elevates female beauty whilst maintaining
the lurking presence of the male gaze
the second part of the poem presents the
masculine speaker in a stagnant position
'wait[ing]' for the lover - a reversal of the typical
conventions of his writing
contrasting with the models from part 1,
Sheers' lover holds the power - the
commercialisation of beauty leads to the
disempowerment of women
'all of it leaves me surrendered' - the 'spell' of
her sexappeal has ensnared the poet, the
speaker feels undermined
for the speaker, the danger that
comes from women is sexuality
above all else: 'one shoulder bare'
"night windows"
oxymoronic blend of connection
and disconnection is explored by
the contrasting states of the
physical and emotional
link between woman and nature echoes
throughout the collection - comparing the
female body to iconic aspects of Welsh
geography - 'curves' of 'landscape' and
'valleyed''pelvis'
emphasis serves to elevate the
eroticism of the female body - comes
with a sombre tone - 'distant'
the active force of the poem 'you
lowered yourself' taking control
over the sexual encounter - the
complete sense of ownership
over her own body, with the
connection spanning from the
'top of your head/ to the end of
your toes' is empowering ,
eventually leaving Sheers alone
in the darkness
the mentioning of a 'siren' in the penultimate stanza
can be perceived as a reference to the woman - as
well as detachment - mythical sirens lure men to
their deaths as his lover lures the speaker to
emotional retractment and disconnection - power
'with a sigh you rose from me'
'trailing the dress of your shadow behind you'
deeply flawed romantic
relationships - impossible
to maintain
"Keyways"
conceit of 'keys' can be
seen to mirror a romantic
relationship of monogamy
and fidelity - phallic and
yonic imagery
dependency and
inability to let go -
finding familiarity in
the past and
memories
(S1) caesura: "Strange then,"
- sombre tone, end stop
at the end of the line
suggests finality
(S1) 'tak[ing] back' emphasises the
physical act of letting go but there
is a much more innate, emotional
desire to retrieve time and
memories - melancholy sense,
devoid of emboldened statements
of sorrow
(S2) end stop on line 3 acts as Volta, changing
the tone to focus on the past, rather than
the present, reinforcing the idea of
familiarity in the past and establishing a
level of solace - emblematic of withdrawal
from reality into the past
(S2) juxtaposition: 'an uncut key, a smooth blade'
suggests that for the speaker the relationship was
crucial for the shaping of his identity - reliance and
dependency
(S2) the idea that each
memory has worked
itself into the very being
of Sheers' personality,
shaping it as a locksmith
shapes a key
(S3) distinct parallel between
Sheers' physical and innate state
converges into one in the 1st
line: simultaneously 'waiting' for
his self to be shaped by the
memories
there is a philosophical foundation
to this concept as 'moments in
time' shape his being, enforcing the
idea that memories shape Sheers,
ultimately altering his own self
progressively - impact of
relationship
tone of divine intervention upon the
keys' compatibility in a theistic
manner of the trinity: 'elbow, shoulder
and hip.' concept of destiny and
soulmates
usual preference for tercets
and quatrains is dismissed
here: the choice of 5 lines may
point to the impact of the
relationship - more complex
and longer suggesting that
the speaker is in denial,
reinforced by the cyclical
structure and the pattern of
memories
"Marking Time"
employment of traditional form of love poetry with the absence of typical features (rhyming
couplets) demonstrates a rebellion against and a subversion of the archetypical form of love,
prompting ideas about modern challenges in love via physical representation
'the volte' aversion of the
typical Volta in a sonnet -
point at which the semantics
of marking trees appears
'lovers who carve trees'
ironically going back to archetypical
notion of romance - the immortalisation
of names like the scar
burned mark on the woman's back is a memory
being manifested through a physical
representation
syntactical placement of
'that mark' at the
beginning of the poem
instantly draws on the
conceit : the scar -
describing it as 'that'
signifies sacredness and
the psychological
connection that binds the
lovers - sexual memory
emphasis on the
connection of the
physical and mental -
inherently intertwined
- however the
certainty that both the
scar and memory will
fade is melancholy
curious shift between tenses: present
'fading finally', future 'our memory will'
and past 'our lust wouldn't wait' - order of
information disjointed - ephemeralness of
relationship
3 tenses met with - physicality
'back', brain activity 'memory'
and carnal desires 'lust'
'brand-burn' plosives serve for a
double meaning - passionate
relationship that has commemorated
its own lust through he physicality of
the scar - undertone of violence
'Two-tattered flags'
polysemic point to double
meaning - adjective focuses
on the degeneration of
their love vs Welsh identity
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