Language, form and structure

Cards (5)

  • Poem is written in quatrains
  • There is a strong rhythm, which mirrors the sound of horses’ hooves and sets the pace of the poem
  • Royal colours of purple and gold, along with aggressive imagery, are used to present the Assyrians as powerful at the start. Contrast is used later in the poem with “silence” and “pale”
  • Religious imagery – “Angel of Death”
  • Natural imagery – “summer is green…Autumn hath blown”