Form and structure - edexcel literature certificate poems

Form and Structure
Poetry Revision

Form
• The form of a poem encapsulates its mode -
e.g. elegy, sonnet, ballad
• It is based on number of lines, rhyme
scheme, metrical formulation (e.g. Iambic
pentameter)

Structure
• The structure of a poem is more like how its split into
stanzas, or also how it develops
• For example, the first three stanzas might introduce a
crisis and the last three might resolve the crisis
• Structure can include opening and closing lines- why
has the poet structured their ideas this way?
• Is the poem cyclic? (a structural choice)

In other words...
• Form = WHAT the poem is
• Structure = WHERE things are in the poem

A Mother in a Refugee Camp
No Madonna and Child could touch
Her tenderness for a son
She soon would have to forget. . . .
The air was heavy with odors of diarrhea,
Of unwashed children with washed-out ribs
And dried-up bottoms waddling in labored steps
Behind blown-empty bellies. Other mothers there
Had long ceased to care, but not this one:
She held a ghost-smile between her teeth,
And in her eyes the memory
Of a mother’s pride. . . . She had bathed him
And rubbed him down with bare palms.
She took from their bundle of possessions
A broken comb and combed
The rust-colored hair left on his skull
And then—humming in her eyes—began carefully to
part it.
In their former life this was perhaps
A little daily act of no consequence
Before his breakfast and school; now she did it
Like putting flowers on a tiny grave.
The poem is structured
as a single continuous
piece- represents the
ongoing struggle of the
masses of refugees
Lots of enjambment to
represent fleeting time
STRUCTURE
Shifts in time frame
throughout to juxtapose
their life then and now
Religious tone
established in opening
line
Poignant message of last
line
FUTURE
PRESENT
PAST
FORM
FREE VERSE
MIMICS NATURAL
SPEECH- would
sound artificial and
heartless with
rhyme
Could represent the
desire to be free
from the horrors of
the camp
Or, the child is now
free after death

War Photographer
FORM
STRUCTURE
In his darkroom he is finally alone a
with spools of suffering set out in ordered rows. b
The only light is red and softly glows, b
as though this were a church and he c
a priest preparing to intone a Mass.d
Belfast. Beirut. Phnom Penh. All flesh is grass. d
He has a job to do. Solutions slop in trays a
beneath his hands which did not tremble then b
though seem to now. Rural England. Home again b
to ordinary pain which simple weather can dispel, c
to fields which don't explode beneath the feet d
of running children in a nightmare heat. d
Something is happening. A stranger's features a
faintly start to twist before his eyes,b
a half-formed ghost. He remembers the cries b
of this man's wife, how he sought approval c
without words to do what someone must d
and how the blood stained into foreign dust. d
A hundred agonies in black-and-white a
from which his editor will pick out five or six b
for Sunday's supplement. The reader's eyeballs prick b
with tears between bath and pre-lunch beers. c
From aeroplane he stares impassively at where d
he earns a living and they do not care. d
The tone of Duffy's poem
shifts half way through
then again in the final
stanza into the apathy of
'pre-lunch beers' and 'do
not care', a shocking
contrast to the images of
war.
Tight rhyme scheme
(abbcdd)- juxtaposes
the theme - Suffering is
an abstract, and should
not be neatly
controlled
Each stanza is perfectly
regular- 6 lines with
almost iambic pentameter
The fact that the form is
unchanging, that the stanzas
are all of the same length and
the rhyme scheme is constant
suggests that despite the
photographer's efforts
nothing will change.
The form is a way of containing, controlling
and dealing with the anger and pain the
poet/ character feels.
This idea is re-enforced by the
fact that the poem starts with
the photographer home from an
assignment and ends with him
off on one again.
The poem is circular, a closed
loop where nothing can change

Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night
Do not go gentle into that good night, a
Old age should burn and rave at close of day; b
Rage, rage against the dying of the light. a
Though wise men at their end know dark is right, a
Because their words had forked no lightning they b
Do not go gentle into that good night. a
Good men, the last wave by, crying how bright a
Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay, b
Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight, a
And learn, too late, they grieved it on its way, b
Grave men, near death, who see with blinding sight a
Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay, b
And you, my father, there on that sad height, a
Curse, bless, me now with your fierce tears, I pray. b
FORM
STRUCTURE
The form itself is a villanelle
(19 line poem) which includes
lots of repetitions, and
maintains just two rhymes
throughout.
It enables Thomas to build his
poem in gradual stages while
keeping the focus on his most
important message
The form of the poem
juxtaposes the idea of ‘raging
against the light’- tight control
in the poem but message is to
be free!
Song like- hymns- prayers
Usually celebrate life- this poem subverts that and
emphasises the bad side of death
First 5 stanzas are 3 lines long
(tercets) whereas stanza 4 is 4
lines long (quatrain)- mimics
his desire for father to break
tradition- fight against the
regular and be different and
extraordinary
Final stanza changes to talk
directly to his father- nearing
end of his life (the rest of the
poem is universal and talks of
others)

Half-past Two
Once upon a schooltime
He did Something Very Wrong
(I forget what it was).
And She said he’d done
Something Very Wrong, and must
Stay in the school-room till half-past two.
(Being cross, she’d forgotten
She hadn’t taught him Time.
He was too scared at being wicked to remind her.)
He knew a lot of time: he knew
Gettinguptime, timeyouwereofftime,
Timetogohomenowtime, TVtime,
Timeformykisstime (that was Grantime).
All the important times he knew,
But not half-past two.
He knew the clockface, the little eyes
And two long legs for walking,
But he couldn’t click its language,
So he waited, beyond onceupona,
Out of reach of all the timefors,
And knew he’d escaped for ever
Into the smell of old chrysanthemums on Her desk,
Into the silent noise his hangnail made,
Into the air outside the window, into ever.
And then, My goodness, she said,
Scuttling in, I forgot all about you.
Run along or you’ll be late.
So she slotted him back into schooltime,
And he got home in time for teatime,
Nexttime, notimeforthatnowtime,
But he never forgot how once by not knowing time,
He escaped into the clockless land for ever,
Where time hides tick-less waiting to be born.
•Nostalgic, narrative
poem
•Free verse- desire
to be free of the
constraints of time
FORM
STRUCTURE
The poem is set out in 11 stanzas
of three lines each, each slowly
moving to define how time was
moving for the child
Enjambment to mimic his lack of
understanding of time- all
merges together
simple structure adds
to the sense of
realism- mimics the
child’s speech and
thought

Hide and Seek
Call out, call loud:"I'm ready. Come and find me!“ a
The sacks in the tool-shed smell like the seaside. b
They'll never find you in the salty dark, c
But be careful that your feet aren't sticking out, d
Wiser not to risk another shout. d
The floor is cold. They'll probably be searching e
The bushes, near the swing. Whatever happens f
you mustn't sneeze when they come prowling in. g
And here they are, whispering at the door; h
You've never heard them sound so hushed before. h
Don't breathe, don't move, stay dumb. Hide in your blindness. i
They're moving closer, someone stumbles, mutters; j
Their words and laughter scuttle, and they're gone. k
But don't come out just yet; they'll try the lane l
And then the greenhouse and back here again. l
They must be thinking that you're very clever, m
Getting more puzzled as they search all over. n
It seems a long time since they went away. o
Your legs are stiff, the cold bites through your coat; p
The dark damp smell of sand moves in your throat. p
It's time to let them know that you're the winner. q
Push off the sacks, uncurl and stretch. That's better! r
Out of the shed and call to them:"I've won! s
Here I am! Come and own up! I've caught you!“ t
The darkening garden watches, nothing stirs. u
The bushes hold their breath; the sun is gone. v
Yes, here you are. But where are they who sought you? w
FORM
STRUCTURE
Follows a sort-of
rhyming pattern
(abcdd) until end
(no pattern)-
rhymes when
talking about
childhood but free
verse in
adulthood- mimics
desire to be free
again
A single stanza poem – childhood
has merged into adulthood- he has
grown up too quick and the game is
over
Perhaps it reflects the relentless
flow of time towards adulthood?
Perhaps it shows the excitement of
the game itself?
starts with the confident and
bold challenge of a child and
ends with the doubt and
insecurity of an adult- he has
lost his childish innocence and
entered a world of loneliness
and criticism
The poem is at first
congratulating the child on his
cleverness, but the tone grows
more sinister towards the end-
foreshadows the harsh reality of
adult life

