the lack of clarity of the speaker’s
‘Always inside me’ is repeated twice for emphasis.
thoughts, and how he feels mentally lost at the moment.
The speaker continues, stating, ‘one universe, one body…
in this urn, the animal night sweats of the spirit burn’. Him
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saying ‘one universe, one body’ here is time expressing He states that his wife’s ‘heart hops and flutters like a
his belief that he only has one life, and one chance to hare’. The hare is often used as a symbol of energy and
create his one great literary piece. vigour, and here, he is saying that his wife’s heart, which is
He refers to his body as an ‘urn’, showing his morbid representative of her spirit and psyche, is full of energy,
approach to life and how he is fixated on the idea that he and is not lethargic like his was a few moments ago.
will, someday, die. He also refers to his wife as ‘Poor turtle, tortoise’. Here,
The idea of heat from ‘wrings us dry’ is once again re- the usage of the word ‘poor’ shows that he possible feels
iterated here, as he said ‘night sweats of the spirit burn’. bad for his wife, who has to take the burden of
maintaining his mental state, and, as he later states,
4.4. Sonnet 2 bearing ‘this world’s dead wright and cycle on [her] back’.
The usage of ‘turtle, tortoise’ here ties back to two
While the larger focus of the first sonnet was on the different myths, both of which play into the wife’s
speaker’s night sweat and inability to get work done, along character.
with his morbid opinions on reality and death, the second First (and this one is supported by him calling her heart a
sonnet brings with it an uplift in the tone. ‘hare’ in the previous line), it could be interpreted as a
This sonnet focuses more on the impact of the speaker’s reference to the class fable of the turtle and the hare. By
wife (addressed in the second person) on him, and how comparing her to both the turtle and the hare at two
being around her allows him to be creative. different points in the poem, the speaker is saying that his
He starts this section of the poem by exclaiming ‘Behind wife has the best qualities of both of the main characters
me! You!’, which is representative of the moment that he of the story.
sees his wife. The second myth which he may be referencing is the
He states that ‘Again [he] feel[s] the light lighten [his] once-popular myth that the earth was actually carried by
leaded eyelids’. The word ‘again’ indicates that this is not a massive turtle, and he has implied the same by saying
the first time that his wife’s presence has invigorated him that his wife carries the ‘world’s dead weight’ on her back,
and allowed his creativity to come back to life again. much like the turtle in the story.
The word ‘light’ is representative of his wife’s positive
impact on him, and how to him, it feels as if her presence
brightens the surroundings.
5. Rain - Edward Thomas
He continues by stating that ‘the grey skulled horses
whinny for the soot of the night’. The ‘grey skulled horses’ 5.1. Poem
here represent the negative parts of his mental state, and
are a general metaphor for all things evil. Rain, midnight rain, nothing but the wild rain
By having them ‘whinny for the soot of the night’, the On this bleak hut, and solitude, and me
speaker is attempting to convey that his wife’s ‘light’ Remembering again that I shall die
makes it too bright for them to be comfortable, that is, she And neither hear the rain nor give it thanks
drives away all things evil with her very presence. For washing me cleaner than I have been
The speaker’s admiration and love for his wife is quite Since I was born into this solitude.
clear, and it is also clear how much he depends on her. He Blessed are the dead that the rain rains upon:
describes himself as ‘a heap of wet clothes’, but it is But here I pray that none whom once I loved
interesting to note that he only describes his clothes as Is dying tonight or lying still awake
sweat-soaked, and not himself. Solitary, listening to the rain,
This can be interpreted as his wife’s presence having Either in pain or thus in sympathy
made him shed the sweat and embrace his creativity. Helpless among the living and the dead,
He says that he sees his ‘child exploding into dynamite’, Like a cold water among broken reeds,
through which he means that his child-like emotions, such Myriads of broken reeds all still and stiff,
as hope, have come back to him and have no longer ‘died’ Like me who have no love which this wild rain
as described in the first sonnet. Has not dissolved except the love of death,
He states that his wife’s ‘lightness alters everything ’, If love it be towards what is perfect and
showing the profound impact she has on his mental state Cannot, the tempest tells me, disappoint.
and creativity.
He describes and states that his wife ‘tears the black web 5.2. Overview
from the spider’s sack’. Here, the ‘spider’s sack’ is a
metaphor for his mind, and the ‘black web’ is a metaphor Structure - 18 lines, 1 stanza
for his negative and morbid thoughts. Themes:
By tearing the ‘black web’ from the ’spider’s sack’, the Inevitability of death
speaker means that his wife’s presence causes all The comfort of solitude
negative emotions and thoughts to leave his mind, leaving
it only full of positive emotions and creative ideas.
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Lack of rhyme structure is reminiscent of the chaos of the idea that the speaker has become desensitised and
nature and the war incapable of love after joining the war, and, once again,
Metrical pattern of poem reminiscent of the sound or rain shows the adverse impact which his surroundings have
Poem is in present tense, which helps the reader better had on him.
visualise the scene The speaker states that he wishes that no one is ‘Solitary,
Present tense gives effect that speaker is still in the war listening to the rain’. This, combined with his wish that no
Speaker’s fate is left ambiguous, making the poem feel one is ‘lying still awake’, makes it clear that he does not
unfinished want anyone to be in the position that he is in. The pity
that he is showing the people whom he is referring to can
5.3. Analysis also be applied to him, and he understands, and knows,
that the situation he is in is one that he would not wish on
The phrase ‘remembering again’ implies that this is not anyone he loves.
the first time that the speaker has spent time pondering He does not wish for his loved ones to be ‘Either in pain or
his own mortality and the topic of his own inevitable thus in sympathy’. This makes it clear that the speaker is
death. in pain, and he does not wish for others to be in such a
The blunt way in which he simply states that he ‘shall die’ situation.
shows how the war has stripped him of all subtlety, and Even though he has implied earlier that he does not love
shows how being in the war has forced him to confront people anymore, he is clearly still a compassionate and
the fact that he will likely die soon. sympathetic individual. He does not wish for his loved
By saying ‘And neither hear the rain nor give it thanks / ones to be (like him) ‘Helpless among the living and the
For washing me cleaner than I have been’, the speaker dead’. This shows the extent of the destruction which the
makes it clear that his thoughts are significant enough to war has brought with it, and how the speaker does not
block out the sound of the rain; may also be interpreted as believe himself to be either completely alive or completely
a reference to him possibly being shellshocked. dead.
The speaker saying that he is thankful for the rain In line 13, the speaker compares himself to one of the
‘washing [him] cleaner than [he has] been’ can be many ‘broken reeds all still and stiff’ in cold water. He
interpreted both literally and figuratively - literally, the believes himself to be ‘broken’, showing the impact the
rain washes the dirt off him, and figuratively, ‘washing me war has had on him and his psyche.
cleaner’ can be interpreted as a reference to baptism and The phrase ‘still and stiff’ shows how he feels stuck in
one’s sins being washed away. place, unable to leave, and unable to do anything to
The word ‘born’ in line 6 shows how the speaker believes soothe his pain.
that becoming a part of the war has changed him into an He says that those like him ‘have no love which this wild
entirely new individual, as if he has been born again. It rain / Has not dissolved except the love of death’. This is
shows how the world around him, the world of the war, is an example of irony, as it is not possible for him to have
different from anything else he had ever seen before in no love if he just showed sympathy for others.
the past, and how everything is new for him. The speaker claims that the ‘wild rain’ (which is repeated
The next line reads, ‘Blessed are the dead that the rain from the first line) has washed away all of his love, except
rains upon’. This once again brings back the theme of for ‘the love of death’. He explains that the reason which
death, which is a recurring element of this poem. Just like he loves death is that death ‘Cannot, the tempest tells
how the speaker believes that the rain has washed him [him], disappoint’. This ties back to the theme of death
clean of his sins, he also believes that it will do the same being inevitable.
for the dead.
The way in which this line is placed right after him stating
that he was ‘born’ into this new world creates an example
6. The Spirit is Too Blunt an
of juxtaposition, and makes it seem like the speaker is
referring to himself as one of the ‘dead’ that are blessed
Instrument - Anne Stevenson
by the rain, showing how for him and others like him,
death feels like salvation. 6.1. Poem
Line 8 begins with the word ‘But’, as the speaker shares a
wish that is juxtaposed with him stating that he should be Stanza 1
thankful for the rain, and that those under it are blessed.
He states that he wishes to ‘pray that none whom once The spirit is too blunt an instrument
[he] loved / Is dying to-night or lying still awake’. The word to have made this baby.
