Topic 1- 6 Round-up and Self Assessment > Analysing a whole poem > Task H comments

Analysing a whole poem

Our comments for task H:

Line2: talk on tiptoe

In addition to the 'talk'/'walk' rhyme we have noticed before, there is an extra element of foregrounding in this phrase because of the word-initial /t/ allitereation. So this line is very heavily foregrounded because of the rhym, the semantic deviation and the alliteration.

Line 5: lips becoming limp

There is clear alliteration on the /l/s here. However, not much seems to be happening with it interpretatively, and so it is probably an alliterative pattern the reader would ignore. Because there are less than 60 phonemes in English (the exact number varies a little from dialect to dialect) there is bound to be a fair amount of accidental alliteration and assonance in any text. Only those meaningful in some way are likely to be focused on by readers.

Line 3-4:             part
                of the darkness

There is assonance between 'part' and 'dark', which helps to underline the semantic deviation we have already commented on.

Any other phonetic connections in this poem appear to be accidental or fairly unimportant.

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