5 poems

before you were mine

• “Your polka-dot dress blows round your legs. Marilyn.” glamorous image, shows admiration and contrast between youth and responsibility

• “Im not here yet. The thought of me doesn't occur” emphasises mothers freedom before having a child, repetition shows speakers awareness of how she changed her mothers life

• “Your ma stands at the close with a hiding for the late one” suggests a rebellious side to her mothers youth , carefree and got into trouble, adds realism and relatability

walking away

“like a satellite wrenched from its orbit” - violent separation, astronomical imagery reflects profound emotional distance and the irreversible shift in a parent-child relationship

“the scorching ordeals which fire one's irresolute clay” - biblical and metaphorical image, implies growth is painful yet necessary, symbolises transformation - emotional pain is part of personal development

“selfhood begins with a walking away… love is proved in the letting go” - philosophical conclusion, abstract nouns ‘selfhood’ and ‘love’ elevate poem to a universal meditation on parenthood and emotional maturity

when we two parted

“half broken hearted, to sever for years” - implies emotional imbalance ‘sever’ evokes pain and finality ‘for years’ endures sorrow adding to the tone of betrayal and lingering regret

“thy vows are all broken” - ‘all broken’ total emotional collapse , hypocrisy of forbidden love, emphatic declaration reveals speaker’s moral and emotional disillusionment, reinforcing theme of lost honour and broken trust.

“in silence and tears” - cyclical structure, repetition intensifies theme of emotional paralysis, showing how the speaker remains trapped in mourning — voiceless, yet deeply wounded., timeless pain & unresolved grief. ‘silence’ shows repression and secrecy

winter swans

“the clouds had given their all - 2 days of rain and then a break” - pathetic fallacy is used to parallel human relationships, implying conflict, like weather, is temporary and can lead to calm. ‘given their all’ personifies clouds & implies emotional exhaustion

“they mate for life, you said” - understated, declarative dialogue carries deep emotional weight. swans symbolise enduring love and unity contrasting couples earlier distance. implies reconnection and commitment

“Like a pair of wings settling after flight” - symbolises reunion and peace after emotional turbulence, metaphor of harmony and physical closeness

the farmers bride

“mores to do at harvest-time than bide and woo” - farmers emotional neglect, treats marriage like a task. shggests a patriarchal transactional view of marriage. juxtaposes labour and love, shows his inability & unwillingness to emotionally connect

“we chased her, flying like a hare” - animalistic imagery portrays the bride as vulnerable (small, frightened) evoking fear and entrapment , highlighting the imbalance of power (dehumanising and disturbing predatory to e from speaker)

“the brown of her- her eyes, her hair, her hair!” - repetition reflects obsessive desire and growing frustration. the farmer’s desire is presented as unstable and possibly dangerous, blurring the line between longing and control.