I started early

Question 1

context

Answer 1

-1862
-American
-Unmarried

Question 2

form

Answer 2

-ballad
-abab
-6 quatrains
-iambic tetrameter/trimeter

Question 3

The Mermaids in the Basement
Came out to look at me -

Answer 3

-female symbols of sexuality
-capitalisation - hypnotic rhythm of waves, hints at a sense of fantasy
-magic realism

Question 4

Presuming Me to be a Mouse -
Aground - upon the Sands -

Answer 4

-nasal alliteration - as if she feels suffocated by the idea that she doesn’t have the same power as ‘Hempen Hands’
-As time moves on, women will have more freedom, but she is in this point in TIME where she downs fit in with her views of sexual freedom

Question 5

And then - I started - too -

Answer 5

-Reminiscent of beginning
-shift as rhyme scheme becomes unimportant

Question 6

And bowing - with a Mighty look -
At me - The Sea withdrew -

Answer 6

-bowing as if the male force respects her
-like a one-night-stand which was odd for a woman at this time to separate after having bonded
-poem is a metaphor for the entire interaction