Poetry – Authorial Methods
Peter Grimes
Title
‘Peter Grimes’ – name of the protagonist and criminal. From a collection ‘The Borough’
Form
Narrative poem – letters
Structure
Written in heroic couplets – Crabbe uses these self-contained lines to create a neat narrative, and uses them to show
the ease at which some thing are done, without any fear of a consequence. Within the first 30 lines, Grimes is already
shown to be a murderer. The description of the suffering of the first boy is long and drawn out, but the second boy is
imprisoned and dies within just 4 lines. Shows how easy crime has become for him. The first part of the poem sets up
Grimes as a criminal, and the second half focuses on his punishment and resentence – with this shift in focus, the readers
view of Grimes also changes.
Narrator/Narrative perspective
Narrator is close to the story, it is implied that they knew Peter from a young age. Believes Peter is only capable of self-pit
for his actions – mocks him near the start. Narrator influences and changes our perception of Peter – perhaps as their
own opinion changes. The narrator interjects to show their disapproval of society. The narrator is unclear whether Peter
actually killed the boy. Censorious, condemning Peter for hs ghastly crimes through giving him a long confessional in
which some sympathy is established for the fallen and hopeless man
Other Structural features
Use of repetition for emphasise e.g. ‘non could the ridges on his back behold, none sought him shiv’ring in the winter’s
cold; none put the question…none reason’d thus’. Use of listing as another way to emphasis the drawn-out suffering e.g.
‘pinn’d, beathen, cold, pinch’d, threaten’d, and abused’. Tripartite ‘hunger, peril, pain’– leads to a cumulative effect
and bombards the reader. Repetition of ‘alone’ and ‘horrors’ towards the end – makes the reader feel sorry for him
Images/Patterns/Symbols
Use of religious imagery ‘sacrilegious’, ‘soul’, ‘repent’
Language
Use of superlatives ‘the grossest insult and the foulest wrong’.
Reader Response
Narrator pushed the reader to be bias against young Peter but later helps to change the readers response. At the
beginning, Grime’s disrespect, selfishness and extreme anger make the reader view him negatively. Grimes complaining
about his struggle in life after killing his father make the reader hate him more. Societies lack of action is infuriating for
the reader. The narrator describes the communities mixed feelings towards Grimes, which reflects the view of the
reader. The narrator starts to sympathise with Grime which wither makes the reader feel sympathy too, or increases their
hatred of Grimes. Peter suffers at the end which causes the reader to sympathise for him. A modern reader would be
particularly horrified by the child cruelty, which was not a crime at the time Crabbe wrote the poem.
Porphyria’s Lover
Title
‘Lover’ implies a secret, possibly seedy relationship. It hides the identity of the speaker, only defining them by their
relationship to Porphyria – perhaps one of the things that caused the tension in the first place. But is also suggests
something nice but this is quickly subverted
Form
Dramatic monologue – the reader is a detective to find clues about the speaker’s character. Narrative gap. We see a
psychotic and controlling lover
Peter Grimes
Title
‘Peter Grimes’ – name of the protagonist and criminal. From a collection ‘The Borough’
Form
Narrative poem – letters
Structure
Written in heroic couplets – Crabbe uses these self-contained lines to create a neat narrative, and uses them to show
the ease at which some thing are done, without any fear of a consequence. Within the first 30 lines, Grimes is already
shown to be a murderer. The description of the suffering of the first boy is long and drawn out, but the second boy is
imprisoned and dies within just 4 lines. Shows how easy crime has become for him. The first part of the poem sets up
Grimes as a criminal, and the second half focuses on his punishment and resentence – with this shift in focus, the readers
view of Grimes also changes.
Narrator/Narrative perspective
Narrator is close to the story, it is implied that they knew Peter from a young age. Believes Peter is only capable of self-pit
for his actions – mocks him near the start. Narrator influences and changes our perception of Peter – perhaps as their
own opinion changes. The narrator interjects to show their disapproval of society. The narrator is unclear whether Peter
actually killed the boy. Censorious, condemning Peter for hs ghastly crimes through giving him a long confessional in
which some sympathy is established for the fallen and hopeless man
Other Structural features
Use of repetition for emphasise e.g. ‘non could the ridges on his back behold, none sought him shiv’ring in the winter’s
cold; none put the question…none reason’d thus’. Use of listing as another way to emphasis the drawn-out suffering e.g.
‘pinn’d, beathen, cold, pinch’d, threaten’d, and abused’. Tripartite ‘hunger, peril, pain’– leads to a cumulative effect
and bombards the reader. Repetition of ‘alone’ and ‘horrors’ towards the end – makes the reader feel sorry for him
Images/Patterns/Symbols
Use of religious imagery ‘sacrilegious’, ‘soul’, ‘repent’
Language
Use of superlatives ‘the grossest insult and the foulest wrong’.
Reader Response
Narrator pushed the reader to be bias against young Peter but later helps to change the readers response. At the
beginning, Grime’s disrespect, selfishness and extreme anger make the reader view him negatively. Grimes complaining
about his struggle in life after killing his father make the reader hate him more. Societies lack of action is infuriating for
the reader. The narrator describes the communities mixed feelings towards Grimes, which reflects the view of the
reader. The narrator starts to sympathise with Grime which wither makes the reader feel sympathy too, or increases their
hatred of Grimes. Peter suffers at the end which causes the reader to sympathise for him. A modern reader would be
particularly horrified by the child cruelty, which was not a crime at the time Crabbe wrote the poem.
Porphyria’s Lover
Title
‘Lover’ implies a secret, possibly seedy relationship. It hides the identity of the speaker, only defining them by their
relationship to Porphyria – perhaps one of the things that caused the tension in the first place. But is also suggests
something nice but this is quickly subverted
Form
Dramatic monologue – the reader is a detective to find clues about the speaker’s character. Narrative gap. We see a
psychotic and controlling lover
