English poetry
I've an English Literature exam coming up, therefore please could someone help me with the poems. Firstly:
04/01/07
The telephone shatters the night’s dark glass.
I’m suddenly awake in the new year air
And in the moment it takes a life to pass
From waking to sleeping I feel you there.
My brother’s voice that sounds like mine
Gives me the news I already knew.
Outside a milk fl oat clinks and shines
And a lit plane drones in the night’s dark blue,
And I feel the tears slap my torn face;
The light clicks on. I rub my eyes.
I’m trapped inside that empty space
You fl oat in when your mother dies.
Feeling that the story ends just here,
The stream dried up, the smashed glass clear.
Ian McMillan
Could you discuss the language, Form, Imagery, Rhythm and Tone.
Thank you very much!
Any good answers will receive positive ratings!
04/01/07
The telephone shatters the night’s dark glass.
I’m suddenly awake in the new year air
And in the moment it takes a life to pass
From waking to sleeping I feel you there.
My brother’s voice that sounds like mine
Gives me the news I already knew.
Outside a milk fl oat clinks and shines
And a lit plane drones in the night’s dark blue,
And I feel the tears slap my torn face;
The light clicks on. I rub my eyes.
I’m trapped inside that empty space
You fl oat in when your mother dies.
Feeling that the story ends just here,
The stream dried up, the smashed glass clear.
Ian McMillan
Could you discuss the language, Form, Imagery, Rhythm and Tone.
Thank you very much!
Any good answers will receive positive ratings!
Original post by Icantthinkofausern
I've an English Literature exam coming up, therefore please could someone help me with the poems. Firstly:
04/01/07
The telephone shatters the night’s dark glass.
I’m suddenly awake in the new year air
And in the moment it takes a life to pass
From waking to sleeping I feel you there.
My brother’s voice that sounds like mine
Gives me the news I already knew.
Outside a milk fl oat clinks and shines
And a lit plane drones in the night’s dark blue,
And I feel the tears slap my torn face;
The light clicks on. I rub my eyes.
I’m trapped inside that empty space
You fl oat in when your mother dies.
Feeling that the story ends just here,
The stream dried up, the smashed glass clear.
Ian McMillan
Could you discuss the language, Form, Imagery, Rhythm and Tone.
Thank you very much!
Any good answers will receive positive ratings!
04/01/07
The telephone shatters the night’s dark glass.
I’m suddenly awake in the new year air
And in the moment it takes a life to pass
From waking to sleeping I feel you there.
My brother’s voice that sounds like mine
Gives me the news I already knew.
Outside a milk fl oat clinks and shines
And a lit plane drones in the night’s dark blue,
And I feel the tears slap my torn face;
The light clicks on. I rub my eyes.
I’m trapped inside that empty space
You fl oat in when your mother dies.
Feeling that the story ends just here,
The stream dried up, the smashed glass clear.
Ian McMillan
Could you discuss the language, Form, Imagery, Rhythm and Tone.
Thank you very much!
Any good answers will receive positive ratings!
I'll do a response to this this evening, if you're okay to wait until then.
Original post by KingMessi
I'll do a response to this this evening, if you're okay to wait until then.
Perfect, thanks.
Original post by Icantthinkofausern
Perfect, thanks.
I'll have a response by nine. Sorry for the delay, I've got a university interview to prepare for so I've been somewhat snowed under, but I'll just eat dinner before writing a response. Apologies again.
Original post by Icantthinkofausern
I've an English Literature exam coming up, therefore please could someone help me with the poems. Firstly:
04/01/07
The telephone shatters the night’s dark glass.
I’m suddenly awake in the new year air
And in the moment it takes a life to pass
From waking to sleeping I feel you there.
My brother’s voice that sounds like mine
Gives me the news I already knew.
Outside a milk fl oat clinks and shines
And a lit plane drones in the night’s dark blue,
And I feel the tears slap my torn face;
The light clicks on. I rub my eyes.
I’m trapped inside that empty space
You fl oat in when your mother dies.
Feeling that the story ends just here,
The stream dried up, the smashed glass clear.
Ian McMillan
Could you discuss the language, Form, Imagery, Rhythm and Tone.
Thank you very much!
Any good answers will receive positive ratings!
04/01/07
The telephone shatters the night’s dark glass.
I’m suddenly awake in the new year air
And in the moment it takes a life to pass
From waking to sleeping I feel you there.
My brother’s voice that sounds like mine
Gives me the news I already knew.
