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1. Aime bender
No personal description
Characters explained by means of the words they say
Realism, everyday life, communicative language.
Adjectives: to give the details that lack in the narration
Interior monologue (V. Woolf)
2. Marlin Barton
many would (conditional) to explain the uncertainties a blind and deaf girl experiences
Another interior monologue
Few words of dialogues a lot of description: she is deaf and cannot ask or answer but with signs.
3. Tan Twan Eng
Brief sentences: give the idea of movement, uncertainty, (they are running into the nowhere)
harsh sounds to give the idea of struggle, metal
sentences following one another quickly: beating of a heart because they are afraid
POEMS
Identify:
1. sections
2, words
3. mood
4. speaker
5. audience
6. context
7. summary (literal)
8. techniques
9. images and concepts
10. theme statement
1. (love song, with two goldfish) by Grace Chus
descriptive poem
sections: 5 stanzas: the first three speak about the two fish and their relationship, he hopes to take
her to the ocean(freedom)
last two stanzas: she dies, their hope and dreams end
Words: drifter
Mood: first 3 stanzas--> hope and dreams; last 2: mood changes and becomes sad, gloomy
Speaker: someone looking at them, the poet; an observer
Audience: readers
Context:
Setting--> bowl; unnatural setting
Summary: description of two goldfish; they love each other; he dreams to go away (ocean) with
her but she dies.
Techniques: Repetition of s at the end of each line (alliteration) --> movement
Personification
Enjambment: continuous movement; vitality
Brackets--> idea of a bowl (prison)
Similes: images to describe fish as human beings (personification)--> when she dies he
seems to have human feelings stone: immobility (death); glass: prison
Parallelism
Long sentences: when the fish are together; small, brief sentences at the end of the poem,
the death of the fish …or the impossibility of a constricted life
Images: images which convey the idea of flirting (he is a drifter, she makes fish eyes)
Themes: characters wish to escape form their prison; she dies: too strict relationship that kills one
of the two
Commentary
The poem “(love song, with two goldfish)”, written by Grace Chua is about the relationship of
twogoldfishes. The relationship between the two goldfishes is similar to a young love story; a young
boyfalling in love and having a short relationship with a young girl.The poem has 5 stanzas each in
parentheses (theme of confined space, isolation), and have a pattern of stanzas 1,3 and 5 having 6
lines and stanzas 2 and 4 having only 5 stanzas. (This represents the time period of each step of the
relationship.) There is no particular rhyme scheme in the poem. Instead Chuauses humorous puns
for goldfishes to capture the audience's attention and emotion.The title itself already gives a sense to
the reader that the theme of this poem is going to be love, “(lovesongs, ...)” Love songs are usually
used to express the feeling of attraction to someone, which is shownin the first stanza of this
poem.The title is enclosed with parentheses which suggests that the two goldfish are in a confine
area.Theuse of these parentheses is used to enhance the theme of the entrapment and the lack of
freedom.the brackets symbolize the fish bowl, which the fish are imprisoned by.In the first stanza,
the poem describes the male fish's attraction to a female fish. The male is “alwaysfloating around
her” tells the reader that the two goldfishes live in the same fishbowl. The next line,“has nowhere
else to go” suggests that they are confined in a small space. He is also “always floatingaround her”
so it shows that the male is interested in her and wants to gain her attention. There seemsto be a
feeling of isolation, as it seems that they are at a distance even though they are in the same fish
bowl. The boy is a “drifter.” By nature he ventures and explores and cannot stay in the same place
for long. By contrast, he lives in a fishbowl and so he cannot do this. This leaves him with an
existentialistoutlook on life.In the second stanza there is a development in the relationship between
the two goldfishes. The femalefish starts to take notice of the male fish as “she makes fish eyes and
kissy lips at him.” The author usesa sense of humour. “Kissy lips” can be described as the shape of
goldfishes mouth. This proves that therelationship between the two fishes has progressed. The
goldfishes are “bounded by round walls”which represents a fishbowl which suggests that the two
goldfishes are trapped in their reality and donot have the power to change their lives which supports
the next stanza. They are brought together bythis common feeling of apathy and isolation.The third
stanza shows the next process to the relationship as the male fish dreams of the future withthe
female fish. They dream of breaking out of their repetitive bleak lives and want to explore
theoutside world more. The male promises her that “he would take her to the ocean.” There is a
contrast between a small confined fishbowl compared to the vast ocean. The parenthesis in this
paragraphsuggests that this dream can only be accomplished in their dreams because they are
confined in suchsmall space. There is use of alliteration in this stanza, “submarine silence.” The
alliteration is used toemphasize that even though the fish want to be out in the vast ocean, they still
want to be together intheir fishbowl where they are in their confined space together, submarines are
unseen and deepunderwater. This suggests that the young couple want to discover more of the
world.The tone of the poem (rhythm and meter) is not particularly fast or slow. It speeds up in the
3rd stanza and slows back to its original pace by the 4 the stanza. In this stanza, it describes how
the female'sattraction of the male, has “gone belly-up”, another pun used by the author. Usually
when fishes die,they float upside down. This suggests that the female's interest in the male has
died.The final stanza of this poem the separation of the parenthesis seem to be metaphorical. Both
“he” and
“She” are separated by the parenthesis suggesting that they are no longer in each other's world.
