Next, Please Flashcards
What are the themes in this poem?
Time and opportunities
What devices are used in the title?
Extended metaphor for life’s opportunities. Caesura, makes the title abbreviated, emphatic of the impatience of society and its desire for more opportunities
What context can be linked to this poem?
The preoccupation with death in the 20s, Larkin’s typical style being straightforward and vulgar, Mid century expectations of looking forward and being hopeful, 1950s consumerist culture as there was an increase in afford and avail.
What device is used in ‘Always too eager for the future, we/ Pick up on bad habits of expectancy’?
Enjambment - adds emphasis making us stop and think. Vague language showing an unprecise understanding of said imagined future- perhaps a hopeful tone
What can be inferred about ‘Something is always approaching; every day’?
There is a desire to consume options however when they arise they are not taken.
What does the use of italics in ‘Till then we say’ show?
Shows the voice of society. ‘we’ shows him aligning himself with society as he is critiquing it but is also a part of it as he conforms
What device is used in ‘Sparkling armada of promises draw near.’?
Oxymoron/Hyperbolic metaphor emphasises the glorification of new attractive/enticing opportunities. Link to 1950’s consumerist culture
What device is used in ‘How slow they are! And how much time they waste,/ Refusing to make haste!’?
The exclamatives show the speakers childlike excitement whereas the rhyme shows a sense of wonderment
What devices are used in ‘Yet still they leave us holding wretched stalks’?
Discourse/argument marker contrasts previous disappointment rooted in reality. Metaphor for future of unfulfilled dreams
What devices are used in ‘Each big approach, leaning with brasswork prinked, / Each rope distinct’?
Apophora and asyndetic listing shows how we perceive future as impressive as we view it with awe and wonder at the possibilities. Future as vivid/detailed
What device is used in ‘figurehead with golden tits’?
Bathos alongside crude language is there to make us laugh, undercuts the splender of possibilities and highlights our foolishness
