1. L.O: To use inference to
make predictions about a
poem.
To analyse the literary and
linguistic features of a poem.
2.
3. LOOK AT THE MOST COMMONLY OCCURING
WORDS
What are the connotations of these words?
What might the poem be about based only on
what you see here?
Think about the tone, mood and atmosphere
these words could create.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b_a-
eXIoyYA
4. BREAK, BREAK, BREAK
Alfred Lord Tennyson (1809-1892)
Break, break, break,
On thy cold gray stones, O Sea!
And I would that my tongue could utter
The thoughts that arise in me.
O, well for the fisherman's boy,
That he shouts with his sister at play!
O, well for the sailor lad,
That he sings in his boat on the bay!
And the stately ships go on
To their haven under the hill;
But O for the touch of a vanish'd hand,
And the sound of a voice that is still!
Break, break, break,
At the foot of thy crags, O Sea!
But the tender grace of a day that is dead
Will never come back to me.
5. ALFRED, LORD TENNYSON
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n5szrP5MQ4g
Alfred Tennyson was one of eight brothers and four sisters born into a
large, impoverished family in Lincolnshire. His father was a clergyman who
had been disinherited by his own father in favour of his younger brother.
Tennyson was plagued by the family’s financial insecurities and the fear of
inheriting epilepsy and poor mental health throughout his life. He was
initially educated at a grammar school and at home, before studying at
Cambridge University, where he became part of an elite, intellectual group
called The Apostles. This secret society included Arthur Hallam, who was to
become his closest friend. He published his first collection of poems,
written with his two elder brothers while at Cambridge, when he was just
17, but he was forced to leave university before completing his degree when
his father died.
Although some of his early collections received a mixed reaction from
critics, by 1842 with the two volume collection Poems, Tennyson firmly
established himself as one of the leading poets of his generation, despite
being so short-sighted that he found it difficult to read and write, and
often composed poems in his head.
The death of Arthur Hallam in 1833 affected him greatly and in 1850 he
wrote his famous elegy In Memoriam in mourning for him. In the same year,
he was appointed Poet Laureate and finally married Emily Sellwood (a woman
he had been unable to marry earlier for financial reasons). His poetry was
admired by both Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, who offered him a
baronetcy which he finally accepted in 1884. He was buried in Poets Corner,
in Westminster Abbey.
6. CONTENT
A lyric poem that was believed to have been
completed in 1834. It centers on Tennyson's
grief over the death of his best friend, Arthur
Hallam, a fellow poet.
Purpose – To explore the depths of grief and to
commemorate the loss of a friend.
7. ANALYSIS – SOME POINTS TO INCLUDE
Form – Lyrical poetry presents the deep feelings
and emotions of the poet as opposed to poetry
that tells a story or presents a witty
observation. A lyric poem often has a pleasing
musical quality. The word lyric derives from the
Greek word for lyre, a stringed instrument in use
since ancient times.
9. ANALYSIS – SOME POINTS TO INCLUDE
Grammar and Sentence Structure
10. ANALYSIS – SOME POINTS TO INCLUDE
Lexis/imagery - Tennyson's friend, Arthur
Hallam, was only 22 when he died. The shock of
Hallam's death impressed upon Tennyson how
priceless youth is. To underscore this idea, and
to express the agony he suffers at the loss of
young Hallam, Tennyson presents images of
youthful joy: the fisherman's son playing with his
sister and the "sailor lad" singing in the bay.
Personification and metaphor also occur in Lines
1 and 2, for the poet regards the sea as a human
being. Paradox used in the “touch of a vanished
hand” and “sound of a voice that is still” to
emphasise the sense of loss.
11. ANALYSIS – SOME POINTS TO INCLUDE
Phonology and sound patterning
Alliteration (Line 8): boat on the bay
12. ANALYSIS – SOME POINTS TO INCLUDE
Orthography and punctuation
13. REVIEW
Where next?
On your scrap of paper write down
which area you would like to focus on
in future lessons.
