Compare the way in which poets create a threatening or menacing
atmosphere in four poems. Write about Salome by Carol Ann Duffy and
compare it with one poem from Simon Armitage and two from the pre 1914
bank.
The poem ‘Salome’, by Carol Ann Duffy, is written in the first person,
seemingly from the perspective of a woman given indicators such as the
fact that the person has been involved intimately with a man; ‘the
reddish beard’. The first three lines of the poem, all of which uses
enjambment, only come to make sense as the poem is read, meaningless
on their own. Carol Ann Duffy then immediately establishes an ominous
ambience to the poem with the line ‘woke up…head…beside me’. The odd
singularity of the head being mentioned by itself, as opposed to a
body or person suggests that perhaps the head is indeed detached from
its body, a suggestion that is later confirmed.
The first stanza focuses upon the apparent victim and the speaker’s
reaction and opinion of him. Lines such as ‘What did it matter?’ and
‘What was his name?’ create a flippant nonchalance to the speaker in a
chilling manner as, far from feeling remorse for these appalling and
condemnable actions, she clearly feels very little, appearing
indifferent. Words used such as ‘colder’ and ‘dry’ further establish a
menacing atmosphere, and Carol Ann Duffy introduces very contemporary
ideas and slang to the poem, such as cigarettes, and expressions such
as ‘turf out’, ‘booze’ and ‘ain’t life a bitch’. There are internal
rhymes throughout the stanzas, all with words with the suffix ‘-er’;
for example, ‘butter’, ‘clatter’, ‘clutter’, ‘patter’ and ‘batter’ –
all words that appear in the second stanza. Along with the general
tone of the speaker, these ...
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...n a way that does
not match the previous speakers makes the poem less threatening when
compared to, for example, ‘Salome’. The speaker in ‘The Laboratory’ is
much more visibly unbalanced, entering into a ‘black humour’ category
along with ‘Salome’ because of its rhyming scheme. The poem’s rhyming
scheme further backs this idea; the rhythm of the poem, ‘they know…
what they do’ creates a lighter effect. This indicates that Browning
intended to the poem to be more comic then horrific as it so
outrageous, especially in comparison to the quite, subdued
ruthlessness of the speaker in ‘My Last Duchess’ and ‘Salome’. The
poem creates a vaguely menacing atmosphere in its topic, premeditated
murder, but the way in it is written makes it very different from the
other three, which are much darker and far more threatening in the
atmosphere they create for the reader.
Humor and Irony are a unique combinations Collins displays in many of his poems, challenging the readers to interpret his work in different perspectives. In “Introduction to Poetry,” Collins offers a witty comparison between the definition of poetry and various other experiments. He asks the reader to “hold [the poem] up to the light/ like a color slide” (1-3), “press an ear against its hive” (4), “drop a mouse into a poem” (5), “walk inside the poem's room” (7), and “waterski across the surface of a poem” (9-10). Rather than stiffly explaining the definition of a poem, he finds creative and humorous approaches to explain his methods of enjoying the poems, and promote the readers’ interest towards discovering the true meaning of poetry. Just as the surrounding would seem different through color slides, he asks the readers to see the world in diverse viewpoints while reading and writing poems. Moreover, by listening to poem’s hive, dropping a mouse, and walking inside its room, Collins encourages readers to discover the concealed depth of poetry. He comments ...
if it is going to glorify the war and all the people who fought for
The third poem I chose was ‘The man he killed’ which is about a man
Poe and Byron are masterful at using vivid, descriptive language to develop the element of Gothic literature and instill a sense of fear in the reader. In the two pieces of writing the authors used the elements of Gothic literature to pull the fear from the deepest parts of your heart and use first person narration to trap the audience in fear and see inside the minds of both a prisoner and a killer.
Not only the words, but the figures of speech and other such elements are important to analyzing the poem. Alliteration is seen throughout the entire poem, as in lines one through four, and seven through eight. The alliteration in one through four (whisky, waltzing, was) flows nicely, contrasting to the negativity of the first stanza, while seven through eight (countenance, could) sound unpleasing to the ear, emphasizing the mother’s disapproval. The imagery of the father beating time on the child’s head with his palm sounds harmful, as well as the image of the father’s bruised hands holding the child’s wrists. It portrays the dad as having an ultimate power over the child, instead of holding his hands, he grabs his wrists.
hesis: Spiteful diction is used when describing the speaker’s life, however the tone shifts to something more positive when speaker is describing the story of the man who decides to lead a nomadic life. Although the speaker glorifies the story of man who gave up everything and left, the speaker in the end admits comfort in the security of his established life, suggesting that the uncertainty of a choice can hold a person back from making it, even though it may, in the end, benefit them.
Did you know that there are many different types of grasses.But today we are going to compare the difference between Native grasses and invasive grasses today we are going to be comparing Cortaderia jubata witch is the invasive grass and the native grass we are going to be using is Calamagrostis foliosa.To further explain invasive species are non-native to the area that they are now living in now this is usually caused by humans . Then with native species they are indigenous to a region through a natural process with no human intervention.
The ironic use of rhyme and meter, or the lack thereof, is one of the devices Larkin uses to emphasize his need to break out of industrial society. The typical rhyme scheme is not followed, but instead an ironic rhyme scheme is used in the sonnet in the form of abab cdcd efg efg. Larkin writes this poem as a sonnet but at the same time diverges from what a typical sonnet is supposed to be. He is commenting on society’s inclination to form restrictions on those within it. By writing out of the accepted form of a sonnet, his writing becomes more natural because of a lack of constraints due to following certain rules and fitting a certain form. He breaks free and writes as he pleases and does not conform to society. Just as with the rhyme, ...
