Poems of the Decade Notes
Poem/Title Analysis Themes Language Structure Tone Form
Eat Me Aging/time Opens with factual/direct, short sentences with subject, Chronological, follows Factual 10 x stanzas
Imperative, command, Objectification verb, object construction trajectory of the narrative ‘I ate, did what I 3 x lines
sexually provocative, Male view of women ‘didn’t even taste it’, removed agency, loss of identity was told’
illustrative of consent, Power/control Use of tricolons, sense of excess/classification, ‘big girls, Use of direct quotations Mournful Isometric
power dynamic of Desire soft girls, girls I can burrow inside’ between tone shift ‘only pleasure’
relationship Biblical allusion ‘like forbidden fruit’, female blame for Frustrated
sin, sexual imagery, objectifies, exoticism ‘too fat’ Dramatic
‘craving a wave’, assonance reinforces frustration Ends with the death of the Triumphant monologue
‘I rolled and he drowned/in my flesh’, enjambment man, acts to reinforce theme of ‘I left him’
reinforcing action, clear action vs consequence revenge and the shift in power
‘there was nothing else left in the house to eat’, sinister between the two characters.
ambiguity, adopts tone of the male (threat)
Chainsaw vs Pampas Conflict Personification of chainsaw, stereotypically masculine, Framed by time Methodical 8x stanzas
Sense of conflict, Power/control suggesting aggression ‘knocked back’ ‘all winter’, ‘left it a year’ ‘from there’, Varying lines
juxtaposition of man vs Man, vs nature ‘gunned the trigger’, pun, violence is humourised ‘then’
nature Desire ‘I let it flare’ PV demonstrates sense of power Descriptive of singular event Heterometric
Time ‘sunning itself/stealing the show’ feminised, presented as Sadistic
arrogant, selfish, sibilance = sneer ‘bloody desire’
‘the fringe […] pipes and tubes’, juxtaposition of natural Cyclical, return of the chainsaw
to its place and ‘felt the […] gargle’
and mechanical imagery, PV projection
‘into the patch and […] in a match’, rhyming, cohesion acknowledgement of presence
‘the seamless urge to persist’, futility of action, sadistic of pampas grass Frustrated
fulfilment from violence, inevitability of failure ‘to try to forget’
Material Memory/nostalgia ‘a mum’s embarrassment of lace’ the physical associated Reflection on past Reminiscent 9x stanzas
Physical presence, lack of Generational differences with the intangible, emotional attachment to past ‘she’d have one, 2 x couplets
article = sense of Gender ‘she always bought her own; I never did’ fundamental Illustrates transfer of parental always’
displacement, focus on Youth/growth differences between them highlighted role
what is tangible Parental responsibility ‘his dodgy foot’, affectionate, idiosyncratic focus ‘I raised neglected-looking kids’ Frank
‘the Annual Talent Show’ capitalisation, sense of ‘if I’d commit to
officiality/foregrounds importance being home’
‘Nostalgia only makes me old’ metaphorical and literal Ends with dialogue from
‘their soft and hidden history’ aspirant consonance, mother, sense of intimacy
secrecy, delicacy in their association Reflective
‘should I complain of the scratchy and disposable’ ‘she would say’
modern life seen as holding little value in comparison
, Poems of the Decade Notes
An Easy Passage Youth Sense of intense focus ‘she must keep her mind on’ Begins in media res Neutral/factual 1x effusive stanza
Singular, ‘passage’ = sense Journeying Use of blazon, identity through physicality, ‘tiny breasts’, ‘once’, ‘but first’
of liminality as Development/growth ‘toes and fingertips’ Follows the route of the girl Narrative
through/between, ‘easy’ = The future as unknown Inevitability of acquiring knowledge through growth and Forgiving
sense of pride(?) Ambition action ‘she will reach’, ‘the more we grow’ ‘what can she
innocence/purity of youth ‘seem lit, as if from within’ Extension of concentration of
poem to others know of the way
Distance of future in ambition: ‘classes/she plans to take’ the world…’
‘Shimmering-oyster-painted toenails’ mythological ‘flush-faced secretary’
connotations, idea of mermaid, innocence and idealism
‘flash of armaments’ foregrounded, unusual link to
violence/conflict, potential for transformation in growth
The Deliverer Places Colonialism through place names, India and Native Divided by location Factual No strict form
Title, identity defined by Objectification America ‘Our Lady, ‘Milwaukee’ ‘the sister here is
occupation (perhaps Cycles of life Harsh past tense ‘found’, ‘covered’, ‘abandoned’ Follows discovery and adoption telling my mother’ Limited regularity
perceived as a masculine Gender ‘the one’ lack of identity, objectified in stanza/lines
role), anticipation of ‘they know about ceremony’, importance of conformity, Shift to another PV
recipient/object view of Americans as more civilised/empathetic Final section returns original
setting with ‘feel for penis Final section, 2x 3-
‘the strangeness of her empty arms’ loss of function or no penis’
‘she’s passed from woman to woman’ commodification line stanza, 2x 2-
‘outside village boundaries’ othering, removed from view Internal cyclical structure with line stanza, 1 line,
‘feel for penis or no penis’ binary decision of fate, lack of repetition of process of women breaking down,
grammatical correctness suggests non-English speaker that ‘trudge home to lie down draw to closure
for their men again’
Please Hold Time Direct, simple sentences create tension No strict structure Factual 1x stanza
‘please’, polite, instruction Appearance, vs reality Limited range of vocabulary ‘she says […] and
towards subject, dynamic Power /control Expression through punctuation Focus on repetition I’m talking’ Continuous,
of relationship, ‘hold’, Entrapment Irony as the PV appears to be as robotic as the situation building tension
waiting, anticipation, used described Angry
primarily during telephone Lack of distinction of dialogue, fused in memory Combining of ‘voices’
‘fucking’
calls ‘wonderful’, superlative, appears satirical
Tricolon of possessive pronoun Deviation from repetition
Use of present tense, direct, confrontational foregrounds Futile
Structural reversal of ‘my wife says, this is the future’ ‘the only way’
‘he is giving me no options / in the guise of countless Internal cyclical structure
alternatives’ sense of futility, appearance vs reality through repetition
Three syllable profanity, direct, aggressive sound
Detachment through ‘translator’, frustration as isolation
Rhyming of ‘hold […] old […] cold […]’ gradual clarity
