element of risk between getting to know his granfather may represent generational divide, alternatively may represent his familarity with him as he is dependant on him
"his finger is smooth and thick like warm ice"
oxymoron creates affectionate image- his grandfather is not cold as ice
comtrast with his "cracked" feet earlier
"watching clouds and birds circle"
"knowing the slow pulse of his good heart"
reinforces grandfathers steady warm love for his grandson, slows the pace of poem imitating grandfathers heartbeat
what is the form?
blank verse rhyme shows speakers freedom, enjambment imitates motion of climbing and empathises steady motion
what is the structure
linear- the poem the follows the climbers progress from the bottom to the summit
what is the context?
most of waterhouses work focuses on the environment as seen with the extended metaphor of mountains
