Analysis: A Birthday by Christina Rossetti

STRUCTURE:

2 stanzas of equal length (8 verses).

Presented in the same manner: indentations. In the first stanza, each pair of verses constitute ministanzas, that are marked by the indentation of the second line. This makes the anaphora of My
heart more visible to the eye. The author wants to make it clear that the subject is love.

It has a structure that reminds love hymns, with its regular ABCB rhyme scheme. The anaphora of
My heart and repetition of my love is come are like a chorus.

Neatly structured poem, without eccentricities, the author intends to concentrate on her love and
wants to expose it in an orderly fashion, so that everyone can understand her happiness.

STANZA 1:

The first stanza is built on a crescendo of feelings as exposes more and more amazing wonders
concluding on the idea that her love is better than all those things.

She first compares her love to a singing bird/ Whose nest is in a watered shoot. The verb singing
suggest the glee that emerges from a joyful song. It seems to be spring as the plants are still small,
just starting to grow, and the allusion to the nest suggests fertility and the comfort of a home.
Therefore the bird is singing about the joy of the season of love, the authors joy. The heart of
the author is singing this poem, it comes out of her naturally, like a hymn. The watered shoot
suggests growth, the beginning of life.

The idea of fertility is concretised by the image of an apple-tree/ Whose boughs are bent with
thickset fruit. This image is stronger than the first one as we pass from the fragility of youth evoked
by a watered shoot to a grown tree that bears ripe fruit. The word thickset evokes the idea of
abundance, joy and celebration. The profusion of fruit seems to be so grand that the branches are
bent. This image is bright as the reader pictures the juicy colourfulness of ripe apples mixed with
the leaves of the apple-tree. The word fruit gives the idea of offspring.

The next image goes from a clearly physical beauty to the intangible one of a rainbow. This seems
to be the epitome of colourfulness, a mix of all colours, the comfort that comes after the rain in the
bright light of sunshine.

a rainbow shell/ That paddles in a halcyon sea. The idyllical happiness and peace suggested by the
word halcyon seems close to ecstasy. Furthermore the word paddle suggests a gentle movement
in the sea, creating a gentle sound. This image is therefore one of absolute peace that seems
unbeatable.

My heart is gladder than all these. The author seems to be in ecstasy as her love is greater than all
these beautiful images.

The presence of both my and me in one verse shows that the poem is about the author and that
all these images are worth nothing compared to her love, they are to be forgotten, was is to be
remembered is that her love is come.

STANZA 2:

In the second stanza the author seems to be ordering around the world like a king or an emperor:
raise me, hang it, carve it, work it. The author seems to be preparing for a ceremony, a
celebration such as a birthday.

There is a collection of precious colours, purple, which is the colour of royalty, silver and gold
which are symbols of opulence.

Raise me a dais of silk and down; / Hang it with vair and purple dyes. The author seems to be
preparing an altar, and the colour purple is lain on the altar for the advent which is the wait before the
birth of Jesus. This might be a reference to a possible child on the way, maybe the author is pregnant.
Using vair shows opulence as fur is valuable.

The author wants doves which are the symbol of peace, pomegranates which are the symbol of
fertility, and peacocks which is the animal that represents Hera the goddess of mariage and family.

The reference to fleur-de-lys creates an association with royalty as this flower is the symbol of
royalty in France.

It is not a negligible detail that the author chooses to use the pronoun the when describing ,the
birthday it is not just one of many it is the birthday, this one only happens once.

The author reminds once again that this poem is about her by the use of both me and my in one
verse.

Repetition of is come, great arrival on the way, maybe a baby?

Analysis: The Cockroach by Kevin Halligan

STRUCTURE:

There is question whether the Cockroach is a sonnet: it has the correct number of lines. The poems
structure could indicate a following of a 4,4,3,3 structure (number of lines per stanza). The poem is
indeed not clearly separated into stanzas, however, the changing points in the poem would indicate
this structure.

10 syllables per line

A quite regular structure with few enjambements. The author does not find total clarity and this is
reflected by the hidden sonnet.

