Poems of the Decade: On Her Blindness Summary Notes (A*)
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Unit 3 - Poetry
Instelling
PEARSON (PEARSON)
This document covers the poem: 'On Her Blindness' from the Poems of the Decade Poetry. I studied this poem for my A Level, Edexcel English Literature Exam as part of the poetry module. By constructing these summarises and notes these provided me with ideas and themes which I could for my essays and...
• Persona pronoun ‘her’
• Differs from ‘on his blindness’ by the romantic poet John Milton.
• Views the struggles the personas mother faced herself rather than that of oneself
• Inability to help from an outside perspective
• Guilt from this
• Awareness to the struggles faced by blindness
• ‘They also serve who only stand and wait’- suggestion that they will be rewarded if the only
continue to persevere with life. Idea in heaven that they can reclaim the identity that they were
cruelly stripped of
• References 17th century poet by John Milton ‘on his blindness’ to consider difficulties. Stanzas
broken up so challenge of blindness,
Structure:
• Two lines per stanza (expectation of final stanza) which visually breaks the poem up which
makes it challenging to read at a normal pace. Interpreted as making it feel more like a natural
conversation or speech with frequent switching which creates a personal tone. Transition in
subject matter at the end of the poem even more emotional for a reader.
• Lack of a rhyme scheme suggests the confusing and disorientating nature of blindness that was
caused for the personas mother. Creates sympathy for the mother
• Final line in its own stanza shows a break in the combined and conversational writing making
death more poignant
• Lack of full stops and end-stopped lines in the poem. Continues sense of conversation and the
feeling of the personal poem but it is interpreted as alluding to a constant flow of memories and
are brought up or in conversation during the narrator remembering their mother after her
death. Addresses a universal theme to relate to everyone and focuses on the mourning through
memories for the reader to reflect on their own memories.
• Length of each line is consistent with exceptions. The lines are short with six or seven words per
line and the shorter lines have five words. Differences in length achieved through shorter words
to make them more visually short such as ‘to drive the old Lanchester / long after it was safe’
which is interpreted as a turning point in the poem as it reaches a conclusion and shares that
the narrator's mother has passed away.
• Poem begins with ‘could not bear being blind’ with the first phrase for the noticeable alliteration
to help represent to the reader a strong and emotional impact of being blind, both for those
who witness the difficulties of the sufferer and the sufferer themselves. Use of ‘bear’ is
interesting due to the link to ‘bare’ (as a homophone) and the connotations of vulnerability.
• ‘honest’ creates a regretful tone with the caesura to emphasise the harsh tone for the reality of
life.
• ‘Catastrophic’ and ‘Bear it’ creates enjambment emphasising the amount of suffering and the
large amount of people who suffer daily.
, • (Try it/ in a pitch-black room)’ perhaps to create sympathy from the reader for blindness. The
struggles that his mother faces liken to that of a ‘pitch black room’ which pales in comparison.
The brackets help create a claustrophobic feel for the persona as they are stuck in this
meaningless and obtrusive void.
• Speech within the poem emphasis the personal tone and nature to the reader as well as the
idea of conversation which demonstrates the structure. Speech encourages a reader to adopt
different tones through the poem making it memorable and more personal for the narrator so
the characterisation becomes more developed
• ‘Slow slide’ creates sibilance for the description to help emphasise the pessimistic situation the
narrator mother is in, with additional audible emphasis place on the drawn out ‘slow’ By a
reader. Further feeds into the idea of a long but difficult decline, increasing the readers empathy
with the mother, particularly for readers with similar personal experiences. Refrain of memories
expresses the persona can only liminal reach his mother in his dreams and memories. Creates
empathy for mother who is restricted as she can no longer see
• Parenthesis ‘(a fortnight back)’ highlights the delayed response. Potentially the brackets could
highlight that the denial the persona was in. He is shocked by the death of his mother and feels
guilt for the quality of her life that she lived by the end of her days
• ‘Eyelids were closed/ in the coffin; it was up to believe’. Use of the caesura contradicts the
sadness to prevail a sense of hope. Contradicts the life she did leave and the persona focuses on
the life the personas mother will be able to live now that she is not bound by the struggles of
blindness
• Final line ‘she watching, somewhere, in the end.’. Final line stands alone breaking the structure.
Highlights the liminal boundary created in death between him and his mother. The distance he
faces now with his mother does not stop him from hoping that she is no longer in pain physical
and psychologically. Caesuras slow down the pace from the chaos of blindness. Suggests the
order, routine and dignity the personas mother was able to regain in death as she can regain her
identity and sight in heaven.
Language:
• ‘My mother’ creates ap personal tone from the beginning of the poem. With the personal
pronoun ‘my’ implied the closeness of the relationship of the persona and t=his parent. Past
tense from the beginning creating a reminiscent and melancholy tone. Perhaps guilt that he
could not ease the pain for her in the fact she was ‘bling’
• ‘One shouldn’t say it.’ implies the guilt and remorseful tone of the persona. Use of the
conditional verb ‘shouldn’t’ reflect the taboo subject of blindness and mental health. Impact on
the personas psychologically as she was unable to see
• ‘Catastrophic handicaps are hell’. Metaphor suggesting that the burden of the personas
mother's blindness was like hell. Perhaps this creates a frustrated tone at the fact that despite
his mother had been good all her life she was still being punished as if she was being sinful.
• Idea of the dynamic verb ‘bear’ expresses the personas awe of his mother. Despite her
difficulties with blindness, he is inspired by her determination to battle past these obstacles
which she faces. Alongside the similes ‘bear it like a roman’ suggests the internalised strength of
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