Blessing

Question 1

what is the rough intro for blessing

Answer 1

• About: depicts sudden rush of joy when a burst pipe bring water to impoverished Indian village w/ drought
• Purpose: portray arrival of water as gift from God - villagers worshiping as life-giving miracle
• Tone: desperate –> triumph + euphoria

Question 2

Tone shift throughout poem

Answer 2

Start: desperation, anxiety, pleading
End: joyful, celebratory, euphoric

Question 3

what are the 4 big ideas :

Answer 3

1. to show suffering + challenges of life
2. Religious element: grateful people celebrating + finding joy in this reunion between God + them
3. Power of community in act of religious worship: water = symbolic status which brings people together in an act of worship –> celebration of the glorious gift of God
4. water as a transcendent and unifying force in impoverished communities –> scarcity transforms water into symbol of divine grace –> elevating its status to that of a blessing

Question 4

what is the structure and what is the effect

Answer 4

Free Verse
Effect: by not having rhyme scheme –> more free + spontaneous
- structure of poem mimics / mirrors the subject matter = flow of water :
- Start: clipped, abrupt sentences
- End: longer sentences = water flowing –> replicated through enjambment

Question 5

main analysis of ‘skin cracks like a pod’:

Answer 5

Simile:
- ‘pod’ = seed that is dehydrated –> shows complete absence of water
- ‘skin cracking’ –> metaphor for human skin cracking –> shows vulnerability of human life without water –> also represents Earth becomes parched, flaky, no longer place of nourishment

Question 6

analysis of ‘drip of it, the small splash’?

Answer 6

sibilance - ‘small splash’
- slows pace + savours sound of ’s’ = sound of water
- almost onomatopoeia
- tempting + softness quality to the sound –> anticipation

Question 7

analyse ‘the small splash, echo in a tin mug, the voice of a kindly god’

Answer 7

Auditory Imagery + Personification
- ‘small splash’ = voice of ‘kindly god’
- water is deified + holy :
- something that is so ordinary takes on extraordinary powers
- god is everywhere, in each drip of water
- god who speaks like water is ‘kindly’ = water itself is benevolent element, bringing life to the world

Question 8

analyse the title ‘Blessing’ along with ‘a kindly god’

Answer 8

Religious connotations:
- prayer - both a gift from god
- to thank God after given water
- religious element
2. ‘a kindly god’: religious imagery

Question 9

analyse ‘Sometimes the sudden rush of fortune’

Answer 9

‘fortune’: 2 meanings:
1. luck, fortunate –> break of pipe
2. wealth, riches –> water brings vast amount of value , not financial –> water is the necessity of living things –> irreplaceable

Question 10

analyse ‘the municipal pipe bursts, …’

Answer 10

‘pipe bursts’ : Plosive sounds
- mirrors sudden energy + release of water –> amplified by plosive

Question 11

analyse ‘ the municipal pipe bursts, silver crashes to the ground’

Answer 11

• ‘silver’ = metaphor for water : shows the preciousness + value + gift of water = becomes the riches that people have instead

Question 12

‘the flow has found / a roar of tongues’

Answer 12

1. ’ flow has found’ = Fricative sounds
   - Effect: momentum increase + quicker rhythm –> accentuated by enjambment –> replicates non-stop energy of water
2. ’ a roar of tongues’ = Animalistic Imagery
   - ‘roar’ = uncontrollable frenzy
   - implies the power + desperation of the people
   - people are now energetic + exuberant

Question 13

’ every man women / child for streets around’

Answer 13

1. Asyndeton: (omission of connectives), Effect:
   
   • intense, rapid pace
   • amplifies sense of urgency of people
2. absence of commas:
   - Form + structure mirrors the
   unfiltered + unstoppable rush of water to create a breathless intensity of movement – > enjambment
   - Unity + Collectivism : people are not separated by distinction – . water transcends age, gender, social status –> unifies

Question 14

what technique is used on ‘frantic hands’

Answer 14

transferred epithet

Question 15

‘naked children screaming in the liquid sun, ‘

Answer 15

’ liquid sun’ = Metaphor
surreal, dreamlike imagery
- suggests can be poured = smoothness + lusciousness
- how blissful + nourishing sunlight is when bathed in
- now has a different perception of the sun once water has arrive : no longer worsening of drought + starvation –> water transforms it into something majestic + nourishing

Question 16

’ as the blessing sings / over their small bones’

Answer 16

1. ’ blessing sings’ = Metaphor + Aural Imagery
   - ‘blessing’ = water –> water becomes alive + melodic–> transforms into scared, divine force given by God
   - ‘sings’ : connotations of celebration, vitality, joy –> emphasising life-giving power of water
2. Synaesthesia (touch + sound) : melody touching children
   - blending of senses heightens emotional and symbolic resonance of water –> more immersive + shows theme of water as a transcendent and unifying force

Question 17

comparison poems and why:

Answer 17

Piano:
1. both sudden overwhelming (communal / individual) emotion
2. environment / experience impact on people :
- music and water acts as a catalyst for these emotional reactions

The Tyger - sense of wonder
1. Tone
- Tyger = awe-struck + contemplative mixed with mystery + fear –>dangerous power
- Blessing = celebration + relief - pure wonder at water arrival, no danger, instead rescues from drought
2. Both have GOD but different perspective
- Tyger : questions integrity + if God is malevolent
- Blessing : God is their saviour - given water - awe + thank
3. Structure + Both represent subject
- Tyger : regular rhyme + meter –> mimics intensity of tiger + industry
- Blessing : free verse - mimics spontaneity of water**