Whatever Happened? Flashcards
What themes are in this poem?
Time, memory, identity, trauma
What is there a recurring motif of?
Of a ship/nautical imagery
What Larkin say about the poem?
‘Mind gets to work on any violent involuntary experience’ and the meaning could be ‘sexual as well as violent’
What rhyme scheme is used?
Terza rima and a final rhyming couplet. The control of scheme to suggest compartmentalised trauma but is broken in final stanza to show trauma cannot be repressed
Why does Larkin perhaps use a sonnet?
To show the brutal nature of relationships - ironic use of structure
What devices are used in ‘At once whatever happened starts receding’?
The discourse marker suggest a sense of urgency as they speaker is trying to forget and get away from trauma. Also the vague language shows the speaker not wanting to directly remember the trauma
What device is used in ‘back on board’?
Extended metaphor - he is attempting to move away from trauma
What device is used in ‘with trousers ripped, light wallets and lips bleeding’?
Triplet/syndetic listing to show the multiple aggressive outcomes of this event. ‘light wallets’ - monetary relationship or the relationship lacking any value
What device is used in ‘Yes, gone, thank God!’ ?
Caesura is reflective of the speakers sense of disturbed panic, exclamative emphatic of relief - colloquialism
What device is used in ‘All’s Kodak distant’?
Metaphor - tries to take control of his trauma by materialising it into a snapshot - perhaps memory is fading away
What device is used in ‘(though pale)’?
Paranthesis and colour imagery shows his undeniable mental suffering as his subconscious truth
What device is used in ‘perspective brings significance’?
The quasi-philosophical language is intended to mock society that try and rationalise trauma - passive, forced acceptance
What device is used in ‘Later, it’s just a latitude’?
The motif of the ship shows him trying to reduce the trauma so it is measurable and understandable as he tries to rationalise it
What device is used in ‘such coastal bedding’?
Pun shows that sailing too close to the shore results in accidents link to the AO3 of his affair with Patsy Strang who suffered a miscarriage
What device is used in ‘Curses? The dark? Struggling?’
The incomplete, incoherent questions create a jarring tone - the speaker as anxious and uncertain
