Piano - D H Lawrence

Who is speaking?

An adult recalling a childhood memory in the midst of his grief

Quatrains represent

Consistant passing of time

How has tone changed by the end?

He has gone through such a process the tone has changed from soothing to more sinister

Rhyme

Feels childish/playful

Gives the poem order, like he's attempting to take control of the situation

What is the structure/form?

- Lyric poetry (expresses the emotion he feels)

- Varied line length (struggles to control his overwhelming memories)

'Softly in the dusk'

Softly CONTRASTS with dusk

'A woman is singing to me'

Lullaby, he has been captivated by her

'To me' makes it personal and distances reader

'Taking me back down the vista of years'

PERSONIFICATION

- Emphasizes power of the music

IMAGERY

- 'vista of years' shows his childhood memories as vivid and beautiful

'in the boom'

CONTRAST

- With foggy setting in the 'dusk'

HYPERBOLE

- Shows how he is overwhelmed with grief

'smiles as she sings'

SIBILANCE

- Comforting, welcoming

- Creates gentle atmosphere

'insidious mastery'

JUXTAPOSITION

- Inextricable link between love/pain, reflecting how his love for his mother has caused him great grief

'Betrays me back'

PLOSIVE ALLITERATION, JUXTAPOSITION

- With previous stanza, he now has a bitter tone

- Feels although his adult self should not be affected by the past

'The insidious mastery of song betrays me back'

He avoids thinking about her as he has moved on

Betrayed by music into feeling something he doesn't want to

'The heart of me weeps'

Intimate

Core feeling and emotion

Shows depth to his feelings and emphasise his emotion

'winter outside' 'in the cosy parlour'

JUXTAPOSITION

- Shows safety and security felt when a child

- Connotations of warmth/belonging

'childish days is upon me'

- Reversal of timeline

- Yearns for the past (what he can't have)

- 'upon me' suggests he is powerless/vulnerable

'my manhood is cast down'

ENJAMBMENT

- Memory of his youth is more powerful than him, overwhelming

- Vulnerable, weak

'flood of remembrance'

FIGURATIVE LANG.

- Connotes drowning

- Overwhelming nature of the memory

'I weep like a child for the past'

SIMILE

- Shows how he is still separate from the memory, and cannot go back

- 'weep' suggests loss of control/masculinity