‘pray’ brings back the theme of religion and God, which Nothing so unskilful as human passions
was introduced when the speaker likened the rain to could have managed the intricate
baptism. exacting particulars: the tiny
The usage of the word ‘once’ implies that this love for blind bones with their manipulating tendons,
these people existed only in the past. This seems to give
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the knee and the knucklebones, the resilient By calling ‘human passions’ ‘unskilful’, the speakers
fine meshings of ganglia and vertebrae, displays their disdain for human passions and emotions.
the chain of the difficult spine. This shows the speaker’s mindset and contextualises
everything they say for the rest of the poem.
Stanza 2 The speaker goes on to describe the ‘tiny blind bones’ of
the baby. The speaker is awed that despite being unable
Observe the distinct eyelashes and sharp crescent to see around themselves, the bones of the baby are all
fingernails, the shell-like complexity arranged perfectly in the right way.
of the ear, with its firm involutions The next part of the baby which the speaker points out is
concentric in miniature to minute the ‘manipulating tendons’. The word ‘manipulating ’ here
ossicles. Imagine the creates the image in the reader’s mind of the tendons
infinitesimal capillaries, the flawless connections weaving themselves around the bones in intricate
of the lungs, the invisible neural filaments patterns. This supports the speaker’s argument that the
through which the completed body spirit is too imperfect to design something as complicated
already answers to the brain. as this.
The speaker then names various other bones and parts of
Stanza 3 the body, such as the ‘knee’, ‘knucklebones’, ‘ganglia’,
‘vertebrae’, and ‘spine’.
Then name any passion or sentiment The speaker ends the first stanza at this point, after
possessed of the simplest accuracy. having described many different body parts, and why they
No, no desire or affection could have done believe that it is impossible for the soul to make them.
with practice what habit
has done perfectly, indifferently,
through the body's ignorant precision. 6.4. Stanza 2
It is left to the vagaries of the mind to invent
The second stanza is also completely based on just
love and despair and anxiety
and their pain. describing parts of the body and its anatomy.
The poem focuses on giving the reader an idea of just
how complex and beautiful human anatomy really is, and
6.2. Overview how its minute details are beyond the scope of our
imagination.
Structure - 27 lines, 3 stanzas The speaker mentions the ‘distinct eyelashes’. The usage
Themes of the word ‘distinct’ emphasises how each eyelash is
Life perfectly shaped in a similar manner, despite there being
Creation so many of them.
Possibility They then mention the ‘sharp crescent fingernails’, with
Perfection of the Body vs Imperfection of Spirit the emphasis here being on how the shape of the
The poem does not have any rhyme scheme. This lack of fingernails is the exact same for each one.
rhyme scheme can be attributed to the fact that the They describe the ‘shell-like complexity of the ear’, and
speaker is attempting to convey the imperfection of the emphasise just how intricate and exact it is by saying that
spirit ‘its firm involutions [are] concentric in miniature to minute
ossicles’.
6.3. Stanza 1 Here, the word involutions has two meanings - first, the
shrinkage of an organ, so to show how the body has been
The poem begins by re-iterating the title of the poem, by designed even on a minute scale, and second, the state of
stating, ‘The spirit is too blunt an instrument / to have being complete, which is what the speaker believes the
made this baby’. human body to be.
The speaker is admiring a baby, and upon examining it, The words ‘infinitesimal’ and ‘flawless’ emphasise, once
the speaker believes that it is impossible for the human again, the level of perfection that the body possesses.
soul to have created something as intricate and perfect. The word ‘imagine’ makes it clear that none of these
The words ‘too blunt’ makes it clear that the speaker features are visible, they are not for anyone’s viewing
believes that the spirit is not precise enough to have pleasure, but they are there just for the sake of being
created something like another human body. This perfectly in sync with one another.
introduces, from the very first line, the theme of this The word ‘completed’ is used to describe the body, which
poem, which is the perfection of the body in contrast to sums up the speaker’s opinion of the human body
the imperfection of the spirit. completely - it is like a perfect finished product.
The speaker also refers to the spirit as being an
‘instrument’, displaying their opinion that the human soul 6.5. Stanza 3
is a tool to be used for one’s own benefit.
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The final stanza shifts its focus to the body’s creation, and
7.2. Overview
how it is, in any way, linked with human emotions.
The speaker directly challenges the reader with a sort of Structure - 16 lines, 4 stanzas
rhetorical requisition, demand that they ‘name any
Themes
passion of sentiment possessed of the simplest accuracy’.
Grief
As the reader would know, it is impossible to name any
Death
such element - emotions are not accurate, they are not Coping
precise, and they do not follow any particular trend. They
are too inaccurate, and lack the precision, to create
something such as the body, which the speaker states by 7.3. Stanza 1
saying ‘no, no desire or affection could have done with
practice what habit has done perfectly’. The poem begins with the speaker very frankly stating,
The speaker acknowledges that it is impossible for one to ‘Though my mother was already two years dead’. This
practice one’s emotions to produce such a perfect result, plain statement directly brings up the theme of the poem,
and that it is simply habit that has led to the creation of which is death and the impact it has on people around it.
the human body. The bluntness of the statement shows the speaker’s
This habit has carried out this task ‘indifferently’ through straightforward nature when it comes to death and his
the ‘body’s ignorant precision’, by ignoring the loved ones - he is clearly not one to sugarcoat things.
imperfections of the spirit in order to create a perfect final The usage of ‘mother’ as opposed to something less
product. formal like ‘Mom’ is impactful, as it shows how much the
The speaker ends on the note that the body initially has no speaker has been affected by her death, even though he
pain or problems, it is ‘left to the vagaries of the mind to does not wish to show it. It seems to imply that he cannot
invent love and despair and anxiety and their pain’. bear to refer to her in an informal context.
The word ‘already’ makes the time period that the poem is
taking place in very clear.
7. From Long Distance - Tony The second line of the first stanza introduces the reader
to one of the most important recurring themes of this
Harrison poem - the way in which the speaker’s father reacts to his
wife’s death, and the way in which he copes with his grief.
Despite him knowing that his wife is dead, he is in a sort of
7.1. Poem denial - he keeps ‘her slippers warming by the gas’.
The word ‘warming ’ creates a contrast with the feeling of
Stanza 1 coldness that is typically associated with death and grief.
Slippers are also something often associated with day-to-
Though my mother was already two years dead
day movement, and it shows how he is living life as if she
Dad kept her slippers warming by the gas, is about to come home at any minute.
put hot water bottles her side of the bed The father also ‘put hot water bottles her side of the bed’.
and still went to renew her transport pass. Once again, the feeling of warmth implied with ‘hot water
bottles’ is at contrast with the coldness of death and grief.
Stanza 2 The phrase ‘her side of the bed’ implies that the father still
keeps his dead wife’s side of the bed empty and ready for
You couldn't just drop in. You had to phone.
her to come and sleep in it again, and he has not moved
He'd put you off an hour to give him time
on to sleeping in a smaller bed, or anything such.
to clear away her things and look alone
Lastly, the reader is informed that the speaker’s father
as though his still raw love were such a crime.
also goes to ‘renew [his dead wife’s] transport pass’. It is
clear that the father is putting in actual work just to
Stanza 3
maintain this illusion in his mind - he not only fills up warm
He couldn't risk my blight of disbelief water bottles and keeps her slippers by the gas, but he
though sure that very soon he'd hear her key actually takes time out of his routine on a regular basis to
scrape in the rusted lock and end his grief. go and get the transport pass of his wife renewed.
He knew she'd just popped out to get the tea. This shows the commitment that he has to her, and the
depth of his love for her - how despite clearly
Stanza 4 acknowledging that she is gone, he still tried to have some
part of her stay with him.
I believe life ends with death, and that is all.
You haven't both gone shopping; just the same, 7.4. Stanza 2
in my new black leather phone book there's your name
and the disconnected number I still call.
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The second stanza discusses how the father would put This is reinforced by ‘rusted lock’. The adjective ‘rusted’
away all signs of this love of his whenever someone was being used to describe the lock shows how it has not been
visiting the house. It shows how he is insecure of his love used for a very long time, indicating just how long it has
for her, and how he is, in fact, completely aware of the been since the speaker’s mother has died
fact that what he is doing is illogical to an extent. This stanza ends with the line ‘He knew she’d just popped
The speaker informs the reader that one ‘couldn’t just out to get the tea’. The italicisation of ‘knew’ shows the
drop in’, and that one ‘had to phone’ before coming to his strength of the father’s belief. The phrase ‘popped out’
father’s house. The reason for this is explained - the makes it seem like the mother has only been gone for a
father would ‘put you off an hour’ in order to ‘clear away very short time.
her things and look alone’.
