Technique/idea Key Quotes and analysis
Key themes: What does Intoxication of power In a single line stanza, the speaker
this poem explore? Violence states ‘A gun brings a house alive’.
Death This metaphor echoes the first line,
it’s provocative and sparks
controversy. We are meant to
wonder if we agree.
The speaker has an almost proud
tone when describing ‘a rabbit shot
clean through the head’. The
impersonality of ‘clean’ it suggests a
sense of beauty in the destruction,
like the speaker is proud of her
work.
The speaker is ‘excited as if the
King of Death has come to feast’.
This may be a Grecian allusion to
Hades. ‘Excited’ also has sexual
connotations, highlighting the
interconnection between sex and
death.
Language: Any patterns Non committal phrasing The speaker uses the non committal
of language? Poetic Simile phrasing of ‘changes it’. We are
techniques? Eg: similes, Time connectives meant to wonder what is the ‘it’ that
metaphors, verbs, etc. Sensory imagery is being changed.
Another simile The simile of ‘like something dead’
Symbolism gives the poem a sinister tone and
sets the recurring theme of death.
The poem progresses through time
connectives, ‘at first’, ‘then’, ‘soon’
to show the gradual progression
down the hole of violence and
intoxication of power.
Sensory imagery of ‘hands reek of
gun oil’ creates a primitive,
nauseating feeling to the poem.
Might link to the idea of them having
“blood on their hands”.
The similie of “like when sex was
fresh” gives a rather animalistic,
dehumanising tone to the poem. It
suggests that sex is no longer
appealing but killing is erotic.
The King of Death ‘sprouting golden
crocuses’ is a juxtaposition. Gold
and flowers typically symbolise
innocence and life, but they have
been subverted to represent the
King of Death.
Key themes: What does Intoxication of power In a single line stanza, the speaker
this poem explore? Violence states ‘A gun brings a house alive’.
Death This metaphor echoes the first line,
it’s provocative and sparks
controversy. We are meant to
wonder if we agree.
The speaker has an almost proud
tone when describing ‘a rabbit shot
clean through the head’. The
impersonality of ‘clean’ it suggests a
sense of beauty in the destruction,
like the speaker is proud of her
work.
The speaker is ‘excited as if the
King of Death has come to feast’.
This may be a Grecian allusion to
Hades. ‘Excited’ also has sexual
connotations, highlighting the
interconnection between sex and
death.
Language: Any patterns Non committal phrasing The speaker uses the non committal
of language? Poetic Simile phrasing of ‘changes it’. We are
techniques? Eg: similes, Time connectives meant to wonder what is the ‘it’ that
metaphors, verbs, etc. Sensory imagery is being changed.
Another simile The simile of ‘like something dead’
Symbolism gives the poem a sinister tone and
sets the recurring theme of death.
The poem progresses through time
connectives, ‘at first’, ‘then’, ‘soon’
to show the gradual progression
down the hole of violence and
intoxication of power.
Sensory imagery of ‘hands reek of
gun oil’ creates a primitive,
nauseating feeling to the poem.
Might link to the idea of them having
“blood on their hands”.
The similie of “like when sex was
fresh” gives a rather animalistic,
dehumanising tone to the poem. It
suggests that sex is no longer
appealing but killing is erotic.
The King of Death ‘sprouting golden
crocuses’ is a juxtaposition. Gold
and flowers typically symbolise
innocence and life, but they have
been subverted to represent the
King of Death.
