history Flashcards
How is the opening of the poem significant?
Beginning with ‘today’, the speaker roots the poem in a specific time and place, as well as introducing the importance of finding meaning in the present.
‘I knelt down…
…in the sand with Lucas’
What is the AO2? ‘I knelt down in the sand with Lucas’
Connotations of prayer/hope, Lucas is one of many proper nouns used in the poem to relate the poems focus on personal history, and is a symbol of hope, innocence and possibility
‘finding evidence of…
…life in all this driftwork’
What is the AO2? ‘finding evidence of life in all this driftwork’
This is used to symbolise change and impermanence
Why does the structure change as the speaker moves from a descriptive to a philosophical tone?
The more regular structure takes place as the speaker ponders what it is that makes us human
‘But something lost…
…between the world we own and what we dream about behind the names’
What is the AO2? ‘But something lost between the world we own and what we dream about behind the names’
Suggests that we are joined as human being by hopes, dreams and possibility
‘Sometimes I am…
…dizzy with the fear of losing everything’
‘a toddler on a beach…
…sifting wood and dried weed from the sand’
What is the AO2? ‘a toddler on the beach sifting wood and dried weed from the sand’
Toddler is a symbol of innocence, represents finding joy in life’s small details
‘with a kite…
…plugged into the sky all nerve and line’
What is the AO2? ‘with a kite plugged into the sky all nerve and line’
Juxtaposition between the toddler and the parents, who in contrast are anxious, fretful and worried
What is the AO2? ‘attentive to the irredeemable’
Parents are focused on what can’t be recovered, and are constantly attempting to preserve childlike wonder and innocence
