Stafford Afternoons
Litany
Welltread
Before You Were Mine
Never Go Back
Oslo
Room
Havisham
Disgrace
Brothers
Away and See
Beachcomber
The Windows
Pluto
Prayer
Mean Time
First Love
Captain of the 1964 Top of the Form Team
,POEM: Stafford Afternoons
Content:
The speaker recalls a formative moment from their childhood in which a man exposes
himself to her, symbolising the loss of innocence/childhood
Aim:
To explore the effects of time passing and the immediacy with which things we take
for granted (innocence/childhood) can be lost
Tone:
Reflective, nostalgic
Striking moments of sound and rhythm:
- ‘The green silence gulped once and swallowed me whole’ – consonant
soundscape provides a looming sense of threat/potential danger – forest
personified, she has been overwhelmed, and has no agency – all-consuming
isolation implies the imminent rapid bridge into adulthood – complete immersion
– isolating, foreboding, ominous – representative of how adulthood can be
initially alluring
- ‘Sticky breath on the back of my neck/ and flowering nettles gathered
spit in their throats’ – sibilance/plosives are threatening, uncomfortable,
ominous – warning – spine-tingling, alluding to the danger within
Key imagery/techniques:
- ‘A long road held no one, the gardens were empty,/ an ice-cream van
chimed and dwindled away’ – image of loneliness – van a symbol
foreshadowing the loss of childhood
- ‘A living, purple root in his hand’ – merging of root and man – graphic
phallic image – ‘living’ present participle embodies the immediacy of the
threat, and the shock of the sight – innocence utterly lost
Structure:
- Quatrains – cautionary tale – simple narrative that begins with childhood,
witnesses a loss of innocence and ends with adulthood – omniscient of a
fairytale
- ‘The sight/ made sound rush back; birds, a distant lawnmower,/’ –
enjambement emphasises the significance of the event – she had been in a
trance-like state, and the event broke the illusion of silence/the illusion/false
safety of childhood and innocence – ‘his hoarse, frightful endearments’ –
sentence runs on – terror, panic – oxymoron – everything is wrong and
backwards – no comfort in what should be comforting – sharp snap into reality
Context:
- ‘Edge of a small wood’ – transformative places – magic fairy stories – the
actual events of the poem bitterly contrast the idyllic fantasy of a fairytale
- ‘Time feel from the sky like a red ball’ – GMT time ball – notion of time –
she had wanted time to pass at the start of the poem; now she wants it back –
everything has crashed/been permanently altered/destroyed – ‘red ball’ a
childish relic she will never play with again
Link to Larkin poems:
-
-
THEMES:
Childhood, movement towards adulthood
,
, POEM: Litany
Content:
The speaker recalls a formative moment from her childhood in which she was
punished for profanity in a setting of ironically presented, carefully artificially poised
1960s housewives
Aim:
To explore the power of language
Tone:
Vindictive, critical, witty, ironic, satirical
Striking moments of sound and rhythm:
- ‘Hard/ as the bright stones in engagement rings’ – harsh soundscape,
threatening plosives and sibilance – sense of threat as stones can be thrown –
choice to describe diamonds as stones significant – hard/unloving nature of the
marriages/connections – emphasised sonically
- ‘Yes, I can summon their names./ My mother’s mute shame. The taste
of soap.’ – internal rhyme links the women to her mother’s shame – the tedious
nature of maintaining the superficial social standards the women hold –
formative moment; discovery of her identity, how she will use words to gain
power – old-fashioned punishment for her modern, new-found power and
passion – implied that it will be ineffective in silencing her
Key imagery/techniques:
- ‘Stiff-haired wives balanced their red smiles’ – not individualised –
superficial/artificial – hairspray and lipstick – formality is tense, unrelaxed –
‘balanced’ careful, precarious conversation – sense of control with a lack of
sincerity – poised codes of behaviour
- ‘The terrible marriages crackled, cellophane/ round polyester shirts’ –
image of complete falseness and superficiality – ‘cellophane’ is protective up
to a certain extent – it is easily torn through, as well as transparent – loving
connections lack sincerity/strength
- ‘The year a mass grave of wasps bobbed in a jam-jar;/’ – everything is
suppressed, the women could cause pain with their words but are trapped by
their setting – their ‘bobbing’ gives a sense that they will leave nothing
meaningful/impactful for the world – wasp stings are impermanent, superficial –
‘a butterfly’ – at the end of her development – gaining her power and stepping
into adulthood
- ‘A thrilled, malicious pause/ salted my tongue like an imminent storm’ –
initial tone of vindication – liberation of announcing her power, using her voice –
underscored through enjambment by a slight sense of regret
Structure:
- Four sestets – embody the strict social code of the 1960s housewives – but the
lack of rhyme scheme/consistent meter reflects the speaker’s new-found power;
challenge to this code
- ‘Candlewick/ bedspread and three piece suite display cabinet’ – no
commas or punctuation, the items are the litany
- ‘Fuck off’ – linguistic intervention – defiant declaration that shocks the carefully
constructed landscape of the women – speaker has found her voice/power of her
voice
- ‘I’m sorry, Mrs Bar, Mrs Hunt, Mrs Emery,/ sorry Mrs Raine’ – litany of
apology – using their married names/husband’s names further diminishes their
individuality
Context:
- A litany is a list – tends to be associated with prayer – six well-known litanies in