Despite the speaker’s father clearly holding on to his dead 7.6. Stanza 4
wife’s image and being in some sort of denial, he is
extremely self-aware and insecure about this denial, to The final stanza shifts tense from the past to the present.
the point where he is ready to clear away all of the signs While the first three stanzas were describing events from
of his love for his wife whenever guests, including his own the past, this one now discusses what the speaker is doing
son, were coming over. today, and what his situation is.
The fact that he is attempting to hide this coping The first line of this stanza is ‘I believe life ends with death,
mechanism from his own son shows how ashamed he is and that is all’. This is an intriguing statement - it shows
of these tendencies of his. the rational way in which the speaker likes to think of
The phrase ‘look alone’ is significant, as it seems to imply things, and how he believes in the finality of death.
that the father is not actually alone, and is merely putting This is reinforced by him ending the sentence with ‘and
up a show to look as such. that is all’, which gives it a final and concluding tone to it.
This is the opposite of what is actually happening, but the The next sentence, ‘You haven’t both gone shopping; just
framing and structure used in the line conveys the the same’, provides the first indication that both of the
message that the father is so deep in his grief that looking speaker’s parents have now passed away, and even
alone seems like an act. though it is not explicitly stated in the following lines, it is
The speaker ends this stanza by stating that his father did certain that this is the case.
all of this clearing up as if ‘his still raw were such a crime’. The subtle and veiled way in which the speaker implies his
The way in which this is framed indicates that the speaker father’s death shows how raw the grief that he is feeling
believes that the father is, in fact, committing no is, and how he does not wish to directly state it, unlike the
wrongdoing by keeping his mother’s personal effects out direct and straightforward way in which he addresses his
and living in denial. He understands how his father feels. mother’s death in the first stanza.
The word ‘raw’ being used to describe the speaker’s The poem ends with the speaker stating that he still has
father’s love is impactful. It metaphorically compares the his father’s name in his ‘new black leather phone book’,
father’s love and grief with a raw wound, showing just how and he sometimes still calls the ‘disconnected number’.
much it affects him. The word ‘new’ being used to describe the phone book
shows how despite the speaker having gotten a new book,
7.5. Stanza 3 he has still copied his father’s name across, and the fact
that he still calls the number directly contrasts with his
The third stanza begins with ‘He couldn’t risk my blight of statement in the first line of this stanza.
disbelief’. The phrase ‘couldn’t risk’ shows how the father This shows how grief can truly affect a person, and no
is afraid of being judged for his coping mechanisms. Even matter what their ideals are, it can change the way in
though the reader is aware that the son would not judge which one acts, much like the speaker in this poem.
his father, and does not judge him, the father is unsure of
this.
As elaborated on earlier, he is insecure and ashamed, 8. Funeral Blues - W H Auden
and does not want others to know of what he does to
grieve. The irrationality of his actions is not lost on him.
8.1. Poem
The word ‘blight’ indicates that the father believes that his
son’s disbelief would be like a disease, and that it could
Stanza 1
lead to the destruction or weakening of their relationship;
something which he does not wish to risk. Stop all the clocks, cut off the telephone,
However, the father is ‘sure that very soon he’d hear her Prevent the dog from barking with a juicy bone,
key / scrape in the rusted lock and end his grief’. The word Silence the pianos and with muffled drum
‘sure’ indicates the strength of the father’s love and grief. Bring out the coffin, let the mourners come.
The usage of ‘key’ shows how to the father, his wife is
locked away, just out of reach, but very much present. Stanza 2
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Let aeroplanes circle moaning overhead This stanza concludes with another demand of the
Scribbling on the sky the message 'He is Dead'. speaker’s - ‘with muffled drum / Bring out the coffin, let
Put crepe bows round the white necks of the public doves, the mourners come’. The phrase ‘muffled drum’ can be
Let the traffic policemen wear black cotton gloves. interpreted in two ways - first, as the actual beating of a
drum at a funeral, and two, the sound made by the feet of
Stanza 3 the pallbearers.
The usage of ‘muffled’ shows the speaker’s wish to subdue
He was my North, my South, my East and West, the sound of an instrument that is as loud as the drum,
My working week and my Sunday rest, showing, once again, their aversion to music and
My noon, my midnight, my talk, my song; distractions, and their will to grieve in peace.
I thought that love would last forever: I was wrong. The ‘coffin’ and the ‘mourners’ serve as the first
indications in the poem that the reason for the speaker’s
Stanza 4 fractured mental state is that someone close to them has
died.
The stars are not wanted now; put out every one,
Pack up the moon and dismantle the sun,
Pour away the ocean and sweep up the wood; 8.4. Stanza 2
For nothing now can ever come to any good.
The second stanza opens with the lines, ‘Let aeroplanes
circle moaning overhead / Scribbling on the sky the
8.2. Overview message He Is Dead’. This is the beginning of a trend that
becomes more and more clear as the poem goes on - the
Structure - 16 lines, 4 stanzas speaker’s demands escalating in scale with every stanza.
Themes The sound ‘moaning ’ is typically associated with mourning
Grief or sadness, and its use illustrates the fact that the
Death speaker wishes for even inanimate objects to show grief
The poem is made up of four quatrains, each following an
for the death of the speaker’s loved one.
AABB rhyme scheme. It is clear that the deceased meant a lot to the speaker,
The orderly manner in which the poem is structured is and that is the reason for their demands.
juxtaposed with the speaker’s grief and fractured state of The next request of the speaker’s reads ‘Put crêpe bows
mind. round the white necks of the public doves’. This is a highly
The stanzas are structured as stairs, which each stanza
difficult, but yet not outside the bounds of reality, demand,
acting as a further step down towards irrationality and and it once again, acts as the speaker’s despair and grief
grief-struck madness. put into words.
Doves are also typically symbols of peace and equality,
8.3. Stanza 1 and the speaker’s wish to put bows round their necks is
indicative of their wish for peace and calm.
The first stanza begins with the words ‘stop all of the The speaker’s final demand is that ‘the traffic policemen
clocks’. The speaker’s grief and wish to be in peace is wear black cotton gloves’. The colour black is often
evident from the first statement - they wish to grieve associated with mourning in many cultures, so wanting
without the pressure of time. policemen to wear black gloves shows the speaker’s wish
It may also be a metaphorical reference to how time for everyone and everything around them to mourn for
seems to pass excruciatingly slow when one is in morning. their lost loved one.
The next demand of the speaker’s is to ‘cut off the Policemen, especially traffic policemen, are tasked with
telephone’, which shows how they do not wish to maintaining the normal and safe flow of traffic, and by
communicate with anyone, along with how they do not extension, people’s lives. The wish for traffic policemen to
wish to be disturbed by the sounds of the phone ringing. wear black gloves is also representative of how the
The speaker’s wish to ‘Prevent the dog from barking ’ is an speaker wishes for their life to also be brought back into
early manifestation of their wish to manipulate and its normal course, and how they wish for their loved one
control nature, something that becomes more apparent to be back with them.
later on in the play.
They provide a reasonable way to silence the dog - giving
8.5. Stanza 3
it a ‘juicy bone’.
They also state that they wish to ‘silence the pianos’. The third stanza veers away from the discussion of the
Music is typically associated with feelings of positivity and
speaker’s many wishes, and instead, focuses on what the
celebration, and the speaker does not wish to indulge in deceased meant to the speaker.
the joys of life at the moment This stanza’s main themes are the themes of love, loss
This shows how grief is all-encompassing, and how it and grief. The stanza is representative of the speaker
tends to make people wish to not enjoy other things in life.
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learning to open up more, and to allow themselves to lost all meaning in the speaker’s life, and all they want is
grieve properly. for all the visual distractions in their life to go away.
The stanza opens with the words, ‘He was my North, my They justify all of these demands by stating that ‘nothing
South, my East and West’. This can be interpreted two now can ever come to any good’. This shows how
ways. hopeless the speaker, and by extension, most mourners,
One, no matter what direction the speaker looks in, all feel, and shows how they feel like the world has come to
they can remember and think of is their dead love one. an end for them.
This shows just how much the deceased meant to them, It is an extremely impactful line, and does a good job at
and the significance they held in their life. getting across to the reader how the speaker feels.
The second interpretation is that the mentioning the four
directions is a metaphorical way for the speaker to say
that the deceased represented their purpose and 9. He Never Expected Much -
direction in life, and how now, they feel like they have lost
all sense of direction, but literally and figuratively. Thomas Hardy
The speaker’s metaphoric declarations continue, with ‘My
working week and my Sunday rest’. The working week, 9.1. Poem
combined with Sunday, make up all of the days of the
week.