Outside a milk fl oat clinks and shines
And a lit plane drones in the night’s dark blue,
And I feel the tears slap my torn face;
The light clicks on. I rub my eyes.
I’m trapped inside that empty space
You fl oat in when your mother dies.
Feeling that the story ends just here,
The stream dried up, the smashed glass clear.
Ian McMillan
Could you discuss the language, Form, Imagery, Rhythm and Tone.
Thank you very much!
Any good answers will receive positive ratings!
'The telephone shatters the night’s dark glass.
I’m suddenly awake in the new year air
And in the moment it takes a life to pass
From waking to sleeping I feel you there.'
The language is contemporary so it gets the reader involved with the poem from the very beginning. However, since it rimes, it is quite archaic in some way. Archaic in the sense that it follows a literary tradition that stretches centuries. It is somewhat reminiscent of Shakespeare's literary works since it uses colloquial language and metaphors that are not used in everyday language (I think) + it rimes. The first quatrain is a good introduction to the rest of the poem; you almost get thrown into the settings. 'Dark' gives you the connotations of being alone and isolated. 'New year air' might signal a new beginning for this person. Since it has the word 'air', I guess that this is some sort of relief that the news have arrived. Maybe because he/she couldn't handle someone. It is also gives you a feeling of being in the dead of winter and standing in a place, exposed. Despite this new found freedom of someone being dead, he/she is still haunted by that person. 'Telephone' is a modern word so it suggests that the protagonist of the poem lived/lives during the 20th - 21st century? Because of it being unclear when this person was alive, it brings to mind that this story is part of a narrative?
I hope this helps... I'm not done yet!
'My brother’s voice that sounds like mine
Gives me the news I already knew.
Outside a milk fl oat clinks and shines
And a lit plane drones in the night’s dark blue,'
It might be that this person had been expecting for this. Maybe... the person who is haunting the protagonist has cancer/other horrible disease. Perhaps the protagonist both loved and hated this person? (I know it's the mother, I'll get to her later on)
Hmm... the first and third verses don't rime due to the struggle the protagonist is feeling in his/her heart? 'Shines' and ' lit plane' signifies hope/love, that this person did light up the existence of the protagonist's life?
'Milk float' is a symbol for the journey that everyone takes when they die. This also reconnects to the Greek myth of being transported across the river Styx. It was common for renaissance writers to write pieces that had a connection to the 'glorious' classical era. Struggle... could be that the protagonist wants to reconcile with this person...
Gives me the news I already knew.
Outside a milk fl oat clinks and shines
And a lit plane drones in the night’s dark blue,'
It might be that this person had been expecting for this. Maybe... the person who is haunting the protagonist has cancer/other horrible disease. Perhaps the protagonist both loved and hated this person? (I know it's the mother, I'll get to her later on)
Hmm... the first and third verses don't rime due to the struggle the protagonist is feeling in his/her heart? 'Shines' and ' lit plane' signifies hope/love, that this person did light up the existence of the protagonist's life?
'Milk float' is a symbol for the journey that everyone takes when they die. This also reconnects to the Greek myth of being transported across the river Styx. It was common for renaissance writers to write pieces that had a connection to the 'glorious' classical era. Struggle... could be that the protagonist wants to reconcile with this person...
(edited 12 years ago)
Original post by Icantthinkofausern
I've an English Literature exam coming up, therefore please could someone help me with the poems. Firstly:
04/01/07
The rhyme scheme is ABAB. It's not written in a coherent meter, but most lines fit into either the category of either iambic pentameter or eleven-syllable lines.
The telephone shatters the night’s dark glass.
Here we have the sense of the protagonist being constrained by the night. One could interpret the glass to be enclosing him, and the telephone then managed to bring both the reader and protagonist to reality - hence increasing our attention to what follows.
I’m suddenly awake in the new year air
This is an interesting juxtaposition to what follows. The concept of 'new year' implies rebirth and regeneration - but what happens next is the complete converse of regeneration. In fact, he is deadened by what occurs; what he hears.
And in the moment it takes a life to pass
Another juxtaposition of a short moment in time being extended into a period of far longer for rhetorical effect. The concept of a 'life passing' suggests a death, or ageing, occurring as a result of what he's hearing. In addition, the enjambment of this line and the next adds to the sense of a long time passing. The use of emphatic placement of the verb choice 'pass' emphasises the transience of the time in this stanza.
From waking to sleeping I feel you there.
