| Collection
Introduction | Standing Female Nude, 1985
Based on a sketch of Henry Moore - woman sheltering in the underground from a bombing raid |
| Subject | Set in World War 2
The protagonist is suffering loss of memory and is confused about her surroundings |
| Form (5) | Three heptets (the modernity contrasts the setting)
Interior dramatic monologue
Stream of consciousness (intensifies her confusion)
Ventriloquism;
- woman is given a voice
- people around her are given a voice
Direct speech; 'Christ she's a rum one' |
| Theme (4) | Traumas of war and violence and the psychological damage war causes
Suffering of civilians during war
The women is lost - both literally and metaphorically (loss of memory)
'Dear God' at the end - highlights her desperation; the only thing she can do is pray
- Traumatic effect of war
- Loss of memory |
| Motifs (3) | "found no memory, no love"
"smoke has covered thirty years at least"
"Yet my mind has unravelled into thin threads that lead nowhere" (loss of memory and identity) |
| Diction; Lexical fields
Language
Verbs (2)
Economy on words
Epizeuxis
Onomatopoeia | War - 'planes', 'sirens', 'smoke'; violent atmosphere
Colloquial - 'fag'
- Dynamic - 'scream', 'run', 'sing'; panicked, tensed atmosphere
- Stative - 'forget', 'know'; loneliness of the woman (separated from the dynamic action)
'no wedding ring, no handbag' (associational)
'Nothing' (between staznas 2-3) - emphasise the difficulty in remembering who she is
'There was a bang' (tense war atmosphere) |
| Imagery and Symbolism; Juxtaposition
Symbols (3)
Auditory (2)
Synaesthetic (2); pictorial, kinaesthetic | "I know I am pregnant, but I do not know my name"
- 'pregant'; symbol for new life (her hope for a new life is marred by the inability to remember her identity)
- the woman (both in the poem and in the sketch) stands as a symbol for fear and vulnerability
- 'Baby'; symbol for new life
- "Laughter fills the tunnel"; her indifference towards happiness
- "Now they are singing"; jarring effect
- "I was running with the rest through smoke. Thick, grey smoke"; heightened senses
- "My hands mime the memory of knitting" (contrasts to her 'mind unravelling') |
| Rhythm (4)
Alliteration and consonance (2) | Prose-like sentences (not verses)
Irregular (following stream of consciousness)
Fluctuation from past to present (emotional instability)
Starts at a slow pace; 'I forget', and is followed by enjambment (varying and irregular tempo)
Sibiliance;
- 'Shall stand up and scream' (desperation)
- 'skies are filled with sirens, planes'; hissing of smoke after explosion (auditory image) |
| Rhyme | Absence of rhyme is dissatisfying; mimics war atmosphere |
| Tone
Mood | Compassionate towards the woman
Panicked, tense war atmosphere |
| Conclusion (2) | Civilians affected by war
Juxtaposition of creation and destruction; new life and death |
