In typical poetic construct, “Danny Boy” remains, at its core, a narrative poem whose main function is to “express interest we as human beings have in other human beings…by telling or attending to these stories”32. Weatherly uses this basic form throughout his four stanzas by expertly placing markers of time like the lines “The summer’s gone, and all of the flowers are dying” and then “But come ye back when summer's in the meadow,/Or when the valley's hushed and white with snow,” in order to portray to the reader the feeling of watching the seasons change as time mercilessly marches on. Narrative form, however, is not merely about telling a story. It also is used so that “the reader will have a certain feeling toward it and will grasp a certain interpretation”33. Once again, Weatherly has expertly used descriptive words and phrases in order to convey the feeling of yearning throughout his lyrics. The repetition in the fourth phrase of the first stanza where “It’s you” is repeated34 is an example of the feeling Weatherly created. By repeated that Danny is the one who is forced to leave, Weatherly places more emphasis on his leaving instead of the potential for Danny to come back home, just as one would place more emphasis on the leaving of a loved one before they were going to leave or within the first few days or weeks of that person’s leaving.
Another focus of Weatherly’s lyrics involve the descriptions he chooses to utilize. The images that he conveys through his lyrics are important because these images are given a certain amount of weight with their description35. For example, the “pipes” Weatherly mentions could be referring to the uillian36 pipes which are a part of the bagpipe family37. They are said to said to have evo...
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...did not want, protecting the people who were the very ones that were subjugating them. The deep longing and sadness Weatherly expressed in his lyrics could be felt by the women of Ireland left waiting in hopes that their loved ones would return. The second half62 of the song to which the music is repeated was likely to have resonated with those left on the island. The third stanza with the narrator thinking upon their own death63 is especially telling of this time of war. If Danny came back home, there was no telling what kind of home he would come back to or if he would come back to anyone in the home at all. This talk of death is continued into the fourth stanza where the narrator fondly thinks about Danny saying one last “I love you64” over the narrator’s grave. These feelings of sorrowful longing ring true in the Great War but also in more modern times as well.
The opening stanza sets the tone for the entire poem. Updike uses symbolism to portray the sad, disappointing life Flick ...
The speaker’s rocky encounter with her ex-lover is captured through personification, diction, and tone. Overall, the poem recaps the inner conflicts that the speak endures while speaking to her ex-lover. She ponders through stages of the past and present. Memories of how they were together and the present and how she feels about him. Never once did she broadcast her emotions towards him, demonstrating the strong facade on the outside, but the crumbling structure on the inside.
The title has one line, representing the son’s age as one and the first stanza has two lines, representing the son’s age as two – this continues until stanza five when the child is five. At the age of five, the son “waits in [his father’s] lap” (3) and awaits a new story; this is when the father realizes that he is unable to come up with a new story and begins to fear his son’s disappointment. The following stanza has four lines, representing how the father wishes to go back to a time where he was able to entertain the son with the “alligator story” or the “angel story” (13) without the sons desire for something new. The final stanza has five lines, this is because it is the reality which the father has to face because his son will not ‘become younger’ or interested again in the stories that he has heard before. The structure of the poem expresses the complexity of the internal struggle of the father to fill his son’s desire as he reaches an age in which stories that he has already heard do not entertain him through the purposefully structured stanzas that represent the son’s growth along with the father’s wish to go back rather than
At the beginning of the poem, the audience is able to witness an event of a young boy asking his father for story. While the father was deemed a “sad” man, it is later shown that his sadness can be contributed to his fear of his son leaving him. The structure then correlated to the point of going into the future. The future was able to depict what would happen to the loving duo. The father's dreams would become a reality and the son's love and admiration would cease to exist as he is seen screaming at his father. Wanting nothing to do with him. The young, pure child can be seen trying to back lash at his father for acting like a “god” that he can “never disappoint.” The point of this structure was not really a means of clarification from the beginning point of view, but more as an intro to the end. The real relationship can be seen in line 20, where it is mentioned that the relationship between the father and son is “an emotional rather than logical equation.” The love between this father and son, and all its complexity has no real solution. But rather a means of love; the feelings a parent has for wanting to protect their child and the child itself wanting to be set free from their parents grasp. The structure alone is quite complex. Seeing the present time frame of the father and son
The verse novel, ‘The Simple Gift’ explores how relationships and place can impact detrimentally on one’s identity and sense of belonging. Herrick uses Billy to highlight how social issues such as dysfunctional families can lead to isolation and loneliness. Using first person narrative, “I”, Herrick in the poem 'Sport' establishes the barriers to belonging. Herrick uses flashback and hyperbole “he came thundering out” to highlight detachment from home prompted by Billy’s abusive alcoholic father. Detailed repetition of “I was ten years old” intensifies the poignant loss of Billy’s innocence and his displacement from a childhood sanctuary. Consequently the poem ‘Longlands Road’, uses personified enjambment, “rocks that bounce and clatter and roll and protest”, to capture the image of an angry boy who is searching for a sense of belonging. Imagery created through vivid descriptive language, “rundown and beat / the grass unmown around the doors”, depicts the impoverishment and disrepair of “Nowheresville”. While Billy’s description of “Mrs Johnston’s mailbox on the ground...” expresses his contempt and frustration. Subsequently, the ramifications of Billy’s discontent, portrayed by the sarcastic statement “It’s the only time my school has come in ...