If—
IF you can keep your head when all about you a
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you, b
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you, a
But make allowance for their doubting too; b
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting, c
Or being lied about, don't deal in lies, d
Or being hated, don't give way to hating, c
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise: d
If you can dream - and not make dreams your master;
If you can think - and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build 'em up with worn-out tools:
If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breathe a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: 'Hold on!'
If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
' Or walk with Kings - nor lose the common touch,
if neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And - which is more - you'll be a Man, my son!
FORM STRUCTURE
There is only one complete stop in the
poem: the exclamation mark
at the end. The advice is continuous and
cumulative. This structure
suggests that to become a man is an on-
going process that is
difficult and challenging.
Whole poem is a conditional tense- IF
you do this...... Then you will be
rewarded
Only at the end do we see what the
reward will belong list of advice-
mimics the length of time it takes to
achieve greatness
rhyme scheme is a regular alternate
one of ababcdcd
The first four lines all rhyme with each
other, the first three all end in “you”,
stressing the personal nature of this
address.
The regular pattern
mimics the message of
the poem about being in
control of our own
behaviour and emotions
to ensure a virtuous life

La Belle Dame Sans Merci, 1819
Oh what can ail thee, knight-at-arms,
Alone and palely loitering?
The sedge has withered from the lake,
And no birds sing.
Oh what can ail thee, knight-at-arms,
So haggard and so woe-begone?
The squirrel's granary is full,
And the harvest's done.
I see a lily on thy brow,
With anguish moist and fever-dew,
And on thy cheeks a fading rose
Fast withereth too.
I met a lady in the meads,
Full beautiful - a faery's child,
Her hair was long, her foot was light,
And her eyes were wild.
I made a garland for her head,
And bracelets too, and fragrant zone;
She looked at me as she did love,
And made sweet moan.
I set her on my pacing steed,
And nothing else saw all day long,
For sidelong would she bend, and sing
A faery's song.
,
She found me roots of relish sweet,
And honey wild, and manna-dew,
And sure in language strange she said -
'I love thee true'.
She took me to her elfin grot,
And there she wept and sighed full sore,
And there I shut her wild wild eyes
With kisses four.
And there she lulled me asleep
And there I dreamed - Ah! woe betide! -
The latest dream I ever dreamt
On the cold hill side.
I saw pale kings and princes too,
Pale warriors, death-pale were they all;
They cried - 'La Belle Dame sans Merci
Hath thee in thrall!‘
I saw their starved lips in the gloam,
With horrid warning gaped wide,
And I awoke and found me here,
On the cold hill's side.
And this is why I sojourn here
Alone and palely loitering,
Though the sedge is withered from the lake,
And no birds sing.
FORM STRUCTURE
Literary
ballad
consisting of
quatrains
(lines of 4)
ABCB pattern
iambic tetrameter-
"O what / can ail / thee, knight / at
arms,
But something strange happens
in the fourth line of each
quatrain. There are only three
stressed syllables in the fourth
line of each quatrain. This isn't a
mistake on Keats's part. The
fourth line is consistently
shorter- links to the message of
the poem that love is harsh and
cruel.
The beginning and end
of the poem seem to
take place during
autumn or even early
winter, but the
sequence with the
fairy lady in the middle
seems to be during
spring or summer.
Cyclic- opening
and closing stanza
almost identical-
refers to idea that
women will
continue to entrap
men with their
love.