Rime scheme ABAB, end change in rime scheme ABCABC => The author has ceased to just
observe he is identifying himself.

FIRST 4 VERSES/ CHILDHOOD:

I watched a giant cockroach. The word giant makes it a specific cockroach, it has its own
personal distinction, it is made more noticeable. Furthermore, its great size makes it take up a large
part of the vision of the author and is therefore worth attention. The word watched indicates a
willful look, the authors attention is caught, genuine interest.

start to pace. The fact it is just then start(ing) to advance makes it seem as though it is coming to
life.

Skirting a ball of dust that rode the floor. The cockroach seems to be acting randomly, skirting a
ball of dust, it does not have a purpose. However, the word rode suggests confidence, that of

youth, not caring what it is doing, just living not thinking of consequences. It seems to own the
floor, like a man owns a horse and rides on it. The cockroach is given a human characteristic at it
has the capacity to ride.

At first he seemed quite satisfied to trace/ A path between the wainscot and the door. The words
At first suggest an imminent change, the cockroach will get bored with this routine. The animal
is quite satisfied, this positive word creates a relatively relaxed atmosphere but the word quite
makes the reader feel some kind of uneasiness is on the way. This feeling concurs with the words at
first.

In these first four verses the cockroach moves slowly, or at least without a particular hastiness, its
actions arent thought through. It acts in a confident, relaxed and carefree manner.

LINES 5-8/ GROWING

But soon he turned to jog in crooked rings. The word but indicates a change in mood, the one
that was forewarned by the words at first. The path of the cockroach that was at first clear with a
precise objective between the wainscot and the door has gone crooked and the cockroach seems
to have lost direction. Indeed it is now moving in rings which indicates a pointlessness, circling.
The verb jog marks an increase in speed, the cockroach seems to be growing impatient, this leads
to a multiplication of actions.

Circling the rusty table leg and back The idea of pointlessness in actions is reinforced by the verb
circling which once again shows the loss of a goal in life. The cockroach, does not know what to
do, questions are starting to be asked, some it can not answer and this causes a frustration reflected
by the action of circling. The word rusty suggests decay and age as time passes. The actions
make no more sense, you can not circle and back, the point of making a circle is that you are
constantly advancing yet always passing by the same points, therefore their is a sensation of being
lost created as the cockroach looses its marks.

There was a multiplication in actions jog, circling, flipping. There is no transition between the
actions, they seem to succeed each other without link, (for example it is not mentioned the cockroach
has stopped moving in crooked rings it simply finds itself circling the table leg). This creates
confusion, the animal is just moving without purpose.

And flipping right over to scratch its wings-/ As if the victim of a mild attack. The word flipping
suggests an intentional action but the cockroach is considered not just a victim, but the victim of
an attack. It is clear that the flipping was purposely performed as the animal was intending to
scratch itself. The fact that it is then portrayed as a victim is contradictory and causes confusion,
the reader is no longer sure of the course of events, he is made to doubt of what was previously
certain, did this happen on purpose? The oxymoron mild attack creates and increase in intensity
and danger, the cockroach has enemies.

LINES 9-11/ ADULTHOOD

Of restlessness that worsened over time The restlessness seems to be caused by an annoyance at
being unable to answer simple questions about life, at not understanding. The multiplication of
actions is justified by this cause, the cockroach seems to be in a constant, febrile search for answers.
The words over time suggest the passing of time the cockroach is now a mature adult, but is still
incapable of understanding. The verb worsened indicates a real pain that seems to be getting worse
every day as the weight of life gets heavier.

After a while, he climbed upon a shelf. Once again the passing of time is represented by the words
After a while. This action seems to have been pondered for a while, the cockroach is no longer
young and does not do rash actions, it decides carefully before to act.

And stopped. He looked uncertain where to go. This unusual placement of punctuation creates a
brutal stop in the poem. There is a finality in the words and stopped that ends the confusion, this is
a clear cut action. The cockroach is however still lost it is uncertain where to go.