The character he uses is a bitter and a crazy women who has been replaced by her husband by two other girls. Throughout the poem we can see she was furious when she was betrayed and since then she wanted to take her revenge by poisoning the two girls at the king’s palace where her ex-husband can see their dying faces. “Grind away, moisten and mash up thy paste.” the phrase 'Grind away' uses imperative verbs to shows the woman's eagerness for the chemist to make the poison and for it to be all perfect. Browning brings the description alive by using alliteration in the phrases 'moisten and mash' and 'Pound at thy powder'. This shows us that the narrator is not in a hurry and says she would rather watch the making of the poison than be dancing at the King's court, moreover the strong use of imperative verbs highlights that she is paranoid and impatient to seek revenge and she wants the poison to be passionate so it can reflect her ferocious intention towards the women. The use of imperative words shows she is very persuasive and she can enhance the way they act while they are making the poison and shows her passion and dignity to kill the women who ruined her life. She is clearly a proud women and is utterly outraged that she has been ‘betrayed’ her in this manner; the emotive metaphor “let death be felt” indicates she wants the two girls who
In “My Last Duchess,” Robert Browning puts himself in the shoes of the Duke of Ferrara and tells the tale of how his last duchess came to be upon the wall. This work would best be described as eerily dark and morbid. In short, this poem is about the Duke of Ferrara’s conversation with a servant about how he (the Duke) had grown tired of his duchess’s heart that was “too soon made glad” (line 22) and had decided to have her killed. Robert Browning’s “My Last Duchess” depicts a malicious character through the use of iambic pentameter, enjambment and dramatic monologue. These three structural elements have a close relationship with the content and are used to help the reader to better understand what is going on within the poem.
The reader can get the sense that the narrator is evil and has a dark image associated with him. The morbid tone comes from the common implementation that the narrator is committing murder. There is a dramatic tonal shift in the middle of the poem. “So, she was come through wind and rain” (Browning l. 30) is the sentence that changes the way the poem is delivered. From lines 1-30, Browning makes Porphyria the active character and he seems to write this section as a traditional romanticized love poem. In opposition, from lines 31-60 the narrator now becomes the active character and the poem is no longer a love poem, but more closely related to a tale of horror. The effect that this shift gave was how the narrator’s mentality had changed and how devious his mindset was change to. It has a strong effect on the reader because the shift drastically changes from love to death. Browning knew that the certain topic he chose to write about would create a lot of questions from readers about his mental state. Through the use of cynical words and meticulous actions, the author is able to create the morbid and malicious tone in the poem. The malicious tone comes from the fact that he intentionally hurt Porphyria for the purpose to have her all to him. The reason that the type of tone that Browning utilizes in this poem is important is because the image that he creates by the use of the tone is what he is able to convey to the reader. The dark, malicious tone is able to shock numerous readers of his time and drive them to keep reading his work out of
Throughout "My Last Duchess," Browning uses diction to further increase the haunting effect of his dramatic monologue. His precise and scattered word choice is meant to make the reader recognize the underlying haughtiness in his speech to the Count's emissary. The Duke refers to his former wife's portraits "depth" and "passion" in order to place a cloudiness over the realism of the painting. This, along with the "faint" and "half-flush" appearance that "dies along her throat," brings about an overcast appearance to the poem. The Duke's "trifling" lack of "countenance" is evident in his jealousy of
In his poem “My Last Duchess”, Robert Browning gives his readers a complex picture of his two main characters. The Duke, who narrates the poem, is the most immediately present but Browning sets him up to ultimately lose the reader’s trust. The Duchess becomes the sympathetic character, a victim of foul play. It is through the various representations of the Duchess within the poem that we come to know both characters. The representations of the Duchess, which focus on her ever-present smile and easily satisfied nature, come in sharp contrast with the desperate, sputtering language of the Duke as he tries to tell their story on his own terms. This contrast is a manifestation of the Duke's frustration with his inability to control the Duchess and her nonchalant but near-total control over him.
The consistent pattern of metrical stresses in this stanza, along with the orderly rhyme scheme, and standard verse structure, reflect the mood of serenity, of humankind in harmony with Nature. It is a fine, hot day, `clear as fire', when the speaker comes to drink at the creek. Birdsong punctuates the still air, like the tinkling of broken glass. However, the term `frail' also suggests vulnerability in the presence of danger, and there are other intimations in this stanza of the drama that is about to unfold. Slithery sibilants, as in the words `glass', `grass' and `moss', hint at the existence of a Serpent in the Garden of Eden. As in a Greek tragedy, the intensity of expression in the poem invokes a proleptic tenseness, as yet unexplained.
...and all her hair In one long yellow string I wound Three times her little throat around, And strangled her” (Browning 36-41). Here the twisted mind of Browning is shown. He takes a moment and makes it seem as if it is lovely and sweet and then unexpectedly hits you with a surprise to teach you the lesson of expecting the unexpected. Most of Browning’s works have something in common. Browning believed in recitation with states of mind and he believed in extreme states of mind. Poems that had this reoccurring theme include “Porphyria’s Lover,” “Johannes Agri-cole in Meditation,” “Soliloquy of the Spanish Choister,” and “My Last Duchess”. An example from “My Last Duchess” includes, “In speech -- (which I have not) -- to make your will Quite clear to such an one, and say, 'Just this Or that in you disgusts me; here you miss, Or there exceed the mark'” (Browning 36-39).