Sylvia Plath [1932-1963] Relevant Background Early Life Sylvia Plath was born in Boston USA. She grew up in a well-off middle class home on the coast. Sylvia’s early years were influenced by her living near the ocean. ‘I sometimes think my vision of the sea is the clearest thing I own.’ Her experiences of family [...]
Posts Tagged ‘LC Poetry’
6 Sep
On Raglan Road – Patrick Kavanagh
1946 Rhyme & Form: Lyrical Ballad, rhyme scheme (aabb, ccdd, eeff, ggbb) Tone: Haunting, passionate, sad. It was written to a slow sad tune also. Imagery: Autumn Dublin streets Themes: Unrequited love, the Poet Literary Techniques: Assonance[1], Alliteration Note his stage in life, this stage being the protesting Dublin Poet. This is probably one of [...]
6 Sep
Epic – Patrick Kavanagh
Rhyme & Form: A sonnet formation with no break (akin to Shakespeare) Tone: Annoyed, frustrated yet content (at the end) Imagery: Nature, Ireland of old Themes: Loneliness, conflicts, frustrations, rural life Note his stage in life, this stage being the protesting Dublin Poet. The poem is primarily focussed on a dispute over a portion of [...]
6 Sep
Lines Written – Patrick Kavanagh
Lines Written On A Seat On The Grand Canal, Dublin ‘Erected to the memory of Mrs. Dermot O’Brien’ Rhyme & Form: A sonnet formation with no break (akin to Shakespeare) Tone: Euphoric Imagery: Nature Themes: Beauty in nature, Imagination, Celebration & Euphoria Literary Techniques: Apostrophe (similar to that of Advent) Note his stage in life, [...]
5 Sep
Advent Analysis – Patrick Kavanagh
Rhyme & Form: The poem is divided cleverly into two sonnets. Originally there was a break in line 21 giving us 4 separate stanzas (four weeks of Advent). There is also an easy rhyme scheme to spot. More so in the second part as the first four lines all have the same rhyme. Tone: Warm [...]
5 Sep
Canal Bank Walk – Patrick Kavanagh
Rhyme & Form: Sonnet structure. Tone: Warm and grateful. Imagery: Nature: Canal. Themes: Childhood (sense of wonder), Beauty in nature, Imaginative Talent. Literary Techniques: Alliteration, Apostrophe, Metaphor Note his stage in life, this stage being the reconciled, celebrating Dublin poet. Kavanagh’s convalescence throughout the summer of 1955 led him to an appreciation of Dublin’s Grand [...]
5 Sep
Shancoduff – Patrick Kavanagh
Rhyme & Form: two five-line stanzas and a concluding six-line stanza. (can in some way be related to a sonnet. Tone: Initially dark and sad, yet picks up through stanza 1 Imagery: Rural Life, Mountains, Nature Themes: Commonplace beauty in nature, Rural Life (loneliness/frustration) Note his stage in life, this stage being the protesting peasant [...]
5 Sep
Inniskeen Road – Patrick Kavanagh
Rhyme: Sonnet formation with rhyme scheme of [a-b-a-b-c-d-c-d-b-d-b-d-e-e] note the first 8 lines and then the 6 lines of summarisation or final contemplation with the final rhyming couplet. Tone: ordinary, everyday speech Imagery: Rural Life Themes: Rural Life (loneliness/frustration) [plight], Imagination & creative vision Poetic Techniques: Alliteration: noted in the first lines with the repetition [...]
4 Sep
Patrick Kavanagh – Life
Life of Patrick Kavanagh [1904-1967] Patrick Kavanagh was born on 21 October 1904, in Mucker town land, Inniskeen parish, Co. Monaghan, the son of James Kavanagh, a small farmer with sixteen acres who was also a cobbler, and Bridget Quinn. He attended Kednaminsha National School from 1909 to 1916 and worked on the family farm [...]
4 Sep
Child – Sylvia Plath
Written: 1963, increased depression state, two weeks before suicide Rhyme & Tone: Humorous, yet desolate. Four 3-line stanzas Themes: Struggles, Inspiration (lost the capacity to find beauty within herself) Depression, Childhood Poetic Techniques: Antithesis: Balance and contrast of two types of aging. The poem must be read in light of her death, given that the [...]
Damien Gallagher