My Last Duchess
That’s my last Duchess painted on the wall, a
Looking as if she were alive. I call a
That piece a wonder, now: Frà Pandolf’s hands b
Worked busily a day, and there she stands.b
Will’t please you sit and look at her? I said c
‘Frà Pandolf’ by design, for never read c
Strangers like you that pictured countenance, d
The depth and passion of its earnest glance, d
But to myself they turned (since none puts by e
The curtain I have drawn for you, but I) e
And seemed as they would ask me, if they durst,
How such a glance came there; so, not the first
Are you to turn and ask thus. Sir, ’twas not
Her husband’s presence only, called that spot
Of joy into the Duchess’ cheek: perhaps
Frà Pandolf chanced to say ‘Her mantle laps
Over my lady’s wrist too much,’ or ‘Paint
Must never hope to reproduce the faint
Half-flush that dies along her throat’: such stuff
Was courtesy, she thought, and cause enough
For calling up that spot of joy. She had
A heart – how shall I say? – too soon made glad,
Too easily impressed; she liked whate’er
She looked on, and her looks went everywhere.
Sir, ’twas all one! My favour at her breast,
The dropping of the daylight in the West,
The bough of cherries some officious fool
Broke in the orchard for her, the white mule
She rode with round the terrace – all and each
Would draw from her alike the approving speech,
Or blush, at least. She thanked men, – good! but thanked
Somehow – I know not how – as if she ranked
My gift of a nine-hundred-years-old name
With anybody’s gift. Who’d stoop to blame
This sort of trifling? Even had you skill
In speech – (which I have not) – to make your will
Quite clear to such an one, and say, ‘Just this
Or that in you disgusts me; here you miss,
Or there exceed the mark’ – and if she let
Herself be lessoned so, nor plainly set
Her wits to yours, forsooth, and made excuse,
– E’en then would be some stooping; and I choose
Never to stoop. Oh sir, she smiled, no doubt,
Whene’er I passed her; but who passed without
Much the same smile? This grew; I gave commands;
Then all smiles stopped together. There she stands
As if alive. Will’t please you rise? We’ll meet
The company below, then. I repeat,
The Count your master’s known munificence
Is ample warrant that no just pretence
Of mine for dowry will be disallowed;
Though his fair daughter’s self, as I avowed
At starting, is my object. Nay, we’ll go
Together down, sir. Notice Neptune, though,
Taming a sea-horse, thought a rarity,
Which Claus of Innsbruck cast in bronze for me!
FORM STRUCTURE
Dramatic monologue-
extended thoughts of
a character
rhyming couplets
(aabb) but it has the
energy of ordinary
speech.
Iambic pentameter-
regular rhythm to
mimic his controlling
nature
His use of enjambment
means that the rhymes
rarely fall at the end of a
sentence, making it
sound like a real
conversation
This is one long speech, pretending
to be a conversation.
To mimic unrehearsed speech,
there are lots of twists and turns
within the lines, shown by a variety
of punctuation- the Duke pauses to
reflect thought and to ensure he
does not say the ‘wrong’ thing
Starts and ends with him boasting about
his wealth- namedropping famous artists
and showing off ornaments- money is
more important than love
The Duke talks about the wealth
of the envoy’s master before
the beauty of the bride-to-be
(again to show the importance
of money to the Duke)

