stanza 5

• “started to scream. He sank”

  • Alliteration emphasises the volume and duration of the scream. This techniques assimilates her reaction to the knowledge with his despair at the consequences. The effect falls away with the lexical choice of ‘knees’ - abruptly signalling that nothing can be done.
• “I finished the wine on my own”

  • Word choice links back to when times were better in stanza 1. Phrase ‘on my own’ prophesies what is to come.
• “keep his hands to himself”

  • First mentions of the implications of this power directly in relation to contact between them; also used in a humorous way, there can now be no intimacy.
• “I locked the cat in the cellar. I moved the phone. The toilet I didn’t mind.“

  • Although fearful of him, there is humour in this stanza: the ‘cat’ the ’phone’ and the ’toilet’ helping to develop the humorous tone. Short sentences show the extent to which she had to change things - joke about toilet to soften tone.
• “I couldn’t believe my ears.”

  • Enjambment between stanzas 5 and 6 creates a pause to reflect her shock, and contributes to the drama of the story.