Bright Lights Flashcards
Opening sentence - lines 1-16. Hidden danger.
‘Dodging snipers’, in the middle of a list of queuing… and thus is hidden, not at the start and not at the end of a line or a list, mimicking the concealed snipers. (Embedded subordinate clause). “Often” and “on the way” add to the sense of casualness / as if it is just one of many inconveniences (shown by the long sentences). The war / danger is hidden within the ‘ordinary’ suffering of the citizens living in wartime scarcity (rationing, etc.) → shows desensitisation
Syntax mirrors meaning
Optimistic tone reinforced by the regular rhyming couples “pass/gas” “prams/grams” “day./way” etc. → juxtaposes with the danger
The “dodging snipers” embedded subordinate clause hidden in the middle of a list mimics the concealed snipers
Adverb “Often” “on the way” adds to the sense of casualness, as if it is just one of many inconveniences
“You’d think that the nights of Sarajevo would be totally devoid // of people walking streets Serb shells destroyed”
The sibilance in “streets Serb Shells destroyed” creates a soft sound, which juxtaposes with the sudden, violent “destroyed” created by them
It also creates a sinister atmosphere - shows the underlying danger → that even the “streets” something that seems like it should be a constant structure in a city , can be destroyed by Serb shells
Violence
“On two shell scars, where, in 1992 /Serb mortars massacred the breadshop queue /and blood-dunked crusts of shredded bread / lay on the pavement with the broken dead”
‘shell scars’ - Metaphor - damage is still visible but has begun to heal.
‘Mortars massacred’- Alliteration, takes away agency and thus blame (lack of preposition - whose mortars?), massacred is emotive and shocking, personifies the mortars.
Juxtaposed with the everyday nature of the “breadshop queue” with mortars “massacred” , Terror is present in the everyday. Link to line 4 - perhaps not just an inconvenience in the opening sentence, but a real, concealed threat.
“Blood dunked crusts of shredded bread”
Visceral imagery, dehumanising as it focuses on the visual image (like dipping bread in soup) instead of the victim. Plosives add a sense of violence.
There is an emphasis on the volume of blood - “dunked”
Subject is the “shredded bread”, and not the “broken dead” (“lay with [them]), dehumanises the actual “dead” and pulls the focus away from them and onto the visual imagery - highlights how death + suffering is a constant throughout Sarajevo
‘Lay on the pavement’
the bread is lying on the pavement just like the people, makes them seem the same, dehumanising metaphor of ‘broken dead’ → like toys? - commentary on how civilians are not treated as people in war, but as pawns / numbers
Rhyme scheme throughout is jarring as the rhyming couplets create a positive tone, and the juxtaposition of the language and structure highlights the horror of the content
‘Serb shells destroyed’ - Sibilance, reminder of danger through emotive verb ‘destroyed.’
Juxtaposition of danger and hope
“Even the smallest clouds have cleared away / leaving the Sarajevo star-filled evening sky / ideally bright and clear for bomber’s eye”
Pathetic fallacy, the “smallest clouds” usually symbolise worry
“Cleared away” shows hope / buildup / clarity
“Star-filled” and “bright” hold connotations of hope and optimism and romance, seems positive
Contrasts with the last line “for bomber’s eye” implying that in any moment which seems hopeful, there is still that constant underlying sense of danger. Shocking.
“In those two rain-full shell-holes the boy sees / fragments of the splintered Pleiades / sprinkled on those death-deep, death-dark wells / splashed on the pavement by Serb mortar shells”
“Rain-full shell-holes” assonance, monosyllabic words, create a rounded shape with your mouth = mirrors the round shell holes? - creates a sense of wholeness / safety / comfort - juxtaposition?
Violence is contrasted with “sprinkled” and “splashed” onomatopoeia, gentle, “Splashed” has connotations of blood, once again creating a sense of discomfort
“Sprinkled” - gentle, sibilant, the last syllable is unstressed
“Fragments of the splintered Pleiades” - the constellation “Pleiades” (apparently the Pleiades are the 7 daughters of Atlas in Greek Mythology + associated with rain so that fits in with “sprinkled”, also beauty? ) the constellation of “pleiades’’ is commonly associated with anger. In this case it may be the anger of the civilians towards the war or the stubbornness of the people who are continuing the war. Ie. the image of the boy looking at shell-holes reinforced by the idea of anger??, while “fragments” imply that it is broken = no more hope. Alternatively, you can interpret to mean the opposite - focusing on the stars, beauty and hope even in the worst of situations.
“Death-deep, death-dark wells” repetition of “death” and use of plosives - creates a negative tone, which alters the interpretation of “sprinkled” and highlights the extremes they are faced with
“Wells” = metaphorical, filled with water now
Polysyllabic “sprinkled” juxtaposes with the monosyllabic “death-deep” , the changes in metre create contrast within the structure
The hyphens cause every single syllable to be stressed
“By Serb mortar shells” gives the mortar shells agency / responsibility
“…even the smallest clouds have cleared away, / leaving the Sarajevo star-filled evening sky / ideally bright and clear for bomber’s eye,
Pathetic fallacy of ‘Clouds’ being ‘cleared’ and ‘star-filled’ “bright”, hope, optimism and romance. Seems positive, but contrasted with last half line ‘for bomber’s eye’ implying that in any moment which seems hopeful, there is still a real sense of danger.
Romance
Romance juxtaposed against war - flashes of normalcy/ everyday humanity
“No torches guide them, but they don’t collide / except as one of the flirtatious ploys / when a girl’s dark shape is fancied by a boy’s”
Having a torch (bright light) will cause them to become a target
“Collide” = aggressive verb, violent, new point of tension
Tension is quickly undermined ? subverted ? by “except as one of the flirtatious ploys” - enjambment with “except” shows a turning point
“Flirtatious ploys” - seems incongruous (unfitting) because it seems so trivial → reminds us that there is romance even in war
“When a girl’s dark shape is fancied by a boy’s” the verb “fancied” is so unexpectedly frivolous in a war poem, shows how ordinary life goes on
“Dark shape’ → Anonymous, mystery identity, also shows that this romance is relatively common
Shows that there is romance in literal and metaphorical darkness - highlights the danger of the war etc. link to question
“Tender radar” “shows by its signals” - war imagery, metaphor (compare to a ship), oxymoron → “tender” juxtaposes with the jarring war imagery, assonance
“Candlelit cafe” → alliteration, romance aspect, it is simultaneously romantic and also to avoid the danger of being bombed → symbolises / encapsulates the idea of having romance / hope in darkness
“The dark-boy shape leads the dark-girl shape away…until the curfew..holds her hand…refilled with sand” there are constant reminders that they are in a war →
“Candlelit cafe” - alliteration, love is a source of light, romance aspect, simultaneously romantic and to avoid the danger of being bombed.
Are the romances the only “bright lights” / hopes for the future in Sarajevo?
Structure
Enjambment
Poem begins with hardships and ends with romance - hope
