'world's more full of weeping' - soft 'w' sounds -
TSC
'somewhere in sands of the desert a shape' SC
'centuries of stony sleep' SC
'wander and wail as he would' - melodic,
soft sounds - onomatopoeic - C+M
Assonance
'all heart's ache' BD
'O sages standing in God's holy fire/ As in the gold mosaic of a
wall' - weaving 'o' sounds into stanza - resonates when spoken
and draws us further into this spiritual revelation - STB
'I lie awake night and night/ And never get the answers
right'-cyclical,trapped rhyme - M+E
'frothy bubbles' and 'troubles' - contrast or
link?
'delicate feet' - internal rhyme, melodic - C+M
Harsh Consonants
'the worst are full of passionate intensity' - SC
'they dreamed and are dead' E-1916
'folly of a fight' - harsh 'f'
creates fight imagery - IM
'brute blood' - harsh,
penetrative - L+S
'the clever man who cries/ The catch cries of the
clown' - harsh 'c' sounds sound angry/bitter - TF
Anaphora
TF
Rhyme
ABABABCC
AMS
STB
Rhyming couplets
M+E
WSC
Irregular rhyme scheme
BD -- stream of
consciousness
STB - twisted Ottava Rima scheme, reinforces untraditional idea
ABAB
E-1916
IA
No rhyme sceme
SC - sense of falling apart, not structure
ABBACDDC
IM
Cross-rhyme
C+M - builds dance rhythm
Rhythm
Iambic Pentameter
AMS
SC
WSC line 5
STB
Irregular rhythm
BD
SC - free verse, sense of falling apart?
Iambic tetrameter
E-1916
Variations in consistent form allow him
to emphasise particular elements
WSC lines 1 and 3
IA - balanced rhythm
Iambic trimeter
E-1916
WSC lines 2,4,6
C+M
Refrain
E-1916
TSC
Monosyllables
IM - rhythm slows and
causes reader to pause
'the great wings beating
still' - mimics beating of
wings - L+S
Caesura
broken up - sense of shock + unease - L+S
'vanished, and left but memories' - TCH
'this death' - emphasis - IA
Meter
IM - reflects irregularity and pulsations of rape - stresses
do not always comply with natural word stresses 'How
can those terrified vague fingers push'
C+M - impression that cat is moving or dancing
'do you dance Minnaloushe, do you dance?' - anapaestic metre - C+M
Anapaestic
'they have flown away' - pondering thoughts? - WSC
Form
Ottava Rima
AMS
STB
Less lines in last stanza,
cutting off thoughts
M+E
TF
Movement of tenses
BD
Varying lengths of stanzas
BD
16,24,16,24 - Easter uprising was
24/4/16 - E-1916
SC
IA - tight structure echoes
certainty that he will die
Ballad
TSC - adds to songlike
(childlike) quality
WSC - similar traits: strong emotion
released in pitiful confession