The Lammas Hireling - Key Quotes Flashcards
IAN DUHIG (3 cards)
“her torn voice”
The use of “torn” is notable because it has savage and primal connotations, reflecting the strange situation that is described in the poem. In addition, specifically using “her” helps to focus on the vulnerability of any other person in relation to the narrator, who would increasingly be coming across as fearsome and frightening. A reader would also feel apprehensive as to why there may such emotion and pain in her thoughts for her voice to be “torn” while simultaneously indicating that the reader will never fully understand the events as nobody is able to fully describe what has happened.
“There was no/ Splash”
Splitting this sentence across two lines places much more emphasis on “splash” due to the changing of lines creating a brief pause in reading. This helps to momentarily build tension, while also demonstrating the confusion of the description because there is more time for a reader to consider what the narrator is sharing. This leaves the reader with many unanswered questions, which is effective at ensuring that confusion continues until the end.
“It has been an hour since my last confession”
Only an “hour” between confessions would strike a reader as being very short, signaling some form of insanity or extreme guilt which is compelling the narrator to confess their actions repeatedly. This then results in the reader questioning whether any of the poem can truly be believed at all, if it is being shared through the perspective of an unreliable narrator, and there is not even proof of how long the duration between confessions has actually been. In the Catholic Church, confessions must be full and made with the intention of making amends, so confessing this frequently to the (presumably) same crime would indicate that various details are not being included, once again demonstrating the narrator’s unreliability.