Just as the surroundings would seem different through color slides, he asks the readers to see the world from diverse viewpoints while reading and writing poems. Moreover, by listening to the poem’s hive, dropping a mouse, and walking inside its room, Collins encourages readers to discover the concealed depth of poetry. He comments that the readers should enjoy the poem in a way they would like to water ski.... ... middle of paper ... ...
Harper begins the poem by detailing the start of the speaker’s relationship with a man, developing it through the use of metaphor and concrete diction. From the first few lines of the poem, the reader learns that the relationship was destined to be futile through Harper’s use of metaphor: “If when standing all alone/ I cried for bread a careless world/ pressed
... overall themes, and the use of flashbacks. Both of the boys in these two poems reminisce on a past experience that they remember with their fathers. With both poems possessing strong sentimental tones, readers are shown how much of an impact a father can have on a child’s life. Clearly the two main characters experience very different past relationships with their fathers, but in the end they both come to realize the importance of having a father figure in their lives and how their experiences have impacted their futures.
In his poem “Field of Autumn”, Laurie Lee uses an extended metaphor in order to convey the tranquility of time, as it slowly puts an end to life. Through imagery and syntax, the first two stanzas contrast with the last two ones: The first ones describing the beginning of the end, while the final ones deal with the last moments of the existence of something. Moreover, the middle stanzas work together; creating juxtaposition between past and future whilst they expose the melancholy that attachment to something confers once it's time to move on. Lee’s objective in this poem was to demonstrate the importance of enjoying the present, for the plain reason that worrying about the past and future only brings distress.
Pushing tears from her eyes, a frantic mother scrambles through what remains of her beloved church. But she does not locate her choir singer. Only a little white shoe and a glove to match. In his poem “Ballad of Birmingham,” David Randall uses descriptive imagery, dialogue, irony, and a tonal shift to give the poem emotion and draw the reader’s attention towards the dramatic situation.
Early on, poetry was often used with rhyme to remember things more accurately, this still rings true today, even though its use is more often to entertain. However, although it appeals to both the young, in children's books, and the old, in a more sophisticated and complex form, people are bound to have different preferences towards the different styles of poetry. Dobson’s poetry covers a variation of styles that captivate different individuals. “Her Story” is a lengthy poem with shorter stanzas. It’s free verse structure and simplistic language and face value ideas might appeal better to a younger audience. This poem includes quotes with informal language that children or teens would better understand. It’s narrative-based style is easy to follow, and although the poem covers very basic concepts, it’s message is still communicated subliminally. This particular poem is interesting because it focusses on the universal experience of pain and it’s relation to time. Similar to this is “The Householder”, written in a cyclical style, opening with a “house” and ending with a “home”. With only three stanzas, it is
The author uses imagery, contrasting diction, tones, and symbols in the poem to show two very different sides of the parent-child relationship. The poem’s theme is that even though parents and teenagers may have their disagreements, there is still an underlying love that binds the family together and helps them bridge their gap that is between them.
f rounding up the sonnet as well as emphasising complete grief over the loss of Youth. The contrast with the first stanza's violence makes the reader see the different aspects of war - what happens on the battlefield, and what happens at home. Owen's poem, 'Anthem for Doomed Youth' is more appealing to me because it deals with two contrasting realities of war. His first stanza highlights the wastefulness of war (deaths of young soldiers) while the second stanza, the mourning for the dead. His sarcastic and later quiet tone reinforce the stark contrast between the different aspects of war.
Many writers use powerful words to portray powerful messages. Whether a writer’s choice of diction is cheerful, bitter, or in Robert Hayden’s case in his poem “Those Winter Sundays,” dismal and painful, it is the diction that formulates the tone of the piece. It is the diction which Hayden so properly places that allows us to read the poem and picture the cold tension of his foster home, and envision the barren home where his poem’s inspiration comes from. Hayden’s tumultuous childhood, along with the unorthodox relationships with his biological parents and foster parents help him to create the strong diction that permeates the dismal tone of “Those Winter Sundays.” Hayden’s ability to both overcome his tribulations and generate enough courage
Elegy in a Country Courtyard, by Thomas Gray, can be looked at through two different methods. First the Dialogical Approach, which covers the ability of the language of the text to address someone without the consciousness that the exchange of language between the speaker and addressee occurs. (HCAL, 349) The second method is the Formalistic Approach, which allows the reader to look at a literary piece, and critique it according to its form, point of view, style, imagery, atmosphere, theme, and word choice. The formalistic views on form, allow us to look at the essential structure of the poem.