Stanza 1
Here, the speaker is trying to say that their love for the
deceased was perennial and that it penetrated into their Well, World, you have kept faith with me,
lives everyday. Kept faith with me;
This is further emphasised by the next metaphorical Upon the whole you have proved to be
comparison, with the speaker saying that the deceased Much as you said you were.
was the speaker’s ’midnight’ and their ’noon’. Since as a child I used to lie
The speaker goes on to say that the deceased was their Upon the leaze and watch the sky,
’talk’ and their ’song ’. Through this, what the speaker is Never, I own, expected I
trying to convey is that the deceased was a very large part That life would all be fair.
of their personality (‘talk’) and energy (‘song ’).
The speaker concludes this stanza by stating, ‘I thought Stanza 2
that love would last for ever: I was wrong ’, which sets the
melancholy and despair-filled tone of the last stanza, and 'Twas then you said, and since have said,
adds depth to the speaker’s grief. Times since have said,
In that mysterious voice you shed
8.6. Stanza 4 From clouds and hills around:
"Many have loved me desperately,
The final stanza returns back to the topic of the speaker’s Many with smooth serenity,
demands. However, as per the trend set in the earlier While some have shown contempt of me
stanzas, the outlandishness of the demands has Till they dropped underground.
increased even further.
The speaker states that ‘the stars are not wanted now’ Stanza 3
and asks that someone ‘put out every one’. The
declaration of the speaker’s that ‘the stars are not wanted’ "I do not promise overmuch,
shows how to them, it feels like nothing matters anymore Child; overmuch;
in life. It is a representation of the apathy that comes with Just neutral-tinted haps and such,"
grief, and is an accurate depiction of how many people You said to minds like mine.
tend to react to such scenarios. Wise warning for your credit's sake!
The speaker’s demands, which up till now, had been Which I for one failed not to take,
humanly possible to carry out, have now escalated to the And hence could stem such strain and ache
point of being simply impossible. As each year might assign.
The next demand of the speaker is to ‘Pack up the moon
and dismantle the sun’. The speaker wishes for time to 9.2. Overview
stop, and does not want the days to keep passing. It shows
how they have lost all interest in moving forward with Structure - 24 lines, 3 stanzas
their lives, and how they feel like they will be stuck in this Themes
moment of grieving forever. Simplicity
They ask that someone ‘Pour away the ocean and sweep Expectations
up the wood’. These elements of nature, that are usually Wisdom
associated with beauty and positive experiences, have
WWW.ZNOTES.ORG
The poem is made up of three octets. Each octet follows depth of the speaker’s use of apostrophes increases, as
the same AABCCCB rhyme scheme. now they are not just conversing with the ‘World’ but are
The uniformity of the rhyme scheme is an indication of the also saying that the ‘World’ used to speak to them when
neutral and simple way in which the speaker prefers to they were a child.
live life. This can be interpreted as the speaker referring to their
own mind and subconsciousness communicating with
9.3. Stanza 1 them as a child and using the ‘World’ apostrophe to
communicate their mental conversations with himself
The first stanza of the poem begins with the speaker regarding life.
saying, ‘Well, World, you have kept faith with me’. This is The repetition of the word ‘said’ shows how this was not a
an example of apostrophe, which is a literary device one-time event and how it has been repeated multiple
where a character or the speaker addresses and times across the speaker’s life.
communicates with someone or something that is either This is further supported by the second line of the stanza,
not present, or does not exist in a physical form at all. which is ‘Times since have said’. The word ‘times’ indicates
The way in which the speaker addresses the ‘World’ the frequency of these thoughts about life in the speaker’s
throughout this poem seems to exude a feeling of mind.
familiarity and understanding. This shows how the The speaker describes the ‘World’ as having a ‘mysterious
speaker feels like they know the ‘World’ well, and how they voice’ which seemed to emanate ‘From clouds and hills
feel like they know what their place in the world is. around’. This shows how the speaker felt at one with
The calm and friendly way in which they converse with the nature and how, when lying there on the ground looking at
world is a metaphorical reflection of their peaceful and the sky, it felt as if their surroundings were speaking to
friendly nature. them.
The phrase ‘you have kept faith with me’ gives a sign of a The speaker then properly personifies the ‘World’ for the
deep connection that the speaker hold with the world, and first time by having it actually speak aloud to him, saying,
it sets the tone for the rest of the poem going forward. ‘Many have loved me desperately, / Many with smooth
The second line is a reiteration of the same phrase, as it serenity, / While some have shown contempt of me / Till
once again reads ‘Kept faith with me’. This repetition can they dropped underground’.
be interpreted as a reference to how the speaker’s life Each of these lines is relevant, with each one showing a
has been consistent, and provides a metaphorical insight different outlook of people on life.
into the neutrality of their nature. The first is people who love life ‘desperately’. These are
The speaker continues by saying that the world has those who are desperate to cling to whatever life they
‘proved to be / much as [it] said [it was]’. The speaker is have and are representative of the portion of society that
not actually communicating with the ‘World’, so this line spends most of their life trying to stay alive rather than
can be interpreted as the speaker attempting to say that enjoying it.
life has been much like what they expected it to be from a The second is people who love life ‘with smooth serenity’.
young age. These are those who live life in peace and inaction,
This shows how the speaker was intelligent from a young without taking any steps to better their lives, but just
age, and once again re-iterates the message that the enjoying them as they are.
speaker feels as if they know what their place is in the The last category described here are those that show
world. ‘contempt’ of life. This describes the portion of society that
The poem continues with the speaker describing a hates their lives and who holds a hostile outlook on life.
pastime of theirs from their childhood. This pastime of the The final line of this stanza, ‘Till they dropped
speaker’s is unlike what most children do at a young age - underground’, shows how no matter which category a
instead of running around and playing, the speaker person falls into, all of society is united by one defining
preferred to lie down, watch the sky, and think about life. factor - irrespective of their opinion, all people die the
This shows their wise and intelligent nature. same.
The fact that they were thinking about life is indicated by This is the speaker providing a commentary on society
the last two lines of this stanza, which reads, ‘Never, I own, and the different ways in which people choose to live their
expected I / That life would all be fair’. Even at a young lives while also addressing the futility of living life with
age, the speaker expected that life would not be all very extreme opinions, as no matter what your opinion is,
smooth sailing, and they expected to have to undergo everyone dies the same.
some hardships in life.
9.5. Stanza 3
9.4. Stanza 2
The third and final octet of the poem introduces the
The second octet of the poem begins with the speaker reader to the advice which the ‘World’ gave to the
saying, ‘’Twas then you said, and since have said’. The speaker.
WWW.ZNOTES.ORG
The ‘World’ tells the speaker, ‘I do not promise overmuch’. What else? Go on, tell us about it.’
This line is repeated in the next line of the stanza, with I said ‘I feel the top of my head
‘Child; overmuch’. has floated off, out through the window,
Throughout the poem, the second line of each stanza is a revolving like a flying saucer.’
repetition of the final part of the first line of that same
stanza. This trend, much like the uniform rhyme scheme, Stanza 3
acts as an expression of the speaker’s neutral approach
to life. ‘That’s unusual’ they said. ‘Go on.’
his neutral approach to life stems from what the ‘World’ I said ‘I’m finding it hard to talk.
would tell the speaker, as the ‘World’ telling them that it My throat’s gone dry, my nose is tingling.
does not ‘promise overmuch’ led them to live life with the I think I’m going to sneeze – or cry.’
ideals of never expecting too much from life. ‘That’s right’ they said, ‘don’t be ashamed
This neutrality is further solidified by the following line of of giving way to your emotions.
the poem, which reads, ‘Just neutral-tinted haps and such’. It isn’t every day you hear
This is a comment on the way in which, for the most part, you’re going to get a million pounds.
life is bland and uninteresting, and how the speaker has
recognised that the path to success is to never expect Stanza 4
anything more than just that - bland and uninteresting.
The speaker says that this was a ‘warning’ for their Relax, now, have a little cry;
‘credit’s sake’. we’ll give you a moment…’
They continue on by saying that they ‘failed not to take’ ‘Hang on!’ I said.
this warning. The structure of this sentence is unusual, as
‘I haven’t bought a lottery ticket
the two chained negative words ‘failed not’ essentially for years and years. And what did you say
mean that the speaker succeeded in heeding the world’s the company’s called?’ They laughed again.
advice. ‘Not to worry about a ticket.
This shows the speaker’s creative nature, along with We’re Universal. We operate
showing how they do not believe in expecting a lot (which
A retrospective Chances Module.
is why they did not directly state that they succeeded).
The speaker ends the poem by attributing their ability to
Stanza 5
‘stem such strain and ache as each year might assign’ to
Nearly everyone’s bought a ticket
not expecting to much from life, and it shows how they
in some lottery or another,
believe that they have achieved, for the most part,
once at least. We buy up the files,
success.
feed the names into our computer,
and see who the lucky person is.’
