Pre-1914 Poems

1. The Affliction of Margaret. 2. On My First Sonne3. Patrolling Barnegat

4. I love to see the summer.

Revision of Named poems.

Match the summary to the poem.

1. The Affliction of Margaret.

2. On My First Sonne

3. Patrolling Barnegat

4. I love to see the summer.

• This is a sonnet about a love for the summer season.

• A man has lost his son and blames himself as a result of his religious beliefs.

• This poem portrays nature in a bad way and has hints of supernatural beliefs.

• A woman has lost her son and hasn’t seen him for 7 years, by the end of the poem we see hints of madness.

Which poems do these pictures relate to and why.

Which poems do these pictures relate to and why.

This image relates to religion. Religion is a theme in On my first sonne. Ben Johnson thinks that god has taken his son away because he loved him too much.

Love is present in all poems apart from Patrolling Barnegat. In the Affliction of Margaret there is love between her and her son and the same thing in On My First Sonne. I love to see the summer shows a different kind of love, I love for nature.

This picture relates to On My First Sonne and the affliction of Margaret. Johnson seems ready to say goodbye to his son which contrasts with Margaret's feelings of saying goodbye.

This picture relates to parent-child relationships which was a key theme in both On My First Sonne and The Affliction of Margaret.

This relates only to The Affliction of Margaret, her son is possibly still alive but missing. Not knowing where her son is, is what I think is hurting her the most.

The lack of or the use of punctuation is always something that can be mentioned. OMFS and TAOM is heavily punctuated, breaking up the poem. This could reflect their broken hearts. Rhetorical questions are used in Patrolling Barnegat, perhaps suggesting that he is not sure what he sees or believes. I love to see the summer uses very little punctuation this could be indicative of Clare’s lack of education or perhaps the natural flow of summer.

There are hints of supernatural

activity in Patrolling Barnegat.

“demoniac laughter”

and

“weird forms”

Protection:

In “I love to see the summer”, Clare implies that

summer protects him, especially the willow tree.

In “Patrolling Barnegat”, Whitman seems desperate for protection against the

supernatural or the storm.

In “On My First Sonne” Johnson takes comfort

knowing that god is protecting his son.

“Patrolling Barnegat and “I love to see the summer” talk about nature but in completely different ways.

Colours such as gold are used when describing a summers day in “ I love to see the summer” Connotations of the word gold are money and happiness. I think Clare is trying to say that money does not make him happy.

Match the quote to the poem.

The Affliction of Margaret or On My First Sonne or Patrolling Barnegat or I love to see the summer.

“Rest in soft peace”Neglect me! No I suffered long”

“ The roar of the gale”

“I like the willow leaning half way o’er”

“Rest In Soft Peace”On My first Sonne

This is very similar to what would have been written on a grave stone, this could

suggests that the poem was written as a monument to his son. This could upset the

reader and I think this was deliberately done by Johnson to help the reader

understand the pain he is going through.

“Neglect me! No I suffered long.”The Affliction of Margaret

Margaret does not believe that she deserves this torment. There is a sense on anger here, emphasised by the exclamation mark. The tone here is anger but also self-pity enhanced by the word “suffered”

“The roar of the gale”Patrolling Barnegat

Here personification is used, the gale is seen to be monster like. As it appears to

roar and mutter constantly, this compares to the demoniac laughter.

“I like the willow leaning half way o’er”

I love to see the summer

This creates an image of protection. It Is as though the willow is protecting the lake and perhaps himself.

Simple Language.

“I love to see the summer” uses simple language, perhaps to reflect the simplicity of the poem

itself.

Complex Language.

“Patrolling Barnegat uses more complex language, his message however is more complex and has hidden meanings, for

example about the supernatural. This could have been a deliberate

technique.