Lament Flashcards
Summary
Point out the damage the gulf war and human in general are creating to marine environment . Her poems are hightlighting the issue of oil spills and their result and killing of marines for food and their death caused by war
The poem is about the gulf war which happened in 1991
Structure
The use of word “ for” to begin each stanza demonstrate that there are a great many things on earth lamenting
Repetition highlights the abundance of sorrow. The poem begins lamenting the natural world animal look for their habitat but it has been in some way corrupted
“For the green turtles with her pulsing burden, in search of the breeding ground “
“Pulsing burden” oxymoron refers to the turtle children , implication that the northern turtle is having babies. Refers tit he energy of the baby turtle “burden” which has a negative connotation refer to the unpleasant feelings the turtle experience
There is a metaphor present “nest of sickness” it backs up the point of the author is making about the burden of the Turks because the green turtle suffering due to the effects of the war and human activity
For the soldiers with his uniform of fire
“Uniform of fire” also gives and impression of death and suffering for the souls that fought in the gulf war, portrays an image of war of a soldier burnt by a bomb or exploding a bomb
“Closed border” creates the feeling of being trapped and not being able to escape the problems from gulf war
“ view of iridescence on the sand”
Talking about the oil spread all over on the land and sea. It talks about the appearance of oil the phrase “shadow on the sea” simply connotes to the negativity of the oil spills and uses imagery create the image that oil is a dark monster who is consuming the sea blocking out the light
“For the ocean’s lap with its mortal stain”
“Mortal stain” the use of stain can be used to describe the effect caused by the gulf war and how they aren’t easily removed
—> the ocean is described as being affected or ‘stained’ it also describe it as ‘mortal’ which negative connotation such as death . ‘Mortal stain’ is used to describe the oil on the Ocean
Overall
Overall, we see Gillian Clarke attacks environmental issue as well as those suffering souls in the gulf war that leads to the feeling of despair . Gillian Clarke has shown that there are three kinds of lament represented in the poem ;lament for the human kind ;lament for nature and lament for war.