10. The Telephone Call - ‘Well, that’s incredible’ I said.
‘It’s marvelous. I still can’t quite…
Fleur Adcock I’ll believe it when I see the cheque.’
Stanza 6
10.1. Poem
‘Oh,’ they said, ‘there’s no cheque.’
Stanza 1 ‘But the money?’ ‘We don’t deal in money.
Experiences are what we deal in.
They asked me ‘Are you sitting down? You’ve had a great experience, right?
Right? This is Universal Lotteries’, Exciting? Something you’ll remember?
they said. ‘You’ve won the top prize, That’s your prize. So congratulations
the Ultra-super Global Special. from all of us at Universal.
What would you do with a million pounds? Have a nice day!’ And the line went dead.
Or, actually, with more than a million –
not that it makes a lot of difference 10.2. Overview
once you’re a millionaire.’ And they laughed.
Structure - 48 lines, 8 stanzas
Stanza 2 Themes
Experiences
‘Are you OK?’ they asked – ‘Still there?
Emotions
Come on, now, tell us, how does it feel?’
I said ‘I just…I can’t believe it!’
They said ‘That’s what they all say. 10.3. Stanza 1
WWW.ZNOTES.ORG
The first stanza of the poem begins on an abrupt note, The speaker finally responds to the caller, saying, ‘I just… I
without any preamble. The poem straight launches into can’t believe it!’. This phrase is ironic in the context of the
the story of the telephone call, with ‘They asked me ‘Are entire poem - the speaker’s initial instincts were, in fact,
you sitting down?’. correct.
The abrupt way in which this begins without describing The poem acts as a depiction of how emotions can lead to
any of the events leading up to the call, shows how clouded judgement.
unexpected and out of place the call was. It also shows The caller responds to this by saying, ‘That’s what they all
how rushed the speaker’s emotions were without the call, say. / What else? Go on, tell us about it’. The first part of
and how the call was so stunning to them that they forgot this response is extremely suspicious - how has the caller
everything that happened before it. given away the ‘top prize’ so many times?
The usage of the word ‘they’ exudes a sense of mystery. It The caller’s insistent tone shows their impatience, and
sets an ominous tone for the rest of the poem, and their constant stress on asking the speaker how they feel
creates the image in the reader’s mind that all is not as it shows how their ultimate objective here is to understand
seems. what emotions the speaker is going through.
The caller asking the speaker to sit down sets up a sense The speaker responds by saying that they feel as if ‘the
of anticipation for what will come next. top of [their] head has floated off, out through the window,
The caller then seems to introduce themselves, by saying revolving like a flying saucer’. This can interpreted as a
that they are ‘Universal Lotteries’. This name is very metaphorical reference to how the speaker has lost all
ambiguous, and this is probably intentional. sense of rational thinking due to the surprise and shock
The caller declares that the speaker has won their ‘top that they are going through - it is as if their capacity to
prize, / the Ultra-super Global Special’. The extremely think with reason and ration has ‘floated off, out through
over-the-top name of this prize, along with how ridiculous the window’.
it seems to sound, acts as the first indicator that the prize The phrase ‘revolving like a flying saucer’ uses a simile to
is not actually real. create a whimsical image in the speaker’s mind, and it
The caller’s deceptive techniques continue. They do not maintains the overall humorous tone of the poem.
outright state what the speaker has won, instead asking
them what they would ‘do with a million pounds’. The 10.5. Stanza 3
phrasing of this sentence comes back to haunt the
speaker as the poem goes on, when it is eventually The third stanza begins with the caller saying that the
revealed that all of this is fake. speaker’s feelings are ‘unusual’. However, they urge them
The caller saying ‘Or, actually, with more than a million’ is to ‘Go on’, which, once again, shows their insistence and
also foreshadowing the fact that this is all a trick - an wish to find out as much as possible about how the
actual lottery company would state the actual amount, speaker is feeling.
especially if it was a very large amount. The speaker, still oblivious and without suspicion, goes on
They say that it does not make ‘a lot of difference once to explain the impact with the shock and surprise has had
you’re a millionaire’. This can be interpreted as Adcock on them physically, saying that their throat has ‘gone dry’,
commenting on how after a certain point, people start their ‘nose is tingling ’.
losing interest in their money, and how money cannot Their throat going dry is metaphorically symbolic of how
translate directly to happiness. people are often unable to speak up for themselves when
The stanza ends with the speaker informing the reader they are filled with emotion.
that the caller ‘laughed’, which foreshadows the eventual Nose tingling is usually a sensation that is typically
reveal of the poem. associated with the cold, showing how the speaker feels
like they have gone cold with shock.
10.4. Stanza 2 The speaker continues, saying that they are unsure
whether thay are ‘going to sneeze - or cry’, which shows
The speaker does not say anything to respond to what the the confusion of their mental state. The word ‘sneeze’
caller says, indicating the state of shock and disbelief that furthers the ‘cold’ image given off my the reference to
they are in. The caller reacts to this silence by asking the nose tingling in the previous line.
speaker if they are ‘OK’ and if they are ‘still there’. The caller encourages this emotion of the speaker’s,
Despite the presence of words of concern, the delivery of telling them to not ‘be ashamed of giving way to your
these words seems aggressive, as if they are mocking the emotions’. This shows the core beliefs of the caller - that
speaker. experiences and memories are more important than
Their patronising attitude continues with the next dialogue actual wealth.
of theirs, which reads, ‘Come on, no, tell us, how does it The caller continues by saying ‘It isn’t every day you hear
feel?’. The caller’s emphasis on emotions, and how the you’re going to get a million pounds’. This continues the
speaker feels upon learning of having ‘won’ the lottery, is deception that the caller has been attempting to
a recurring theme throughout the poem. propagate from the beginning of the poem, as instead of
saying that they are going to be giving the speaker a
WWW.ZNOTES.ORG
million pounds, they merely say that the speaker has However, they are still in disbelief, and they do not
heard that they are going to get a million pounds. completely believe the caller, which is why they say that
This shows the human mind’s ability to manipulate reality they will believe the caller ‘what [they] see the cheque’.
into seeing and hearing only what people want to see or
hear, no matter what was actually said. 10.8. Stanza 6
10.6. Stanza 4 This is the point where the caller pulls the curtain down on
their scheme, and finally states that ‘there’s no cheque’.
The caller’s patronising words continue in the fourth The speaker is astonished, and in their confusion, asks the
stanza, with, ‘Relax, now, have a little cry; we’ll give you a caller what would happen of ‘the money’.
moment…’. The way in which the caller says that they will The caller explains that they ‘don’t deal in money’ and that
‘give’ the speaker a moment insinuates that the caller is ‘experiences are what [they] deal in’. This show the caller’s
doing the speaker a favour by allowing them to sit and opinion that memorable experiences are more important
enjoy the moment. than money.
This once again reinforces the idea that the caller’s intent They hope that the speaker has had a ‘great’ and ‘exciting ’
is to give the speaker a new experience, and not actual experience, and say that their real ‘prize’ is this memory.
money. They congratulate them, and then, for the first time in the
The speaker starts snapping out of their shocked state, as poem, they show what seems to be proper respect, telling
they start questioning the motives of the caller. They say the speaker to ‘have a nice day’.
that they ‘haven’t bought a lottery ticket for years and The speaker describes in the last line of the stanza that
years’. the ‘line went dead’. The word ‘dead’ here is a metaphor
This is one of the first definite clues to the reader that the for how fast their fascination fell apart.
caller is not what they claim to be. All of the hints thus far
have been subtle.
The caller laughs again, showing their sarcastic and 11. A Consumer’s Report -
mocking tone. They attempt to cover their tracks, telling
the speaker to not ‘worry about a ticket’. Peter Porter
They say that they are ‘Universal’, which is a double
entendre based on the fact that their company is called
11.1. Poem
Universal, and the fact that they are trying to say that they
are universally accepted.
Stanza 1
They use a long and fancy name, the ‘retrospective
Chances Module’ in an attempt to sound more genuine The name of the product I tested is Life,
and confuse the speaker. I have completed the form you sent me
and understand that my answers are confidential.
10.7. Stanza 5
Stanza 2
They explain what this ‘retrospective Chances Module is’,
saying that ‘Nearly everyone’s bought a ticket in some I had it as a gift,
lottery or another, once at least’. The way in which this I didn’t feel much while using it,
statement, which is clearly an assumption, is presented as in fact I think I’d have liked to be more excited.
a fact, shows the nature of the caller. It seemed gentle on the hands
The interesting thing here is that all lotteries operate but left an embarrassing deposit behind.
using the fact that when people buy tickets, most people It was not economical
will not earn anything, and so the company will make and I have used much more than I thought
enough money to pay the winners and still make a profit. (I suppose I have about half left
With a business model like this, there are no revenue but it’s difficult to tell)—
sources, and only costs. This is a definite marker that the although the instructions are fairly large
caller is not who they claim to be, and, at the very least, there are so many of them
they do not actually intend to give the speaker any money. I don’t know which to follow, especially
Them calling the winner the ‘lucky person’ shows how as they seem to contradict each other.
some of the best experiences of life often come out of I’m not sure such a thing
luck. should be put in the way of children—
The speaker starts believing the claims of the caller, as It’s difficult to think of a purpose
they say, ‘Well, that’s incredible’ and call the system for it. One of my friends says
‘marvellous’. it’s just to keep its maker in a job.