LAST THREE LINES/ IDENTIFICATION OF THE AUTHOR

Was this due payment of some vicious crime. Karma?

A former life had led to? Idea of reincarnation.

I dont know. Once again confrontation with the fact that the author does not have answers.

Except I thought I recognised myself. Repetition of the pronoun I, identity. Sadness, regret,
resignation in the realisation that he is not better than a cockroach.

He humanity given to cockroach.

He to I cockroach/ poet.
Analysis: The Woodspurge by Daniel Gabriel Rossetti

STRUCTURE:

AAAA rhyme scheme is powerful and creates a monotonous atmosphere, as well as making changes
from one stanza to another slightly more abrupt, the reader had gotten used to this rhyme. Each
stanza is self-contained. still/hill/will/still, awkward rhyme with the repetition of still, dull
repetition of the word wind four times in the first stanza.

dullness about the structure of the poem: 4 stanzas, each has 4 verses, 8 syllables per verse except
verse 12 The woodspurge flowered three cups in one: break of the monotonous rhythm,
appearance of the woodspurge. The poem has no eccentricities, its very classical and this makes it
somewhat boring.

Every stanza comes to an end at a full-stop, each verse is carefully punctuated, no notable
enjambement. The poem seems to be following most of the rules of classical poetry not going out of
line, sense of claustrophobia, the author is stuck in his carefully structured poem.

STANZA 1:

The wind flapped loose, the wind was still contrast between movement and stillness that is
emphasised by the parallel structure of the phrase. The wind cannot be still, because if it is that
means their is no wind, so the author is reflecting on the loss of the wind, it has disappeared.

Shaken out dead, the tone of the poem is set and the author makes an allusion to the loss he
suffered. The wind is the keeper of his will and he seems to mourn the loss of his will as the
wind stops. The wind was shaken which seems a violent and jerky movement, surprising as the
wind has merely disappeared, gone still, it has not been killed. The word dead resounds in this
verse and brings with it harsh tonalitiesk d tr, that oppose the softer tonalities of the first verse
w f l. With the arrival of the word dead the poem words harsher.

I had walked on at the winds will No will of his own, he seemed to be carried, drifting away with
the wind, and had abruptly woken to the sour reality when the wind had died.

STANZA 2:

This second stanza expresses the grief of the author, the mood of the poet is what forms the poem.

Between my knees my forehead was. He seems to be sitting in a practically foetal position, a

position of despair. His head falling between the knees not held by anything. The author does not use
the word head but forehead to describe its position, possible because he does not want to think and
he is trying to stop that by ignoring the presence of his head/mind and concentrating on its purely
physical aspect, the forehead.

The author breaks the rhyme pattern he has made by serving imperfect rhymes Alas and was do
not rhyme, the author shows through that the wrongness of what has happened, it is not right, just
like this rhyme.

It is peculiar that he points out particularly that he said not Alas!, as though he had wanted to say it
but the word had not past his lips, he found himself unable to speak, despair had overwhelmed him.

My hair was over the grass, hair dangling, nothing is stopping it from falling.

My naked ears heard the day pass. The verb naked emphasises the vulnerability of the author. He
hears the sound of silence, he hears the day pass, something that is impossible to be heard, time is
slowed and he can feel it.

STANZA 3:

His vision has been restricted to just what he sees from between his knees.

Some ten weeds to fix upon, the word fix indicates some kind of static, obsessive
observation.The author does not think of anything else. The thing that flowered and is the focus of
the poem is a weed, something that should not be their, weed has a negative connotation. The plant
grows out of the sun, its unnatural, it does not need light to grow, its like a monster, because plants
normally all need sun. It is just like the author, he is out of the sun, which metaphorically means he
is unhappy, he is grieving.

The author breaks his pattern of 8 syllable verses to introduce the woodspurge The woodspurge
flowered, three cups in one. Its an interesting detail that he notes the three cups in one. It may be
an allusion to the Holy Trinity: The Father, The Son and The Holy Ghost. the author finds comfort in
the realisation that God is everywhere, even in the simplest of things, like a flower.

