3rd April 2015
GCSE English: 'Poem at Thirty Nine' Analysis
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Poet and context
Walker is an acclaimed black poet and novelist; born in rural Georgia, USA, the youngest of 8 children to poor parents who refused to set their children working and ensured they got an education.
Content
Presumably autobiographical poem celebrating poet’s father and the influence he had on her life and development.
Mood/tone
Mixture of sad, regretful “I miss...I wish” and celebratory, proud.
Themes
Love (parent/child); growing up; nostalgia; learning (UOAT); poverty/hardship
Form and structure
Free verse, which suits the conversational nature of the poem, flitting from one memory to another. Frequent enjambment where the memories flow freely (eg 4th stanza); other thoughts are more interrupted by punctuation e.g. 2nd stanza “He taught me how. / This is the form, / he must have said:”
Overall, the poem moves from her birth in 1st stanza to the present (at 39) in final.
Language
At start, the lexis is extremely simple, e.g. 1st stanza, almost monosyllabic, expressing simple regret.
Her grief is shown by the repetition of that simple statement “How I miss my father” with the addition of the exclamation the second time. These lines stand alone, showing their significance.
The 2nd stanza also uses quite straightforward, prosaic language “This is the form” , possibly because it is dealing with practicalities; the semantic field here is of business and money: “deposit slips and cheques” “bits of paper”, “savings account”. Despite being busy and tired, he had time to teach his daughter.
The repetition of the phrase “He taught me” reinforces how important this is as a theme of the poem (despite being busy and tired, he had time to teach his daughter); the second half of the poem presents the results of that teaching (connect with OUAT “unlearning” and possibility of learning from the young).
There is a darker element creeping in 3rd stanza with the harsh participle “beating”; whether this refers to treatment at the hands of the father or is meant generally is unclear. The emphasis is on the abstract noun “truth” here, suggesting that principles were also learned as well as practical skills. There is also conflict in the reference to having “grieved him”, which is ironic given the circumstances.
The language becomes more poetic, figurative and joyous in the second half, where the father’s creative qualities are celebrated as well as his generosity. Metaphor “cooked like a person / dancing / in a yoga meditation” seems contradictory, which is perhaps why the verb participle “dancing” is placed separately – maybe he was a complex character. There is a clear sense of character here, of someone who enjoyed life and this transfers to the poet in the next stanza, with equally lively participles “tossing”, “seasoning”. She has inherited his creative flair and his generosity “happy to feed.”
Simple, active present participles also dominate the final stanza “cooking, writing, chopping wood, staring”.
Poet and context
Walker is an acclaimed black poet and novelist; born in rural Georgia, USA, the youngest of 8 children to poor parents who refused to set their children working and ensured they got an education.
Content
Presumably autobiographical poem celebrating poet’s father and the influence he had on her life and development.
Mood/tone
Mixture of sad, regretful “I miss...I wish” and celebratory, proud.
Themes
Love (parent/child); growing up; nostalgia; learning (UOAT); poverty/hardship
Form and structure
Free verse, which suits the conversational nature of the poem, flitting from one memory to another. Frequent enjambment where the memories flow freely (eg 4th stanza); other thoughts are more interrupted by punctuation e.g. 2nd stanza “He taught me how. / This is the form, / he must have said:”
Overall, the poem moves from her birth in 1st stanza to the present (at 39) in final.
Language
At start, the lexis is extremely simple, e.g. 1st stanza, almost monosyllabic, expressing simple regret.
Her grief is shown by the repetition of that simple statement “How I miss my father” with the addition of the exclamation the second time. These lines stand alone, showing their significance.
The 2nd stanza also uses quite straightforward, prosaic language “This is the form” , possibly because it is dealing with practicalities; the semantic field here is of business and money: “deposit slips and cheques” “bits of paper”, “savings account”. Despite being busy and tired, he had time to teach his daughter.
The repetition of the phrase “He taught me” reinforces how important this is as a theme of the poem (despite being busy and tired, he had time to teach his daughter); the second half of the poem presents the results of that teaching (connect with OUAT “unlearning” and possibility of learning from the young).
There is a darker element creeping in 3rd stanza with the harsh participle “beating”; whether this refers to treatment at the hands of the father or is meant generally is unclear. The emphasis is on the abstract noun “truth” here, suggesting that principles were also learned as well as practical skills. There is also conflict in the reference to having “grieved him”, which is ironic given the circumstances.
The language becomes more poetic, figurative and joyous in the second half, where the father’s creative qualities are celebrated as well as his generosity. Metaphor “cooked like a person / dancing / in a yoga meditation” seems contradictory, which is perhaps why the verb participle “dancing” is placed separately – maybe he was a complex character. There is a clear sense of character here, of someone who enjoyed life and this transfers to the poet in the next stanza, with equally lively participles “tossing”, “seasoning”. She has inherited his creative flair and his generosity “happy to feed.”
Simple, active present participles also dominate the final stanza “cooking, writing, chopping wood, staring”.
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