Maude Clare

Attitudes and Characters shown in Maude Clare:-

Narrator: The Narrator seems to prefer Maude Clare, and may have a bias view because of this.
                  -"Maude Clare was like a queen"

Maude Clare: Maude Clare's language is abrupt and shows that she is resentful towards Nell and Thomas.
-"Lo" Lo is used to draw attention to something and Maude Clare says this before scornful dialogue, which shows she is interrupting with digust, emphasising her bitterness.

Thomas: Thomas is ashamed and seems to be embarrassed by Maude Clare's outburst as he speaks in faltering tones.
-"and hid his face." This is also reinforced in the caesure in his speech. It gives a sense of confusion and apprehenson by:

•  By not knowing how to address Maude Clare, he demonstrates his anxiety about their relationship.
• In hiding his face, he makes a feeble attempt to avoid responding to her insults.
• By remaining silent, he gives Maude the freedom to address Nell with her seemingly prepared speech.

Nell: Nell is proud, which may come from the fact she is marrying Thomas and not Maude Clare. She isn't naive and understands that Maude Clare is "more wise and more fair, but is determined to make their marriage work and demonstates this as her courage increases.
"I'll love him till he loves me best, Me best of alll Maude Clare".
In this final verse she also

Thomas' mother: Thomas' mother expresses her sympathy and concern for the couple by attempting to hide her tears with smiles and blessings.

Maude Clare & Round Tower at Jhansi

-Both poems are narrative; they tell a story.

Comparison:

• Themes of conflict, love, power.                                        

                        NB: Love is an abstract noun- use a statement instead.

• Protagonist.
• Structure- both are moments of a narrative, a climatic narrative.
• Both involve 'attacks'. In Maude Clare, the attack is emotional, where as the attack in Round Tower is literal.

Dialogue in Round Tower at Jhansi:
"Is the time come?" We can presume, it is the wife who said this because her husband, "Skene", is named which shows he has more power and he is also the one who is in possesion of the "pistol".
It is interrogative and shows her anxiousness and trust in her husband.
"The time is come!" As his wife questioned him, we can presume that Skene replies. It is a declarative statment with an exlcamatory tone to show his fear, concern and worry.

1st person narrative elements of the poems:

Maude Clare: The repition of "My lord" is in first person. The "lord" they are reffering to is Sir Thomas. This may mean that the narrator is a servent of his, or perhaps just someone with a lower status in society.

Round Tower at Jhansi: "Young, strong and so full of life" suggests it is a first person narrative as it has personal elemants and suggestions that makes the reader feel sympathy for the two characters.
"God forgive them this!" gives a first person suggestion also. It is an exclamatory tone to it and reflects Rossetti's strong Christian beliefs, as it was seen as a sin to commit suicide or kill someone, when not in war.

In the Round Tower at Jhansi

Types of Metric Feet

TABLE OF METRIC FEET:
Binary:
             
             Iamb:       O-O       da-dum       eg. divine, alert, confined.
             Trochee:   O-O      dum-da       eg. metre, rhythm, never, touching.
             Spondee:  O-O      dum-dum    eg. full stop, no way.
             Pyrrhic:     O-O     a-da             eg. in the, of a.

Ternary:

            Anapest:             O-O-O     titty-tum       eg. understand, Japanese.
            Dactyl:                O-O-O    tum-titty        eg. lavender, fantasy.
            Amphibrach:      O-O-O     ti-tum-ti        eg. imperfect, desiring.
            Amphimacer:     O-O-O     tum-ti-tum    eg. hand to mouth, up to you, waiting game.


Stressed syllable

Untressed syllable

(For more metric feet, see table in folder)

"Shut Out" and "Winter: My Secret"

Shut Out:- mournful, depressing, desperate, full of grief, powerless, nostalgic, regretful, isolated.
Winter: My Secret:- Playful, sadistic, powerful, coy, perky, slightly flirtacious, conversational, teasing.

Tone is different in each of the poems which may be due to the narrator's status change. In "Winter: My Secret", the narrator is the one in control, where as in "Shut Out" the 1st person persona is the one being denied access and therefore is powerless.

Shut out notes:-

• 2nd stanza: list, complec, repetition, imperative, dialogue.
• Juxtaposition between the lexical choices in stanza 2 & 3.
• Complex sentance- complex feelings - form reflects content.
• 3rd stanza: spirit described as "shadowless" (fear of spirit). "Blank and unchanging like the grave"- choice of similie shows fear and hatred towards the spirit.
• "peering" - specific word choice and the connotations the verb has, ie. looking at something you can't have.
• 4th stanza: pleading tone of imperative, simple sentance, "small twig" -feeling of desperation.

