Poetry

• What is climbing my grandfather about?

  A child is climbing there grandfather- metaphorically learning more and more about his grandfather as he goes on- learning he has been a hard worker and that his life is slowly coming to an end. Is a memory
• What are some key quotations in climbing my grandfather?


  'I decided to do it free withought a rope or net'

  'Dusty and cracked'

  'Trying' and 'knowing'

  'Glassy ridge of a scar'

  'warm ice'

  'The wrinkles well spaced and easy'

  'The slow pulse of his good heart'
• What is the last line of climbing my grandfather?

  'The slow pulse of his good heart'
• What structural features does climbing my grandfather have?

  • Has no stansas- shows a continuous, flowing, strong relationship.
  • There is no set rhythmic pattern- causes the poem to be a more gentle and relaxed tone- presenting old age as this- poets mind wondering from memory to memory.
  • Enjambembment- Climbing a mountain is continuous- one stage to the next.
• Who wrote climbing my grandfather?

  Andrew Waterhouse
• Who was Andrew Water house?

  Thinking back to a memory of his childhod of how he used to climb his grandfather like a mountain.

  Uses extended metaphor with his grandfather and a mountain.

  Waterhouse enjoys climbing and being free as an adult.

  Although he has lost his grandfather this allows him to feel more connected to him.
• What are some themes that run through the poem of climbing my grandfather?

  Mountaineering, Childhood memories, Family relationships
• By comparing his grandfather to a mountain what is he showing?


  That he sees his grandfather as a herioc impressive person and that we really see them as beautiful old things just like mountains- we look upto them
• Analyse the last line of 'the slow pulse of his good heart'

  • Potraying that his grandfather is passing away- so we know this is a memory as the poets grandfather has already passed away.
  • The adjective 'good'- Shows us that the poet believes his grandfather is a good man and shows the close bond that they both had.
  • Monosyllabic- slows down the pace as were reading it- reflects on his heart slowing down
  • The slow pace at the end reflects that the climbing has come to and end and whatever the speaker has wanted to discover about his grandfather has been discovered
• Analyse 'trying' and 'knowing'

  • 'Trying' said at start of poem and 'knowing' is said at the end of the poem- shows that the poet(child) has gained knowledge of the grandfather when climbing him like a mountain.
  • Comparing difference in journey
• How does the one long stansa reflect on the relationship in climbing my grandfather?


  The unbrokenes of it shoes the stability and the safe feeling that the poet feels when climbing and exploring his grandfather and also shows the steady relationship between them both
• What does 'dusty and cracked' , 'earth stained hand' show us about the grandfathers past?

  • That he is a hard working manual worker.
  • The speaker is climbing his grandfather to discover truth and about him and the previous discoveries that his grandfather has discovered.
  • Looking back on the hard aspect of his grandfathers life and discovering he doesnt want to do anything like that- doesnt bring great reward.
  • Links to follower.
• How does enjambment effect the poem?

  • Links to follower- 'By the overhanging shirt i change direction' similar to in follower when it says 'the sweating team turned around'- enjambment used within these two quotes to reflect the change in direction and the moving on of something
  • Gives the poem a sense of continuousy- strong, flowing relationship
• Analyse 'like warm ice'?

  • Oxymoron and simile
  • Symbolises the differenec of how something looks and feels- might have had an idea about his grandfather but in climbing him he has discovered and felt something different about him.
  • Looks like ice but is warm