PLASTIC Poetry Notes – GCSE English Literature Past and Present: Poetry Anthology – Love and Relationships – Climbing My Grandfather p.23

Poetic devices and their effects – form

(ballad, sonnet, free verse, dramatic monologue),

alliteration, rhyme, rhythm, onomatopoeia,

‘get a grip’ - alliteration Mirrors the grabbing sensation of scaling a rockface

Dramatic monologue We see his very personal take on his relationship with his grandfather

Free verse – no rhyme Perhaps reflects the freedom he has to explore his grandfather in his own way. The difficulty of mountaineering.

Language and its effects – what sort of words

are in the poem? Violent, loving, colloquial, archaic,

semantic fields, diction, religious, romantic language

Semantic field of mountaineering - Rope; Traverse; Purchase; Scar; Summit; Altitude; Screed

Treats the grandfather as part of the landscape – both physically and metaphorically - and the grandson wishes to explore and cherish him

Adjectives to do with age and neglect: ‘Dusty and cracked’

– this perhaps suggests the grandfather is breaking down due to his age. Dusty may suggest he doesn’t care about himself any more

Adjectives to do with touch and feel: smooth, thick, glassy

Shows an intimate connection with his grandfather

Alternative interpretations – Can quotations

be read in two ways for different meanings?

‘like warm ice’ Shows the smoothness of his fingers – links to the notion of a rock with ice. Outwardly grandfather is cold but inwardly a happy and welcoming. Or could it be his life slipping away.

‘without a rope or net’ The young boy is becoming more independent and doesn’t need help OR he knows his grandfather so instinctively

PLASTIC Poetry Notes – GCSE English Literature Past and Present: Poetry Anthology – Love and Relationships – Climbing My Grandfather p.23

Structure and its effects – tonal shifts, pace,

caesura, what rhyme stresses, beginning, middle, end,

repetition, dialogue and where it happens, enjambment

Long thin structure Mirrors that of a cliff face to be scaled – sense of achievement in reaching the top/end

Caesura of ‘change direction, traverse’ Introduces a pause and shift in movement.

List of ‘up over, the wrinkles...heart’Mirrors the final ascent of the boy, one last desperate attempt at being with and understanding his grandfather?

Tone and its effects – talking about moods

which are evoked and where, narrative voice

Positive, energetic tone evoked through words like ‘free’, ‘easy scramble’, ‘good purchase’, ‘smiling mouth’, ‘good heart’

Suggests a warm and positive relationship between the grandfather and grandchild

‘I discover the glassy ridge’ Shock/Surprise that his grandfather may have been hurt in the past

‘the slow pulse of his good heart’ The old man is slowly dying OR his actions/behaviour are deliberate and kind

Imagery and its effects - metaphor, simile,

personification, visual sense

‘brogues, dusty and cracked’ ‘earth-stained hand’ Metaphor for the hard life the grandfather has lived and the fact that he is old and worn down.

‘like warm ice’ – oxymoron and simile A slipping away of something solid

‘glassy ridge’ A deep wound from years back – a life before his grandson. Glass suggests fragility of existence.

Context – authorial, social and historicalWaterhouse was ‘a passionate environmentalist’ (Libby Brooks, The Guardian, ) and lover of the natural world

Inevitably, he links the natural world to human relationships, using the extended metaphor of the cliff to express the relationship he or the narrator has with his grandfather

PLASTIC Poetry Notes – GCSE English Literature Past and Present: Poetry Anthology – Love and Relationships – Climbing My Grandfather p.23