english

Posted: August 6th, 2013

English

My Papa’s Waltz

1. Each of the stanzas in the poem My Papa’s Waltz bears a clear alliterative moment. The first example appears in line four “waltzing was”. The repeated “W” brings out a gentle sound that is contrasting with the third line simile about death. The alliteration in this line makes the waltz sound tranquil and natural. Lines seven and eight are further examples of alliteration in the poem. The repeated “C” produces a sharp sound that gives out a hard edge to the gracefully sounding stanza. I consider this alliteration because it gives a brief description of the persona’s mother as a signal of warning or a form of danger. The other example of alliteration appears in line nine, “hand held that”. Similar to the first stanza, the “hand…held” gives out a nearly protective gentle sound of alliteration. The alliteration is in sharp contrast of the scrapped ear and battered knuckle dominating the imagery of the stanza.

Unit 6

Once upon a midnight noon, as I pondered weary and weak,

Through many a curious and quaint bulk of forgotten folklore,

As I nodded, close to the point of napping, there suddenly came a tapping,

Tapping of something gently gnawing, gnawing at my chamber door,

I muttered, ‘tis jus some dog, gnawing at my chamber door,

Just that and nothing more