genetics Flashcards
‘My father’s in my fingers…
…but my mother’s in my palms’
‘I lift them up…
…and look at them with pleasure’
What is the AO2? ‘I lift them up and look at them with pleasure’
The speaker had an attitude of awe and wonder regarding the miracle of a former love
‘They may have been…
…repelled to separate lands, to separate hemispheres’
What is the AO2? ‘They may have been repelled to separate lands, to separate hemispheres’
The repetition of ‘separates’ reiterates the divide, with ‘repelled’ suggesting a forceful separation. There is a juxtaposition between the stark divide of the two parents and the intimate connection she represents
‘who quarry…
…for their image by a river’
What is the AO2? ‘who quarry for their image by a river’
The metaphor represents them trying to recognise who they were, which proves to be a difficult task
‘I shape…
…a chapel where a steeple stands’
What is the AO2? ‘I shape a chapel where a steeple stands’
The reference to a childhood finger game shows the speaker feels a sense of childlike joy and innocence when thinking of her parents marriage
‘My body is…
…their marriage register’
‘So take me with you…
…take up the skin’s demands’
What is the AO2? ‘So take me with you, take up the skin’s demands’
The speak switches to speaking to partner (second person), suggesting that their love should be immortalised by a child.
The use of personification presents the human body as being driven by an impulse/instinct to be replicated
‘We know our parents…
…make us by our hands’
What is the structure of the poem?
The poem is a villanelle, where the interlinked lines are perhaps a visual representation of the bond between parent and child
