IGCSE English Lit Poem - Blessing

what is 'Blessing' about

this poem tells a story a water pipe breaking in a deprived poverty ridden area of Bombay. It shows how sacred water is to the people for the poem describes a busy scene of the local community rushing to collect the 'liquid sun'

what themes are found within 'Blessing'

deprivation, luck, human needs, religion, happiness, inequality, culture, water, desperation, children, need

What is the form and structure of 'Blessing', and what effect does this have

-four irregular stanzas, stanza one and two are short expressing the wish for water while the last two are long with enjambment demonstrating the frantic need for water and emulates the flowing water

-written in free verse and this mimics the irregularity of when water is available. It also shows the unstructured nature of the community, frantically and unorderly collecting water

what poems could 'Blessing' be compared with

-Search for my tongue (culture, loss, nature)

-Do not go gentle into that good night (perseverance)

what effect does 'Blessing' have on the reader

It is describing an image of happiness so should make the reader feel happy but should also leave them thinking about how although water is a basic human need, for some people it is sacred

analyse the title - 'Blessing'

-suggest that even though water is a basic human need, this pipe bursting was a gift bestowed from God - this shows the depth of deprivation

analyse - 'the skins cracks like a pod. There is never enough water.'

-Metaphor is interesting because it could refer to a human or the landscape.

-'Cracks' has connotations of drought and dehydration as well as the onomatopoeic sound of it adds emphasis

-simile 'like a pod' shows a juxtaposing idea for a pod brings life.

-absolute lang of never conveys the complete absence of life

-endstop adds impact and bluntness

analyse - 'Imagine the drip of it, the small splash, echo in tin mug, the voice of a kindly god.'

-Imperative addresses the reader to demonstrate how there is literally no water

-onomatopoeia of 'drip', 'splash, echo' with auditory imagery shows scarcity of water with echo portraying the idea of emptiness

-the enjambment suggests that the speaker doesn't want to let go of this fantasy

-referring to a kindly god shows how water is a divine to them, religion is all they have to rely on

analyse - 'silver crashes to the ground and the flow has found a roar of tongues

-metaphor of water being silver shows rarity and value of water

-the fricative alliteration of 'flow has found' conveys a sense of momentum and movement

-use of a synecdoche (tongue representing a whole person) with onomatopoeic 'roar' shows the excitement and frantic atmosphere. Tongue also relates to their thirst

analyse - 'every man woman child for streets around butts in with pots, brass, copper, aluminium, plastic buckets, frantic hands'

-absolute language shows enormity while the tricolon with lack of commons suggests the closeness of the community

-asyndeton list shows extent of collection, with frantic hands at the end of the list finalising how they have very little

analyse - 'and naked children screaming in the liquid sun, their highlights polished to perfection'

-adjective naked shows how exposed the children are, and the different culture they live in

-juxtaposition and metaphor of heat and water created a positive image of all sources of life

-child-like innocence gets portrayed through the plosive 'polished to perfection', shows extent of happiness which comes from water

analyse - 'the blessing sings over their small bones'

-the personification of the blessing makes it come alive, singing has positive connotations so it shows the positive impact the water has

-small bones as the final line leaves a last thought on their deprivation