Once Upon a Time
Once upon a time, son,
they used to laugh with their hearts
and laugh with their eyes;
but now they only laugh with their teeth,
while their ice-block-cold eyes
search behind my shadow.
There was a time indeed
they used to shake hands with their hearts;
but that’s gone, son.
Now they shake hands without hearts
while their left hands search
my empty pockets.
‘Feel at home’! ‘Come again’;
they say, and when I come
again and feel
at home, once, twice,
there will be no thrice—
for then I find doors shut on me.
So I have learned many things, son.
I have learned to wear many faces
like dresses—homeface,
officeface, streetface, hostface,
cocktailface, with all their conforming smiles
like a fixed portrait smile.
And I have learned, too,
to laugh with only my teeth
and shake hands without my heart.
I have also learned to say, ‘Goodbye’,
when I mean ‘Good-riddance’;
to say ‘Glad to meet you’,
without being glad; and to say ‘It’s been
nice talking to you’, after being bored.
But believe me, son.
I want to be what I used to be
when I was like you. I want
to unlearn all these muting things.
Most of all, I want to relearn
how to laugh, for my laugh in the mirror
shows only my teeth like a snake’s bare fangs!
So show me, son,
how to laugh; show me how
I used to laugh and smile
once upon a time when I was like you.
FORM STRUCTURE
Starts with the well-known words
“Once upon a time”, suggesting that
what the speaker is going to say is a
fairy tale, something so far-fetched
it might not even be believed- links
to meaning - honesty in expressing
emotion is so rare nowadays that it
practically is a fairy tale.
The first three Stanzas of the poem
'Once Upon A Time' have the same
structure. They start by telling the
past and explaining how things used
to be, but then they tell the negative
reality.
Monologue- one
person’s thoughts
Free verse- mimics his
desire to be free to be
truthful and honest
again
Starts off by sounding like advice
from father to son, but ends with
father asking for help from the
son- the roles are subverted
Enjambment- society are all the
same now- conforming to the
same behaviours that the
narrator wants to escape from

PIANO
Softly, in the dusk, a woman is singing to me;
Taking me back down the vista of years, till I see
A child sitting under the piano, in the boom of the tingling strings
And pressing the small, poised feet of a mother who smiles as she
sings.
In spite of myself, the insidious mastery of song
Betrays me back, till the heart of me weeps to belong
To the old Sunday evenings at home, with winter outside
And hymns in the cosy parlour, the tinkling piano our guide.
So now it is vain for the singer to burst into clamour
With the great black piano appassionato. The glamour
Of childish days is upon me, my manhood is cast
Down in the flood of remembrance, I weep like a child for the
past.
The poem is a simple lyric
in three stanzas made of
quatrains.
There is a simple and
repeated rhyme scheme
(aabb)
Trochaic pentameter
(opposite to iambic
pentameter- the stress
falls on the first syllable)-
could represent that the
FIRST woman in his life is
more important (e.g.
Mother)
FORM STRUCTURE
This simple rhyming fits the poem
well. It expresses the simplicity of
childhood. It also creates an
obvious music that matches the
music of the piano, as does the
rhythm of the trochaic
pentameter.
The present dominates the first two
lines of each stanza. Childhood
memories intrude in the third and
fourth lines of each stanza.
Repetition The piano is repeated
in each stanza- shows its
importance to the poet. The
piano is an example of
metonymy (the piano is a
substitute symbol for his
mother)
The simplistic language of the
first stanza alludes to childhood,
whereas the rest of the poem
includes complex language to
represent adulthood

Poem at Thirty-Nine
How I miss my father.
I wish he had not been
so tired
when I was
born.
Writing deposit slips and checks
I think of him.
He taught me how.
This is the form,
he must have said:
the way it is done.
I learned to see
bits of paper
as a way
to escape
the life he knew
and even in high school
had a savings
account.
He taught me
that telling the truth
did not always mean
a beating;
though many of my truths
must have grieved him
before the end.
How I miss my father!
He cooked like a person
Dancing
in a yoga meditation
and craved the voluptuous
sharing
of good food.
Now I look and cook just like him:
my brain light;
tossing this and that
into the pot;
seasoning none of my life
the same way twice; happy to feed
whoever strays my way.
He would have grown
to admire
the woman I’ve become:
cooking, writing, chopping wood,
staring into the fire.
FORM STRUCTURE
Free verse- she is free to live the life
she wants, unlike her father who was
bound by his job and desire to support
his family.
Stanza one- very short-
represents when she was a baby
and their lack of time together.
Stanza two- lengthy- big focus
on money and how he taught
her to save.
Repetition of opening line-
shows how she realises how
much she misses him as she
gets older- her feelings
become more intense (note
the use of exclamation as she
is more emphatic)
Suggests the stream of thought.
Lapses and leaps between memories
as she remembers the past and her
father- MEMORIES ARE
UNCONTROLLABLE- they come to us
sporadically and we cannot control
them
Enjambment and uneven line length.
Creates the idea of disjointed memories
which fade over time and come back when
she remembers something else.
Unstructured as she lives an unstructured
life where she does as she pleases.

