Small Female Skull Flashcards
What perspective is the poem from and who is the speaker?
Speaker analyses the sensations of being hungover. She evokes emotions that seemed important the night before, but when sober can be absurd and one’s behaviour embarrassing. The skull is the speaker’s own, small to represent her diminished self, but also an image of death — as one might feel when recovering from a hangover. Yet another major human impulse is love. When drunk emotions are often exaggerated; the morning after there is a different clarity
What themes are present in the poem?
Time, memory, drunkness
Descibe what happens in the poem.
First stanza- Comes to bathroom, blows in skulls eye, views herself as a skull. understanding facial expressions in attempt
Second stanza- Sits on toilet, embarrased of her actions previously
Third stanza- Understanding her mind, time and old actions run away from her, ambiguity and a lack of control
Fourth stanza- Intimate with herself, feels like she is in a mental facility, disassociation between her outwards persona and inner structure
What structure does the poem have?
Quintaine, shows a type of regularity but also a lack of freedom, no rhyme or rhythm. Repititive and monotonous structure to reflect common activity of disassociation or mental disturbance within her
What are the techniques used in the poem?
Contrast of first and last line
Internal rhyme
Interrogative sentences
Antithesis (papery bone)
