Good Friday

Question 1

“Am I a stone and not a sheep”

Answer 1

• biblical allusion > struggle and moral challenge
• questioning > religious doubt and guilt

Question 2

“Not so…” x 3

Answer 2

• anaphoric syndetic listing
• biblical comparisons to those present at Jesus crucifixion > guilt for her lack of emotion

Question 3

“Not so the sun and moon which hid their faces in a starless sky”

Answer 3

• celestial personification > emphasises her emotionlessness
• sensory deprivation characteristic of Rossetti + the bible > guilt
• starless > barren tone mirrors her hopeless w her lack of emotion

Question 4

“drop by drop Thy Blood’s slow loss”

Answer 4

• plosive + monosyllabic iambic pentameter + slow rhythm reflects the agonising weight of her guilt

Question 5

“I only, I”

Answer 5

• self pitying inward perspective if the poem
• repetition of personal pronouns
• interiors iambic rhythm if the poem