The Pomegranate by Eavan Boland Flashcards

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1
Q

What are the themes in ‘The Pomegranate’ by Eavan Boland?

A

Loss
Mother-daughter relationship
Mythology

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2
Q

What is the tone of ‘The Pomegranate’ by Eavan Boland?

A

○Quite gloomy and bleak: hell; city of fogs; dusk of the underworld, the stars blighted; twilight; winter; stars are hidden; place of death; rocks full of unshed tears
○Appropriate for the painful experience being recorded
○Also a tone of acceptance towards the end → “i will say nothing”

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3
Q

What is the structure of ‘The Pomegranate’ by Eavan Boland?

A

○Unstructured → descriptive narrative; straightforward; factual yet personal
○No stanzas; no spacings
○Blank verse, which achieves a natural sounding utterance/ speaking voice

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4
Q

Describe the use of punctuation in ‘The Pomegranate’ by Eavan Boland

A

○Frequent use of short sentences → factual &slows tempo
○Exclamation mark and question mark in “The pomegranate! How did I forget it?” captures the mood of sadness as Boland remembers her daughter will have to leave

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5
Q

Give the quote that contains the repetition of “she will” and the impact this has on the poem ‘The Pomegranate’ by Eavan Boland

A

“She will enter it. As I have.
She will wake up. She will hold
the papery flushed skin in her hand.
And to her lips. I will say nothing.”

This highlights the inevitability and the need to let her daughter go. Boland is deciding to remain silent, despite her grief

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6
Q

“The only…

A
"The only legend I have ever loved is
the story of a daughter lost in hell.
And found and rescued there.
Love and blackmail are the gist of it.
Ceres and Persephone the names."
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7
Q

“As a …

A

“As a child in exile in

a city of fogs and strange consonants”

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8
Q

“Later…

A

“Later
I walked out in a summer twilight
searching for my daughter at bed-time”

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9
Q

“winter was…

A

“winter was in store for every leaf

on every tree on that roof”

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10
Q

“I climb the …

A

“I climb the stairs and stand where I can see
my child asleep beside her teen magazines,
her can of Coke”

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11
Q

“She could have…

A

“She could have come home and been safe
and ended the story and all
our heart-broken searching”

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12
Q

“…but she reached…

A
"...but she reached
out a hand and plucked a pomegranate.
She put out her hand and pulled down 
the French sound for apple and 
the noise of stone"
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13
Q

“I could …

A

“I could warn her. There is still a chance”

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14
Q

“But what else…

A

“But what else
can a mother give her daughter but such
beautiful rifts in time?”

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15
Q

“The legend…

A

“The legend will be hers as well as mine”

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16
Q

“If I…

A

“If I defer the grief I will diminish the gift”

17
Q

“And the best…

A

“And the best thing about the legend is

I can enter it anywhere”