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group's songs and also recorded the musical comedy/poetry album McGough and McGear. McGough was also responsible for much of the humorous dialogue in The Beatles' animated film, Yellow Submarine, although he did not receive an on-screen credit. At about the same time a selection of his poems was published, along with
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Prayer Before Birth. I am not yet born; O hear me. club-footed ghoul come near me. I am not yet born, console me. on black racks rack me, in blood-baths roll me. in the back of my mind to guide me. hands, my death when they live me. my gift and my children curse me.
- Summary
- Structure and Form
- Literary Devices
- Detailed Analysis
- Similar Poetry
‘I Remember, I Remember’ by Thomas Hood is focused on the nostalgiaof an adult looking back on his childhood. The speakerremembers the elements that made his younger years magical, such as the house where he was born, the enchanting trees and flowers, and the simple joys like swinging in the air. Each stanza contrasts these cherished childhood memo...
‘I Remember, I Remember’ by Thomas Hood is a five-stanza poem that is divided into sets of eight lines, known as octaves. These octaves are very similar in structure. The first line of each stanza is the same, “I remember, I remember” and the lines contain a number of rhymes, following a pattern of ABCBDEFE (with some moments of divergence).
In this poem, the poet uses a few different literary devices. These include but are not limited to: 1. Imagery: Occurs when the poet uses sense-related or sense-triggering images in the poem. For example, “The roses, red and white, / The vi’lets, and the lily-cups.” 2. Personification: This is a literary device that occurs when the poet imbues some...
Stanza Two
This stanza of ‘I Remember, I Remember‘ focuses further on the harmonic era of Hood’s childhood. Hood focuses on two main images: the colors and the flowers of the period. The delicate flowers, seemingly ‘made of light,’ are palpable due to their proceeding adjectives. The focus on ‘red and white’ to describe the array of different flowers gives the reader a sense of the beauty of the natural in this childhood memory. Yet, the flowers within the poem are also presented as delicate. The presen...
Stanza Three
The perceived lightness of the character Hood presents in this stanza is exemplified through his relation to flying. Hood relates his childhood to a bird, flying freely as he swings on his favorite tree. Word choices such as ‘rush’ and ‘fresh’ present the freedom of the period. Hood has no obligations and is representing his freedom through his association with the lightness with which he flies through the air. Yet, the subtle shift back to the depressive present is evident through the past ‘...
Stanza Four
After the depressive nature of the final three lines in stanza 3, the anaphoric first line in stanza 4 now takes on a haunting melancholy. This stanza ends with the sentiment that Hood is depressed to know he has not/is not dying. He wishes he were closer to heaven, indeed, closer to death. If he cannot return to his childhood idyll, he feels like he would rather die. The bitter melancholy that bubbles under the surface of the poem finally breaks here. This is how Hood feels, and there is not...
Readers who enjoyed this piece should also consider reading some other Thomas Hood poems. For example: 1. ‘Gold!’ – this is a piece about the corrupting nature of gold. 2. ‘Sea of Death’ – this poem describes the nature of the sea of death as seen through the eyes of an observer anchored in a boat. 3. ‘Silence’ – this poem describes how Silence exi...
2 The house where I was born, 3 The little window where the sun. 4 Came peeping in at morn; 5 He never came a wink too soon, 6 Nor brought too long a day, 7 But now, I often wish the night. 8 Had borne my breath away! 9 I remember, I remember, 10 The roses, red and white, 11 The vi'lets, and the lily-cups, 12 Those flowers made of light!
club-footed ghoul come near me. The title of this poem, ‘Prayer Before Birth,’ allows the reader to imagine a woman close to birth. It is also easy to assume that this is her prayer. In the first line of this poem, the speaker reveals that ‘Prayer Before Birth’ is from the point of view of a newborn baby.
These poems by William Blake were later combined and republished together as Songs of Innocence and Experience. Blake’s ‘The Schoolboy’ is a pastoral poem that focuses on the problems inherent in formal learning. The boy, who hates going to school, feels that he would be better educated by the natural world.
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I Remember, I Remember. Had borne my breath away! Those flowers made of light! The tree is living yet! The fever on my brow! Than when I was a boy. I remember, I remember, The house where I was born, The little window where the sun Came peeping in at morn; He never came a wink too soon, Nor brought….
