Question

How does Rich make the description of moonlight so powerful in the poem amends? (at least 2 paras)

Answer 1

The story is set at night, in a natural setting — out of the apple tree light explodes, each piece of light is a ‘white star’. In the second stanza the moonlight is picking at the stones, rising with the white surf on the sea, licking the broken ledges, flowing up cliffs and flicking across tracks. In the third stanza it continues, but also shifts focus to man made elements, such as the crop-dusting plane that is resting in the hangar, and the sand-and-gravel quarry. In the final stanza, the light goes into the trailers, which are shaking with sleep. It rests upon the eyes of people sleeping there, the poet observes that this is ‘to make amends’ — to fix something that has broken or gone wrong.