3. Stop All the Clocks - Revision

You have about 25 mins to finish preparing for your Reading Assessment. Below is a copy of the poem and a reminder about some poetic devices. Read both now. Once you have done this I want you to pick quotes and try and explain what poetic device is being used and why the poet has used it. What does it make the reader think or feel?


Stop All The Clocks

W. H. Auden


Stop all the clocks, cut off the telephone,
Prevent the dog from barking with a juicy bone,
Silence the pianos and with muffled drum
Bring out the coffin, let the mourners come.

Let aeroplanes circle moaning overhead
Scribbling on the sky the message He Is Dead,
Put crepe bows round the white necks of the public doves,
Let the traffic policemen wear black cotton gloves.

He was my North, my South, my East and West,
My working week and my Sunday rest,
My noon, my midnight, my talk, my song;
I thought that love would last for ever: I was wrong.

The stars are not wanted now: put out every one;
Pack up the moon and dismantle the sun;
Pour away the ocean and sweep up the wood.
For nothing now can ever come to any good.


Poetic Devices:
Metaphor is a comparison between two dissimilar things without using the word “like” or “as” to make the comparison. 
1. The cast on Michael’s broken leg was a plaster shackle.
2. She was just a trophy to Ricardo, another object to possess.
3. The path of resentment is easier to travel than the road to forgiveness.
4. Waves of spam emails inundated his inbox.
5. Her eyes were fireflies.

Similes are comparisons between two unlike things using the word “like” or “as.”
Here are some examples of simile:
1. My mother’s kitchen was like a holy place: you couldn’t wear your shoes, you had to sit there at a certain time, and occasionally we’d pray.
2. The bottle rolled off the table like a teardrop.
3. The handshake felt like warm laundry.
4. She hung her head like a dying flower.

Alliteration is the repetition of the initial consonant sound in words.
Here is an example of alliteration:
1.Jakia jumped in the jar of jelly.

Repetition is when the writer or speaker knowingly repeats a word or group of words for effect.
Here is an example of repetition:
Nobody, oh nobody can make it out here alone.