I made this PowerPoint in preparation for my A-Level English exam, in which I achieved an A*. This PowerPoint contains detailed annotations of each line of the poem, separated by stanza. The analysis contains insight into the poem's context and complex literary techniques.
, ABOUT
The poem is written from the point of view of Helen Dunmore
talking to the child she was. We can deduce through the dialogue
that she had a happy and lively childhood in contrast to her life at
the present, seemingly envious of what she used to have as a child,
and resentful of her years
Dunmore uses the first person singular pronoun ‘I’ and addresses
the ‘you’ of the child she was. There is a clear distance between
the two.
This is a free verse poem with enjambed lines and long,
unstructured sentences, as if she is speaking as her memories
occur to her. She interrupts her sentences with disconnected
thoughts.
Imagery is vivid, such as the scab on her knee at the end of the
poem. The games she played as a child are metaphors for her
freedom and happiness.
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