From the journal of a disappointed man - Andrew Motion Flashcards
Title?
Echoes W.N.P Barbellion’s book with the same title.
Structure?
consistent stanza length - repetitive nature of the workers’ lives.
‘I discovered these men driving a new pile into the pier’
First person.
Repetition - a more prosaic form with less extravagant language and images.
‘A wooden pile’
Mimics the pattern of speech and dialogue.
‘Even the men; very powerful men; very ruminative and silent men ignoring me.’
repetition of men emphasizes masculinity.
focuses the readers on their actions creating contrast between narrator and builders.
‘Every one of the monsters was silent on the subject’
possible class conflict.
metaphor, sense of ominous in the portrayal of men.
‘Strong arms’
the physical portrayal of men, demonstrative of power.
‘Swinging until the crack of doom’
continues ominious imagery from ‘monsters’.
sense of foreboding.
‘To overcome the secret problem did continue.’
could convey writers block.
subverts typical journal genre.
‘no one spoke; no one said what they saw’
emphasis on silence.
men have knowledge, but don’t share the knowledge.
‘Trajectory of his brown bolus’
Upperclass narrative voice.
middle class used words, but working class use actions.
‘Most original thinker,’
sense of liminality between actions.
‘he turned on his heel and walked away’
suspension
‘That left the pile still in mid-air, and me of course.’
sense of inaction and focus on writer’s block.
ironic poem could be a product of writer’s block.
suggestive of no new ideas - suspended in his mind - a sense of disappointment.
Overall messages
Contrast between the narrator and the workman being observed. Dramatises the differences between the two.
Contrast of the physical strength and activities of the workmen, opposed to the passive narrator.
