Poetry quotes Flashcards
When we two parted in silence and tears
WWTP
- he addresses his lover directly, which makes the poem feel more personal. This contrasts with the use of ‘they’ in stanza 3- this hints at a bond between the narrator and his lover which keeps them separate from others
- ‘silence’ could mean they had nothing to say to each other any more, but it also hints that their relationship was secret and so he couldn’t express his sadness
half broken hearted
WWTP
this could suggest that they weren’t properly in love with each other. However, it’s clear that the narrator was deeply affected by their parting, so perhaps he’s accusing his lover of only being half in love with him. He could also be referring to himself as ‘half’ of the couple, meaning that he’s broken hearted, and his former lover isn’t.
they name thee before me,/a knell to mine ear
WWTP
- aural imagry
- metaphor suggests that her name sounds like a death knell to him-it reminds him of the death of their relationship
- he hears about the affairs his former lover is having - this is painful for him
why wert thou so dear
WWTP
the rhetorical question emphasises how deeply he felt for her- he cant bear to hear that she’s having affairs with other men
shows she’s constantly on his mind
in silence i grieve
WWTP
he mourns their relationship like a death (perhaps he’s mourning the part of himself that left with her-he doesnt feel whole)
because no-one knew about their relationship and that they were lovers, he can’t talk about his pain
after long years/how should i greet thee?/with silence and tears
WWTP
repetition from stanza 1 empasises secrecy and sorrow - he’s still hurting and unable to move on
cyclical structure-despite time moving on, he cannot-effects of love lasts
neautral tones
sense of impartiality
lack of colour
lack of passion
we stood by a pond that winter day
neutral tones
- lack of physical movement contributes to lifeless atmosphere
- weather reflects their feelings (pathetic fallacy) - they’re emotionally cold towards each other
- memory, pas tense, specific day, shows it still affects him if he can remember it that vividly
few leaves lay on the starving sod/they had fallen from an ash, and were grey
Neutral Tones
- alliteration and personification emphasises this impression of suffering - the lifeless ground reflects their dying relationship
- the leaves are from an ash tree, but this also links to ash from a fire - their relationship has burnt out
the smile on your mouth was the deadest thing/alive enough to have strength to die
neutral tones
-superlative deadest suggests there were other things about her that seemed to die as the relationship went on
-oxymoron- a smile shouldn’t be dead. this emphasises her complete lack of feeling towards him
she chose to let her smile die-maybe she let the love between them die too
love deceives
neutral tones
he makes a pessimistic generalisation that all love is deceptive
Before you were mine
possessive
memory
im ten years away
im not here yet
the decade ahead
BYWM
the first three stanzas each start with a reminder of the distance in time between the narrator’s birth and her mum’s youth and fun
you laugh on
BYWM
the present tense is used to talk about an event that happened in the past. This creates a vivid image - she could be imagining it, or looking at a photograph
