General / Random
This phrase implies that he is passionate about writing.
my life’s fever
This technique in the first three lines establishes an overwhelming, confusing atmosphere, reflecting his anxiety.
asyndeton
This phrase suggests that life has a physical shape, one that gravitationally pushes him down, into a worse state of depression.
“downward glide”
Which of the two themes of the poem is seen in this sonnet?
Power and pain of relationships
take part in an activity superficially, trying it out
(or also put your hands and feet in the water and move them around)
Dabble
With this phrase the speaker links or equates writing with life.
One life, one writing
The word "urn" is a _______ for his body as a container for something already dead
metaphor
The phrase "but I am living in a tidied room" is an allusion to...
The speaker's wife
Mention a line that shows that his wife brings hope into his life.
lighten my leaded eyelids
your lightness alters everything,
and tears the black web from the spider's sack
This word means preserve a dead body in liquids to prevent it from decaying
Embalms
This represents his anxiety
sweats
skulled horses
This is an example of which device?
“creeping damp”
personification
This semantic field suggests that the speaker is drowning in anxiety.
Water
Give an example of imagery that shows how although his wife is trying to pull him into happiness and hope, his illness tries to pull him back into depression.
...while the gray
skulled horses whinny for the soot of night
This word/phrase means the early morning when it is not totally light outside.
dapple of the day
In these two lines he suggests that what is sucking out all his creativity is just plain existing.
(But the downward glide
and) bias of existing wrings us dry
Name the technique:
Work-table, litter, books and standing lamp,
plain things, my stalled equipment, the old broom
asyndeton
What can these lines suggest?
always inside me is the child who died,
always inside me is his will to die
That he no longer has feelings of happiness, hope and creativity as he did when he was a child.
That he has suicidal thoughts.
These lines are the volta in the poem.
Behind me! You! Again I feel the light
lighten my leaded eyelids
The poet uses this word to evoke an image of death. and to highlight how he feels as if he were dead inside.
urn
One of the themes of the poem is...
anxiety and self-doubt
or
the power and pain of relationships
What is the name of this technique:
'always inside me is the child who died
always inside me is his will to die'
Anaphora
"my stalled equipment"
This phrase may refer to...
his tools for writing (pen, paper, typewriter) are stopped, motionless because he has no creativity and cannot think of a single thing to write.
or it may also represent his mind, which cannot produce any ideas.
These two elements help to create a more hopeful tone in the volta.
Diction and punctuation
This word has connotations of immoral and unpleasant behaviour
seamy