Brendan Kennelly Flashcards
Name the 4 poems
Begin
Bread
I see you Dancing Father
Dear Autumn Girl
Begin: Themes
Appreciating the ordinary and nature
Appreciating life
Starting again (like the title says)
Begin: Features of style
Internal rhyme: creates a forward looking, optimistic mood “the sight of light at the window”
Epiphany: Creates an epiphany in last 4 lines
Contrast: Suggests the cycle of life continues from birth to death “Born in light and dying in dark”
Images: Springtime is an image of new life and new beginnings “in springtime flowering the way to work”
Sibilance: Emphasises the poets celebration of the loving couple “Sharing a sunny secret”
Personification: Shows his celebration of nature “Arrogant loneliness of swans”
Onomatopoeia: Suggests the energy of life “The roar of morning traffic”
Repetition: Word begin is repeated many times in the poem which emphasises new beginnings and starting again
Begin: Important Quotes
“Begin to the roar of traffic all along Pembroke road”
“Springtime flowering the way to work”
“Arrogant loneliness of swans”
“Couples sharing a sunny secret”
“Though we live in a world that dreams of ending, that always seems about to give in, something that will not acknowledge conclusion, insists that we forever begin” — he looks at ending like a new beginning
Bread: Themes
Double Entendre: On a literal level poem is about baking bread, on a metaphorical level its about an intimate relationship between a man and a woman
The image of baking bread alludes to the physical relationship between men and women, this concludes in the final stanza when the poet states he was born from a woman
The slit face and stabbed chest literally refers to baking bread but metaphorically talks about the trials and tribulations of a relationship
Theme of artistic creation
Bread: Features of Style
Persona: Poem through the voice of bread
Rhyme: creates a lively upbeat atmosphere
Simile: ‘I am fine as anything in the legendary garden’ possible suggestion of garden of Eden, perfection of woman’s work and skill
Bread Important Quotes
“By her fingers”
“I am fine as anything in this legendary garden”
“This moulding is more delicate than a first kiss”
“Slits my face and stabs my chest”
“I come to life at her finger-ends I will go back into her again”
I see you Dancing, Father: Themes
Celebrates joyful memories of his father, he associates him with dancing
Poet recalls his father as a man of contentment and peace
After fathers death poet contemplates his own mortality
Features of Style: I see you Dancing, Father
Rhyme: echoes music of dance associated with his father
Imagery: Images of music and dance creates joyful atmosphere
Alliteration: Repetition of b sounds emphasises the cycle of life
I see you Dancing, Father: Quotes
“You started to dance a step in the middle of the kitchen floor”
“Always in tune with yourself”
“I go back beyond the old man Mind and body broken To find the unbroken man”
“In the time I have to spare I see you dancing, father”
Dear Autumn Girl: Themes
A love poem addressed to the poets beloved
Poet addresses his feelings of inadequacy for the woman he loves, using negative, self-deprecating images e.g “a fool” and “a simple king”
Poets life is in turmoil “helter-skelter days”
Features of style: Dear Autumn Girl
Imagery: “islander at sea”, “helter-skelter days” suggests poets life is in turmoil
“Your flung golden hair” the beauty of his beloved
Alliteration: “poverty of praise” emphasises the poets feeling of inadequacy towards his beloved
Dear Autumn Girl: Important Quotes
“These helter-skelter days”
“An islander as sea”
“A simple king”
“Your flung golden hair”
“And recognise to praise of poverty”
