Poetry Analysis

Read this very well written analysis of a poem by Charmaine in Yr 7. The students have been studying a variety of poems and focussing on several poetic forms. They have been identifying the forms and poetic devices used by a range of poets.

Poetry Analysis by Charmaine Year 7

The Shark

E.J.Pratt

The poem "The Shark" by E.J. Pratt, is free-verse and written in third person. This poem has no rhyme pattern. This poem is about a shark. The shark is not thrashing around awaiting a kill, it is mysterious, patient, stream-lined and graceful, planning its every move carefully. The main poetic device in the poem is imagery. When the author says 'shearing without a bubble the water', it appeals to our vision. It gives us an image of its stream-lined, tapered body cutting through the water like a knife through soft butter. The shark moves with great ease through the water, making it deadly fast.

Also, when the author says 'part vulture, part wolf, part neither – for his blood was cold', this adds to the poem by telling us that the shark is the most deadly predator. The vulture lies in wait for the perfect moment to strike, but there is no room for fault. And like the shark, a lone wolf hunts alone in silence, with deadly speed and never gets exhausted. Also, the shark's blood is cold - cold blood usually means evil, lonely, unhappy. Warm blood means happiness. The shark is a cold-blooded killer.

Another poetic device used was simile as in 'his fin, like a piece of sheet iron'. This tells the reader that his fin can cut through anything that crosses his path. In the poem, certain phrases are repeated, like 'three cornered fin' – repeated in stanzas 1 and 2. Also repeated is the phrase 'tubular, tapered, smoke-blue'. This adds effect to the poem by making the author remember it because it's written several times to show that it's important. Another poetic device used is alliteration. When the author writes 'lithely, leisurely', it tells us in detail how the shark swam which adds a lot of effect to the poem.

So, this poem has a mysterious, dark theme telling us that sharks are cunning, smart, fast and always alert. All the poetic devices did help create the image the author wanted.

The Shark

E. J. Pratt

He seemed to know the harbour,

So leisurely he swam;

His fin,

Like a piece of sheet-iron,

Three-cornered,

And with knife-edge,

Stirred not a bubble

As it moved

With its base-line on the water.

His body was tubular

And tapered

And smoke-blue,

And as he passed the wharf

He turned,

And snapped at a flat-fish

That was dead and floating.

And I saw the flash of a white throat,

And a double row of white teeth,

And eyes of metallic grey,

Hard and narrow and slit.

Then out of the harbour,

With that three-cornered fin

Shearing without a bubble the water

Lithely,

Leisurely,

He swam--

That strange fish,

Tubular, tapered, smoke-blue,

Part vulture, part wolf,

Part neither-- for his blood was cold.