family poems

• ''followed in his broad shadow'' - follower.

  • a point source of light only casts a shadow
• ''shoulder globed like a full sail strung'' - follower.

  • his shoulders take on the physical representation of the earth and that his priority not only lies in his son taking on his job in the future
  • A sail provides a propulsive force to boat to increase it’s velocity
• ''the sky whitens as if lit by three suns'' - eden rock.

  • witnessing three suns is often seen spiritually as a symbol of unity, balance and cosmic harmony.
  • The three suns can also represent the holy trinity - across the river is heaven
• ''leisurely they beckon me from the other bank'' - eden rock.

  • In Greek mythology when a person dies their spirit has to cross a river known as the river styx on a boat. The river styx being a barrier between the living and the dead.
  • Leisurely suggests the parents are unworried and relaxed in this preserved state
• ''the acres of the walls, the prairies of the floors'' - mother ant distance.

  • prairies are grasslands that contain herbs and shrubs and manage various ecosystems. This shows that the childhood room of the author contains detailed and unique memories of his life that have made him who he is today.
  • Big vast pieces of land which is almost hyperbolic as a room cannot be that big but the attachment to it can be 
• ''Anchor.Kite'' - mother any distance.

  • an anchor at sea is used to minimise the drift of the shift in the water and stabilise the ship.
  • Kites can only fly successfully in windy weather narrator can only flourish with help and support from the air around him (his family and friends).
  • The anchor. Kite could represent the son’s two fates in life depending on the encouragement of his mother
• ''A hatch that opens to an endless sky to fall or fly'' - mother any distance.

  • hatch could be ambiguous (an opening but also the word hatch meaning for an egg to hatch)
  • Endless sky is the metaphor of his boundless life without the gentle constraints of his mother
  • Fall or fly could represent his leaving the nest after hatching
  • The fricative shows the tension between him and his mother
• ''fizzy movie tomorrows'' - before you were mine.

  • shaking something fizzy adds a lot of pressure to the container representing the mother’s pressure to become a mother in her youth
• ''clear as scent'' - before you were mine.

  • synesthesia
  • A scent is recognisable and specific to someone or something for example a perfume, showing the idea of her being able to recognise her mother
• '' your ghost clatters toward me'' - before you were mine.

  • deliberate attempt to contact the dead is Called necromancy
  • she deeply grieves for her mother's past self showing she feels guilty for the death of her youth and also wishes to witness her mother when she was truly happy
• ''high-heeled red shoes, relics'' - before you were mine.

  • red can connote passion and joy but also danger and sacrifice 
  • Relics are part of a dead holy persons belongings that are kept as precious objects that are believed to be powerful enough to heal the wounded, sick and grant miracles when physically touched.
  • she would place her hands in them when she was younger so she was 'blessed' by the influence of her mother in her prime
  • whilst she sacrificed that era for her she is deeply grateful.
• ''stamping stars from the wrong pavement'' - before you were mine.

  • the smaller the star the longer it’s life, that short period of time in the picture will always be remembered and recognised as bright and joyful period in the mother’s life 
  • the sibilance suggest a tone of spitefulness and regret revealing the worry that her mother blames her for not living a carefree life
• ''I decide to do it free, without a rope or a net'' - climbing my grandfather.

  • climbing a mountain imagery, trusts he knows his grandfather well enough to not need support
  • the grandson does not want support and wishes to learnt the most intimate things about his grandfather
• ''earth-stained hand'' - climbing my grandfather.

  • earth is the only planet in our solar system known to harbor life
  • the grandfather can create life and has the capacity to bring life to everything around him
  • he is a bright and vibrant character in his grandson’s life
• ''his finger smooth and thick like warm ice'' - climbing my grandfather.

  • warm ice is an oxymoron used to dispel the negative connotations of ice being cold and sharp
• ''glassy ridge of a scar'' - climbing my grandfather.

  • glassy refers to it being delicate and easily broken suggesting he obtained the scar from something potentially traumatising in his life that is still delicate and sensitive to him
  • A ridge on a mountain is particularly dangerous to walk on, with steep terrain either side, and so if one falls they are at danger of being gravely injured
  • the grandson understand the sensitivity of the scar and the potential memories behind and thus he will be careful when interacting or crossing over it
• ''the slow pulse of his good heart'' - climbing my grandfather.

  • if a heart has a slow pulse it shows that the heart muscles are strong and need less contractions to pump the blood needed around the body
  • a healthy heart has a regular pulse. the grandfather is still unchanged by the end of the poem in the grandson's eyes even after learning new and potentially saddening things about him
• ''like a satellite wrenched from it's orbit, go drifting away'' - walking away.

  • satellites are used to monitor the earth, in some ways the son was looking after the father unconsciously
  • Orbit suggesting revolved around the earth or another celestial being
  • Drifting connotes a smooth, elegant and quiet exit
• ''like a winged seed loosened from it's parent stem'' - walking away.

  • winged suggest the father has given him the ability to fly as the parent stem
  • A stem on a plant is something that keeps them grounded and is usually the strongest part of a plant. The father is the anchor to the son and will always be his support and keep him grounded
• Free verse poetry is poetry that lacks a consistent rhyme scheme, metrical pattern
• A sonnet is a 14 line poem, typically (but not exclusively) concerning the topic of love
• A soliloquy is a monologue in which a character speaks to him or herself, expressing inner thoughts that an audience might not otherwise know
• Dissonance injects discomfort into text through inharmonious sounds and uneven rhythms
• Assonance, the repetition of vowel sounds
• Before you were mine: lack of rhyme scheme or meter but has regular stanzas
• eden rock: four quatrains (regular) with a separate line for the last line. ‘’leisurely they…” is split between two stanzas