Mean Time- Time

Question 1

Overall

Question 2

“ the clocks slid back an hour and stole light from my life”

Answer 2

• evocative metaphor that connects the passage of time to a profound sense of personal loss
  -“sliding back’ refers to the end of day light saving time which symbolises not just the literal shortening of days by also the diminishing vitality in the speakers life and relationship
  -‘stolen light’ - suggests times passage as taken something irreplaceable from the speaker evoking both the fading of once string love and the impending darkness of winter

Question 3

“Unmendable rain” “bleak streets” “heart gnaw past mistakes”

Answer 3

-suggests a sense of damage that cannot be repaired echoing emotions; ‘mourning” that the speaker feels
-rain falling on bleak streets Mirross the bleakness within the speakers hearts as they reflect on ‘pat mistakes’
The personification of the heart “gnawing” illustrated how over time the memory of these errors become an unyielding pain one thing that can’t be done or fixed
-time makes the persona confront the lasting impact of words and actions that have led to a sense of loss

Question 4

“Darkening sky could lift more than one hour from this day”

Answer 4

-metaphor for lifting time away conveys the speakers longing to turn back the clock further than a single hour undoing not just the literal passage of time but past mistake and regrets

Question 5

“Words i would never have said nor hear you say”

Answer 5

-shows how time preserves hurtful exchanges and painful memories preventing the speaker from moving on
-this reflects a universal human wish to undo th irreversible showing how time can hold us in regret and prevent us from escaping the motional pain and turmoil of pat actions

Question 6

‘We will be dead as we know beyond all light”

Answer 6

• brings a sense of acceptance of times finality
  -speaks to the inevitability of death which stand the ultimate end point in the passage of time
  -here light represents life and all its opportunities for connection learning and healing
• ‘beyond all light’ implies time will ultimately ;end to an end where possibilities cease

Question 7

“Shortened days” “ endless nights”

Answer 7

-capture both the literal shorter days of winter and the figurative shortness of human life while the ‘endless nights suggest eternal darkness that awaits us
- the nights haven’t just become an hour longer bur endless without her lover as she is now alone
- reflection on mortality reinforce the poems somber tone capturing the resigned acceptance of the limits of life and times inevitable progress toward an end