Prayer Before Birth
I am not yet born; O hear me.
Let not the bloodsucking bat or the rat or the stoat or the
club-footed ghoul come near me.
I am not yet born, console me.
I fear that the human race may with tall walls wall me,
with strong drugs dope me, with wise lies lure me,
on black racks rack me, in blood-baths roll me.
I am not yet born; provide me
With water to dandle me, grass to grow for me, trees to talk
to me, sky to sing to me, birds and a white light
in the back of my mind to guide me.
I am not yet born; forgive me
For the sins that in me the world shall commit, my words
when they speak me, my thoughts when they think me,
my treason engendered by traitors beyond me,
my life when they murder by means of my
hands, my death when they live me.
I am not yet born; rehearse me
In the parts I must play and the cues I must take when
old men lecture me, bureaucrats hector me, mountains
frown at me, lovers laugh at me, the white
waves call me to folly and the desert calls
me to doom and the beggar refuses
my gift and my children curse me.
I am not yet born; O hear me,
Let not the man who is beast or who thinks he is God
come near me.
I am not yet born; O fill me
With strength against those who would freeze my
humanity, would dragoon me into a lethal automaton,
would make me a cog in a machine, a thing with
one face, a thing, and against all those
who would dissipate my entirety, would
blow me like thistledown hither and
thither or hither and thither
like water held in the
hands would spill me.
Let them not make me a stone and let them not spill me.
Otherwise kill me.
Free verse- no set rhyme
pattern, though the end word
is usually ‘me’- the foetus is
pleading with the reader (and
society) to help him/ her to be
free of the evils of man
FORM STRUCTURE
Opening stanza- sets the
scene by using childish fears
to gain sympathy from the
reader
End stanza- very brutal and
matter of fact statement
designed to shock the
reader and emphasise the
severity of the message of
the poem- the baby would
rather be aborted than live
in a world of sin
•Shape significant –
reminiscent of Psalms
(sung prayers)
•Repetition of “First line” as a
ritualistic statement, then
imperative tense command
•Ends with final command

Remember
REMEMBER me when I am gone away, a
Gone far away into the silent land; b
When you can no more hold me by the hand, b
Nor I half turn to go, yet turning stay. a
Remember me when no more day by day a
You tell me of our future that you plann'd: b
Only remember me; you understand b
It will be late to counsel then or pray. a
Yet if you should forget me for a while c
And afterwards remember, do not grieve: d
For if the darkness and corruption leave d
A vestige of the thoughts that once I had, e
Better by far you should forget and smile c
Than that you should remember and be sad.e
FORM
STRUCTURE
"Remember“, is a petrachan
sonnet. It is written in iambic
pentameter.
It can be divided into two parts, an
octave and a sestet.
First half- regular rhyme and rhythm-
calm and structured- wants control of
the recipients memories.
Second half- the reader is awakened,
because the monotonous rhythm is
changed- loses control and sets the
recipient free
Sonnet is usually a poem about love- this
is about death and forgetting love,
therefore the poet breaks the traditional
form and structure of a sonnet to get her
message across.
Starts with the message
to remember her after
death, ends with the
message to forget her
and move on.
Almost like she has
changed her mind and is
more considerate to the
reader.
One stanza- could
represent her desire to be
remembered (short and
easy structure)
Could also indicate the
short life span- her life
was surrounded by illness
and death

Sonnet 116: Let me not to the marriage of true minds
Let me not to the marriage of true minds
Admit impediments. Love is not love
Which alters when it alteration finds,
Or bends with the remover to remove.
O no, it is an ever-fixèd mark
That looks on tempests and is never shaken;
It is the star to every wand'ring bark,
Whose worth's unknown, although his height
be taken.
Love's not Time's fool, though rosy lips and
cheeks
Within his bending sickle's compass come;
Love alters not with his brief hours and
weeks,
But bears it out even to the edge of doom.
If this be error and upon me proved,
I never writ, nor no man ever loved.
FORM
STRUCTURE
A fourteen line poem with
a six line section (sestet)
then a twist which
develops in an eight line
section (octet).
Sometimes this twist is
called the question and
the answer, or the
argument and the answer.
A rhyming couplet at the
end which sums up the
message.
Written in iambic
pentameter – ten syllable
lines.
One stanza to show that love
is exclusive and unbreakable
Final line challenges us to
accept that his words are
true- he makes a brave claim
that all of his writing never
existed if true love does not
exist!

