Poetry

Página 1

Friesian Bull

Reference to the bull's nature

summer haysmells [ olfactory imagery ] : nostalgic; summer: connotes happy environment

herd's freedom [ diction ] : contrasts with the absence of friends or companions: highlights his loneliness

clover-/loaded winds [ assonance of o ] : things he could have eaten if he was not in the pent: emphasises his separation from nature and emits sympathy from readers

The thundering speed/blows up the Dee [ auditory imagery / metaphor / assonance ] : connotes power which he does not have in the farm; also highlights natural imagery

breathing of plains [ personification ] : ability to roam freely but he cannot; contrasts with the bull

wading in shallows [ tactile imagery ] : everything he does not have in the pent

Indications of the bull's weakness

steel bars / small yard [ slant rhyme / enjambment ] :emphasis separation between freedom and bull and how it could have interacted with nature, which is sympathetic

froth of slobbered hay droops/from the stippled muzzle [ diction and enjambment ] : duration of saliva hanging down shows how bull cannot control his mouth

slow/rolling mass of his skull [ enjambment ] : lengthens language to make the bull seems clumsy and old and is lacking energy, portraying him as laborious

surface like fish bellies [ simile ] : connotes death

blunders [ diction ] : acting carelessly or making a mistake

How the current setting conveys sense of entrapment

brick and concrete stall [ symbolism ] : how hard and strong the wall is so the bull cannot break through

narrow/as a heifer's haunches [ simile ] : not true to its nature

steel bars/between her trap [ enjambment ] : prison connotes and no interaction with heifer

small yard [ visual imagery ] : living in confined area and therefore cannot go anywhere and have no freedom

stall narrows to rage. [ caesura ] : angry about the entrapment and so is thrashing around in the stall and the full stop emphasises the confinement

Artificial relationship with the heifer

heifer's haunches [ simile ] : designed for breeding only

steel bars/between her trap and his small yard [ enjambment ] : separation between bull and heifer and so cannot experience his true nature which is sympathetic

sweet smell of a heifer's fear [ olfactory imagery ] : psychotic as the life in the farm is making him mad; the heifer is not so keen and complicit in what is happening, making it feel unpleasant and fear

His crazy eyes churn with their vision [ metaphor ] : it is at a state of madness as it is controlled by the owners to live a life they want it to

Initial fear of reader and growing anger of the bull

I hear him, waking. [ caesura ] : breaks down the pace, showing her hesitance and pause

chained [ diction ] : restricted so is not capable to cause any harm

churn [ metaphor ] : a long time and so the madness is everlasting

Página 2

The Journey

The speaker's uncertainty (submissive)

As far as I am concerned/We are driving into oblivion.

[ enjambment ] : non-stop and ongoing, pace quickening

[ metaphor ] : shows the speaker's uncertainty and emptiness

nothing [ metaphor ] : cannot understand what is in front or in the future

in the dark [ metaphor ] : unsure of the future

Might be sleeping, might be alive. [ caesura or line repetition ] : disconnected with the people or house which is secure and stationed, when passing by

Driver's decisive actions (insistive)

driving/Shaft of light [ enjambment ] : taking control and has a sense of hope, hoping to find the way and searching for a resolution

miner digging/For a future [ metaphor and enjambment ] : trying to find something that can solve the problems between the speaker and the driver

mineral/Relationship [ metaphor and enjambment ] : the possibility to solve the problems is low and rare

hurl us [ metaphor ] : the action is aggressive and forceful, shows how the driver is trying hard to solve and is very determined with hint of desperateness

Into the black contracting/Chasm [ metaphor ] : something is reborning

Reference to the positive aspects of their relationship

white/Gates [ enjambment ] : an opening and possibility to a brighter future and purity

churns [ symbolism ] : a machine that makes cream which shows the effort the driver has put in, which increases the positive elements of relationship

morning [ symbolism ] : a brand new day means new possibilities for the relationship between the two

cream [ gustatory imagery ] : it is sweet, rich and elegant, goes with strawberries which is pleasant

Reference to the past problems that the couple have dealt with

old table [ symbolism ] : a place for the discussion about the problems in the past

grass verge [ metaphor ] : metaphorically on the edge on giving up because of the problems in the past

swept it clean [ metaphor or personification ] : have got rid of the problems

crumbs [ metaphor ] : shows how the speakers views the problems existed as insignificant and small

left it. [ stopped line ] : they have got over it and is putting an end to the problems

Reference to the lasting problems the pair still have

tractor [ symbolism ] : as it is used to dig up earth, it symbolises how the speaker is thinking about the problems that have been rooted long time ago

load/Of logs [ visual imagery or alliteration or enjambment ] : pile up problems and the baggage and issues between the two is heavy and constantly weighting down on them, and is accumulating over time

bringing from a deeper/Dark : shows how the problems brought up has been buried as they did not want to acknowledge them, but the speaker did remember these experiences which is dark and bad

[ enjambment ] : lengthens the time span of the problems existing

[ dissonance ] : harsh memories brought up

a damp whiff on the fungoid [ olfactory imagery or dissonance ] : as fungoid grows over a long period of time and smells like rotten egg which is unpleasant, the speaker views the relationship just the same, and how their feelings for each other has gone stale

Sterility of the conifers [ symbols and metaphor ] : as conifers does not usually have falling leaves, sterility shows how the relationship between the two is no longer intimate, emotional and close but instead is disconnected and uncomfortable

The speaker's sense of accpetance

Complacently I sit, swathed/In sleepiness [ sibilance or enjambment ] : tired and has given up to solve any other problems that has lasted for a long time

A door shuts/At the end of a dark corridor.

[ metaphor ] : there are no more ways or possibilities to solve the problems between the two, accepting the fact that the problems cannot be solved

[ stopped line ] : how she does not want to solve the problems anymore and has given up entirely

submit [ diction ] : gives up to solve any other problems between the two anymore

a blind/And folded baby [ simile ] : there is nothing she can do about the relationship with many restrictions

being born [ plosive ] : is planning to live another life, want to have a brand new start