Sestina Flashcards
The way the child refers to the stove shows her childishness and innocence
Little Marvel Stove
they are laughing but family has been struck by some kind of sorrow and grandmother is trying to protect child from grief
laughing and talking to hide her tears
Autumnal, grandmother thinks the almanac predicted everything
She thinks that her equinoctial tears and the rain that beats on the roof of the house were both foretold by the almanac
the sorrow/event is only known to the grandmother
but only known to a grandmother
the child compares the moisture on the kettle to tears, showing she has some level of awareness to the situation
watching the teakettle’s small hard tears dance like mad on the hot black stove
Grandmother is trying to restore order, she has to hold everything together for child
Tidying up
almanac feels himself superior
the fact that child refers to it as this also shows her innocence and childishness
hangs up the clever almanac
The almanac hangs over them with a menacing presence
Birdlike, the almanac hovers half open above the child, hovers above the old grandmother
the child describes her grandmothers tea
teacup full of dark brown tears
the grandmother shivers
She shivers and says she thinks the house feels chilly
The stove and the almanac talk,
gives dream-like/surreal atmosphere/scene
also implies child is imagining these things
It was to be, says the Marvel stove.
I know what I know, says the almanac
the childs drawings
draws a rigid house
man with buttons like tears
child shows drawings to grandmother
shows it proudly to the grandmother
the child imagines tears dropping from the almanac onto the drawings
the little moons fall down like tears from between the pages of the almanac into the flower bed the child
child is imagining these things, grandmother not aware, just busying herself
the grandmother busies herself
