At Grass Flashcards
(14 cards)
Analyse the use of pronoun in the First Stansa
‘Them’/’They’/’One’ - the vague language horses removes any sense of individual identity through, emphasising their lack of significance in society. The generalisation of the horses also suggests that their experience reflects wider society.
Analyse ‘From the _____/_____ they shelter in’
Cold Shade - Pathetic fallacy presents the horses as vulnerable and neglected
Analyse ‘___ fifteen years ago’
Yet - Volta represents change in the horses between work and retirement, but literally marks the moment of reflection on the past
Analyse ‘Two _____/_____ sufficed to ______ them’
Dozen distances, fable - suggests their former identities had significance worth remembering and sharing, but also is suggestive of a sense of artificiality surrounding their past achievements to imply they are not as significant in the long-term
Analyse ‘Of Cups and Stakes and ______’ and ‘artificed’ and ‘To inlay faded’
Handicaps - the tricolon emphasises the numerous events of the past working day to present the horse’s former lives as busier and exciting. However this is undercut by ‘faded’ to suggest these events are ultimately insignificant as they lose value
Why does Larkin use sibilance in the lines - ‘Silks at the start: against the sky/Numbers and parasols’?
To capture the noise and energy of the race meeting, and therefore the excitement and intensity of the horses’ former identity.
Why does Larkin use polysyndetic listing in the 3rd stansa?
To give the horses former work a sense of grand importance through quantity. However, Larkin also emphasises the overwhelming nature of pressure during work, especially through ‘heat’.
Analyse ‘Do memories _____ their ears like flies?’
plague - Hyperphora questions whether the horses are saddened by burdensome memories and regrets surrounding their previous lives
Analyse the juxtaposition between ‘Cold shade’/ ‘Heat’
Creates interpretation that the cold shade is a refreshing escape from the burden of work
Analyse ‘_______ meadows’ and ‘stand at ease’
Unmolesting - Prefix, images of peace create a sense of relaxation associated with retirement as the horses are bound to accept their loss of working significance with time
Analyse ‘With bridles in the _____ come’
evening - metaphor for death to convey how the horses have accepted their coming end.
Why does At Grass use a regular rhyme scheme?
The regular ABC rhyme scheme and fixed sestets reflects the inevitable movement of time as it forces progression through different stages of life, like retirement.
What are the major themes of At Grass?
Time, Work, Identity
AO3: What did Larkin say about time?
‘time either disappoints, erodes or soils’. In At Grass, Larkin explores the erosion of significant identity over the transition out of working society over time.