STANZA 4:

perfect grief. This oxymoron of perfect, which means total, grief suggest an idea of
hopelessness, he cannot escape the grief, it is everywhere he turns.

lack of memory helps recover?

The poem ends on reminding that this plant has a cup of three. This reminder makes this
significant, it reinforces the idea of it representing the Holy Trinity.
Analysis: Where I Come From by Elizabeth Brewster

STRUCTURE:

3 stanzas of uneven length, the structure is free.

Syllable counts vary but turn around 12.

The indentation in the second stanza is made to follow the first. She wants to show the description of
a rural area is in continuation of an urban area, but is still a different idea. The passage from third to
first person makes the change more abrupt. The author makes this indentation to show that rural and
urban areas depend on each other, need each other mutually. Rural areas give the raw materials and
urban areas exploit them to form goods.

The change from third to first person is made softer by the fact the word I is only used once in the
entire poem. The rest of the second stanza is just a description, so the change is really only notable in
the first verse of the second stanza.

There is a larger separation with the third stanza as it is not in continuation of the second, as the
second is the first. So the third stanza is set apart, it has an entirely different subject, it is not a
physical description, we enter the mind of the author, return to childhood.

No rhyme scheme, once again a free style of writing, the author does not respect the organisation that
she notices in the city, tidily plotted.

STANZA 1:

People are made of places. The author straight off gives her theory about the world, people are
formed by their past, the history of their families, where they lived when they were young. We
understand immediately that the author intends to concentrate on the physical, not moral aspect of
life, places. The author considers that in metaphorical way they carry with them these places
they have lived in, like a suitcase.

hints of jungles or mountains, a tropic grace / or the cool eyes of sea gazers. The uniqueness of
each persons past is describe in a positive light, they have cool eyes, or a tropic grace. The word
grace suggests a delicate beauty, as though they dance when they walk. The places she describes in
those first verses are exotic and very natural, they contrast with the later description of the city.

smell of smog/ or the almost-not-smell of tulips in the spring. Smog has no smell, so the author is
pointing out through that the absence of natures smell. On the contrary tulips are supposed to have
a strong natural smell, but it is covered by the smog, so all that is left is a small memory of a smell. It
serves only as a reminder of what the smell could be, if you lived in the countryside.

nature tidily plotted in little squares. It is contained into these squares, the city tries to control
nature, and through that kills it. Nature is not made to be tidy, its made to be free and wild. The verb
plotted indicates it is planned by humans, like a battle in which you plot to kill the enemy. The
repetition of tidily plotted later in the poem emphasises the fact that it is unnatural.

The author is describing from a distance, keeping herself objective, just noting the ways in which
the city is organised, its different buildings, museum, fountain, subways.

The word smell is repeated many times in this stanza, reminding the importance of this particular
sense, and pointing out through it the differences between rural and urban areas.

Human creation is described in an objective manner, but still creates a negative image through a
density of dislikable descriptions : smell of work , the idea of sweat is not clearly indicated, but
implied by these words, glue factories, not a very appealing place, strong smell that is not liked,
chromium-plated offices, very shiny, too shiny, man made, artificial, smell of subways/ crowded
at rush hours. A lot of sweat and people cramped up in densely, a negative image.

STANZA 2:

Where I come from. Passage from third person to first person, from impersonal to personal. We
enter the mind, and memories of the author.

The description immediately contrasts with the human creations described in the last few verses of
the first stanza, nature is here abundant: acres of pine woods, a strong smell, that always evokes
nature and calm, there is a feeling as though the author is alone in these acres, silence, blueberry
patches smell, taste and sight, a beautiful and delicious fruit, the beauty of nature is emphasised,
burned-out bush like Moses?

The lack of organisation is striking, hens and chicken circle about, whereas all types of nature were
contained in the city, here animals roam freely, they go were they want. However even when given
the opportunity of going where they want they stay in one place, as they just circle.