Thereader will also notice that that the line “a life beyond the” is not in parenthesis. Having this line
not in parenthesis is significant because the reader takes notice that the female desires something
more thanthe male could give her. From the dreams the male had in stanza 3, the female realizes
that he could notgive her the freedom she wanted. The reader can connect this to the first stanza of
the poem when themale had, “nowhere else to go”. Suggesting that the female left the male because
she would be stuck inthe fishbowl with him, and not getting a chance to experience the world.In the
poem “(love song, with two goldfish)” shows the steps of a relationship between a young boyand a
young girl through the use of goldfishes as metaphors.The feelings of isolation are
somethingeverybody goes through at that age and the desire to explore the world, as well as interest
in each other.Although the couple seems to be happy at first, with their dreams, reality proves to
them that theycannot achieve this dream causing the young girl to seek for a better life.
Similar to (love song, with two goldfish)
Commentary
In the poem (love song, with two fish), written in 2003 by Grace Chua as part of the collection
QLRS Vol. 2 No. 2, the thoughts and actions of two fish contained within a round fishbowl
highlight many intricacies of love in the bowl. The male fish shows a deep love for the female fish,
which cannot be returned by the female at the end of the poem. An important idea driving this poem
is that the love between the two “fish” is metaphorical, and often creates parallel meanings of love
that are present between two human beings. At the beginning of the poem, the male fish is
described as “a drifter/floating around her, / [having] nowhere else to go”. The term drifter may
refer to the drifting motion of the fish but more likely refers to a person who waits and moves
without a specific purpose; the parallelism struck between the metaphoric action of the fish and the
human terminology implied already creates an initial sense of comparison that may be used by the
reader to reflect on the poem with a sense of familiarity with the process that takes place. In Grace
Chua’s poem (love song, with two fish), a central metaphor is aided by pun, enjambment, specific
use of punctuation, and imagery to explain the thoughts and feelings that drive love; the reader can
feel a sense of familiarity in the emotions of love that are evoked, and come to empathize with the
“fish” love in a reflective and personal way.
The poem introduces a sense of flirtatious love and comedy initially, by creating a metaphorical
language that almost teases love; the reader is led to make personal associations with the amiability
between the fish. In the term “he’s a drifter, always/floating around her” we can follow our idea of
parallelism between the fish’ action and human emotion by noting the enjambment following the
word “always”. The dual meaning created by the enjambment is that the character is consistently
without specific purpose, remaining a “drifter”, and that he constantly pursues, or “[floats] around”
a female to whom he is attracted. We gain insight into a character that is often noncommittal and
unbound by any obligations, yet finds a sense of interest in pursuing a love. As the next
enjambment continues, when he “[has]/nowhere else to go” the separation between the two lines
creates a sense of resignation for the “fish” and sparks empathy from within the reader as we
acknowledge a kind of trapped state. This sense of resignation then leads into a comedic sense of
desire as the “fish” states that “he wishes/she would sing, not much, just the scales”; this infatuation
with the female’s voice, a characteristic that would be seen in human love, also creates a pun as “the
scales” may represent the outer appearance of a fish. The infatuation is thus expressed by
acknowledging the female character’s beauty, and though it is comedic for the reader, it does spark
a sense of understanding and familiarity with the concept of the relationship and love expressed.
