Skip to main content

Analysis of Beachcomber

Synopsis= The speaker of this poem is an elderly lady who recalls a memory of her as a child on the beach, the poem focuses on the value of these childhood moments and the sad truth that they fade with age making it increasingly difficult to reflect as time goes on




Key quotations + Analysis
1.) "If you think til it hurts..."
  • This line demonstrates that despite the memories being a long time ago they are still fresh to her, they bring pain to the speaker as she is aware that she can not live without them but she also cant live with them. It is painful because she is forgetting memories.
  • The thought of losing these memories brings pain to the speaker, she is desperate to recall them and is prepared to fight for them.
2.) "Not in sepia"
  • Sepia gives an allusion of the past, therefore it demonstrates that the child on the beach is very much still a part of her present.
  • Sepia is a muted colour which could portray the fading of memories, however there is still some colour which portrays there is still some hope.
3.)  "You remember that cardigan, yes?"
  • Here the speaker separates herself from her childhood self, the use of a question mark could imply that the speaker is doubting her own memories. It could also be a method of reassuring herself as she is worried that she will never be able to recall her memories so vividly again.
4.) "Or the seashell on the shore"
  • This line mimics a classic song sung by children 'she sells seashells on the sea shore...' which could mimic a sense of childhood joy, however the sibilance gives this line a somewhat sinister effect implying that her childhood persona is taunted by the ghost of her present self trying to watch her.
  • The fact that this line is a tongue twister could reflect the difficulty associated with retrieving memories and that the memories are slipping from the speakers grasp.
5.) "Trow..harder...exactly"
  • The one word sentences used by the speaker imply that her memories were pulled away from her suddenly with no warning, it is difficult for the speaker to retract these memories that formed in her childhood
Links to other poems
  • First Love= Both speakers find it painful to reminisce and it the recollection of emotions and feelings appears somewhat forced. "I clench my eyes" "If you think til it hurts"


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Analysis of First Love

Synopsis= Duffy focuses this poem on the impact that is left after going through a first love and the surreal feeling of falling in love that takes over a persona briefly. It is clear to see in this poem that the speaker is now disconnected from their first love but the memories of it are reflected on nostalgically and with pleasure Key Quotations + Analysis= Waking, with a dream of first love forming real words, as close to my lips as lipstick, I speaker your name, after a silence of years, into the pillow, and the power of your name brings me here to the window, naked, to say it again to a garden shaking with light. This was a child's love, and yet I clench my eyes  till the pictures return, unfocused at first, then almost clear, an old film played at a slow speed. All day I will glimpse it, in windows of changing sky,   in mirrors, my lover's eyes, wherever you are. And later a star, long dead , here seems precisely  the size of a tear. Tonig
Post a Comment
Read more

Analysis of Captain of the 1964 Top of the Form Team

Synopsis= The programme "Top of the Form" was a BBC radio and TV quiz for secondary schools in the UK running from 1948-1986. Therefore this poem is based upon a speaker who was on this programme during the 60's and won, however since this victory they have been unable to move past this moment of their childhood and this theme is prevalent throughout the poem. Key Quotations + Analysis= 1.) "Fizzing hope" "Fizzing" has connotations of sugary/fizzy drinks such as coke, which has further allusions to childhood as this was a drink commonly consumed during our school years.  The word choice fizzing also suggests that the speaker believes his youth was so special it was worth celebrating as champagne bottles are also known as "fizz". However it is significant that over time a fizz dies out and becomes flat, which mimics the significance of his memories. They are still "fizzing" to him but to everyone else they are flat.  2.) &
Post a Comment
Read more

Analysis of The Cliche Kid

Synopsis= Duffy uses this poem to explore the themes of mental health and isolation amongst young people and could be perhaps expressing the daily pressures that young people face and the detrimental effects attached to them, shown through the speaker of the poem who is clearly in a deviated mental health state. Key Quotations + Analysis 1.) "The rustle of my fathers ballgown" This initially gives an extremely distorted image of the speakers childhood as they have obviously blurred the gender roles of their mother and father, this distortion could imply that the speaker has lost grip of their identity and do not have clear grasp on what gender role they fit in as they are so lost within cliche/stereotypical perceptions of gender that they are unaware of how to act. This further conveys the emotional turmoil of the speaker because they are confused in their own body.  The word choice "rustle" is significant as it is such a precise sound to remember yet the spe
Post a Comment
Read more