glasgow sonnet quotes Flashcards
harsh environment created. personification used to show how violent the weather is. reflects area perfectly. “wanders” - can’t hide from it. “backcourt trash” conveys a sense of loneliness and emptiness like tumbleweed running across the ground
“Mean wind wanders through the backcourt trash”
continues idea of an aggressive atmosphere. personification used to show how the aggressive nature of the weather affects everything else. “hackles” an animal does this when it is scared or frightened by something. shows that the environment is quite hostile at start of poem
“hackles on puddles rise”
image of war games being played with by innocent children for make believe games. the effective wordchoice shows that the harsh sounding consonants help convey the atmosphere at the time, hence again making the tone of the poem quite negative
“brick and bric-a-brac” “play-fortresses”
makes scene seem desolate. use of skilful wordchoice as it shows that there was something violent happened there. conveys the idea of dangerous area
“ash”
onomatopoaic. shows that the building is as bad and startling and depressing as the backcourt
“smash”, “trash”, “ash”
sense of hope here. something good might happen next.
“but”
it is evident that assonance has been used here. possible indicator that a softness is being introduced into this scene
“buttresses” and “mistresses”
left standing and suffering for an unseeable amount of time. its punishment is to remain standing for the rest of its days as knocking it down seems to be seen as a relief. The use of alliteration at the start helps to convey the image of the tenements. Black is often associated with mystery and evil. This then suggests that there is something suspicious going on with the building.
“black block condemned to stand”
poet shifts his focus from outside of tenements to the inside.
“around them”
vivid description used here to convey what is happening in this scene. conveys that the interior is almost inhabitable. reflects harshness of scene by harsh sounding consonants. associated with disease. sense of isolation
“the cracks deepen, the rats crawl”
the use of the word “the” indicates to the reader that there is only one person living in the whole tenement. “late” and “job” shows the hopelessness of this situation, they also refer to the theme of poverty made clear within the poem. quotes shows just how easily one can slip into poverty and suffer mental health as a consequence
“the man lies late since he has lost his job”
“an air too poor to rob” relates to the theme of violence portrayed in this poem. highlights the porr position the man is currently in. there is an indication of a severe lack of energy and motivation. communicates snese of loneliness and isolation of tenement and its resident to reader
“smokes on one elbow, letting his coughs fall thinly into an air too poor to rob”
the use of “whimpers” is an example of personification. a kettle, however, is seen to whistle instead of whimpers. suggests that there is something more disturbing going on in its surroundings. it reflects the poverty in this family’s situation. personification mirrors family’s fear of falling further into poverty
“the kettle whimpers on a crazy hob”
roses are often referred to romance and love. however, this contrasts well with the “mould” growing. it is a very interesting way of describing such disgusting growth in the room.
“roses of mould grow from ceiling to wall”
