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Rush remembers his Grandmother standing at the kitchen sink trying to hold back an asthma attack.
Stanza 1
Rush recalls the scene vividly
◦‘I’ shows that the poem will be personal
◦‘her’ the subject of the poem has made a lasting impression
I see her now
Syntax of metaphor is unusual to place emphasis on ‘frailty’
Onomatopoeia – ‘wheezing’ implies breathing difficulties
◦‘grey’ connotations of old age and hair colour
◦‘frailty’ connotations of old age, weakness and a delicate thing
In her wheezing grey frailty
Metaphor – shows that she is struggling to not have an asthma attack/spends a great deal of time at the kitchen sink
◦‘clutching’ – connotation of desperation and a struggle
◦‘kitchen sink’ – juxtaposes the seriousness of the event with a mundane object
clutching hold of her life at the kitchen sink;
Simile – breathing rises and falls like the waves and sounds rough/
Alliteration – mirrors the sound of the sea
the noise of her breathing like the sound of the sea
Alliteration caries on image – her breathing sound like the noise the sea makes is rough and harsh
◦‘sucking’ breathing carefully ◦‘shingle’ technical term linked with the sea. Sound of soft sibilant “sh” with harsh guttural “g” sound creates the sound shingle being washed back by the sea and asthma attack
sucking back shingle
Alliteration – emphasises her close link with the sea working, living beside etc. and relates to breathing in waves of asthma
Metaphor – she lived by and worked with the sea in partnership
Syntax – inversion places emphasis on “was she”◦ “was she” – speaking directly to the reader,
reminiscing and confirming that she is no longer alive
Woman of the waves was she
Metaphor – shows she is a strong character who would not give in to her condition◦“fought” shows it was a constant
struggle◦“asthma” confirms that this is why she
has breathing problems
She fought back her asthma
◦“standing there” – a strong and constant figure
◦“while I grew up” – she was always there for Rush, teaching him and helping
standing there while I grew up
“tides” is ambiguous – represents the passing of time or that her breathing difficulties came and went
the tides came and went.
Alliteration – shows the quickness and deftness of her gutting the fish
Metaphor – the knife seems to be part of her showing that she was skilled and had worked on it for years
Her fingers flashed silver,
Metaphor – the knife was so sharp it made quick work of the gutting◦“gullie” – Scots word for large knife, his
Grandmother is passing on the Scots language and her knowledge to Rush
◦“terrible” – ambiguous as it means that it was terrible for the fish (it was gutting them) and that it seemed out of place in the grandmother’s hand
the gullie terrible in her hand
Metaphor – shows that she was comfortable with the sea and like she was a part of it
List of fish shows how much of her time was spent at work – syntax stresses the amount of fish there seemed to be
she was at home among the herring and flounders and cod.
Rush recalls his fear of the crabs that his grandmother used to cook in a pot to the extent that he had nightmares
Stanza 4
Rush’s grandmother helping to calm his fears – reassuring even though the crabs would be dead
a stone on its iron lid
Alliteration – stresses how frightened rush was◦“crawling” shows Rush’s fear and how
the crabs move to create a tense atmosphere
to keep from crawling out
Metaphor – shows that Rush had nightmares about the crabs but his grandmother helped to stop them
Shows that Rush was young/ childish when this happened
crawling out/ into my dreams.
Rush goes into further details of his nightmares as he imagines the crabs tearing him to pieces. Rush states that his grandmother was able to stop these nightmares
Stanza 5
Alliteration – highlights how scary found the eyes of the crabs
Metaphor – underlines that Rush thought the crabs as evil creatures and the way their eyes move seems unnatural◦ “stalks” – the eyestalk of the crabs seem thin and
delicate
Eyes that wobbled wickedly on stalks
“gobbets” = a piece of meat Rush describing the content of the
nightmares◦ “gobbets” guttural ‘g’ sound emphasises the
unpleasantness of the dream
and claws that tore me to gobbets as I lay
Repetition stresses the boy’s fear and powerlessness over the situation and the fact that he struggled for breathe when awaking from the dream
His grandmother was able to stop the nightmares◦ “terrors” show how scared Rush was and another
word for nightmare or metaphor where the crabs are the “terrors” that are being taken away by his grandmother
drowning, drowning – she took these terrors away.
Emphasises the old age of Rush’s grandmother and her knowledge of the fish
She is teaching rush about traditions and the ways of the sea◦ “St Peter’s” – patron saint of fishermen
She showed me St Peter’s thumb-print/ on the side of the haddock.
Metaphor – demonstrates the oneness Rush’s grandmother had with the sea as brine is another term for salt/sea water
“washed me” – implies that as Rush hugs his grandmother the tears fall onto him
She washed me in the brine of her tears
Alliteration – ‘sh’ soft sibilant sound that mirrors the sound of the sea creating a peaceful scene
that she shed nightly