Words and lives poetry

• Thirteen

  • number itself evokes a moment in time when a child stands on the threshold of adolescence, symbolising both vulnerability and the onset of a more complex understanding of the world
  • underscores the tension between the speaker's tender age and the overwhelming burdens forced upon him
  • invites readers to confront the premature exposure of Black youth to societal prejudice and violence
• England in 1819

  • "1819": by anchoring the poem in this specific year, Shelley compels the reader to confront a moment in history characterised by political strife, social inequity, and the disintegration of institutional integrity
  • "England" represents not merely a geographical entity, but a microcosm of moral and political decline
• A Portable Paradise

  • "portable" redefines paradise as a transportable, self-sustaining entity rather than a static, external destination. It implies that true sanctuary resides within memory, resilience and personal experience
  • evokes a sense of empowerment, urging readers to reconsider the nature of happiness and find solace in the intangible, rather than in external validation
• "no figure lingering pauses to feed the hunger of the eye"

  • "no figure lingering" conjures an image of desolate emptiness, where the absence of human presence underscores the alienating and inhospitable nature of the urban environment
  • metaphor of the "hunger of the eye" introduces a profound psychological dimension to the poem, symbolising emotional deprivation and an unquenched desire for beauty, validation and connection
  • imbues a sense of emptiness and desolation in the reader, who is unsettled when confronted by the profound emotional void generated by industrialisation
• "The world seems one huge prison-house & court" (IALD)

  • metaphor of "prison-house" encapsulates the alienating confinement of urban life, alluding to claustrophobia
  • "huge" and "world" augments the immensity of this prison-like existence. Eliot doesn't present London as a contained or manageable space, but as a vast, inescapable force, amplifying the hopelessness within the urban experience
  • elicits discomfort, urging reader to reflect on the wider implications of an oppressive environment and leaving them with a feeling of alienation that transverses the boundary of the words they're reading
• "eyes dry with dust from twelve hours combing flax"

  • sensory detail immerses the reader in the corporeal aftermath of industrial labour
  • "dry" denotes not only physical discomfort but reveals the depletion of spirit and erosion of vitality
  • explicit quantification "twelve hours" brutally underscores the enormity of the work endured, invoking Marxist critiques of the exploitation of the working class during industrialisaition
  • imagery engenders a reader response characterised by a complex amalgamation of horror, pity and reverence
• "you will watch the two men cast lots for your organs" (Thirteen)

  • reflects how the speaker's humanity, autonomy and dignity is callously stripped away, as Femi draws parallels to when Roman soldiers "cast lots" for Jesus' clothes after his crucifixion, exhibiting a lack of respect for his dignity and suffering
  • metaphorically implies the "two men" hold dominion over the speaker's fate, exposing the extreme imbalance of power
  • specificity of "organs" exposes the reduction of the speaker's identity to its mere biological functions, demonstrating how the his existence is perceived as something to be exploited rather than cherished
  • delivers a visceral impact that forces the reader to confront the harsh reality of the speaker's subjugation
• "drowned the din of engines"

  • onomatopoeic plosive sound of "din" alludes to the relentless, intrusive clamour of labour in industrial factories, connoting an immensely suffocating and dehumanising auditory landscape
  • "drowned" connotes an act of not just reducing the sound, but metaphorically obliterating its existence, fostering a sense of resilience and mental fortitude as he asserts dominance over the industrial oppression