what does each colour describe?(poem "the swing")
Answers
AɳรᏇɛƦ ࿐
‘The Swing’ by Robert Louis Stevenson is a three-stanza poem that is separated into sets of four lines, or quatrains. These quatrains follow a structured rhyme scheme that conforms to the pattern of ABAB CDCD EFEF. It is normal within children’s poetry for a rhyme scheme to exist within the text. They are often very prominent and simple. This gives the piece a sing song-like rhythm that only enhances the rhythm of the meter. IN the case of ‘The Swing’ one should take note of how the pattern bounces along, mimicking the up and down motion of the swing.
The metrical pattern is also quite simple, it alternates every other line between ten and six syllables. This, along with the consistent rhyme scheme, makes the text quite easy to read as there are no surprise twists or turns.
Summary:
‘The Swing’ by Robert Louis Stevenson is a simple profession of love for the joys of swinging told from the perspective by a young speaker.
The poem begins with the speaker asking the listener how much they like to swing up into the blue air. This is a rhetorical question, as seen by the speaker’s quick response. They love it more than anything and think it’s the best thing a child could spend their time doing.
In the next stanza, the child speaker describes how when they are swinging at their highest height they are able to see over a wall and into the countryside beyond. There are farmlands and farm animals, all waiting to be discovered. On the way back down they see the brown roof of their home. The descent is dragged out by the long “o” sounds utilized by Stevenson, but once they reach the bottom they quickly escape from the mundane and travel back up into the sky.
Poetic Techniques :
Stevenson uses a number of poetic techniques in this text that make use of repetition. These include anaphora and assonance. Anaphora is seen in the repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of the line. A very clear example is the refrain that begins four of the lines in this short poem, “Up in the air…” It occurs once in the first and second stanzas and twice in the third.
In regards to assonance, or the repetition of a vowel sound within the words of a line or lines, one can see it occurring most obviously within line two of the third stanza. The “o” sound is used repeatedly in this line, dragging out the process of the swing falling from its highest height.