Also the price is much too high.
WWW.ZNOTES.ORG
Things are piling up so fast, The word ‘gift’ also has connotations of celebration and
after all, the world got by happiness, and it is an indication of how life is something
for thousand million years which should be cherished and not taken for granted.
without this, do we need it now? The speaker continues, saying that thay ‘didn’t feel much
(Incidentally, please ask your man while using it’. This is a reference to how life, for the most
to stop calling me ‘the respondent’, part, is dull and lacking any excitement.
I don’t like the sound of it.) The speaker says that they would have ‘liked to me more
There seems to be a lot of different labels, excited’, and this echoes the views of many people, all of
sizes and colours should be uniform, whom believe that there should be more excitement in
the shape is awkward, it’s waterproof life.
but not heat resistant, it doesn’t keep The speaker states that it ‘seemed gentle on the hands’.
yet it’s very difficult to get rid of: This is a reference to how life seems gentle and simple in
whenever they make it cheaper they tend one’s childhood.
to put less in—if you say you don’t The word ‘seemed’ implies that this is not actually a case,
want it, then it’s delivered anyway. and acts as a reference to the fact that this simplicity of
I’d agree it’s a popular product, life fades away as one enters adulthood.
it’s got into the language; people The speaker explains that life has ‘left an embarrassing
even say they’re on the side of it. deposit behind’. The ‘embarrassing deposit’ being
Personally I think it’s overdone, referred to here is a metaphor for all of the embarrassing
a small thing people are ready memories that one makes as they live through life.
to behave badly about. I think These being described as a ‘deposit’ is representative of
we should take it for granted. If its the human tendency to take longer to forget very
experts are called philosophers or market embarrassing moments in life.
researchers or historians, we shouldn’t They continue by saying that life is not ‘economical’, and
care. We are the consumers and the last follow this up by saying that they ‘have used up much
law makers. So finally, I’d buy it. more than [they] thought’. This is once again a reminder
But the question of a ‘best buy’ to the reader to not take life for granted, as it is very
I’d like to leave until I get difficult to tell how much of one’s life one ends up using up
the competitive product you said you’d send. in the pursuit of useless activities.
The speaker here also estimates how much time they
11.2. Overview have left to use, by saying that they suppose they have
‘about half left, but it’s difficult to tell’, which is a reference
Structure: 51 lines, 2 stanzas to how one can never know when they will die, and that it
Themes: is important to enjoy life as much as possible in the short
Irony of Life span of time that one does have.
Inevitability of Life and Death The speaker says that the ‘instructions’ for life are ‘fairly
Life as the only Constant large’ and there are ‘so many of them’. This shows how
The poem in its entirety functions as an extended there are so many rules in life, both written and unwritten.
metaphor. The product being described throughout the It is a reference to the complicated social structure and
poem is life, and the ‘consumers’ of the product are all rules of conduct while have been built up over
living humans. generations.
The speaker explains that they ‘don’t know which to follow,
especially as they seem to contradict each other’. This
11.3. Stanza 1 shows the confusing nature of life, and how it is important
for one to figure out what morals and rules are important
The poem begins with the first stanza. This stanza is a
to follow for oneself.
short three-line affair, and it acts as a sort of header for
The speaker’s next statement is ironic, as they say that
the speaker’s ‘review’ of the product of ‘Life’.
they do not believe that life should ‘be put in the way of
Whom they are addressing when they say that they have
children’. This can also be interpreted as a reference to
‘completed the form you sent me’ is ambiguous, but it can
how children should not be made to have to deal with the
be interpreted as a reference to God.
serious aspects of life, and implies that children should be
allowed to enjoy themselves without excess pressure.
11.4. Stanza 2 They say that it is ‘difficult to think of a purpose’, which
represents how it is often difficult for one to understand
The second stanza is where the review of Life begins. The what one wishes to achieve in life.
speaker states that they ‘had it as a gift’. This is a The speaker states that the ‘price’ of life is ‘much too high’,
metaphorical reference to how one does not pick to be which is a reference to how life comes with its problems
born - it is not a choice. and issues.
WWW.ZNOTES.ORG
The speaker states that the ‘world got by for a thousand beside a river in Switzerland
million years’ without life, and questions whether it truly is
necessary now. This can be interpreted as a reference to Stanza 3
the negative impact which us humans have had on the
planet, along with a sarcastic way for the speaker to say and from a difficult distance viewed
that the world was better off without life. her second son, balanced on a small ice flow,
The speaker talks about the lack of uniformity of life, by drift down the current toward a waterfall
saying that there are a ‘lot of different labels’. This once that struck rock bottom eighty feet below,
again reiterates one of the major themes of this poem,
which is that life is very confusing and difficult to Stanza 4
understand.
while her second daughter, impeded,
The speaker calls life’s shape ‘awkward’, saying that life is
not smooth and normal. no doubt, by the petticoats of the day,
He says that it is waterproof, which is an ironic way of stretched out a last-hope alpenstock
talking about how it does not go away very easily. (which luckily later caught him on his way).
This is reinforced by him saying that it is ‘very difficult to
get rid off’. Stanza 5
He talks about how the value of life seems to be going
Nothing, it was evident, could be done;
down with time.
And with the artist's isolating eye
He says that life is ‘delivered anyway’ even if one does not
My great-great-grandmother hastily sketched the scene.
want it, once again re-iterating that life is not a choice.
The sketch survives to prove the story by.
He says that people ‘say they’re on the side’ of life, which
talks about how people often opt to do evil things in the
Stanza 6
name of sustaining their own life.
They say that it’s ‘overdone’ and that people ‘should take it Year, if you have no Mother's day present planned,
for granted’. This shows how he believes that people Reach back and bring me the firmness of her hand.
should just enjoy life, instead of trying to fuss about
sustaining their lives for as long as possible.
The speaker says that the opinions of ‘philosophers or 12.2. Overview
market researchers or historians’ are irrelevant, and that
Structure: 22 lines, 6 stanzas
each and every person has the right to live life in
Themes:
whatever way they want to.
Eternal Nature of Art
He concludes his review by saying that he would ‘buy it’,
Double Standards of Society
which is his way of getting across that life is worth it, and
should not be discarded. Strength of the Mind
Motherhood
The poem ends on a humorous note, with the speaker
saying that he would leave the ‘question of a best buy"‘
until he gets a ‘competitive product’. 12.3. Stanza 1
The poem begins with the speaker directly addressing ‘the
12. Request to a Year - Judith year’, asking if it ‘is meditating a suitable gift’. This is the
speaker using the literary technique known as
Wright ‘apostrophe’, which is when a speaker directly addresses
or attempts to converse with someone, or something,
which does not exist or is not present there.
12.1. Poem The reason why the speaker believes that the year may
be meditating on a gift for her is left ambiguous for the
Stanza 1
time being, and it draws the reader in, intriguing them.
If the year is meditating a suitable gift, This also acts as personification and metaphor.
The speaker then states that she ‘should like it to be the
I should like it to be the attitude
attitude of [her] great-great-grandmother’. The phrase
of my great- great- grandmother,
‘should like it’ indicates a firmness of will, and indicates
legendary devotee of the arts,
how much the speaker strives to be like her great-great-
grandmother.
Stanza 2
It is interesting that the speaker seems to admire and
who having eight children know much about a woman that she has never actually
and little opportunity for painting pictures, met.
sat one day on a high rock
WWW.ZNOTES.ORG
She goes on to describe her great-great-grandmother as was ‘impeded’ by ‘petticoats’ shows how women were
a ‘legendary devotee of the art’. This, and the previous shackled and restricted in what they could do in society at
line, is indicative of one of the biggest themes of this that time.
poem - the importance and eternal nature of art. An alpenstock is something which is typically used to allow
Despite having died a very long time ago, the great-great- people to balance themselves, and the fact that it was
grandmother’s legacy still lives on in her art. used to help the son is ironic, as it did, in fact, allow him to
regain his balance.
