Features of style and form: ‘Praise Song for My Mother’
Praise Song for My Mother
You were
water to me
deep and bold and fathoming
Language choices or diction
sensory
textural
alliteration
Go to your wide futures, you said
sibilance
eye rhyme
indented line
line length
stanza length/shape
repetition
enjambment
symbolism
condensed style
Address and tense
first person
second person
past tense
Tone
informal
GRACE NICHOLS
elemental
Techniques
listing
You were
the fishes red gill to me
the flame trees spread to me
the crab’s leg/the fried plantain smell
replenishing replenishing
natural
Form and metre
free verse
You were
sunrise to me
rise and warm and streaming
physical
Imagery: visual and aural
metaphor
You were
moon’s eye to me
pull and grained and mantling
emotive
direct
emotional
personal
Which of these features of language and form do you think are most important in this
poem? Explain how you those you choose contribute to the poem’s effect, and
identify and comment on examples where appropriate.
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Features of style and form: ‘Praise Song for My Mother’
Praise Song for My Mother
You were
water to me
deep and bold and fathoming
Tone
informal
textures
Go to your wide futures, you said
nature
rhyming words
indented words
Nouns, verbs and adjectives
verbs to do with movement
touch or taste adjectives
Techniques
repetition
words of one syllable
listing
symbols
tense
Address
first line (I/me)
GRACE NICHOLS
emotions
shape of stanzas
nouns to do with nature
You were
the fishes red gill to me
the flame trees spread to me
the crab’s leg/the fried plantain smell
replenishing replenishing
personal
Shape and rhyme
length of lines
You were
sunrise to me
rise and warm and streaming
emotional
Language choices or diction
senses
You were
moon’s eye to me
pull and grained and mantling
direct
second person (you)
Which of these features of language do you think are most important in this poem?
Choose from the poetic techniques above and find examples in the poem. What is
the effect of each?
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