Just as the city had its negative sides, so does the countryside, the hens are clucking aimlessly, no
purpose, they are just doing nothing. The place is broken down battered schoolhouses, the place
where education is given (very important as it forms the adult of the future) is a wreck, battered, it
is not a place to be taught about life. Nature has taken over behind which violets grow, even
beautiful flowers can be to blame, they have taken over, around the school it is not children we see
but violets.

Spring and winter/ are the minds chief seasons. We are now focusing on the author, no longer on
physical descriptions. Spring and winter are the longest seasons in Canada, and they also correspond
to birth/ rebirth and death. This idea of birth and death is reinforced by the phrase ice and breaking
of ice, life and breaking of life (death).

STANZA 3:

A window in the mind blows open, and there blows/ a frosty wind from fields of snow. Whereas
snow may for many constitute a negative, or at the least cold sensation, it is a natural and loved event
in Canada. In the countries we live in snow can be a rare occurrence, but for the author, it is a walk
down memory lane, back to childhood. When she sees snow, she remembers her childhood, she is
back in the fields of snow.
Analysis: Summer Farm by Norman MacCaig

STRUCTURE:

4 stanzas each composed of 4 verses

variation of nb of syllables, around 10

AABB rhyme scheme (except as and grass do not rhyme)

A quite usual structure.

STANZA 1:

Description of the farm and what lies around the author.

Straws like tame lightnings lie about the grass. Lightening is unpredictable and usually perceived
as dangerous, however in this case it has been tamed. This opposition gives a strength to the image
and depicts the straws as some kind of a miracle: the untameable was tamed. The image is made
stranger by its stillness, lie around, this opposes to the idea of lightening, which appears suddenly
and just as fast disappears. The contradictions make a peculiar atmosphere and make any kind of
understanding difficult.

hang zig zag on hedges (shape of lightening) no movement.

Green as glass/ The water in the horse-trough shines. Glass is not green, so this image reinforces
the confusion created by the first image of the poem. This image also reinforces the impression of
stillness in the beginning of the poem. The water is compared to glass which suggests a complete
absence of movement on the surface of the water. this is supported by the fact the water shines
which suggests something uniform and universal: no movement.

Nine ducks go wobbling by in two straight lines. First movement in the poem that interrupts the
mood previously installed of stillness and therefore soundlessness. Wobbling is an onomatopoeia,
so sound appears as well as movement. two straight lines: three monosyllabic words, something
meant to be even but cant be: indeed there are nine ducks so how can they be spread in two equal
lines?

There is a lot of light in this first stanza, the glow of childhood. lightning, shines, green, we
dont see the source of this light, it feels like a childhood memory made brighter by the years. Its
summer so light is everywhere.

The focus keeps changing from the straws, to the water, to the nine ducks that are wobbling
by.

STANZA 2:

A hen stares at nothing with one eye,/ Then picks it up. Nothingness is huge, has no boundaries of
space whereas the action of picking up is small. Its interesting that the hen would stare with only
one eye, what is it doing with the other? The impossibility of picking up something that does not
exist creates a sense of unrealism. The farm is no longer a rational place it spills into imagination.
The hen seems to be dealing with her own metaphysical thoughts, totally lost in the contemplation of
emptiness.

Out of an empty sky (without clouds?) A sky cannot be empty and this reinforces this idea of the
imaginary mixing into reality. Sense of space, enormity, the sky does not contain anything, its
endless. The poem starts to zoom on the thoughts of the poet, he is no longer just observing, he is
imagining, we are in his head.

a swallow falls : large movement. Has the bird just appeared out of nowhere in the empty sky?

flickering through/ The barn : enjambement, the author presents the barn, puts an emphasis on it.

dives up again into the dizzy blue : reverse perspective (diving up). Creates a sensation of
dizziness dizzy blue, the author is springing us in every direction, confusing us. It is as though the
barn is the one diving up, due to the enjambement. Everything is going in every direction, the author
is questioning the reality of the farm.

STANZA 3:

The author is presented to us, I lie. He is grounded, his entire body attached to reality, touching the
earth.

not thinking, by observing the author is meditating, he is trying to convince himself not to think.
This idea is later reinforced Afraid of where a thought might take me. take me => he is not in
control the thought is and it has a will of its own, a purpose.

