An Advancement Of Learning Flashcards
The river nosed past,
Pliable, oil-skinned,
‘Nosed’ sounds not very nice - could mean that the river doesn’t smell very nice
What does Heaney learn by the end of the poem?
There is nothing to fear - his view of rats changes at the end - he’s decided that looking at it properly makes him realise there’s nothing to fear
A transfer of gables and sky
Gives a sense of how oily the river is
I
Considered the dirty-kneeled swans
The bottoms of the swans are dirty from the river
Something slobbered curtly, close,
Smudging the silence: a rat
Slimed out of the water
Assonance is used which sounds like the way a wet rat moves
‘Curtly’ - quick sound
‘Slimed’ - oil is on the rat as it comes out of the water
I turned down the path in cold sweat
Shows how fearful he is
Arcs on the stones
The tail of the rat making a graffiti mark on the stones
Incredibly then
I established a dreaded
Bridgehead
‘Bridgehead’ - a military action - he turns to face the rat which is not something he would usually do
At my hitherto snubbed rodent
‘Hitherto’ - before hand
‘Snubbed’ - refusing to acknowledge
He clockworked aimlessly a while
‘Clockworked’ - the rat is walking in circles - mechanically - less scary
Stopped, back bunched and glistening,
Ears plastered down on his knobbed skull,
Doesn’t sound very attractive
Insidiously listening
Listening in a sneaky way as if he’s up to something
The tapered tail that followed him
‘Tapered’ - unfurred tail - creepy
The raindrop eye,
‘Raindrop eye’ - H is beginning to feel sorry for it - it could be crying or the eye could be shiny which gives a sense of beauty
The old snout:
It’s an old rat - H is beginning to feel sorry for it now he is starting to understand it
He trained on me. I stared him out
‘Trained’ - like a gun but H just stares back - he doesn’t run
Retreated up a pipe for sewage
‘Retreated’ - another military term - like H has one the battle with his fear
I stared a minute after him
H has changed - he’s thinking of the rat - will it come back? - has he won?
Then I walked on and crossed the bridge
Metaphor - he’s crossed to the other side - he’s a changed mind
I turned to stare
With deliberate, thrilled care
‘Stare… Care’ - rhyming couplets - stands out which is unusual but it highlights an important moment
But God, another was nimbling
‘But God’ - shows how fearful he is
‘Nimbling’ - unpredictable and creepy
