Blackberry picking S.H Flashcards
Quotes and analysis
Introduction points
The title immediately indicates the setting to be in rural Ireland among nature.
The main thematic concerns being that nothing lasts forever, the symbolism of the blackberries and them turning bad.
Highlights the change from childhood into adulthood.
Volta/bipartite structure
Contrast from the first to second stanza. The first covers positive and exciting memories surrounding blackberry picking. The second shows a recognition that nothing lasts, a sense of hopelessness.
“Given heavy rain and sun”
An immediate contrast – the weather seems confused and conflicted, foreshadowing the speaker’s conflict between hope and the certainty of disappointment.
“A glossy purple clot”
Visceral image is created – the metaphor connecting the ripe berry to blood. Gives the fruit a sense of vitality but also indicating violence, compares something sweet to something brutal. The rhyme scheme of ‘knot’ in the following line emphasises the harshness of the image.
“Its flesh was sweet”
Sensory language, ‘flesh’ linking the berry to sexuality and the human body.
“Lust for Picking”
Enjambement leaves the reader wondering what is being lusted for, suggestive of sexual longing. The enjambement connects the berry to sexual desire, creating an allegory for a wider experience.
“Our palms sticky as Bluebeard’s”
Alluding to the Charles Perrault fairy tale (Bluebeard killed his wives and kept their bodies hidden in his house). Connects the picking once again to violence, but also the discovery of forbidden knowledge (adult subjects).
“A rat-grey fungus, glutting”
Connotations of vermin, a predator. The image makes the fungus seem human, taking something away with deliberate, disgusting intensity.
“The fruit fermented, the sweet flesh would turn sour”
The sibilance in ‘fruit fermented’ emphasises that the fruit has turned bad. Echoes ‘sweet flesh’ mentioned earlier in the stanza, contrasts with the ‘sour’ reality as seen by the speaker in the second stanza.
“I always felt like crying. It wasn’t fair”
Very childish language. Sentence structure gives the impression of a tantrum, further conveying the speaker’s age.