The author tries to fight off thought by grounding himself the most possible. He feels the cool, soft
grass. He concentrates on his physical feelings rather then on the mental ones. Tries to keep his
concentration on what is around him, the grass.

as/ This grasshopper with plated face/ Unfolds his legs, and finds himself in space. The word as
is here used as a connective but might as well serve to create a comparison between the grasshopper
and the author. Small action: unfolding legs, huge place space. Once again contrast big/ small.
finds himself, just as the author can be taken by a thought and has no control, the grasshopper
makes an involuntary movement. This image metaphorically shows that the thought has come and
taken him. There is a stillness about this action as though it is a succession of frames, and the
grasshopper just stops in space, he does not fall back down.

STANZA 4:

The author has now been taken by his thoughts and we are deep in his mind.

self under selfThreaded on time => evolution over time. a pile of selves I stand. This
represents the succession of different people he has been , from the moment he was born to the
present. He is all these selves, they make him who he is.

The author is both insignificant and powerful, lift the farm like a lid. He can lift it (power), but he
is only one person between so many (insignificance).

farm within farm, and in the centre, me. Identity, the poem is about him, not the farm, he is at the
centre of the farm, it cannot live without him. Farm within farm, goes with self under self, each
farm has a self, (cyclical?).
Analysis: The Planners by Boey Kim Cheng

STRUCTURE:

3 stanzas of unequal length. 9 verses, 14 verses, 4 verses.

No rhyme scheme

variation of verse lengths.

An irregular structure that reflects a disliking of all this order and flawless perfectionist world.

STANZA 1

Opening on short, to the point sentences They plan. They build. The word they creates a great
distance between author+ reader and the planners. They are set apart, and there actions seem to lack
completely in originality, as reflected by the simplistic structure of the sentences (subject + verb).
Furthermore this concise form make the sentences resound and give them a finality. There is no
denying the power of the planners; They plan. They build. and we can do nothing about that.

The planners are not given an identity, they appear as one unified group of people that hold all the
power. This gives them the strength of groups and they can not be combatted, because how can you
fight against people without identity. You can only fight if you know who you are fighting against.

All spaces are gridded. They seem to be everywhere, all spaces, there is no place that escapes
them, they control everything. The word gridded implies a tightly planned area, geometrically
arranged, without any eccentricities.

Lexical field of mathematics: gridded, alignment, mathematics, points. Everything is

arranged mathematically, art has nothing to do with it, it is a strictly logical organisation.

Lexical field of building plan, build, buildings, roads,bridges. The omnipresence of

words linked to building give the planners even more power, they control everything, everywhere,
they even enter in poetry.

all hang/ in the grace of mathematics. The word grace implies both beauty and a kind of divine
power, that here is awarded to mathematics. Beauty is pushed away, replaced by mathematics, the
planners have the divine power.

They build and will not stop. Nothing has the power to stop the planners, it is a hopeless battle.
There is a certainty about this sentence that leaves out any hope, it is conveyed by the verb will.

Even the sea draws back/ and the skies surrender. Even nature is conquered by the planners. The
towers conquer the sky and the sea is disgusted by civilisation and draws back. This shows both that
even nature can do nothing, and the disapproval of nature of these planners.

STANZA 2

They erase the flaws,/ the blemishes of the past. Flaws are negative and erasing them could
therefore be seen as a positive thing to do. However, the poet here attempts to show that it is those
little flaws that are the reason the town is itself and has character. The author criticises the fact they
destroy the past and attempt to rewrite history. They have the power to make things disappear, so
people might forget about the past of their town because of that, they will not remember what has
been destroyed.

The planners are compared to dentists. This is not a flattering image, especially it is common for
many people to dislike dentists.

lexical field of dentistry: dental dexterity plugged gleaming goldthey are fake and even though
they are shiny they are not as good as the original, perfect rows/ of shining teethall the buildings
are made identical, boring sameness, anaesthesia, amnesia, hypnosis(triplet: they are powerful, can
affect memory) they will make people forget about their own history through these means.They
destroy buildings and eventually people stop remembering. Just like some people say you die
twice:once physically and once when no one remembers you. This is the same concept, they destroy
and eventually, over time, they are forgotten. drilling.

history is new again, they rewrite history.

