Structural Points

• Liable to Floods

  Quatrains reflect storytelling narrative of the poem. Rhyming couplet at the end creates completion which contrasts unrhymed and uneven lines before.
• Y Gaer and The Hill Fort

  Use of tercets, stems from Welsh identity. Tercets' also associated with nature. Appropriate form for poems exploring nature's influence/relationship with man.
• History


  Quatrains focus on landscape whilst the couplets reflect connection between nature and industry, bringing both concepts together.
• Skirrid Fawr


  8 two line stanzas, suggests unity between two main concepts: man and nature. No rhyme creates a sense of disruption to the couplets, Sheers never fully understands the "unlearned tongue"
• Flag


  Uses the traditionally Welsh form of tercets to house ideas of national identity.
• Steelworks


  Typically Welsh tercet form. Free verse used to express lack of structure in the men's lives.
• On Going


  Four quatrains, even and complete which creates a sense of comfort/regularity to death. Use of sibilance allows for a mournful, quiet tone.
• The Wake 


  Tercets reflect the vivid imagery, house vignettes of the grandfathers life. Resounding one line final stanza, impactful which emphasises the impact of the grandfather on his family.
• Farther


  Free verse and one unbroken stanza. Interconnected from reflects topic of connection within the poem. Structure mirrors the narrative of the poem, the long arduous hike symbolised through continuous stream of poetry.
• Inheritance

  First two stanzas are 7 lines long, final stanza 6 lines which represents a coming together of the parents and rounding out of Sheers' identity.
• The Equation

  Quatrain form used for storytelling, even and complete four lines. Use of enjambment creates a smooth flow reflective of the continuity explored in the poem.
• Swallows

  Free verse and long sentences creates a smooth flow, additionally use of enjambment reflects the nature of the poem, the cycle of continuity and change and life and death.
• Calendar

  4 haiku style tercets - each centred on a season through human imagery. Identical stanza structure creates a cycle which reflects the nature of time and passing of seasons.
• Amazon


  Story is told in four parts - separating the stages of her cancer journey, emphasising the changes that take place. Combination of tercets and couplets also emphasises change.
• Show

  Rigid structure of the first half reflects the sterility of fashion industry. Second half: Quatrains reflect the narrative and domestic scene, tells a story of an evening. Last two quatrains are rhymed, could suggest a closeness between the couple which is not achieved in the scopophilic environment of the first half.
• Valentine


  Written in free verse. Four stanzas split by refrains which creates a disconnected form, embodying the precarious relationship.
• Night Windows


  Final stanza switches from quatrain to tercet, suggests an incomplete narrative, inability to create a fulfilling relationship.
• Keyways


  Concludes with a couplet - reached a sad resolution. Use of enjambment throughout the poem creates flow between ideas.