Structure + Etc For Each Heaney Poem Flashcards
What is the structure of Personal helicon?
As he grows older through each stanza, he is able to see further into the wells.
What is the rhyme scheme for Personal helicon?
Alternating rhyme scheme with the use of half-rhymes scattered throughout.
Reflects the alternations between childhood and adulthood.
Wells allowed for personal reflection in youth and poetry does so in adulthood.
What form is The forge?
Sonnet.
The use of traditional form of poetry reinforces the traditional skill and work demonstrated in the forge.
The octet focuses on the forge, with the sestet focusing on the blacksmith.
What is the rhyme scheme of The forge?
The departure from the traditional Shakespearean rhyme scheme and Petrarchan rhyme scheme for sonnets reflects the changing world that surrounds the blacksmith and his work.
What is the rhyme scheme of The peninsula?
Inconsistent and changes.
In the first three stanzas, lines 1 and 4 rhyme which represents the distance between the speaker and his destination/inspiration.
After returning from the journey in stanza 4 he arrives at it, represented by the couplet in the middle of the stanza.
What is the structure of The peninsula?
4 quatrains, representing the 4 different stages of the journey.
It presents the poem as a step-by-step guide to finding motivation/inspiration reinforced by the use of imperatives throughout.
(1) Beginning journey.
(2) Details of the unique features of the land.
(3) Recollection.
(4) Return, embrace your experiences and let them affect you.
COME BACK TO THE WIFE’S TALE
What is the structure of Bogland?
7 quatrains of free verse, a sequence of short sentences told in an informal tone.
It’s structured like a bog- with short lines and an uncovering of new layers each stanza.
What is the rhyme of The harvest bow?
Couplets/half-rhymes throughout. Complete rhyme in stanza 4.
What is the rhyme scheme and tone of The harvest bow?
Longer lines and rhyme scheme mirror the intricacies in making the harvest bow itself.
Tone- warm, sorrowful, mournful, rejoicing.
What is the structure of The railway children?
4 triplet stanzas and a single line.
Reflects the simplicity of childhood.
What is the rhyme scheme of The railway children?
No set rhyme scheme and frequent use of enjambment reflects the spontaneity of childhood.
What is the structure of The summer of lost Rachel?
9 stanzas.
Represents the 9 years that Rachel lived.
What is the rhyme scheme of The summer of lost Rachel?
Lines 2 and 4 rhyme, with some inclusion of half rhymes throughout (changes in stanza 5, none in stanza 6).
This combination should give a nursery-rhyme feel, but the half-rhymes show how Rachel’s childhood was tainted by being in a brutal accident.
What is the rhythm of The summer of lost Rachel?
Reminiscent of a nursery rhyme. Lines 1 and 3 vary from 7-9 syllables, lines 2 and 4 vary from 5-6 syllables.
This emphasises the youth of Rachel when she died.
What is the structure of Postscript?
Poem is written in blank verse with loose iambic pentameter.
With no rhyme, a lack of punctuation and one long opening sentence, the casual flow of the poem represents the casual, conversational nature of the speaker.
What is the form of Had I not been awake?
Enjambment is used throughout to reflect the movement and progression of Heaney from illness to recovery, to reflection, to inspiration.
It is also used to represent how quick and fleeting the moment was, reinforcing the idea of a singular experience of poetic fear/health fear that Heaney is able to recover from
What is the structure and rhyme or rhythm of Had I not been awake?
COME BACK TO THIS
What is the structure of The Conway Stewart?
Tercets with unusually short lines, perhaps showing the difficulty giving expression to a difficult experience.
What is the form of The Conway Stewart?
Enjambment used throughout, the whole poem is one sentence.
This represents the singularity of the experience and how significant it was in Heaney’s childhood.
Literally nothing for The Baler
COME BACK TO THIS