After creating this image of the male’s desire and emotions, and relating this with the human
characteristics, the poem then makes a lighthearted and very flirtatious interaction present between
male and female, shadowing the truths of human romantic relationships.
The imagery of the second stanza show a lovable sense of happy interaction between two characters
as the female responds to the male’s interest in the goldfish bowl; the reader thus finds happiness in
this sense of companionship described, but also acknowledges its mostly temporary and passionate
nature. When the female fish “makes fish eyes/and kissy lips” at the male fish, the recognizable
image of a goldfish pursing its lips closed and open is conjured, as well as its constant wide-eyed
facial expression. Though this is simply how a goldfish appears to look, we can use this idea to
show that the love and flirtatious expressions are driven by human emotions, not by the unchanging
expression of a goldfish; the element of imagery is comedic and aids with the use of pun to show
the reader the very human motions of flirtation and its romantic silliness, and create a nostalgic and
understanding response. As the fish “darts/behind pebbles”, the enjambment separating the fish’s
movement and hiding place aid in creating an image of playfulness as the reader notes the
purposefully reluctant nature of the character as a way of following a personal and human romance.
In the most telling pun of the stanza, as the female fish “swallows/his charms hook, line, and
sinker” we find that only the physical image of swallowing is relatable to the fish, as the attraction
to the other character’s charms is very human and highlights a very personal and human interaction,
felt by the reader. The next stanza creates an impression of wistfulness and dreaming through
additional metaphor, which will associate the reader with feelings of romance, desire, and intimacy.
By using an idea of going to the ocean, the two fish highlight a sense of desire through metaphor,
which is captured personally by the reader as the acknowledgement of a couple’s dreams and
wishes. By saying “he would/take her to the ocean, they could/ count the waves” the poem
expresses desire partly through the male fish’s point of view, because he is trapped in an isolated
tank of water and thus shows a desire to join the freedom of a moving ocean with a companion; in
parallel, the symbolism and romance of the ocean, and the view of counting the waves (which could
only be experienced by watching on the beach as humans do, not by fish swimming in the water)
shows a deep human romance, rather than that of two fish, and creates wistfulness within the reader.
The alliteration provided by “There, / in the submarine silence” offers an “s” sound, creating a
hushed and intimate setting that imparts a sense of calm on the reader. Also, by saying that the two
fish would “dive for pearls/like stars” a contrast is created between the riches of the sky and the
deep sea as a simile expresses the fishes’ desires; the inclusion of stars highlights a more human
wistfulness and sparks quiet nostalgia and a sense of romance within the reader. The next stanza
(stanza 4) expresses a change in tone as the male fish loses the female’s love and lives in a state of
melancholy, creating deep empathy from within the reader.
The fourth stanza of the poem finally breaks the pattern of the central metaphor as it is stated that
“her love’s since gone belly up. His heart sinks/ like a fish”. The simile expressed finally
acknowledges the man behind the romantic notions, and the fish is dispelled in a technique that
shows that its purpose was for describing the man’s love and that it is now gone; the sudden change
in tone creates a sympathetic, human response from within the reader as the character expressing
the love becomes vulnerable and truly exposed from behind the metaphor. By saying that he
“drowns those sorrows, /stares emptily through glass” there is still a sense of metaphor that may
impart the image of a fish trapped behind the glass of its fishbowl; however, the primary idea is that
of a man who has sought alcohol as a respite from the sadness, and hopelessly considers the empty
glass that sits before him. The image is lonely and resigned, and creates sympathy from the reader
and a sense of regret that the love is gone. The most poignant part of the poem is expressed when
the reasons for the loss of love between the man and the woman are revealed metaphorically, and
elicit a final sense of relatability to the persona and feelings of regret from an understanding reader.
