Anthology Flashcards
IF Context
a father talking to his son about the qualities needed to become a man. these generally involve keeping a calm, fair and open mind, and minding you own business.
IF Language
- generally simple, monosyllabic words, creating a child- like voice: shows the son he is talking to is young
- positive, optimistic tone: he may be talking to his son, and he is very proud of him
- didactic tone (the way you talk to someone when you want to teach them something)
IF structure
- ABAB rhyming scheme: reflective of childhood
- regular rhythm, tying in with the message of the poem to keep your head
- one long sentence (only end-stop line is at the end: develops the idea that all of the instructions are a part of the process of growing up, and it is only once you can do all of them then you will be a man.
- generally reads like a children’s bedtime story
IF caesura
if you can dream- and not…..” “if you can think- and not…..” “or walk with kings- nor lose…..”. this demonstrates separation from things such as thoughts, dreams and kings, which is the message of this line.
IF personification and juxtaposition
if you can meet with Triumph and Disaster/ and treat those two imposters just the same”. the capitalisation of t and d personifies them as outward experiences that try to influence the young man, but also joins them together as one thing rather then two opposing ideas. the juxtaposition of them, and of the word imposters, shows that all outward influences are bad, and it is better to look inward for joy.
If ambiguity
if you can fill the unforgiving minute wit sixty seconds worth of distance run”, unclear what distance run means, poem moves more toward figurative language rather than literal advice. also the “you”, usually meant to be his son, but could also be interpreted in the plural form as general advice for all children.
IF themes
- masculinity
- parent/child
- growing up
- balance
- maturity
- stoicism
Prayer before birth overview
- desperate unborn child begging for the world to be made a better place and for their fears and anxieties to be heard before they come into the world
- written in 1944. lots of reference to the military, and the moral dilemma of whether soldiers can be held accountable for taking lives, even if they are of civilians or is they are simply doi9ng what they are told.
- generally cynical tone and criticism of the state of the world
Prayer before birth language
- Imperatives rehearse me forgive me like a prayer
Prayer before birth structure
- it is a suplication (type of prayer asking god for something)
- the layout of the poem is indicative of that of the psalms
- the stanzas become longer as the poem goes on, with shorter and shorter lines which means the pace of the poem increases, reflecting the chaos in the world.
- stanzas are all one continual sentence of enjambment, with an end stop line at the end, which separates the different ideas in each one, and the different phases in the speaker’s development.
Prayer before birth literally techniques
- internal rhymes (1st stanza): “bloodsucking bat or the rat”, connotations of both evil and creates a child like tone b/c the speaker is a child at this point.
- imperatives (1st stanza): “let not”, commanding/ begging god/ the reader/ mankind to do the right thing. this creates a moral dilemma.
- alliteration (2nd stanza): creates a tone/ verse similar to that of a children’s story of nursery rhyme, but this is juxtaposed with the imagery of evil things.
Prayer before birth motifs
- moral ambiguity and dilemmas
- religion
- despair
- conflict
- power/ autonomy
- isolation
- horrors of war
Blessing overview
- poem set in Mumbai, in a place with great poverty
- Emphasises the hardship that happens there, and how when what people in the west would consider an inconvenience happens, they consider it a blessing.
Blessing language
- is generally simple phrases
- Lots of metaphor and simile
Blessing structure
- the poem is free verse, with a lot of emjambement, mirroring the way the water flows
- it starts of with end-stop lines, which are like drips, and then moves into enjambement, which is when the wayer begins to flow.
- there os no punctation in the “man woman child” bit which mirrors the chaos of the scene.