The price seemed reasonable, location
Indifferent. The landlady swore she lived
Off premises. Nothing remained
But self-confession. “Madam,” I warned,
“I hate a wasted journey—I am African.”
Silence. Silenced transmission of
Pressurized good-breeding. Voice, when it came,
Lipstick coated, long gold-rolled
Cigarette-holder pipped. Caught I was, foully.
“HOW DARK?” . . . I had not misheard . . . “ARE YOU LIGHT
OR VERY DARK?” Button B. Button A. Stench
Of rancid breath of public hide-and-speak.
Red booth. Red pillar-box. Red double-tiered
Omnibus squelching tar. It was real! Shamed
By ill-mannered silence, surrender
Pushed dumbfoundment to beg simplification.
Considerate she was, varying the emphasis—
“ARE YOU DARK? OR VERY LIGHT?” Revelation came.
“You mean—like plain or milk chocolate?”
Her assent was clinical, crushing in its light
Impersonality. Rapidly, wavelength adjusted,
I chose. “West African sepia”—and as an afterthought,
“Down in my passport.” Silence for spectroscopic
Flight of fancy, till truthfulness clanged her accent
Hard on the mouthpiece. “WHAT’S THAT?” conceding,
“DON’T KNOW WHAT THAT IS.” “Like brunette.”
“THAT’S DARK, ISN’T IT?” “Not altogether.
Facially, I am brunette, but madam, you should see
The rest of me. Palm of my hand, soles of my feet
Are a peroxide blonde. Friction, caused—
Foolishly, madam—by sitting down, has turned
My bottom raven black—One moment madam!”—sensing
Her receiver rearing on the thunderclap
About my ears—“Madam,” I pleaded, “wouldn’t you rather
See for yourself?”
Telephone Conversation
FORM
STRUCTURE
Free verse-
represents his desire
for equality and
freedom from
prejudice
representation of a
telephone conversation,
and the lack of rhyme
makes the conversation
more realistic
uses dashes to emphasize
key thematic ideas such as
the African's initial fear of
rejection in having to make a
“‘wasted journey—I am
African’”
dash also appears frequently at the end of the
poem where the speaker
becomes more defiant towards the landlady.
repetition of ‘silence’ seems
to draw out
the moment of silence,
showing the tension

The Tyger
Tyger, Tyger, burning bright,
In the forests of the night:
What immortal hand or eye
Could frame thy fearful symmetry?
In what distant deeps or skies
Burnt the fire of thine eyes?
On what wings dare he aspire?
What the hand dare seize the fire?
And what shoulder, & what art,
Could twist the sinews of thy heart?
And when thy heart began to beat,
What dread hand? & what dread feet?
What the hammer? what the chain,
In what furnace was thy brain?
What the anvil? what dread grasp
Dare its deadly terrors clasp!
When the stars threw down their spears
And waterd heaven with their tears:
Did he smile his work to see?
Did he who made the Lamb make thee?
Tyger, Tyger burning bright,
In the forests of the night:
What immortal hand or eye
Dare frame thy fearful symmetry?
FORM
STRUCTURE
Six even quatrains
(stanzas of four lines)
Regular rhyme and
rhythm- represents the
mechanical and industrial
changes happening at the
time
Rhyming Couplets
Represents the pair (The Tyger and
The Lamb) and the idea of good vs
evil.
Cyclical – stars and ends same
Represents the constant question
of evil and good in the world and
question religion and creation-
Although remember it asks if he
(God) “Dares” to make something
so evil.

Form and structure - edexcel literature certificate poems

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