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10 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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Word choice/repetition. Poet begins with affectionate childhood memories of Aunt. Repetition of "very" and "I could not" highlight the inability he had to communicate with his aunt. Blunt word choice |
"very loud" "very fast"
"I could not answer her -/ I could not understand her." |
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Word Choice. The fact that she ... suggests a woman that is practical. Her work is physically demanding, both outdoors and within her house.
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"She wore men's boots/when she wore any."
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Structure. The long line ... highlights the length of time the spinning process takes. Aunt Julia is always shown to be moving, emphasising her hard working, active nature.
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"I can see her strong foot,/stained with peat,/paddling with the treadle of the spinning wheel"
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Word choice. Conveys the sense of magic or illusion about the task in the eyes of the poet as a child.
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"drew yarn/marvellously out of the air"
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Word choice. The poet shows affection in his description of his Aunt. Despite the typically frightening ... the poet seems very comfortable and safe. Indeed the crickets are shown to be ... Insects are normally frightening but not when author was in this safe environment. Hightlights how comfortable he felt. Highlights how secure he feels in an otherwise scary environment. |
"absolute darkness" "crickets being friendly" |
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Metaphor. The poet feels his aunt is so close to nature that she is a part of it. She is shown to be linked directly to both the wind and the rain. We read it through a child's mind who is amazed by even ordinary objects. |
"She was buckets" "and water flouncing into them" "She was winds pouring wetly / round house-ends" |
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Word choice. The poet also links aunt Julia to a collection of simple domestic objects. These objects show her to be natural, traditional and careful with money. Suggests busy life even though she lived on a quiet island.
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"She was brown eggs, black skirts/and a keeper of threepennybits/in a teapot."
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Repetition. The poet returns to the opening lines of the poem, indicating the beginning of a conclusion to the poem.
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"Aunt Julia spoke Gaelic/very loud and very fast.
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Tone. Changes here to one of regret and frustration
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"By the time I had learned/a little"
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Word choice. In contrast to the liveliness and activity of Julia's working life, death has silenced her... is a reminder of the "absolute darkness" in stanza 3. This time the darkness is of no comfort.
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"silenced in the absolute black"
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