The use of punctuation in the last stanza serves to physically separate the male and female personae
and highlight to a deep extent the cause for the rift between them; the physical use of punctuation
guides the reader towards a sad realization about the relationship. First, the two lines “(the reason,
she said/she wanted)”, followed by “(and he could not give)” are separated parenthetically and by
different lines, showing that a quality lacking within the man was a cause for the woman’s
dissatisfaction and physical separation from him; it shows the reader that the cause for the rift is
made primarily from the woman’s unhappy state in the relationship, and garners sympathy toward
the male character. The reason for the female’s departure, also punctuated deliberately, is that the
male could not provide “a life/beyond the/ (bowl)”. The enjambment heightens the sense of drama
seen in the words, and aids in showing the continuously bound and restricted state of the male
persona; “a life/ beyond the” is the only part of the poem unbound by parenthesis, highlighting the
woman’s desire to surpass boundaries. However, by reintroducing the parenthesis into the final line
and word “(bowl)”, we are brought back to the restrictive life of the man, who could not provide the
sense of freedom seen as essential to the woman; the reader feels a final sense of resignation as the
process of pursued, obtained, and ultimately lost love is experienced.
The use of fish within Grace Chua’s poem (love song, with two goldfish) became of mechanism
with which the reader could relate himself to the process of love, noting the initial infatuation, silly
romance, wistful experiences, and loss and vulnerability that serve within the process. Though
many elements of this poem are comedic and consist of puns that aid in the lighthearted love
describing the man and woman leading the ideas of the poem, the loss of central metaphor produced
a stripped down and final image of love in a failed state. Love ceased to be mutual within the poem,
and its end was driven by the desires that could not be met in the woman’s point of view. These
ideas of dissatisfaction and desire overshadow the more superficial notions of love and call into
question the reality and necessities of humans: deep desires that drive their search for love.
2. The pigeon by Richard Church
Identify:
1. sections
2, words
3. mood
4. speaker
5. audience
6. context
7. summary (literal)
8. techniques
9. images and concepts
10. theme statement
descriptive poem
Sections: first two stanzas about workers; 3rd stanza: crowd; 4th stanza: setting; last tree; pigeon
onomatopoeic sound: convey the idea where the action takes place
Mood: distaste for the industrialised world; violence....sweeter at the end; critical
Speaker: observer
audience: readers
context:
summary: there are some workers that are spreading concrete on the road when a pigeon comes and,
frightened, goes away
techniques: onomatopoeic sound to give the idea of harsh impact on the environment.
personifications: machines are seen like human beings; they are compared to wild
beats, to violent creatures (serpents; cruel mouths, prey)
alliteration: sweating straining: parallelism; --> hissing sound that conveys the idea
of violence and is connected to the image of the serpent:
metaphors: head of the cables stands the serpents...; cruel mouths; curdled lakes;
images: serpent, mouth, dusty air (pollution which contaminates the environment)
--> idea of polluted modern city,
PIGEON: nature, religious connotation: dove bringing peace among the clouds,
even though it leaves, its print remains --> hope
pigeon: a moment of beauty in the ugly scene.
objective correlative - literary term referring to a symbolic article used to provide explicit, rather
than implicit, access to traditionally inexplicable concepts as emotion or colour. (image that
represents feelings and thoughts of the author.)
Theme: devastation of industrialisation nature prevails; seal: strong sign, mark
Commentary
He had used certain onomatopoeia like 'hiss' and another word I cannot remember right now (pretty
drained from Philosophy HL paper 1). I played an important emphasis upon religious imagery also.
How the construction workers are referred to as 'serpents' (this is also animalistic imagery), as well
as how in the last stanza (I think it was the last stanza), Church utilised the phrase of a deflowered
bed, symbolising a sort of funeral to the nature that once lived in that area. To me this was quite a
powerful poem, and the title was quite deceiving considering one would first think that a pigeon is
to do with something peaceful, yet in the actual poem, it plays a minor role until it leaves the
imprint within the concrete displaying the new world vs the old world. I also mentioned how the
people stopped and watched the construction workers as they went about with their job, the fact that
the people passing by were 'fascinated' by the workers could symbolise that they themselves were
'pigeon-brained' a common expression in the English Language for when someone is not very
knowledgeable overall.
