piano Flashcards
“softly in the dusk a woman is singing to me”
-sets nostalgic tone of the poem, interplay between past and present
-softly, adverb, creates a tranquil and reflective atmosphere, reinforces idea of a delicate, fading memory
-singing, auditory image, highlights evocative power of music to unloc deep memories
-dusk, metaphorically symbolizing transition, mirrors shift in speakers emotion
-passive construction, makes speaker feel acted upon rather than in control. emphasising helplessness agaisnt power of memory
“a child sitting under the piano, in the boom of the tingling strings”
-imagery, suggests safety and intimacy, reinforcing warmth of childhood
-This scene contrasts with the adult reality, emphasising the loss of innocence and warmth associated with childhood
-innocence of child emphasized, he isnt playing the piano just experiencing it passivley
-juxtaposition, between powerful and delicate sounds, reflecting he overwhelming yet beuatiful nature of memory
“in spite of myself, the insidious mastery of song”
-too painful for the speaker
-insidious, highlights the bittersweet nature of memory both beautiful and painful
-trying to resist the memory
-mastery, suggets something is subtly controlling and unavoidable, implying music has a hyptonic power over the speaker
-overwhelming nostolgia, complete control over his emotions
“my manhood is cast”
-loss of control and dignity, he is reduced to a child by he overwhelming force of nostolgia
- This metaphor personifies manhood as something that can be physically thrown or discarded. It implies:
A loss of adult composure and control
The speaker’s mature identity is being overcome or defeated
A sense of vulnerability and regression to a childlike state
-The use of “cast / Down” suggests an initial resistance to these emotions, followed by an involuntary surrender
- It highlights the tension between the speaker’s adult self and his longing for childhood innocence
-The enjambment of “cast / Down” mirrors the sense of falling or being overwhelmed
-Nostalgia: It captures the bittersweet longing for the past, even when it conflicts with one’s present identity
“down in flood of rememberance”
-water imagery, suggets unstoppable emotion, reinforcing how the path deeply affects him
-memories inundate him uncontrollably, illustrating thier emotional intensity, encapsulates tension between maturity and yearning for lost innocence
“i weep like a child for the past”
-simile, emphasises his vulnerability and inability to reconcile with his present self, it suggests that while he cannot reclaim he can emotionally reisit his past, reinforcing themes of iresistable loss of bittersweet nature of nostolgia
-succumbed to the past rather than resisting it
-speakers inner conflcit is revealed, he is a grown man but feels helpless against childhood memories
-completes emotional regression to childhood
structure
-Nearly every line is enjambed, The enjambment mirrors the way the speaker loses control: Enjambment heightens the pace and the speaker’s desire to return to the past
form
-The poem is arranged in 3 quatrains and each consists of 2 rhyming couplets, This may represent a tune played on a piano: It links the idea that a song can bring about strong emotions in a listener
-The lines vary in length and rhythm, The irregular meter could reflect the speaker’s struggle to suppress their memory and the wave of emotions
