Don Paterson poem Quotations Flashcards
Poem quotations “Waking With Russell” -
- “It all began” - suggests newness/ starting life over.
- “Woke up” - suggests being asleep and not taking full part in life until now.
- “Dawned” - suggests beginning of the day/ his life, the sun (son) bringing warmth and light.
- “Rediscovered” - suggests he has found his true happiness and smile after losing it long ago.
- “The true path was as lost to me as ever” - suggests he had lost direction and meaning in life.
- “Cut in front” - suggests overtaking just as his son overtakes his priorities in life.
- “Lit it as you ran” - suggests his son is like a beacon of life in his life and is leading him.
- “Pledged” - suggests the importance and seriousness, saying he will always be there for his son.
“mezzo del carmin” - which means he is half way through life and hasn’t been living to his full potential until his new born son was born.
“face to face like lovers” - suggests the depth, intimacy and the importance in their father, son relationship.
Poem quotations “The Circle” -
- “One great heavenly design” - suggests created by the almighty god and perfection.
- “The dream is taxed” - suggests everything we wish for costs something in return.
- “But the target also draws our aim” - suggests the idea and process of something can affect the outcome.
- “Singing under everything” - suggests harmony and pleasure, hidden away out of sight.
- “Perfect ring” - suggests the perfect shape of a circle, flawless and beauty.
- “All the circuitry they run” - suggests everything in the universe depends on each other to exist.
“my boy” - suggests how proud he is of his son no matter if he has the disability or not, he fills him with pride to be his father.
Poem quotations “11:00 Baldoven” -
- “Base Camp” - suggests new beginnings, growing, starting point in the boys challenging trip alone.
- “However, I am obscurely worried” - suggests turning point, previous optimism has turned into fear and anxiousness he can’t understand.
- “The bus will let us down in another country” - suggests negative feelings (what is their way back) implies a foreign place unfamiliar to the speaker.
- “Charred wreck” - suggests burnt out and he cannot transport himself back to the safety of his childhood (ruined bus is a metaphor of his home which has been destroyed by time).
- “Black waves fold in” - suggests apocalyptic, these waves of the new adult world are drowning him.
“are ye sure” X2 relation suggests how worried he is and that he is second guessing himself as he has never done this before.
Poem quotations “The Ferryman’s Arms” -
- “Whole place deserted” - suggests complete isolation, when we meet death or make a vital decision we need to be on our own.
- “Magnetized” - suggests he was pulled towards the table and had no control over himself and his actions.
- “For next time” - suggests this is an eternally recurring battle between his contrasting personalities.
- “As physics itself becomes something negotiable” - suggests turning point, fate is on his side as though the laws of the universe had been altered to ensure his success.
- “Without breaking the skin of the water” - suggests the boat seems to be floating implying supernatural forces and a silent and still atmosphere.
“like a moth to a flame” - suggesting just as a moth is almost magnetised to fire and light, so too was he magnetised and drawn to the pool table.
Poem quotations - Rain
- “darkening” - negative influence and ominous mood, happy > sorrow
- “do no wrong” - connotations of never failing, which suggests despite the negativity, it will always be a good film.
- “starlit gutter” - connotations of magical qualities (contrast) suggesting the power of the films to transform them from everyday to something special.
- “none of this matters” - humanity with all its flaws and unhappy endings don’t matter, we can learn, move on and improve.
- “ruined” - connotations of something being detroyed or lost, something wholesome turning to decay, dissapoitments/ dashed hopes and applied dreams.
- “I love” - connotations of strong feelings/ emotion/ passion and intense devotion to the subject.
Poem quotations - Nil Nil
“the fifty year slide” - suggests “slide” has connotations of speed and lack of control, suggesting that the teams journey down through the league was swift and unintentional.
“unscheduled exit”, has connotations of unexpected and unplanned, in the context of the fighter pilot suggests the rapid departure from life, his existence came to an abrupt finish
“anchored” suggests the absolute bottom and being weighted down, suggesting the pilot can neither get back or get any further down and cannot sink any further, not dead but forgotten.
“half-hearted kick abouts” - suggesting they aren’t taking the game seriously and are just having fun.
“no wind, no cloud in the sky” - suggests there was nothing else he was going to die from other than falling, he was completely alone.
“balletic toe poke’ - suggests elegance and beauty, suggesting they are turning the game into a piece of art.