the Catholic Church
Litany
Welltread
Before You Were Mine
Never Go Back
Oslo
Room
Havisham
Disgrace
Brothers
Away and See
Beachcomber
The Windows
Pluto
Prayer
Mean Time
First Love
Captain of the 1964 Top of the Form Team
,POEM: Stafford Afternoons
Content:
The speaker recalls a formative moment from their childhood in which a man exposes
himself to her, symbolising the loss of innocence/childhood
Aim:
To explore the effects of time passing and the immediacy with which things we take
for granted (innocence/childhood) can be lost
Tone:
Reflective, nostalgic
Striking moments of sound and rhythm:
- ‘The green silence gulped once and swallowed me whole’ – consonant
soundscape provides a looming sense of threat/potential danger – forest
personified, she has been overwhelmed, and has no agency – all-consuming
isolation implies the imminent rapid bridge into adulthood – complete immersion
– isolating, foreboding, ominous – representative of how adulthood can be
initially alluring
- ‘Sticky breath on the back of my neck/ and flowering nettles gathered
spit in their throats’ – sibilance/plosives are threatening, uncomfortable,
ominous – warning – spine-tingling, alluding to the danger within
Key imagery/techniques:
- ‘A long road held no one, the gardens were empty,/ an ice-cream van
chimed and dwindled away’ – image of loneliness – van a symbol
foreshadowing the loss of childhood
- ‘A living, purple root in his hand’ – merging of root and man – graphic
phallic image – ‘living’ present participle embodies the immediacy of the
threat, and the shock of the sight – innocence utterly lost
Structure:
- Quatrains – cautionary tale – simple narrative that begins with childhood,
witnesses a loss of innocence and ends with adulthood – omniscient of a
fairytale
- ‘The sight/ made sound rush back; birds, a distant lawnmower,/’ –
enjambement emphasises the significance of the event – she had been in a
trance-like state, and the event broke the illusion of silence/the illusion/false
safety of childhood and innocence – ‘his hoarse, frightful endearments’ –
sentence runs on – terror, panic – oxymoron – everything is wrong and
backwards – no comfort in what should be comforting – sharp snap into reality
Context:
- ‘Edge of a small wood’ – transformative places – magic fairy stories – the
actual events of the poem bitterly contrast the idyllic fantasy of a fairytale
- ‘Time feel from the sky like a red ball’ – GMT time ball – notion of time –
she had wanted time to pass at the start of the poem; now she wants it back –
everything has crashed/been permanently altered/destroyed – ‘red ball’ a
childish relic she will never play with again
Link to Larkin poems:
-
-
THEMES:
Childhood, movement towards adulthood
,
, POEM: Litany
Content:
The speaker recalls a formative moment from her childhood in which she was
punished for profanity in a setting of ironically presented, carefully artificially poised
1960s housewives
Aim:
To explore the power of language
Tone:
Vindictive, critical, witty, ironic, satirical
Striking moments of sound and rhythm:
- ‘Hard/ as the bright stones in engagement rings’ – harsh soundscape,
threatening plosives and sibilance – sense of threat as stones can be thrown –
choice to describe diamonds as stones significant – hard/unloving nature of the
marriages/connections – emphasised sonically
- ‘Yes, I can summon their names./ My mother’s mute shame. The taste
of soap.’ – internal rhyme links the women to her mother’s shame – the tedious
nature of maintaining the superficial social standards the women hold –
formative moment; discovery of her identity, how she will use words to gain
power – old-fashioned punishment for her modern, new-found power and
passion – implied that it will be ineffective in silencing her
Key imagery/techniques:
- ‘Stiff-haired wives balanced their red smiles’ – not individualised –
superficial/artificial – hairspray and lipstick – formality is tense, unrelaxed –
‘balanced’ careful, precarious conversation – sense of control with a lack of
sincerity – poised codes of behaviour
- ‘The terrible marriages crackled, cellophane/ round polyester shirts’ –
image of complete falseness and superficiality – ‘cellophane’ is protective up
to a certain extent – it is easily torn through, as well as transparent – loving
connections lack sincerity/strength
- ‘The year a mass grave of wasps bobbed in a jam-jar;/’ – everything is
suppressed, the women could cause pain with their words but are trapped by
their setting – their ‘bobbing’ gives a sense that they will leave nothing
meaningful/impactful for the world – wasp stings are impermanent, superficial –
‘a butterfly’ – at the end of her development – gaining her power and stepping
into adulthood
- ‘A thrilled, malicious pause/ salted my tongue like an imminent storm’ –
initial tone of vindication – liberation of announcing her power, using her voice –
underscored through enjambment by a slight sense of regret
Structure:
- Four sestets – embody the strict social code of the 1960s housewives – but the
lack of rhyme scheme/consistent meter reflects the speaker’s new-found power;
challenge to this code
- ‘Candlewick/ bedspread and three piece suite display cabinet’ – no
commas or punctuation, the items are the litany
- ‘Fuck off’ – linguistic intervention – defiant declaration that shocks the carefully
constructed landscape of the women – speaker has found her voice/power of her
voice
- ‘I’m sorry, Mrs Bar, Mrs Hunt, Mrs Emery,/ sorry Mrs Raine’ – litany of
apology – using their married names/husband’s names further diminishes their
individuality
Context:
- A litany is a list – tends to be associated with prayer – six well-known litanies in
the Catholic Church
