mossbawn:sunlight (heaney)

Question 1

revolves around the atmosphere of his old house as his auntie bakes bread, the remembered light & love and shifts between the past/preseny

Question 2

mix of timelessness and ticking time, a blending of elements (fire/water) and passing of an era

Question 3

“sunlit abscence” suggests that the speaker is already looking back into a particular light

Question 4

speaker takes reader into yard where a metal pump warms up, the pump being a symbol of life as it brings fresh water

Question 5

water is made sweet with the word “honeyed” which enhances the sense of warmth and goodness

Question 6

throaty vowels “slung bucket/sun stood” bring depth and strength

Question 7

third stanza introduces aunt mary making bread, another vital ingredient for life

Question 8

this is building up into a scene of domesticity a closed cozy environment which is safe and nurturing

Question 9

focus on heat, the stove being the vital object as it gives heat that the bread can baked by

Question 10

this heat also affects his auntie who’s in the window by the light. this is a parallel to the sun and it’s influence in the yard

Question 11

“now she dusts” has past become present? in speakers mind maybe the memories are fresh and are being refreshed as poem progresses

Question 12

poem has sense of timelessness about it, but is rooted in reality as bread is being made, a fundamental domestic task, and scones are being timed by two clocks

Question 13

throughout poem, enjambent takes reader on, momentum increasing until the next pause, when things slow down and the past is savoured

Question 14

superb picture of aunt mary, her nails white with flour, her shins measling (spotty) and quite substantial (broad-lapped) as she sits after using the goose wing to dust flour off the board

Question 15

powerfully nostalgic tone. it’s love that emerges in shape of tin smiths scoop, a metaphor/simile for those enduring family bonds, ready for next batch of bread making

Question 16

evocative poem with delicious language, a portrayal of domestic life that’s no longer reality but still alive in memoru

Question 17

alliteration

Answer 17

“and the sun stood”
“so, her hands scuffled”
“against her where she stood”
“with whitened nails”
“to the tick of two clocks”

Question 18

assonance

Answer 18

“in the slung bucket”
“and the sun stood”