4.1.2

Personification

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Personification of the Weather

The weather is personified throughout to make it sound menacing and deadly. This also characterises the weather as the real enemy of the soldiers. Here are some examples of personification of the weather:

Illustrative background for “Our brains ache in the merciless iced east winds that knive us”Illustrative background for “Our brains ache in the merciless iced east winds that knive us” ?? "content

“Our brains ache in the merciless iced east winds that knive us”

  • The sibilance also highlights the intensity of the pain and the brutality of the weather.
Illustrative background for “Less deadly than the air that shudders black with snow”Illustrative background for “Less deadly than the air that shudders black with snow” ?? "content

“Less deadly than the air that shudders black with snow”

  • Nature is presented as more damaging and deadly than the bullets.
Illustrative background for “Pale flakes with fingering stealth come feeling for our faces”Illustrative background for “Pale flakes with fingering stealth come feeling for our faces” ?? "content

“Pale flakes with fingering stealth come feeling for our faces”

  • The consonance (repetition of consonant sounds) here reflects the ferocity of the weather.

Dawn and Soldiers

Dawn is personified in these lines: “Dawn amassing in the East her melancholy army / Attacks once more in ranks on shivering ranks of grey.” These lines are important. Here's an analysis:

Illustrative background for ContradictionIllustrative background for Contradiction ?? "content

Contradiction

  • Dawn, usually associated with ideas of light and hope, is here hostile and brings even more suffering.
Illustrative background for Colour imageryIllustrative background for Colour imagery ?? "content

Colour imagery

  • The colour imagery “grey” conveys ideas of despair and boredom.
Illustrative background for Military vocabularyIllustrative background for Military vocabulary ?? "content

Military vocabulary

  • “Ranks” is a military term and is repeated, reminding the reader that the weather is the soldiers’ enemy.

Jump to other topics

1Ozymandias - Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792-1822)

2London - William Blake (1757-1827)

3Storm on the Island - Seamus Heaney (1939-2013)

4Exposure - Wilfred Owen (1893-1918)

5War Photographer - Carol Ann Duffy (born 1955)

6My Last Duchess - Robert Browning (1812-1889)

7The Prelude - William Wordsworth (1770-1850)

8Charge of the Light Brigade - Alfred Tennyson

9Bayonet Charge - Ted Hughes (1930-1998)

10Poppies - Jane Weir (Born 1963)

11Tissue - Imtiaz Dharker (Born 1954)

12The Emigree - Carol Rumens (Born 1944)

13Kamikaze - Beatrice Garland (Born 1938)

14Checking Out Me History - John Agard (Born 1949)

15Remains - Simon Armitage (Born 1963)

16Grade 9 - Themes & Comparisons

16.1Grade 9 - Themes & Comparisons

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