‘Lamia’ by John Keats
Mix and match language analysis
Match up the extract with the correct analysis.
Upon a time …
The alliteration emphasises the shift in
Hermes’ emotions as he forgets his own
jealousy so seeks the miserable owner of
the voice.
… before the faery broods
Drove Nymph and Satyr from the prosperous
woods,
Before King Oberon’s bright diadem …
The epithet alerts us to Hermes’
promiscuous tendencies and the oxymoron
suggests that his ‘love’ is one-sided.
The ever-smitten Hermes empty left
His golden throne, bent warm on amorous
theft:
The similes suggest exotic visual images,
accentuating the snake’s ‘otherness’.
Such as once heard, in gentle heart,
destroys
All pain but pity: thus the lone voice spake:
The tone of the narrative is set by the
opening words, which suggest a fairy-tale
like quality to the poem.
Until he found a palpitating snake,
The juxtaposition between brightness and
darkness draws attention to the snake.
Bright, and cirque-couchant in a dusky
brake.
There is great ambiguity as to whether the
snake is a victim or an aggressor, good or
evil.
Striped like a zebra, freckled like a pard
Eyed like a peacock and all crimson barr’d;
The Classical and Shakespearean allusions
set the poem in a legendary time long ago.
She seem’d, at once, some penanced lady
elf,
Some demon’s mistress, or the demon’s
self.
We expected Hermes to find a woman or
maybe the nymph when he sought the
voice, so this is a bathetic moment.
Task
When you have finished, choose another poem and make your own mix and match table,
then swap with a partner.
© www.teachit.co.uk 2013
20527
Page 1 of 2
‘Lamia’ by John Keats
Mix and match language analysis
Answers
Upon a time …
The tone of the narrative is set by the
opening words, which suggest a fairy-tale
like quality to the poem.
… before the faery broods
Drove Nymph and Satyr from the prosperous
woods,
Before King Oberon’s bright diadem …
The Classical and Shakespearean allusions
set the poem in a legendary time long ago.
The ever-smitten Hermes empty left
His golden throne, bent warm on amorous
theft:
The epithet alerts us to Hermes’
promiscuous tendencies and the oxymoron
suggests that his ‘love’ is one-sided.
Such as once heard, in gentle heart,
destroys
All pain but pity: thus the lone voice spake:
The alliteration emphasises the shift in
Hermes’ emotions as he forgets his own
jealousy so seeks the miserable owner of
the voice.
Until he found a palpitating snake,
We expected Hermes to find a woman or
maybe the nymph when he sought the
voice, so this is a bathetic moment.
Bright, and cirque-couchant in a dusky
brake.
The juxtaposition between brightness and
darkness draws attention to the snake.
Striped like a zebra, freckled like a pard
Eyed like a peacock and all crimson barr’d;
The similes suggest exotic visual images,
accentuating the snake’s ‘otherness’.
She seem’d, at once, some penanced lady
elf,
Some demon’s mistress, or the demon’s
self.
There is great ambiguity as to whether the
snake is a victim or an aggressor, good or
evil.
© www.teachit.co.uk 2013
20527
Page 2 of 2