Winter: My Secret notes:- (Language Analysis)

• Perhaps (Adverb and playful tone)
• Over-confidence (To hide the fact she doesn't have a secret, an insecurity)
• Rhetorical question ( High frequency, reinforce flirtacious tone, recreate the speaker's voice)
• Internal rhyme (Playful)
• "Fie!" (Playful disgust, pretend outrage)
• Ambiguous title (Is winter her secret? Is winter her listener? Is winter a metaphor?)

Symbolic nature: society, relationships, afterlife. Ie. Narrative used as a 'vehicle' for...

Rossetti has common stylistic techniques:

• 1st person narrative.
• Recreation of a spoken voice.
• Self-obssessed narrators

Essay writing features

Things examiners are looking for:
1) Written expression.
2) How sophisticated the point is.
3) Language analysis.
4) Is the language analysis linked to an effect.

Essay writing features and tips:

• Succinct topic sentance.
• Narrator's attitudes highlighted.
• Intergrated quotes.
• Specific links to other poems
• Complex language analysis ie. Hyperbole.
• Explorative language, not explanative.
• Specific links to context.
• Word type ie. Adjective, Verb, Abstract noun.
• Developed understanding.
• Complex, developed vocabulary.
• Use triplets ie. triple adjective in the topic sentance.
• How the reader responds to the poem.
• Quote breifly.
• Avoid repetion.
• Metre/Rhyme scheme/structure and link to how the narrator feels.
• Topic sentance should answer the question.
• Show that you understand the complexity of the poems.

Nature in Rossetti's poems

-Discuss how Rossetti writes about nature.

• Nature in "Shut Out" seems to be a metaphor for the narrator's love.
• Aspects of nature such as "violet bed" and it's comparison to other natural imagery seems to be used symbollically to show her new love is not as special, deep or meaningful as the previous.
• The use of nature in "Winter: My Secret" seems to be a metaphor for the narrator's feelings and mood. There is a mournful tone to the narrator's voice when focusing on nature as a symbol for lost love.

Notes on both poems:

Winter: My Secret:- Aggressive side of nature, (Ferocious and harrowing)
                                 Winter is cold and unforgiving,
                                 Nature is used as an obstacle.
                                
Shut Out:- Not getting into heaven (symbolic),
                  Nature has healing properties.


Every essay has a topic sentance that tells what I think of the poem linked to the question.
-Quotation.
-Highlight how the language is used in the quotation.


Shut Out paragraph: Rossetti's narrator seems to believe that nature has healing properties as they ask for "some buds" to cheer their "outcast state". This part of the poem is in dialogue which makes the reader feel more empathy for the narrator because they have memorised the upsetting conversation they had and can recite it. Suggesting that it is the only thing on their mind and has deeply troubled them.

Winter: My Secret paragraph:  Aspects of nature in "Winter: My Secret" are portrayed as an obstacle as the narrator is unable to tell her secret "today" because "it froze, and blows and snows". These signs of winter are joined in an internal rhyme which emphasises the fragility and reserved nature of the narrator during this season.
 

Linking form to effect

Form: How the writer writes.
Effect: How the reader responds/why the writer did that.

• Highlights...
• Foregrounds..
• Draws attention to...
• Suggests...
• Emphasises...
• Implies...

When Rossetti says "sing no sad songs for me" she is highlighting her views of the values of mourning in the Victorian Era. Rossetti uses an imperative to emphasise the calm yet commanding tone of her poem and to highlight her acceptance of death.

Rossetti's first person narrative uses the adjective "shady" to draw attention to how the narrator doesn't want to be protected after death.

The poet uses the term of address, "my dearest" which highlights the poet's love for the recipient and that he/she is her main concern after death.

The first two feet of the poem are iams, and the third is an amphibrach. This perhaps draws attention to "I", "dead" and "dearest", which are significant words in the poem regarding the topic and purpose.

Remember: -Repitition of the poem= persuasive tone
                    -Rhyming scheme=persuasive tone (quietly confident)

Song & Remember comparison:

-Both poems begin with a request for someone who is left behind, she asks the person not to forget her when she dies.
-To prove her love for the one left behind, the speaker wants the other one to go on with their life. All she asks is that the listener remembers her, the person, and not any negative connotations.

Poem Analysis: "Winter: My Secret"

Poem Analysis: "Shut Out"

Poem Analysis: "Remember"

Poem Analysis: "Song (When I am dead, my dearest)"