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Poem At Thirty Nine Essay

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The theme of parent child relationship is constantly explored in literature. The poems "Piano" "Poem at 39’ , "Mother in a Refugee Camp", "Mother to son" , "If" and "Plenty" are no exception to this. "Piano "and "Poem at Thirty-Nine " takes a slightly different approach to the theme, however Lawrence uses very strong and emotive language to convey a sense of nostalgia. The mood of the poem is sad and nostalgic. Whereas‘Poem at Thirty Nine ’ addresses her relationship with his father , “how I miss my father”, she wants to return to the warmth and comfort of his childhood days . It contains a turbulent mixture of negative then positive moods, all from Walker’s own point of view. If and Mother to Son deal also with passing on wisdom of the …show more content…

The poem is written with short lines in free verse. She is free to live the life she wants, unlike her father who was bound by his job . Stanza two is lengthy, Walker makes use of repetition , she realises how much she misses him as she gets older, the use of exclamation points out how her feelings become more intense . Sweeps and leaps between memories come to us sporadically as she remembers the past and her father . The frequent use of “I” makes this very personal and the nostalgic atmosphere makes it clear that she is recalling happy times that she spent with her father.

The language becomes more poetic, figurative and joyous in the second half .Imagery and symbolism is also used by Alice Walker in her Poem at Thirty Nine. Walker recalls his childhood with a sense of nostalgic fondness.An example of imagery that is used in the poem is, "He cooked like a person dancing" this quote is an illustration of visual imagery which emphasizes the joyous and good characteristics of her father. He cook´s fluently, rythmicly, vivacity with life. Her father was sumerged in a tranced like state not concious both calm and full of energy , “Cooking” is a metaphor for

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