Anaphora of They have, gives a finality about what has happened, hopelessness.

it will not hurt. Its practically an order to have no pain, you are not allowed to feel pain, which is
part of the natural process of recovering from a loss.

The drilling goes right through/ the fossils of last century. They are tearing down history, they do
not care about the past.

STANZA 3:

But my heart would not bleed a single drop of poetry. The heart represents love, bleeding
represents pain and poetry is inspiration.The author cannot get inspiration from a place as unoriginal
that stops from morning (he is rebelling by feeling pain). Sadness;

pasts tomorrow possible present.

Analysis: Pike by Ted Hughes

Important quotes
1. The characteristics of the Pike.

The malevolent aged grin wish to do evil and finds joy in accomplishing it.

The outside eye stared: as a vice locks

killers from the egg

green tigering the gold The pike appears grand and magnificent as he is made of gold.
Furthermore, he appears a potential danger as he is assimilated to a tiger which is a notoriously
grand, powerful and deadly animal.

sag belly and the grin it was born with. The sag belly is a result of a recent meal that the pike has
made, and presents him as a fat, repulsive creature. The appearance of the word grin once again
reminds the reader that the pike enjoys this killing, eating routine.

2. World of Pike

over a bed of emerald The pond is described as a wondrous vision, a precious place as it contains
emerald.

amber cavern of weeds. Amber is also very precious and reinforces this impression of quite eerie
beauty. The human does not know this submarine land well and therefore it has a kind of mysterious
beauty that appeals to the human kind as it contains precious rocks.

3. Humans attitude to pike and nature

silently cast and fished

That past nightfall I dared not cast

Three were put behind glass. The human tries to control it, put it in an aquarium.

With the hair frozen on my head The pike is dangerous and causes great fear.

Rose slowly towards me watching Even though it is the author fishing, the roles have changed, the
author is no longer the predator but the prey. he is being watched, not vice-versa.

4. Atmosphere/ place

delicacy and horror The contrast between these two words create a disturbing atmosphere. A
delicacy can be a kind of expensive food, this word therefore coupled with horror shows the
violence of the eating process of the pike. It also gives an image of a dark yet grand underground
world as a delicacy is an expensive and fancy type of food.

jaws-hooked

heat-struck lily pads This intense heat suggests suffering, and causes great discomfort.

owls hushing the floating woods, / frail on my ear against the dream Owls are often recognised by
the sound they make as they are difficult to spot in night time, therefore it seems contradictory that

they be hushing. The floating woods are the reflection of the woods on the pond and create a kind
of mystical atmosphere. The word frail suggests that the dream is taking over, becoming more
powerful as the sounds of the outside world are tuned out. The pike has become a dream coming
from deep in the authors subconscious.
nature /society:
Had outlasted every visible stone/ Of the monastery that planted them
Society is represented by the monastery . This seems a surprising choice as monasteries often disapprove of
society and its ways. It represents a world of spirituality and thought, whereas nature is depicted in this
poem as frightening but fascinating. In the end nature wins, as the pond and the pike (nature), have outlasted
the monastery (society).
Structure:

11 stanzas: an uneven number which suggest a not so classical structure, rebellious.

Visually the structure appears regular : each stanza is 4 verses. However, the line lengths vary
enormously from five to thirteen syllables. This makes it appear as thought the poem calm on the
outside has something troubling on the inside. Just like the pond has a calm appearance and contains
the dangerous pike.

At the start of the poem punctuation makes the stanzas come to an end, the author keeps control over
the pond. As he feels he is loosing grasp he locks the pike in a fish tank, but this does not succeed
and stanzas lose their carefully punctuated control. Finally as fear settles in, hair frozen,
enjambements become more frequent and undercover chaos takes over.