The Yellow Palm - Robert Minhinnick

The Yellow Palm - Robert Minhinnick

1. Subject and Themes

   • Poem is about an unknown conflict
     • Conflict is not overt in the poem
       • Overt - obvious, open
     • Past/present/future?

2. Title

   • The yellow palm is a date-producing palm tree
     • The leaves, bark and fruit are used for a variety of helpful purposes
       • Shade
       • Food
   • Positive image
     • Contrasts with context

3. Form and Structure

   • Written in form of a ballad
     • Strong rhythm and rhyme scheme
     • Song like quality
       • Contrast with the context
   • Six stanzas
     • The second, forth and sixth line of each stanza rhymes or has a half rhyme

4. Language

   • Imagery
     • Religious connotations
       • 'to watch the faithful there'
         • Muslims going to pray
       • 'the muezzin's eyes'
         • Official who calls the faithful to prayer at mosque
       • 'blessed it with a smile'
         • Missile - mile - smile
           • Weapon has become a smile
             • Negative into positive
               • Makes the missile appear harmless
         • Child doesn't know it's a threat
       • 'were wild with his despair'
         • Mosque should be peaceful
           • Links religion to violence
     • The different senses are used throughout
       • 'I heard the call'
       • 'I smelled the wide Tigris'
         • Tigris is a river that flows through Baghdad.
       • 'I pressed my hands'
       • 'I watched a funeral pass'
     • War connotations
       • 'I met two blind beggars...and their salutes were those of the Imperial Guard'
         • Imperial Guard were a unit of largely volenteers who served Hussein
         • Contrast
           • Soldiers - smart, order, power
           • Beggars - scruffy, have nothing, no power
         • Suggests that the soldiers have become beggars
         • Saluted like soldiers
           • Makes them sound sinister, violent
       • 'Mother of all wars'
         • Hussein's description of the first Gulf War in 1990
           • Saddam Hussein was the president of Iraq, 1979-2003
       • 'had breathed a poison gas'
         • Victim of war
   • Ending
     • Last stanza is positive
       • Ends on a positive note rather than dwelling on the conflict
         • Suggests that life will continue on

5. Poetic Techniques

   • Repetition
     • 'As I made my way down Palestine Street'
       • Palestine Street is a major street in Baghdad, which is the capital of the Republic of Iraq.
       • Repeated throughout the poem in the first line of each stanza
   • Enjambment
     • No punctuation at the end of lines
       • Makes the poem flow quickly/erratically
         • Adds to the song like quality
   • Alliteration
     • 'all sweeter than salaams'
       • Salaams is an Arabic greeting meaning peace.
       • Positive image
       • Adds to the song like quality
   • Personification
     • 'down on my head fell the barbarian sun that knows no armistice'
       • 'armistice'
         • An armistice is a truce. People at war agree to stop fighting.
         • Links back into war
       • Violent, wild, strong
         • Negative image
           • Contrast/juxtaposition with optimist image given in same stanza
             • 'the river smell lifts the air'
     • 'the river smell that lifts the air'
       • clears the air
         • as moves away from conflict
       • Positive image

6. Comparison

   • Belfast Confetti
     • Positive images created by title
     • Conflict is expressed in a way that doesn't make it obvious