Chainsaw Versus the Pampas Grass - Key Quotes Flashcards
Simon Armitage (3 cards)
“the chainsaw seethed”
This is one of the most striking examples of personification and comes in the final stanzas of the poem, with sibilance adding to the already emotive “seethed” to show a burning passion and emotion that the chainsaw has come to posses. Readers may feel intimidated and apprehensive of what the next year may bring when the chainsaw returns, with the encouragement to imagine the future being an effective way to make the poem more memorable.
“plant juices spat from the pipes and tubes”
The use of “spat” demonstrates that the chainsaw has no regard for nature, which although strange, could make a reader feel sympathetic towards the pampas grass and therefore nature as a whole for it to be destroyed in this way. The imagery of “plant juice” links strongly to blood, with this mental image verging on being disturbing.
“sunning itself, stealing the show with its footstools”
Despite the chainsaw being the key negative image in the poem, there is still sibilance in this line describing the pampas grass, perhaps indicating to a reader the potential for power and danger which is held in nature. As shown through the remainder of the poem, the grass is able to survive despite all of the effort to destroy it, even with relative calm and ease as this line suggests.