12.4. Stanza 2 The speaker concludes this story, and this sentence, by
saying, ‘(which luckily later caught him on his way) ’. The
The second stanza begins with enjambment, as its first usage of brackets shows how the emphasis of the story is
line continues the sentence that was still incomplete in the not on the actual events, but on what the grandmother
last line of the first stanza. This shows the fluidity of the saw.
speaker’s thoughts, and how she has clearly thought
about this before, and knows what to say. 12.7. Stanza 5
She says that her great-great-grandmother ‘had eight
children’. This introduces another theme of the poem, The fifth stanza is back to the great-great-grandmother,
which is motherhood. and we are informed that it was ‘evident’ that ‘nothing ’
By stating that the grandmother had so many children, ‘could be done’. This shows the rationality that the great-
the speaker sets up the next line of the poem, which great-grandmother, and this is furthered by the fact that
informs the reader that the great-great-grandmother had, instead of panicking, she remained calm.
therefore, ‘little opportunity for painting pictures’. This She instead, ‘with the artist’s isolating eye’ (which brings
shows how she had the will to paint, but did not have the back the theme of art), ‘sketched the scene’. It shows how
time. the great-great-grandmother took every opportunity
It is a representation of how societal obligations often possible to pursue her art, and shows the power that art
tend to oppress artistic tendencies. holds.
The speaker then describes the setting of the events The speaker ends this stanza by saying that ‘the sketch
which she is going to describe in the rest of the poem, by survives to prove the story by’. This returns back to the
saying that her great-great-grandmother ‘sat one day on fact that art is eternal and has a longer legacy than
a high rock / beside a river in Switzerland’. This allows the anything else.
reader to visualise the scene better.
12.8. Stanza 6
12.5. Stanza 3
The speaker ends by saying that the reason why she
The speaker continues with enjambement in the third wants a present is because it is Mother’s day, and that she
stanza, stating that her great-great-grandmother ‘from a wishes the ‘firmness of her hand’. This acts as a fitting
difficult distance viewed / her second son’. The word conclusion to the poem.
‘difficult’ shows how the distance was very large, and also
shows how the distance made her feel very helpless.
The speaker continues by saying that the son was 13. On Finding a Small Fly
‘balanced on a small ice-floe’ and that he was lifting ‘down
the current towards a waterfall / that struck rock-bottom Crushed in a Book - Charles
eighty feet below’. Here, the speaker creates a feeling of
urgency and fear, by clearly outlining the peril which the Tennyson Turner
son faced.
Also, the detailed way in which the speaker is able to
13.1. Poem
describe this scene once again re-iterates the fact that art
is eternal, and leaves a very long legacy behind. Some hand, that never meant to do thee hurt,
Has crush'd thee here between these pages pent;
12.6. Stanza 4 But thou hast left thine own fair monument,
Thy wings gleam out and tell me what thou wert:
The fourth stanza also continues the same sentence that Oh! that the memories, which survive us here,
was started in the very first line of the poem, using Where half as lovely as these wings of thine!
enjambement. Pure relics of a blameless life, that shine
The speaker goes on to finish the story, by saying that the Now thou art gone. Our doom is ever near:
great-great-grandmother’s second daughter, ‘impeded, The peril is beside us day by day;
no doubt, by the petticoats of the day’, extended a ‘last- The book will close upon us, it may be,
hope alpenstock’ to her brother.The fact that the daughter Just as we lift ourselves to soar away
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Upon the summer-airs. But, unlike thee, The fly’s wings, something which would typically be
The closing book may stop our vital breath, overlooked due to their minuscule nature, are being
Yet leave no lustre on our page of death. played up and described by beautiful in the poem. This
shows both the speaker’s attention to detail, and how
13.2. Overview one’s legacy is often different from what one would expect
it to be.
Structure: 14 lines, 1 stanza The speaker continues by calling the wings ‘pure relics of
Themes a blameless life’. The words ‘pure’ and ‘blameless’ both
Death create an image that the fly lived a perfect and pure life,
Legacy without having ever done anything wrong.
History The speaker here is saying that the way for one to leave
It follows a ABABCDDCEFEFGG rhyme scheme, which can behind a legacy as beautiful and prominent as the fly’s is
be taken as alternative sonnet form. to live such a ‘pure’ and ‘blameless’ life.
The word ‘relics’ shows how the speaker finds these wings
to be much like artifacts. The word ‘relics’ is often used in
13.3. Analysis a historical/archeological context, and its use reiterates
the theme of legacy and history.
The poem is made up of only a single stanza. This
The speaker simply states, ‘thou art gone’, and the plain
represents of both death and life are final, and how they
way in which this is stated shows how death is final.
only happen once. Once life ends, it is over forever, much
The speaker states that ‘our death is ever near’, and the
like the single stanza of this poem.
extremely simple way in which they state this shows the
The poem is entirely an extended metaphor. It is a
inevitability of death.
representation of death, and the legacy which one leaves
They state that ‘the book will close upon us, it may be’,
behind in death.
which is a euphemistic and metaphoric reference to
The speaker begins by directly addressing the fly, which is
death, and to the ‘pages’ of history.
an example of apostrophe, which is when a speaker
The speaker states that unlike the fly, the ‘closing book
directly addresses or attempts to converse with someone,
may stop our vital beach, yet leave no lustre on our page
or something, which does not exist or is not present there.
of death’. This once again uses a euphemism to describe
The speaker tell the fly that ‘some hand, that never meant
death, but follows it up with directly mentioning it in the
to do thee hurt, has crushed thee here between these
very same sentence.
pages pent’. The trivial way in which the speaker says
The poem ends with the conclusion that not everyone is
‘some hand’ is indicative of the speaker’s belief that the
like the fly, and not everyone lives the same ‘blameless’
method of death here was irrelevant, and this is furthered
and ‘pure’ life. It concludes that for many people, when
by the speaker saying that it ‘never meant to do thee hurt’.
they die, they will not leave much of a legacy behind.
The word ‘crush’ had a negative and brutal connotation,
and its usage is representative of the harshness of the
fly’s death. 14. Ozymandias - Percy
The usage of the word ‘pent’ shows how the fly is trapped
in the pages, and how it cannot leave. Bysshe Shelley
Here, the ‘pages’ are an extended metaphor for history.
The speaker says that the fly has left a ‘fair monument’ in
the forms of its ‘wings’ which ‘gleam out and tell me what 14.1. Poem
thou wert’. This continues on with the extended metaphor
of the pages being history. I met a traveller from an antique land,
The ‘monument’ and ‘wings’ here are a metaphor for one’s Who said—“Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
legacy, and this is strengthened by the fact that the wings Stand in the desert. . . . Near them, on the sand,
tell the speaker what the fly was. This shows how the Half sunk a shattered visage lies, whose frown,
legacy one leaves behind is representative of who one is And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command,
as a person. Tell that its sculptor well those passions read
The speaker expresses their wish to be like the fly. They Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,
say that they wish that ‘the memories’ which ‘survive’ them The hand that mocked them, and the heart that fed;
are ‘half as lovely as these wings of thine’. This once again And on the pedestal, these words appear:
furthers the theme of death and legacy that is prevalent in My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings;
this poem, and reiterates the metaphor of the wings being Look on my Works, ye Mighty, and despair!
compared to the fly’s legacy. Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
The speaker is attempting to say that our true legacy is Of that colossal Wreck, boundless and bare
the memory of us which others hold in their minds. The lone and level sands stretch far away.”
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the ‘sculptor well those passions read, which yet survive,

14.2. Overview
stamped on these lifeless things’. It shows how the
Structure: 14 lines, 1 stanza sculptor was able to accurately identify the core values of
who Ozymandias was as a person, and consequently, was
Themes
able to imbue them onto the state.
Arrogance
The usage of the word ‘survive’ is contrasted with the
Power
Eternal Nature of Art destruction of Ozymandias’ empire, and it shows how, in a
way, the sculptor is a greater man than Ozymandias, for
Legacy and Time
he was the one that was responsible for defining his
The poem is a Petrarchan sonnet, but its rhyme scheme
legacy.
varies slightly from the traditional sonnet form.
The speaker states that Ozymandias had a ‘hand that
This is metaphorically representative of the corruption of
authority or lawmakers in society.
mocked them’ and a ‘heart that fed’. This shows the duality
of his nature, but also serves as a reminder that only
one’s negative qualities are remembered as one’s legacy,
14.3. Analysis as indicated by the fact that all that can be made out
about Ozymandias from the statue is that he is a cold
The poem begins with the speaker telling the reader a tyrannic ruler.
story.