This is a contrast to the first line; as opposed to being awakened by the interruption, the protagonist is almost deadened by his loss. The double use of verb 'waking to sleeping' implies the way in which these two states are completely governed by one issue; that is, 'feeling' them there. The selection of the verb choice 'feel' only serves to highlight the sense of loss; 'feeling' is essentially intangible in this context, and it serves to drive home the loss of tangible sensation.
My brother’s voice that sounds like mine
This obviously suggests the similarity between the protagonist and his brother, but the lexical choice 'mine' also connotes possessiveness. It gives a reader the sense that, through using the word 'mine', he is grasping for anything familiar, anything that can give him a sense of self - which in turn emphasises the dissolution that is occurring in his psyche.
Gives me the news I already knew.
Outside a milk float clinks and shines
And a lit plane drones in the night’s dark blue,
I think that the preceding lines serve to show the mundane nature of death, in a wider context. I know this seems like an odd idea, but I think that the writer's use of the intrusion of these standard facets of human life are seen as mundane by the reader? Is this to imply that the death is equally mundane, or is it done to suggest that the reader is noticing these objects to try and tether himself to reality, normality, against his surreal thoughts.
And I feel the tears slap my torn face;
Slap is a violent verb obviously, and little needs to be said about this. Far more interesting is the concept of 'torn face'; the face is the seat of emotion, and that it is torn implies that the same thing has happened to his emotions; that is, they are surreal and fragmented.
The light clicks on. I rub my eyes.
I’m trapped inside that empty space
You float in when your mother dies.
Feeling that the story ends just here,
The stream dried up, the smashed glass clear.
The couplet at the end is abrupt, and this can be seen as allegorical for the way in which his story, like his mother's life, has had an abrupt ending. There is an alteration to past tense in the last couplet in the verb choices, implying that, for the protagonist, he is encapsulated by his past now.
Ian McMillan
Could you discuss the language, Form, Imagery, Rhythm and Tone.
Thank you very much!
Any good answers will receive positive ratings!
04/01/07
The rhyme scheme is ABAB. It's not written in a coherent meter, but most lines fit into either the category of either iambic pentameter or eleven-syllable lines.
The telephone shatters the night’s dark glass.
Here we have the sense of the protagonist being constrained by the night. One could interpret the glass to be enclosing him, and the telephone then managed to bring both the reader and protagonist to reality - hence increasing our attention to what follows.
I’m suddenly awake in the new year air
This is an interesting juxtaposition to what follows. The concept of 'new year' implies rebirth and regeneration - but what happens next is the complete converse of regeneration. In fact, he is deadened by what occurs; what he hears.
And in the moment it takes a life to pass
Another juxtaposition of a short moment in time being extended into a period of far longer for rhetorical effect. The concept of a 'life passing' suggests a death, or ageing, occurring as a result of what he's hearing. In addition, the enjambment of this line and the next adds to the sense of a long time passing. The use of emphatic placement of the verb choice 'pass' emphasises the transience of the time in this stanza.
From waking to sleeping I feel you there.
This is a contrast to the first line; as opposed to being awakened by the interruption, the protagonist is almost deadened by his loss. The double use of verb 'waking to sleeping' implies the way in which these two states are completely governed by one issue; that is, 'feeling' them there. The selection of the verb choice 'feel' only serves to highlight the sense of loss; 'feeling' is essentially intangible in this context, and it serves to drive home the loss of tangible sensation.
My brother’s voice that sounds like mine
This obviously suggests the similarity between the protagonist and his brother, but the lexical choice 'mine' also connotes possessiveness. It gives a reader the sense that, through using the word 'mine', he is grasping for anything familiar, anything that can give him a sense of self - which in turn emphasises the dissolution that is occurring in his psyche.
Gives me the news I already knew.
Outside a milk float clinks and shines
And a lit plane drones in the night’s dark blue,
I think that the preceding lines serve to show the mundane nature of death, in a wider context. I know this seems like an odd idea, but I think that the writer's use of the intrusion of these standard facets of human life are seen as mundane by the reader? Is this to imply that the death is equally mundane, or is it done to suggest that the reader is noticing these objects to try and tether himself to reality, normality, against his surreal thoughts.
And I feel the tears slap my torn face;
Slap is a violent verb obviously, and little needs to be said about this. Far more interesting is the concept of 'torn face'; the face is the seat of emotion, and that it is torn implies that the same thing has happened to his emotions; that is, they are surreal and fragmented.
