Nil Nil Flashcards
“fifty-year slide”
The metaphor suggests how inevitable the decline was, comparing it to the effects of gravity on an object, the club had no control over it, it was unavoidable.
“twirling away like an ash-key”
The simile suggests the fall is inevitable and natural, also gentle and comforting. The silence of this also contributes to the idea. The fragility and insignificance of the ash-key stresses that the pilot has no control as he falls to the ground. Links to the key theme of the futility of all human endeavour - everything leads to nothing.
“a plague of grey bonnets falls out of the clouds”
The metaphor implies a great, unstoppable numbers of hats flying through the air, showing the success of the club. The falling of the hats echoes the central fall of the club.
“pitch sharing, pay cuts, pawned silver”
The alliteration highlights the speed of the events and shows how they are connected.
The list highlights how the club’s downfall is evident which links to the central idea of how all of our effort eventually amount to nothing in the end.
“stopped swings”
The word choice and alliteration suggest that childhood pleasure has been halted due to poverty and economic success leaving small towns.
“dead shanty town”
This metaphor shows that nothing is cultivated here, talent falls into the gutter and there are little opportunities. The place is haunted by the previous success of the club and highlights the futility of all human endeavour.
“but ours is a game of two halves”
This indicates a turning point in the poem and in the fortunes of the team.
The word choice of ‘ours’ includes the reader, highlighting meaning behind the story of the team’s decline and links it to the central concern of the futility of human endeavour.
“unknown to him, it is all that remains of a lone fighter pilot”
The poem shifts to a story of the much faster decline of a fighter pilot.
The fact that Horace is ‘unaware’ of this underlines the message in the poem that so many things we do or say will be forgotten over time or missed entirely in the first place. It highlights how futile our lives end up being as it is all the pilot has been reduced to.
“black shell of Skelly Dry Cleaners”
This metaphor recalls the old sponsors of the team now hollow, ruined and in darkness. Shows the huge and inevitable decline of the club.
Philosopher’s Quote
The quote from an imagined philosopher, sets up the philosophical nature of the poem. It encourages the reader to think about the nature of existence.
The quote contrasts with the tone at the start of the poem.
The ideas of the quote tie in to the key ideas of the poem in that all human endeavour is ultimately pointless.
