On Finding A Small Fly Crushed In A Book By Charles Turner

Question 1

Context

Answer 1

Brother of Alfred Tennyson
Sonnet writer
Father and him were both priests
Momento mori - trope in art about the inevitability of death
Flies often symbolise decay

Question 2

Themes and tone

Answer 2

Themes: death, innocence, memory, nature
Tone: reflective, morbid, remorseful

Question 3

Structure

Answer 3

Sonnet
Tonal shift in the 8th line from nature to humanity
Dichotomy between nature and humanity
Rhyme scheme: Abba, cddc, efef, gg (change represents the tonal shift)

Question 4

‘Some hand, that never meant to do thee hurt,
Has crushed thee here between these pages pent;’ (1-2)

Answer 4

DETERMINER SOME: shows careless nature of humanity by the accidental murderer
HARSH ALLITERATION OF H AND P: emphasises the snapping of the book that killed the fly

Question 5

‘But thou has left thine own fair monument,
Thy wings gleam out and tell me what thou wert:’ (3-4)

Answer 5

MONUMENT NOUN CHOICE: connotes precious, ancient, eternal JUXTAPOSED by humanities short legacy
GLEAM ADJ CHOICE: connotes beauty of nature
The narrator is getting to understand the fly that was cruelly killed

Question 6

‘Oh! That the memories, which survive us here,
Were half as lovely as these wingsof thine!
Pure relics of a blameless life, that shine
Now thou art gone: Our doom is ever near:’ (5-8)

Answer 6

EXCLAMATION: lament and remorse for killing the fly
LOVELY AND SHINE ADJ CHOICE: emphasises the beauty of nature and the fly, as well as the monument
NOUN CHOICE RELIC!p: connotes precious
PURE AND BLAMELESS ADJ CHOICE: shows the innocence of the fly and nature in comparison to humans who are evil
CAESURA: tonal shift to focus on humans and our own death

Question 7

‘The peril is beside us day by day;
The book will close upon us it may be,
Just as we lift ourselves to soar away
Upon the summer-airs. But, unlike thee,’ (9-12)

Answer 7

CENTRAL METAPHOR: our life is a book that can snap at any moment like it did with the fly. However if we open the book, humans leave no legacy behind, unlike nature.
SOAR VERB CHOICE: joyful connotations - mirrors the fly that was ready to leave. Shows that no matter how happy we seem or how happy life seems, death can always come and take.
CAESURA: emphasises juxtaposition between joy, life and death

Question 8

‘The closing book may stop our vital breath,
Yet leave no lustre on our page of death.’ (13-14)

Answer 8

RHYMING COUPLET: emphasises the finality of death - the end focus
LUSTRE ADJ CHOICE: shows the beauty and legacy nature leaves - eternal, while humans leave nothing