Poems Of The Decade

Question 1

Chainsaw versus Pampas grass

Answer 1

• “grinding its teeth” - zoomorphic, animalistic imagery, personification -> transition to being like men also “instant rage”, “perfect disregard”, “its bloody desire, its sweet tooth for the flesh of the face and bones underneath”
• “juices ran from its joints and threads” - sexual connotations, violent inferences
• “day-glo orange power-line” - human intrusiveness
• “then dropped the safety catch and gunned the trigger” - - metaphorical gun -> abuse and violence
• “beats per second drumming in its heart” - threatening, wild and promoted
• pampas grass: “its ludicrous feathers and plumes” - negative stereotype of women’s preoccupation with vanity, “sunning itself” - asking for it mentality, male view of feminine hubris
• theme of nature vs man, nature prevailing: “this was the sledgehammer taken to crack the nut”, “Corn in Egypt” - prevailed continuously, cutting it down making it stronger, “the seamless urge to persist was as far as it got” - despite man’s strength, nature triumphs

Question 2

Eat me

Answer 2

• “he brought me a cake, three layers of icing, home made a candle for each stone in weight” - starts off as really sweet, home made, but then shows a form of domestic violence and menace, progression in abusive relationships
• “I ate” - no emotion attached, “didn’t even taste it” - desensitised
• “broad belly wobble, hips judder like a juggernaut” - unpleasant sound, reference to Hindu God, objectification, unpleasant sound
• “I was his Jacuzzi. But he was my cook” - roles of pleasure vs necessity
• “forbidden fruit” - biblical connotations, link to sin and greed, temptation and indulgence
• repetition of “too fat” - useless member of society, awareness of the situation, unemotional tone (submitted control to him)
• “his mouth slightly open, his eyes bulging with greed/there was nothing else left in the house to eat” - cold blooded, she is technically free of abuse but still haunted by it -> taking back control, ambiguous line which is insidious/melancholy/victorious

Question 3

Genetics

Answer 3

• “my father is in my fingers, but my mother’s in my palms” - two matching clauses, syntactic parallels - parents had love but were different people
• “separate lands, to separate hemispheres” - metaphorical demonstration of their emotional distance, repel like magnets
  “nut friends who quarry for their image by a river” - passing of time, seek the idea of who they used to be, not accepting the change
  -“steeple stands” - childish gesture, parents’ marriage is linked to childhood vs “reciting psalms” - religious imagery, importance of parents
• “mirroring in bodies” - imagery of reflection, marriage as a method of legacy rather than of love

Question 4

Material

Answer 4

• “the hanky queen” - sets the tone as humorous and light hearted, shows how she idealises her
• “paper tissues brought in packs, from late-night garages and shops” - an afterthought, waste and hustle culture vs “things for waving out of trains and mopping the corners of your grief” - much more important, with grief
• “she’d have one, always up her sleeve” - shows her dependence and reliance
• “she’d had a farm up there” - passed down, shaped by generations shows how she gave comfort to everyone
• “hankies which demanded irons, and boiling to be purified” - significant task, difficulty of being a wife -> generations
• “friendly butcher who’d slip an extra sausage in” - more familiar/personal relationships
• nostalgia
• “there’s never a hanky up my sleeve” - comparison with her mother
  “who died not leaving handkerchiefs but tissues and uncertainty” -grief and the death of the stability of the old way of life

Question 6

Minor role

Answer 6

• “I’m best observed on stage”- metaphor to represent life/world, semantic field of stage terms
• “my servant’s patter” - servant to her illness, catering to others
• “if i get these midget moments wrong, the monstrous fabric shrinks to unwanted sniggers” - society -> importance of speaker yet lack of recognition, hopelessness. suffering underneath humour
• “unobtrusive” - juxtaposition relates to her illness
• asymmetric list: “driving to hospitals, parking at hospitals, holding hands under veteran magazines…” - dry tone, familiar. lots of action words show how desentisised she is
• “(mysteriously reassuring)” - stage directions
• “cancel things, tidy things, pretend all’s well, admit its not” - imperatives, commands, pressure, routine