3. Watching the dolphins, David Constantine
Narrative poem; like a prose
Identify:
1. sections
2, words
3. mood
4. speaker
5. audience
6. context
7. summary (literal)
8. techniques
9. images and concepts
10. theme statement
sections: 5 stanzas: dolphins; last stanza: disillusion but resignation; the dolphins however are still
there
mood: hope to see the dolphins and joy first 5 stanzas - even if some words alerady prepare the
reader to disillusion (hopeless; if, undecided); disillusion the last one
speaker: observer that gets involved (we)
Audience: readers
Context:
Summary: a group of passengers passing by the bridge to reach Piraeus port and wishing to see the
dolphins on their journey.
Techniques:
Enjambment: continuity to the story
Simile: Like a saint: because the moment is so mysterious and mystic
like satyrs: divinity (play, dance)
Alliterations: movements in the sea (s)
point of view: we : human beings; they: dolphins
Contrast : at the end: from poetic words to concrete rough ones ; return to reality accepted;
resignation
Theme: several connections to human ambitions and hopes in real life; human attraction for nature
(freedom)
epipahny: sudden revelation of a hidden thought
1. On the first read, it may seem like a simple poem about a group of passengers passing by the
bridge to reach Piraeus port and wishing to see the dolphins on their journey.
However, this poem has several connections to human ambitions and hopes in real life and may also
have some spiritual connections.
2. This dark, philosophical intensity and often uncanny beauty continues to flourish in Watching for
Dolphins(1983), perhaps Constantine’s most widely admired volume and winner of the Poetry
Society’s Alice Hunt Bartlett Award. The book’s title poem is a simply told yet remarkably subtle
tale of passengers on a boat to Piraeus waiting to see dolphins, ‘all want[ing] epiphany / […]
implor[ing] the sea […] // [for] smiling, snub-nosed, domed like satyrs’. But instead of the dolphins
appearing, the passengers are left ‘among the great tankers, under their chains / In black water’,
their ‘eyes cast down’ as if registering a certain numbness, returning to their ordinary lives. A
contemporary master in conjuring these moments of subtle, collective emotion, this skill in fact
places Constantine’s work as close to his more obvious European influences as to the likes of Sean
O’Brien and Peter Reading, despite their differing styles and approaches.
3.Watching For Dolphins is probably David Constantine's most celebrated poem. On the surface it
seems to tell a simple, uneventful narrative about looking for dolphins while crossing by boat to
Piraeus, the busy port which lies a short distance south of Athens, the Greek capital. (The harbour
has a long history - stretching back into classical times.) But, as in most of Constantine's poems,
this poem contains resonances, allusions and hidden depths - in this case, literal hidden depths.
All the desires, hopes and dreams of the disparate passengers are focused on one thing: to see the
dolphins. Isolated as they are individually, there's a common feeling that, if the dolphins had
appeared, they would have bonded together in the shared unity of their experience: ... and had they
then / On the waves, on the climax of our longing come / ... We should have laughed and lifted the
children up / Stranger to stranger ...
Gradually throughout the poem this personal yet common longing becomes spiritual, religious in its
intensity. The fat man stares like a saint; the gulls could be a sign; everyone wants epiphany. It's
interesting that Constantine says that children would see dolphins if anyone would, for children are
often more naturally receptive to and accepting of the wondrous and the divine, the numinous
and the miraculous, than adults.
In the end the epiphany doesn't happen, and the poem ends anti-climatically. The people disembark
with eyes cast down. They wake, blinking, as if emerging from a dream, a thwarted vision, another
world. Though disappointed, they hide their disappointment, and leave the shared boat as isolated
individuals once again.
I know this poem reverberates on many levels, but ultimately I think it's about the difficulty of
locating the spiritual and the numinous in today's world, the world of the abused Aegean, which
was once a mythical place of purity, a Garden of Eden before the Fall. (Athens is well known for its
smog and pollution.) Now both it and the world are corrupted by tourism, materialism, shallow
'surface' experience, polluted with the great tankers, under their chains / In black water ...