Follower Flashcards
‘His shoulders globed like a full sail strung’
What does this line suggest about the father?
He is steady, strong, always there
A lexical field of nautical references is built up throughout the poem
Which words does the field include?
Why is this done?
The lexical field includes words like…
- Sail, breaking, angled, mapping, dipping amd rising etc
- This is done to build up an image of strength and power, to illustrate the skill of the profession
‘The horse strained at his clicking tongue’
What does this suggest?
That the father has effortless control over nature
Words like ‘pluck’ and ‘clicking’ are examples of which technique?
Why is this technique used?
Onomatopoeia
This is done to emphasise the extent of control that the father has
‘An expert. He would set the wing’
‘An expert’ - an emphatic statement - a fact
The second lexis is filled with technical farming lexis including words like…
Why is this done?
Wing, sock, headrig, pluck, furrow etc
To emphasise the skill needed for the profession
‘Of reins, the sweating team turned around’
What technique does the stanza open with and why?
What is the significance of using the word ‘sweating’?
What is the significance of referring to them as a team?
- The stanza opens with ENJAMBEMENT - which is used to reflect the action of the poem - the horses turn around, which is mirrored in the structure
- SWEATING - used to create contrast between his effortless control, and the hard working, sweating horses
- TEAM - to indicate that he works with nature, along side it
What is the structure of this poem?
Why is this structure chosen?
- REGULAR - 6 regular stanzas, 4 lines (quatrain)
ABAB rhyme structure - Perhaps to mimic the methodical nature of the ploughing
- The structure is traditional, like farming
- The structure is reliable, like his father
‘I stumbled in his hob-nailed wake,’
STUMBLED
WAKE
STUMBLED - to foreshadow the role reversal which is to come
WAKE - a metaphor - he is a small boat in the shadow of this father, a ship
Why are words like ‘fell’ and ‘stumbled’ used?
To create contract between his clumsiness and his fathers precision
How does the focus of the poem change as we reach the fourth stanza?
The focus shifts from the father onto the son
‘To close one eye stiffen my arm’
What does this suggest?
The son is picking up on the tiny details, suggesting close observation
‘All I ever did was follow
In his broad shadow, round the farm’
Feels like he cannot live up to his fathers example
‘Behind me, and will not go away’
What will not go away?
Refers to the guilt at having let his father down which won’t leave him, perhaps his father has died
Why are words like trippING, fallING, stumblING used?
The present participle is used to bring us back to the present