Ozymandias’ egotistical nature is elaborated on further,
The first line is mysterious and ambiguous. The speaker through the speaker informing the reader of what the
states that they ‘met a traveller from an antique land’. This traveler claimed was written on the pedestal of the statue.
is a highly confusing and ambiguous statement, and it On the pedestal, Ozymandias declared himself the ‘king of
leaves many questions to be answered. kings’ and said, ‘Look on my works, ye Mighty, and
For example, has the traveller just journeyed through an
despair’. However, these ‘works’ that are referenced here
‘antique land’, or do they originate from such a place”? The no longer exist, as indicated by the speaker stating that
ambiguity of this statement creates an air of intrigue. ‘Nothing beside remains’.
The speaker then retells what this traveller told him. He This shows how it never serves well to be proud and
states that ‘two vast and trunkless legs of stone stand in egotistical, as all the reasons one has to be proud
the desert’. This is a slightly confusing line itself. Are the eventually fade away as time goes on.
‘legs of stone’ here metaphorical, or are they actual The speaker concludes by stating that ‘Round the decay of
statues of legs? that colossal wreck, boundless and bare the lone and level
The word ‘trunkless’ means that the torso and body of the sands stretch far away’. The word ‘decay’ emphasises the
statue was missing, and can be indicative of how the
state of ruin of the statue, and the word ‘colossal’
speaker finds Ozymandias to be heartless and cruel in emphasises the scale of the statue.
nature. The final statement is ominous, and shows how
However, the speaker clears up the antiquity by saying Ozymandias’ empire is all but gone, and that all that
that ‘Near them, on the sand, half sunk a shattered visage remains is just sand.
lies’.
The words ‘half sunk’ introduces one of the most
important themes of the poem, which is legacy and time. 15. Away, Melancholy - Stevie
The face is half-buried in the sand, and it is implied that
given more time, it will disappear completely, much like Smith
the rest of the statue must have.
The word ‘shattered’ is a metaphorical representation of
how Ozymandias’ legacy and image has been destroyed, 15.1. Poem
and how none of it still stands today.
The speaker then describes the ‘visage’, saying that it has Stanza 1
a ‘frown’, a ‘wrinkled lip’, and a ‘sneer of cold command’.
The fact that these details are still visible, despite all the
Away, melancholy,
memory of Ozymandias and his empire being lost, is Away with it, let it go.
Shelley’s way of commenting on the eternal nature of art,
and the way in which the negative qualities of one’s being
Stanza 2
tend to last longer than the positives.
Are not the trees green,
The description gives the image that Ozymandias prided
The earth as green?
himself on being a man with absolute power, and gives
Does not the wind blow,
the image that he held a lot of pride as the leader of his
Fire leap and the rivers flow?
civilisation.
Away melancholy.
The traveler’s attention, and consequently the speaker’s
attention, turns to the sculptor of the statue. He says that
Stanza 3
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The ant is busy

15.2. Overview
He carrieth his meat,
All things hurry Structure: 48 lines, 9 stanzas
To be eaten or eat.
Themes:
Away, melancholy.
Nature
Life
Stanza 4 God
Goodness of Mankind
Man, too, hurries,
The poem does not follow a fixed rhyme scheme. Instead,
Eats, couples, buries,
Smith chooses to randomly change its rhyme and meter
He is an animal also
throughout the poem, showing the speaker’s changing
With a hey ho melancholy,
lines of thought
Away with it, let it go.
Stanza 5 15.3. Analysis

Man of all creatures The poem begins with the titular phrase ‘Away
Is superlative melancholy’, and this is follow up with ‘Away with it, let it
(Away melancholy) go’. These lines are repeated all throughout the poem,
He of all creatures alone and form the backbone of its structure. They are repeated
Raiseth a stone in order to show how the speaker wants to get rid of their
(Away melancholy) sadness and ‘melancholy’, and they help to reiterate the
Into the stone, the god themes of the poem in each stanza, which are, despair
Pours what he knows of good and hope.
Calling, good, God. The poem then truly begins, with the speaker asking, ‘Are
Away melancholy, let it go. not the trees green, / The art as green?’. This rhetorical
question can be interpreted as a reference to
Stanza 6 environmental damage, and how humans have had an
impact on the greenness of the earth.
Speak not to me of tears, The speaker continues by saying, ‘Does the wind not blow,
Tyranny, pox, wars, / Fire leap and the rivers flow?’. All of these different
Saying, Can God references to the many different characteristics of nature
Stone of man's thoughts, be good? act as a way for the speaker to address that nature is
Say rather it is enough constant in life, and how nature is a reminder that life has
That the stuffed some normality to it.
Stone of man's good, growing, This stanza ends with the titular statement being
By man's called God. reiterated.
Away, melancholy, let it go. The next stanza focuses on the metaphor of an ant, and
the ant is compared to man, and is used as another way
Stanza 7 to describe the repetitive and simple way in which the
natural world operates.
Man aspires The speaker states that ‘The ant is busy’. This is a
To good, reference to how ants are symbolic of working, and this is
To love shown due to the fact that being ‘busy’ is something often
Sighs; associated with ants.
We are told that the ant carries ‘his meat, all things hurry’.
Stanza 8 This shows the hurried yet repetitive lifestyle of the ant.
The speaker then says, ‘To be eaten or eat’. This is a
Beaten, corrupted, dying
reference to the metaphorical circle of life, and how in this
In his own blood lying
world, nature keeps moving. One must either eat, or be
Yet heaves up an eye above
eaten oneself.
Cries, Love, love.
This explains all of the references to hurry and business,
It is his virtue needs explaining,
as the speaker is attempting to say here that there is no
Not his failing.
point in staying upset and still when the world and nature
is going to keep moving on anyways.
Stanza 9
The stanza ends with a reiteration of ‘Away, melancholy’.
Away, melancholy, The next stanza compares man to an ant, by saying that
Away with it, let it go ‘Man, too, hurries, eats, couples, buries’. This shows the
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depression and despair of the speaker - she sees to be transition of the poem from one that is generic, to one
disturbed by this, and by comparing humans to ants, that has a highly religiously and spiritually motivated tone,
seems to be attempting to stay that humans are and shows how the speaker feels like God helps lift her
meaningless and their importance is miniscule. out of her despair and depression.
The speaker continues by saying that man ‘is an animal They call God ‘good’, reiterating this idea.
also’, showing their belief that humans, too, follow the The speaker asks the reader to ‘speak not to me of tears,
basic repetitiveness and simplicity of the natural lifestyle tyranny, pox, war’, showing how she does not wish to
of an animal. believe that God could ever do anything wrong.
The speaker says, ‘with a hey ho melancholy’, which is the The speaker holds the belief that God is good, and does
speaker saying that man possesses more melancholy not want this to be questioned.
than other animals, which sets them apart. The usage of first person in this shows how the speaker is
Repetition of one of the key two repeated lines occurs finally voicing her own ideals and beliefs in the poem.
again at the end of this stanza. The speaker continues by saying that even though God is
The speaker continues to say that ‘Man of all creatures is ‘stone of man’s thought’, he is good, and that is what she
superlative’, which is in contrast to the way in which wants to believe.
humans are portrayed as meaningless through their The speaker says that humanity was made good, by
comparison to ants earlier on in the poem. saying that god is the ‘stone of man’s good’, and that
This stanza is different from the ones that came before it. humanity made a good god, saying, ‘man’s called god’.
Every two lines are interposed with ‘(Away melancholy) ’, The speaker states that ‘Man aspires to good, to love’,
which shows how the topic of depression and despair is showing the speaker’s belief that humans are pure at
on the speaker’s mind, and which also shows how she do heart, and how they were created to be good.
not wish to think negative thoughts. The speaker sighs, showing how they feel like are at
This stanza comes off as the speaker trying to convince peace.
herself to put away her negativity and embrace the many They conclude the poem by saying that even when
positives of being a human. humans are ‘beaten, corrupted, dying in his own blood
The speaker states that ‘He of all creatures alone raiseth lying ’, they cry ‘love, love’. The usage of highly negative
a stone’, where ‘stone’ is a metaphor for what man is words, which are contrasted with the hopeful tone, shows
capable of building and creating. the darkness of life.
The speaker states, ‘Into the stone, the god pours what he Despite all of the negativity of life, humanity lives on, stays
knows of good calling good, God’. The utilisation of both hopeful, and stays good.
lowercase and uppercase for the word ‘god’ shows the
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CAIE IGCSE
Literature in English
Copyright 2023 by ZNotes

These notes have been created by Aaryan Mehta for the 2023-2025 syllabus
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English Literature 0475 Theory

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ZNOTES.

UPDATED TO 2023-2025 SYLLABUS

is the ‘rational whine of a power mower / cutting a straight other structures.

The final stanza is a short couplet, which summarizes

2.4. Stanza 2 2.5. Stanza 3

Stanza 6 themselves from external stimuli. This shows the impact

the ‘sculptor well those passions read, which yet survive,

The ant is busy

Stanza 5 15.3. Analysis

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