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3 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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Description
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The poem is about a man talking about something he did when he was a boy. He had lied down in the frost flowers with a gun and shot two birds that were running on the sand. When he shot them, they ran into the sea with their broken wings. He ran to fetch them but it was too late. They were swimming with their heads high out to sea.
When he grew up he still felt guilty about what he had done. He remembered the sound of the birds everytime he walked that headland. He wishes the creatures can forgive him for what he had done. |
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Mood/Atmosphere
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Nostalgic. The persona talked about the guilt he feels for what he had done when he was a boy.
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Literary Devices
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Simile
1)"The air ran as blue as the flowers." - The persona was surrounded by blue. The sky and the flowers were both blue in colour, giving a beaitiful effect. 2) "They cried like two sorrowful high flutes" - The sounds of the birds were compared to the sound of flutes. They made quite a high pitched sorrowful noise. This emphasises the agony they felt when they were shot. Metaphor 1)" Jagged Ivory Bones" - This emphasises how hurt the birds were. They were beautiful creatures in pain. 2) "Those Slender Flutes of Sorrow never cease" - The persona could not stop thinking about the birds. The sorrowful sounds they made kept comjng to his mind. This emphasises on how guilty he feels. Simile and Metaphor |
