Topic 6 (session A) - Style and Style variation > Style variation within a poem

Style variation within a poem

Below is a poem by the Jewish Canadian musician, artist and poet, Leonard Cohen . The poem, 'All there is to Know about Adolph Eichmann' is ostensibly about an infamous World War II Nazi who was the mastermind behind the movement to put Jews in the concentration camps. It is estimated that Eichmann sent 6 million Jews to their deaths. He was tried in Israel in 1961 for crimes against the Jewish people, found guilty of all 15 criminal charges against him, and hanged (You can view a history of the trial).

Task - All there is to know about Adolph Eichmann

Read the poem below carefully two or three times and then answer the questions below it.

ALL THERE IS TO KNOW ABOUT ADOLPH EICHMANN

What did you expect?

Talons?

Oversize Incisors?

Green saliva?

Madness?

(c) 1964, Leonard Cohen. All rights reserved.

1. First of all, discuss the poem with your partner and write down your general understanding of what the poem is about. Compare what you think with an independent discussion of the poem.

Independent discussion of poem

2. The poem clearly divides into two parts. What does the first part remind you of and what is it about the graphology (the layout on the page) and the grammatical structure which prompts that reminding?

3. What can you say about the second part of the poem and how it relates to the first part?

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