Topic: Chainsaw Versus the Pampas Grass
By Simon Armitage
Key Points/Arguments
- By end of poem, conventional gender tropes are subverted.
- Provides a commentary on masculinity in crisis and the strength of nature.
Themes Literary/Dramatic Devices Techniques of
whole poem
Power and S1 - stanzas no particular
Conflict ‘winter unplugged,/ grinding its teeth’ – literally and metaphorically powerless, animalistic zoomorphism length or rhyme, with
‘knocked back a quarter-pint of engine oil’ – colloquialism and personification links to macho pub man, connotes aggression colloquial language
Man vs Nature S2 S1 – preparation
Failure ‘last gulp/ of last year’s heat’ – enjambement, uncared for S2 – gearing up
Masculine vs ‘weightless wreckage of wasps and flies’ – alliteration shows death and destruction = chainsaw’s rage growing over time S3 – main attack
Feminine ‘gunned the trigger.’ – full stop builds suspense, aggressive imagery S4 – final push
S3 S5 – aftermath
‘rush’ – enjoyment symbolic of human destroyal of environment
‘to tangle with clothing, or jewellery, or hair.’ – listing, violence, women vs. men
‘face and the bones’ – semantic field of body in relation to destruction is sinister
‘and felt’ x2 – anaphora, he gets pleasure from growing power
‘gargle in its throat’ – onomatopoeic verb = ghastly male aggression
S4
‘The pampas grass with its ludicrous feathers’ – structural mimics chainsaw (antithesis)
‘feathers/ footstalls/ tufts’ – fricatives show feminine nature (also phallic, worthy opponent and nature defending itself)
S5
‘all that was needed here was a good pull or shove’ – masculine aggression enjoyed
‘Overkill. I touched the blur of the blade’ – caesura suggests men overacting, ‘touched’ suggests violation is effortless and
alliteration emphasises sound
‘I lifted the fringe’, ‘dark, secret warmth’ – metaphor for intrusion/SA
S6
‘To clear a space to work’ – methodical to him
‘cut and raked, cut and raked’ – repetition, destruction, psychopathic
‘Wanting to finish things off’, ‘somehow closed and mended’ – it’s the man not the object, a criticism of human nature. However,
nature regenerates unlike man.
‘I left it at that.’ – admits defeat or leaves it because he has succeeded
S7
‘new shoots like asparagus tips’ – like spring, new beginnings, binary identity and phallic imagery (gender roles flipped), the spears
are fighting back.
‘it was riding high in its saddle, wearing a new crown’ – regal, won battle, she has recreated what it means to be a woman, one can
be strong AND feminine simultaneously
‘on its hook, the chainsaw seethed.’ – needs humans for its power, zoomorphic depiction
‘I looked on’ – enjambement, moving on, ‘on’ reflects being above/equal now
By Simon Armitage
Key Points/Arguments
- By end of poem, conventional gender tropes are subverted.
- Provides a commentary on masculinity in crisis and the strength of nature.
Themes Literary/Dramatic Devices Techniques of
whole poem
Power and S1 - stanzas no particular
Conflict ‘winter unplugged,/ grinding its teeth’ – literally and metaphorically powerless, animalistic zoomorphism length or rhyme, with
‘knocked back a quarter-pint of engine oil’ – colloquialism and personification links to macho pub man, connotes aggression colloquial language
Man vs Nature S2 S1 – preparation
Failure ‘last gulp/ of last year’s heat’ – enjambement, uncared for S2 – gearing up
Masculine vs ‘weightless wreckage of wasps and flies’ – alliteration shows death and destruction = chainsaw’s rage growing over time S3 – main attack
Feminine ‘gunned the trigger.’ – full stop builds suspense, aggressive imagery S4 – final push
S3 S5 – aftermath
‘rush’ – enjoyment symbolic of human destroyal of environment
‘to tangle with clothing, or jewellery, or hair.’ – listing, violence, women vs. men
‘face and the bones’ – semantic field of body in relation to destruction is sinister
‘and felt’ x2 – anaphora, he gets pleasure from growing power
‘gargle in its throat’ – onomatopoeic verb = ghastly male aggression
S4
‘The pampas grass with its ludicrous feathers’ – structural mimics chainsaw (antithesis)
‘feathers/ footstalls/ tufts’ – fricatives show feminine nature (also phallic, worthy opponent and nature defending itself)
S5
‘all that was needed here was a good pull or shove’ – masculine aggression enjoyed
‘Overkill. I touched the blur of the blade’ – caesura suggests men overacting, ‘touched’ suggests violation is effortless and
alliteration emphasises sound
‘I lifted the fringe’, ‘dark, secret warmth’ – metaphor for intrusion/SA
S6
‘To clear a space to work’ – methodical to him
‘cut and raked, cut and raked’ – repetition, destruction, psychopathic
‘Wanting to finish things off’, ‘somehow closed and mended’ – it’s the man not the object, a criticism of human nature. However,
nature regenerates unlike man.
‘I left it at that.’ – admits defeat or leaves it because he has succeeded
S7
‘new shoots like asparagus tips’ – like spring, new beginnings, binary identity and phallic imagery (gender roles flipped), the spears
are fighting back.
‘it was riding high in its saddle, wearing a new crown’ – regal, won battle, she has recreated what it means to be a woman, one can
be strong AND feminine simultaneously
‘on its hook, the chainsaw seethed.’ – needs humans for its power, zoomorphic depiction
‘I looked on’ – enjambement, moving on, ‘on’ reflects being above/equal now