The light clicks on. I rub my eyes.
I’m trapped inside that empty space
You float in when your mother dies.
Feeling that the story ends just here,
The stream dried up, the smashed glass clear.
The couplet at the end is abrupt, and this can be seen as allegorical for the way in which his story, like his mother's life, has had an abrupt ending. There is an alteration to past tense in the last couplet in the verb choices, implying that, for the protagonist, he is encapsulated by his past now.
Ian McMillan
Could you discuss the language, Form, Imagery, Rhythm and Tone.
Thank you very much!
Any good answers will receive positive ratings!
There you go. I would've made it more comprehensive, sorry...
'And I feel the tears slap my torn face;
The light clicks on. I rub my eyes.
I’m trapped inside that empty space
You fl oat in when your mother dies.'
The whole rime pattern of this poem is A/B/A/B, C/D/E/D, F/G/F/G, H/H. Very reminiscent of a Shakespearean sonnet. Except for the second quatrain which I've already discussed. It wasn't very clear in the beginning who the deceased person was, but now it becomes clear that it is the mother.
This quatrain expresses sorrow and grief. Clearly, the mother left a void when dying. But maybe the protagonist longed for his/her mother to be close to him/her before dying. Perhaps the mother wasn't really a good maternal figure? Based on this, the mother might have left her family/abusive husband after fallen in love with another person?
Despite this, s/he is lost without her. So there is a lot of inner tension. The protagonist is trapped, but where? This is some kind of internal struggle. The shattered glass in the beginning was probably the thing that separated the protagonist from the mother. In spite of having lost the mother, s/he is a lot closer now, or so the protagonist believes.
'The light clicks on. I rub my eyes.'
The protagonist realises that s/he is still lost. So you might assume that it has been a while after the mother's death. This reaffirms the thesis of this poem being a narrative.
The light clicks on. I rub my eyes.
I’m trapped inside that empty space
You fl oat in when your mother dies.'
The whole rime pattern of this poem is A/B/A/B, C/D/E/D, F/G/F/G, H/H. Very reminiscent of a Shakespearean sonnet. Except for the second quatrain which I've already discussed. It wasn't very clear in the beginning who the deceased person was, but now it becomes clear that it is the mother.
This quatrain expresses sorrow and grief. Clearly, the mother left a void when dying. But maybe the protagonist longed for his/her mother to be close to him/her before dying. Perhaps the mother wasn't really a good maternal figure? Based on this, the mother might have left her family/abusive husband after fallen in love with another person?
Despite this, s/he is lost without her. So there is a lot of inner tension. The protagonist is trapped, but where? This is some kind of internal struggle. The shattered glass in the beginning was probably the thing that separated the protagonist from the mother. In spite of having lost the mother, s/he is a lot closer now, or so the protagonist believes.
'The light clicks on. I rub my eyes.'
The protagonist realises that s/he is still lost. So you might assume that it has been a while after the mother's death. This reaffirms the thesis of this poem being a narrative.
Original post by Icantthinkofausern
I've an English Literature exam coming up, therefore please could someone help me with the poems. Firstly:
04/01/07
The telephone shatters the night’s dark glass.
I’m suddenly awake in the new year air
And in the moment it takes a life to pass
From waking to sleeping I feel you there.
My brother’s voice that sounds like mine
Gives me the news I already knew.
Outside a milk fl oat clinks and shines
And a lit plane drones in the night’s dark blue,
And I feel the tears slap my torn face;
The light clicks on. I rub my eyes.
I’m trapped inside that empty space
You fl oat in when your mother dies.
Feeling that the story ends just here,
The stream dried up, the smashed glass clear.
Ian McMillan
Could you discuss the language, Form, Imagery, Rhythm and Tone.
Thank you very much!
Any good answers will receive positive ratings!
04/01/07
The telephone shatters the night’s dark glass.
I’m suddenly awake in the new year air
And in the moment it takes a life to pass
From waking to sleeping I feel you there.
My brother’s voice that sounds like mine
Gives me the news I already knew.
Outside a milk fl oat clinks and shines
And a lit plane drones in the night’s dark blue,
And I feel the tears slap my torn face;
The light clicks on. I rub my eyes.
I’m trapped inside that empty space
You fl oat in when your mother dies.
Feeling that the story ends just here,
The stream dried up, the smashed glass clear.
Ian McMillan
Could you discuss the language, Form, Imagery, Rhythm and Tone.
Thank you very much!
Any good answers will receive positive ratings!
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