Dear Autumn Girl

Question 1

poem is for his wife, he’s talking o her, the days are chaotic, hurried, in disarray

Answer 1

Dear Autumn girl, these helter-skelter days

Question 2

Metaphor, likens leaves to ships driving at his head, negative, he feels overwhelmed, stressed, worried, anxious thoughts swirling in his head like leaves, or ideas drive at his head for art but now he cant dedicated time/all to writing as he has more to do

Answer 2

When mad leaf-argosies drive at my head

Question 3

This metaphor shows how overwhelmed, isolated, confused, and lost he feels. He also feels lost about how to balance his art and family

Answer 3

an islander at sea

Question 4

all his problems/anxieties/worries dissipate when she arrives/is standing next to him/ reference to sea again, voyage/ poetry and art was his world, but now she and his child is his world / hugest world was his ieas

Answer 4

My hugest world becomes the littlest thing

Question 5

when she enters the room, she restores order in his world, shes a calm/composed presence in his world

Answer 5

Whenever you walk smiling through a room

Question 6

ordinary moment, she has just showered and her hair is wet, is a magical moment for him, celebration of the ordinary

Answer 6

flung golden hair is still wet

Question 7

Unlike him, she is put together, seems composed, ready and not overwhelmed, in contrast/comparison to him, he respects her

Answer 7

Ready

Question 8

due to her presence, he sees everything more clearly, clarity comes, she makes it all manageable, he wonders about the future,

Answer 8

I see what is, I wonder what’s to come

Question 9

Thankful for her love + support, thankful for her forgetting when he’s not good enough, when he’s inadequate, what he’s not good at, she forgets and moves on

Answer 9

I bless what you remember or forget

Question 10

(He recognises his lack of praise,) he can’t convey how much he loves her as words are insufficient, wants to thank her and show his gratitude

Answer 10

recognise the poverty of praise

Question 11

technique used throughout poem to show how overwhelmed the author is and how chaotic/frantic things are

Answer 11

-a lot of enjambment (run of clauses)

Question 12

themes

Answer 12

art and the imagination
hope
transition
strength/power of women
celebrating the ordinary