Continuum by Allen Curnow Analysis

Continuum (noun): anything that goes through a gradual transition from one condition to a different condition, without any abrupt changes or discontinuities
Allen Curnow's Continuum is a poem on the continuity of poetic inspiration. The poetic source of stimulation of great poets since ages has been the landscape. The moon has been a persistent metaphor for poetic inspiration in celebrated poems like Samuel Coleridges Dejection: An Ode. The poets quality of being a satirist is prominent here. He first asserts that the moon rolls over the roof, and falls back. The first stanza of the poem sets up the dichotomy between the rational and irrational worlds of the narrator. The moon rolls over the roof and falls behind my house is clearly a free imaginative view of the night sky. However, the poet is quick to counter this with the rational logical thought the moon does neither of these things. The poet, in describing the moon rolling and falling is describing himself: I am talking about myself. He is unable to compose poetry, and is thus in a sense rolling and falling all over the place. Its not possible to get off to sleep, suggests the narrator cannot tap into the poetic world of the imagination. He cannot escape the subject or the planet and cannot think thoughts. As a result he is unable to write poetry. He looks towards Nature for inspiration, and all that comes with Nature freedom and irrationality. This is stressed further by "better barefoot it out front" which suggests freedom and spontaneity. Being outside, he can think freely without restraint. The third stanza then reflects on the limitations of the rational world. The narrator looks across the privets which suggests dense hedges, suburbia, and compartmentalisation. This rationality seems to be clouding his mind the suburbia is not wonderful and irrational, but rather it is a washed out creation something bland and overused. It is ultimately described as a dark place. In the line bright clouds dusted (query) by the moon, the poet seems uncertain about the images he is creating: query. The image of the moon dusting the clouds is absolutely mesmerising but for the poet it is unchartered territory, for he is finally creating beautiful poetry which is not exactly rational or concrete. The line A long moment stretches, the next one is not is particularly interesting the long vowel sounds of the first phrase are countered by the monosyllabic words of the second phrase. This creates the feeling of drifting into a dream, but then being brought sharply back to reality with the short abrupt words. The poet momentarily enters the imaginative world of irrational thought, but shortly afterwards is brought back to harsh reality. As the poem reaches a conclusion, the sky is described as having a moment of catharsis: for its part the night sky empties the whole of its contents down. The heavens above and Nature are truly showering inspiration and wonder upon the poet now that he is free outside amongst Nature. However, when the narrator goes "back to bed," he must close the door behind on the author, leaving his deep irrational poetic self, or even soul behind with nature. This is further suggested by the limited, uniform and rational words used as he returns to bed paces back to bed and in step. Continuum, on the surface is about writers block, but on a deeper level there is a

battle between rationality and irrational thought. The poet looks towards Nature for inspiration for his poetry and finds that the natural world allows his irrational mind to play around with various ideas. The only real coherent logically structured writing in this poem is at the beginning, at which point he has not as yet entered the natural world of irrationality. The message is ultimately that in order to create poetry, one must go beyond the rational reasoning and enter the imaginative world of irrationality a world which is inexplicably connected with Nature.

Horses by Edwin Muir Analysis

In the poem Horses, the poet expresses the power and majesty of nature through the description of a childhood memory. This is shown through quotations of the poets nostalgic thoughts; the horses seen through the eyes of a young boy; their hooves like pistons, conquering, and great hulks. Here, the poet uses a mechanical metaphor, comparing the horses power to that of a car engine. This is effective, as then the reader is able to visualize and sense the physical power of the animal. Moreover, the dictation of the words seraphim and gold enables the reader to discern the strong presence and value in nature. However, the horses are also described as being mute, ecstatic monsters on the mould. This oxymoron presents the horses as being deadly, yet happy, suggesting more to its significance, leading the reader to think deeper of the poets message; the idea of reducing nature as our lives become mechanical, followed by the unveiling of the his hatred for modernization. This aspect of the poem is also hinted at by the use of mould, an indication of our increasingly repetitive, monotonous lives as we are constantly being moulded by our surroundings. This therefore foreshadows the rest of the poem. Furthermore, nearing the end of the poem, the poet starts to reveal the darker side of nature, and loss of hope, through several negative connotations: the horses smouldering bodies, gleaming with a cruel apocalyptic light. Through these biblical references to Hell, we feel the poets intense emotions towards the arrival of evil, nearing apocalypse, and his world forever fading into darkness. This is especially effective, as through the poets strong emotions, the subject is made personal, allowing the reader to reflect on not only the poets message, but also himself as an individual. The poem fractures subsequently, the darkening tone now more evident as the poet dictates his realization of the faded nature and loss of its presence. He then explains the reason through crystalline, black field and still-standing tree; metaphors for his frozen memory and fading life as the world continues to become more artificial, followed by the death of his childhood. The poet has shown his strong feelings of anger and hopelessness towards the aftermath of human actions on nature towards through the depiction of nostalgic experiences as well as the non-presence of nature. This, as well as the clear element of time in the poem, has helped make it a lot more personal, allowing the reader to relate to and thus have a better understanding of the subject, contributing to its effectiveness.

A Different History by Sujata Bhatt

This poem is written by Sujata Bhatt who emigrated from India. This poem is about the British Colonization in India and importance of religions and culture in India. There are 2 separated parts in the story where there are 2 different themes and different moods. Cultural difference, importance of language, lost identities (souls), Indian traditions are the most important themes. The poet used free verse, repeated words and questions to make the poem stronger. In the first part, the poet tries to say the life should be free in India. She explains how we should treat books and respect them. This part explains how religions are important in India. Almost every object is sacred like trees and the gods can roam freely which tells the reader about the freedom in India. Also Bhatt says that without disturbing Sarasvati (goddess of knowledge), without offending the tree we should learn how to turn pages gently. It means that religion and knowledge are both very important. The mood of this part is hopeful and the tone is respectful and welcoming. Unfortunately, everything will change in the second part. In the second part, the poet complains about the British Colonization. She focuses on importance of language and how British took their language, knowledge and identities. The oppressors tongue which means England tried to kill their language and souls. There is an angry tone in this part and the mood is hopeless and fearful. Bhatt describes the process of the colonization and effects about language and future. She explains how British invasion took their identities with a scythe. Finally, Bhatt mentions unborn grandchildren will love that strange language as their own language.

Pied Beauty by Gerald Manley Hopkins

The speaker says we should glorify God because he has given us dappled, spotted, freckled, checkered, speckled, things. (This poem says "dappled" in a lot of different ways.) The speaker goes on to give examples. We should praise God because of the skies with two colors, like a two-colored cow. And the little reddish dots on the side of trout. And the way fallen chestnuts look like red coals in a fire. And the blended colors of the wings of a finch (a kind of bird). And landscapes divided up by humans into plots for farming. And for all the different jobs that humans do. In short, the speaker thinks we should praise God for everything that looks a bit odd or unique, everything that looks like it doesn't quite fit in with the rest. All these beautiful, mixed-up, ever-changing things were created or "fathered" by a God who never changes. The speaker sums up what he believes should be our attitude in a brief, final line: "Praise Him."