Salcombe by Gareth Owen and Sonnet by Christina Rossetti

This term we have been studying poetry. Studying the two poems Salcombe (1948) and Sonnet. Gareth Owen wrote the poem Salcombe (1948) and Christina Rossetti wrote Sonnet.

Salcombe (1948) is a very exciting poem, Very upbeat. The poem is about a man looking fondly back on one day full of love, where he meets a women that he later on marries her and how his life changed for the better after meeting her.

The main theme of the poem is basically a man being Nostalgic on the very first day of meeting this women he ended up loving. The poem is set in a perfect scene for a family holiday on a sunny, Playful beach.

The first thing that we see as we look at the poem is the Title

The Poet shows how fondly the man was looking back immediately in the first line of the first stanza when he writes “Oh I remember” This immediately shows us how fondly the poet is looking back. The phrase “Oh I remember” is normally used to illustrate just how good something is.

In the Second line there is a definite phrase, which shows that they were close when he writes, “washing to our feet” the word “our” shows that they were next to each other at this time.

The Third line is special to the poet as he gives two words their own line. He writes “This Morning” This stress’s the Importance and how special it is to him by separating it of from the rest of the stanza by putting it on a separate line.

Also in the fourth line of the first stanza the word “chanced” this suggest that it was very serendipitous. The word “chanced” suggests that it was pure puck that these two got together, and that they took a chance on each other.

The last two lines states how perfect the scene was when Owen writes ” you’re your father dozed in the August heat and the gulls cried” this is a typical perfect holiday scene. Also this shows us the extent of what he remembers.

Over all the first stanza is a list like form because the writer includes “and how” this shows that the memories come flowing back into his mind and how a memory would trigger another.

In the second stanza the first line gives us a vital piece of information when the poet writes” you said your name was Anne” this shows us that they are still together possibly Married.

The second line of the second Stanza gives us evidence of being playful and happiness when he writes, “my sister teased your cousin” this suggests two things. One would be the playfulness of it all and that the two families are getting on they have united!

The third line gives us evidence of the freedom available and fun that was taking place on the beach. When he writes, “Your dog played as he pleased” this is a sign of obvious freedom and joyfulness around the beach.

The last two lines shows us that he has a flow of good memories from that day when he writes “and barked and shook him self and Sneezed and the band played” this shows that when he remembers one memory it triggers another memory to come into his mind. These memories are so worthless like a dog barking but it obviously was special to him and stuck out in his mind.

In the second stanza overall there is a lot more general activity than the first stanza.

The first line of the third and final shows us that the beach is crowded that they are sat in the middle of, when he writes “And how amongst the parasols and feet” this shows that they are in the middle of a crowded beach. But they are only thinking of the two of them.

The fourth line gives us a lot of physical detail, when he says “fingers wet with sand” this is a detailed description of his hand which shows just how much information and detail he can remember.

The next line of the stanza is the line that shows us again how important the word is by giving it. Its own line, which ensures us the importance of it. When he writes “Suddenly” this tells us how suddenly it happened and how much of a shock it was to him.

The next line in the final stanza gives us to pieces of critical information, when he writes “Broke through” this phrase usually stress’s the point of a certain great achievement.

Also in that same line the poet gives us a feel of how little they know about each other when he writes “strangers” this puts across the point that these people have not seen each other before this occasion.

Finally in the last line the poet gets really emotional when he writes “The world turned” this is giving us the idea that, that was the turning point of his life, a huge moment which decided the rest of his life.

The poem Sonnet is a very short brief poem; not having a great deal of memory’s very bland and not much description at all. But there is still a definite feeling of emotion and a love that has been lost in the past.

The main theme of the poem is a depressed women looking back at a miserable day for her. Very bland as if it is fading away with time.

The first line of the poem tells us straight away that the poet doesn’t remember any thing when she writes, “I wish I could remember” she thrives, she wishes, she is desperate, she is longing to remember. It doesn’t stick out in her mind at all.

The next line tells us that it starts there and then when she writes “first hour, first moment”. This tells us that the love starts there and then!

