A" level arguments, language analysis and themes regarding Tim Turnball's 'Ode on a Grayson Perry Urn' - from Poems of the Decade for A-level English Literature, Unit 3: Poetry.
Ode on a Grayson Perry Urn – Tim Turnbull
Key Points/Arguments
Themes Literary/Dramatic Devices Whole poem techniques
Youth vs adult ‘A kitschy vase’ – initial, critical perspective of vase - Iambic
Continuity vs ‘Shirly temple manque’ – links to perry transvestite (derogatory) – a failed imitation of dressing female Pentametre –
stasis ‘crap estates’ – lower class complexity of
artwork reflected
Sympathy vs ‘creating bedlam on the Queen’s highway’ – idea of chaos and difference in class
in
criticism ‘without inducing fright’ – produces something deeper than tabloid newspaper (back handed compliment) ABABCDEDCE
Class conflict ‘throaty turbo roar’ – onomatapia, distinct engine rhyme scheme
Masc vs fem ‘joyful throb’ – less negative, oxymoron… happiness and youthful energy - Only one full
Art vs life ‘of calm-‘ – allows reader time to contemplate (caesura)
Highbrow vs ‘but these wheels will not lose traction.’ – turning point – they are frozen on vase stop in each
lowbrow art ‘children.’ – caesura, generational divide and frozen nature of image stanza shows
forms ‘they will stay out late / forever’ – enjambement, paradox of continuous existence while being fixed in a single fast-paced
Passage of time position intensity of
‘for work the next day’ – escaped routine and mundane existence of adulthood youth
‘each girl is buff’ – urn preserves beauty
‘never to be deflated, given head / in crude games of chlamydia roulette’ – never have consequences of sexual
activities/transgressions
‘sparce grass’ – assonance slows the line, boring suburbia
‘bleached tarmac of dead suburban streets’ – juxtaposes youthful energy
‘pensioners/parents/plead/peace-‘ plosives show struggling communication between generations
‘and we’re long in the box’ – euphemism for death yet the people on the urn appear timeless
‘truth was all negotiable/ and beauty in the gift of the beholder’ – contrasts Keats, who thinks beauty is subjective
when Turnball thinks time and distance turn mundane into artwork… beauty is subjective because it’s affected by time
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