At Grass Flashcards
how does Larkin use rhyme in At Grass to illustrate his messages?
- ABCABC shceme
- rolling or galloping feel recalls days of former gflory
analyse the quote ‘cold shade they shelter in’ from At Grass
- pathetic fallacy; bland, mundane, almost melancholic
- even though it is boring, they feel protected by that; it becomes relaxing, safe, gentle, calm, comforting - out off the sun = ‘spotlight’
analyse the quote ‘distresses’ from At Grass
deliberately abstract and unenergetic verbs; calm mood
analyse the wuote ‘crops grass, and moves about / - the other seeming to look on -‘ from At Grass
- plain triple verbs
- repetitive structure = monotonous
- simplicity and routine
analyse the quote ‘fable’ from At Grass
connotations of storytelling and myths
analyse the quote ‘of cups and stakes and handicaps’ from At Grass
- polysyndetic listing shows past things that were once important to them, but it was never useufl to the horses
- chaos, excitement, achievement; pressure to constantly perform put on them by humans; becomes overworked and exploititive
analyse the quote ‘to inlay faded, classic junes’ from At Grass
- ‘inlay’ connotes trophies, medals; past success and game; characterised by prestige
- almost storybook retelling
analyse the quote ‘silks at the start […] squadrons of empty cars and heat’ from At Grass
- lots of sibilance; noise and energy of race meeting; excitement and intensity of former identity
- more grammar, shorter, aggressive phrases vs semicolons in first stanza; fast, harsh, exciting, chaotic, overstimulating, overhwleming
- war lexis; fierve competition, high stakes
- ‘heat’ contrasts ‘cold shade’
analyse the quote ‘do memories plague their ears like flies? / they shake their heads’ from At Grass
- rhetorical or hyperphora
- connotations of death and disease
- simile; time has allowed them to heal and memories have faded as their names have
- memories are an unwelcome annoyance; are they saddened by the memories of their former exciting lives?
- to shake of the flies or say no?; they are disturbed by flies byt the speaker is disturbed by memories
analyse the quote ‘unmolesting meadows’ from At Grass
personification; meadows and nature are kind to the horses and offer them freedom; it is healing, unlike ‘molesting’ humans
analyse the quote ‘have slipped their names, and stand at ease, / or gallop’ from At Grass
- like a bridle; don’t feel like racehorses anymore; they have gained freedom through anonymity and are no longer controlled/defined by human world
- they have the choice (shift in the horses’ lives); by relinquishing their identities and memories, they live in a continous present not plagued by furture or past
analyse the quote ‘only the grooms’ from At Grass
- people who care; no longer being exploited
- there is a peacefulness that larkin doesn’t seem able to find in human life
