the chainsaw versus the pampas grass - simon armitage Flashcards
8 irregular stanzas
mimics the irregular power between men and women, humans and nature, working class and royalty
gives a sense of opposition
chainsaw given more coverage - shows arrogance and potential power
pampas grass given less coverage - quick to defeat the chainsaw
feels fragmented - cutting grass
nature fights back with irregularity - natural , no structure
limited enjambment
gives us a sense of opposition
end stopped lines - human control
title
‘versus’ immediately gives us an idea of conflict
men vs women
humanity vs nature
‘it seemed an unlikely match’
‘match’ could relate to a battle or love, or even fire
shows inequality
short emphatic sentence
‘all winter unplugged’
plants die in the winter - people die
not alive - needs power
a spark between two people for sexual chemistry
‘grinding it’s teeth’
personification - joining forces to destroy nature
animalistic
angry - desperate to escape
harsh ‘t’ sounds create the effect of an engine, spitting with rage, strength
ready to attack - defensive nature of humanity
‘darkroom’
dangerous
isolated
gothic connotations - monstrous chainsaw
‘knocked back a quarter pint of engine oil’
alludes to alcohol - masculine trait
shows the force and power of the chainsaw - does it with ease
desperate to start destroying again
‘still holding one last gulp from last year’s heat’
last of summer
not the first time
‘gulp’ indicates nervousness
foreshadows the battle
previously thought they could win
‘weightless wreckage of wasps and flies, moth balled in spider’s wool’
alliterative ‘w’s - resembles the sound of revving up of machinery.
chainsaw is threatening, foreshadowing the destruction of the grass as it did the insects.
spiders are predators
fear, death and decay
‘orange power line’
‘orange’ can be associated with caution or prison
intrusive colour - intruding on nature
‘keg’
first bomb - waiting to go off
‘gunned the trigger’
associated with guns
chainsaw becomes a metaphorical gun - abuse to nature is not far away from the abuse to humans
‘instant rage’
only purpose
animalistic
personified
anger is stereotypically associated with men
‘lashing out at air’
violence
angry for no reason
‘perfect disregard’
oxymoron?
no mercy or anything - no feelings - royalty
‘tangle with cloth or jewellery or hair’
feminine
all delicate objects
polysyndetic list
‘flesh of the face and the bones underneath’
fricative alliteration
emphasises disregard