The third line in the poem carries on the forgetful theme when she writes ” If bright or dim the season” she cant even remember what the weather was like, she cant remember nothing.

The following line shows us that her memory is blank of the day almost like a blur. When she writes “for aught I can say” this tell us that she cant really comment on anything correctly.

The fifth line of the poem shows how she could have stayed in love but did not know she was in love in the first place when she wrote “so unrecorded did it slip away”. This shows one that she did not take much notice if any and that she could have remember she could have still been in love with this man, but she let it fade away.

The next line she refers her love to nature when she writes “budding of my tree”. This tells us that it was the start, she had planted her love life, and that it was the beginning of the rest of her life.

The next line was wrote in total regret as she says “If only” she is looking back in total regret and despair.

The following line starts with a happy moment when she says “a day of days!” this was a big occasion in her life and very important she shows this by use of an Exclamation mark.

Also in that same line she shows us how unaware of this she was. When she writes, “I let it come and go” this shows us that she took no notice.

Then she really starts getting emotional and depressed saying how it faded away when she writes “As traceless as a thaw of bygone snow”. Snow is beautiful while it lasts but there is no evidence of it ever being there when it thaws she links this very well to this line. Also it shows that it is in the past, now she has emptiness, and with thawed snow there is no way of retrieving it like her lost love.

She then goes on to deeply describe what she thought of it by writing “it seemed so little, but meant so much” this suggests that at the time it did not mean anything to her but now she realizes what she could have had, it would have meant a great deal to her.

Again in the next line she is in total regret when she writes, ” If only now I could recall that first touch” she is desperate, thriving to remember but she still can’t.

The final line gives us the very first physical contact when she writes, ” first touch of hand in hand”, This lets us know that there was some physical contact but she cant be sure. She then goes on to say “Did one but know!” which shows that she didn’t even realize it, this also emphasis’s the great depression.

The comparisons or commonly known as similarities would be that Sonnet and Salcombe (1948) are written as love poems. With found memories and not so found memories this is shown by “I wish” and “Oh I remember”

Also the two poems start of by the meeting of two people who join and grow to love each other.

The very Lively poem Salcombe (1948) and the depressing poem Sonnet end in physical contact and they also have the same type- the touch of hands examples of this are “touch of hand in hand” and “touched your strangers hand”.

Also the two poems describe the first meeting as a very special and significant moment.

The rhyming in the poems are traditional rhyme schemes, very disciplined rhyming with plenty of freedom and lack of restriction.

The poets used the use of metaphor’s very wisely also they describe certain things very well. Examples of this are “Bygone snow” and “world turned”

They also used a few reputations very effectively and make things stand out from the rest, getting their point across to the reader.

Both poems focus into just the two people not mentioning of many other people.

Then we have to take note of the contrasts, which also are easy to work out by reading the poem poems very thoroughly.

The most obvious contrasts would be that saclombe is wrote by “Gareth Owen” a man and Sonnet by “Christina Rossetti” a women.

Also Salcombe remembers every physical detail write down to “fingers wet with sand”. Where as Sonnet cannot even remember the “first day” or if it was “summer or winter”.

As well as that Salcombe is wrote in a very happy, enthusiastic and holiday mood. Evidence of this would be “teased”. But sonnet on the other hand is very regretful, very sad wrote in a desperate manor evidence of this would be “I wish”.

Salcombe is written is by a very modern sounding poet, who is very enthusiastic about his poems and his work is easier to read and take in. Where as Sonnet is wrote in a 19th century style harder to read and understand.

The next contrast you don’t even have to read the poem to see. Which is that Salcombe is wrote in three reasonable size stanzas but sonnet is a 14-line stanza.

The last contrast you have to really get a grip of what the two poems really about, read in great understanding and depth, because Salcombe contains evidence of outdoor scene, freedom, noise and pact full of adventure and activity but sonnet has no description of a scene maybe because she doesn’t know what it was like forgotten in the past and the poem express’s this forgetfulness.