the chainsaw versus the pampas grass - simon armitage Flashcards
8 irregular stanzas
mimics the irregular power between men and women, humans and nature, working class and royalty
gives a sense of opposition
chainsaw given more coverage - shows arrogance and potential power
pampas grass given less coverage - quick to defeat the chainsaw
feels fragmented - cutting grass
nature fights back with irregularity - natural , no structure
limited enjambment
gives us a sense of opposition
end stopped lines - human control
title
‘versus’ immediately gives us an idea of conflict
men vs women
humanity vs nature
‘it seemed an unlikely match’
‘match’ could relate to a battle or love, or even fire
shows inequality
short emphatic sentence
‘all winter unplugged’
plants die in the winter - people die
not alive - needs power
a spark between two people for sexual chemistry
‘grinding it’s teeth’
personification - joining forces to destroy nature
animalistic
angry - desperate to escape
harsh ‘t’ sounds create the effect of an engine, spitting with rage, strength
ready to attack - defensive nature of humanity
‘darkroom’
dangerous
isolated
gothic connotations - monstrous chainsaw
‘knocked back a quarter pint of engine oil’
alludes to alcohol - masculine trait
shows the force and power of the chainsaw - does it with ease
desperate to start destroying again
‘still holding one last gulp from last year’s heat’
last of summer
not the first time
‘gulp’ indicates nervousness
foreshadows the battle
previously thought they could win
‘weightless wreckage of wasps and flies, moth balled in spider’s wool’
alliterative ‘w’s - resembles the sound of revving up of machinery.
chainsaw is threatening, foreshadowing the destruction of the grass as it did the insects.
spiders are predators
fear, death and decay
‘orange power line’
‘orange’ can be associated with caution or prison
intrusive colour - intruding on nature
‘keg’
first bomb - waiting to go off
‘gunned the trigger’
associated with guns
chainsaw becomes a metaphorical gun - abuse to nature is not far away from the abuse to humans
‘instant rage’
only purpose
animalistic
personified
anger is stereotypically associated with men
‘lashing out at air’
violence
angry for no reason
‘perfect disregard’
oxymoron?
no mercy or anything - no feelings - royalty
‘tangle with cloth or jewellery or hair’
feminine
all delicate objects
polysyndetic list
‘flesh of the face and the bones underneath’
fricative alliteration
emphasises disregard
‘kick back against’
rebel, destroy
allusion to the working class
‘i let it flare, lifted it into the sun’
spatial deixis
glorified it - sun has positive connotations
cowboy gunfight at high noon
‘hundred beats per minute drumming in it’s heart’
personification
destruction
sense of adrenaline
100 is associated with achievement and acomplishemrnt
‘gargle’
excess
cacophonic
animalistic
‘ludicrous feathers’
out of place - crazy/ unnecessary
silly
represent strength and fertility
‘taking the warmth and light’
‘sunning itself’
euphonic
semantic field of light
feminine - edwardian lady
‘stealing the show with its footstool, cushions and tufts’
metaphor
domestic imagery
chremamorphism
soft ,passive and gentle
‘twelve foot spears’
women can be strong
dark side
foreshadows victory
fighting back
‘this was the sledgehammer taken to crack the nut’
excessive force
over confidence
ironic to a certain extent - lose in the end
‘all that was needed here was a good pull or shove’
one is clearly weaker
confident
‘blur of the blade’
alliteration
easily cutting
’ i dabbed at a stalk that swooned’
light force
women - men charm
‘plant juice spat from the pipes and tubes’
retaliation
personification
mechanical tendencies
’ i ripped into pockets of dark, secret warmth’
inner power
innate power
erotic
‘flat stump the size of a manhole cover or barrel lid’
chainsaw has won
man thinks he’s won
remove roots
‘wanting to finish things off i took up the saw and drove it vertically downwards into the upper root’
consolidating power
doesn’t want to admit defeat
‘but the blade became choked with soil or fouled with weeds’
volta
nature regenerates
fights back
‘cutting at water or air with a knife’
simile
impossible
‘threw in a match - it flamed for a minute , smoked for a minute more, then went out’
didn’t work
nature is more powerful
ineradicable
‘i left it at that’
given up
admits defeat
anti climax
‘new shoots like asparagus tips’
power of nature
re generating
‘riding high in it’s saddle, wearing a new crown’
power has shifted
monarch - represents to monarchy
‘corn in egypt’
surprising and miraculous
allegory
corn that joseph stockpiles to enable the population to survive the famine
‘midday moon’
lacks relevance but is still there
oxymoron
‘chainsaw seethed’
still angry
ongoing battle
‘man made dreams’
violence in humanity
headlines
attempts to defeat nature are futile
machines vs nature
the battle between man and nature
masculinity versus femininity
the working class versus the ruling class
many of the battles in life are perpetual
