Title Of The Poem Refers to Miss Havisham from Great Expectations Wealthy spinster Driven mad with loss and rejection Lives in the past Title Of The Poem Leaves out the Miss Takes Miss Havishams gender out of the title Drawing attention to her maiden name Where the line breaks? - Theres no consistent rhyme scheme in the poem. However, theres a lot of slant rhymes or near rhymes. - Some slant rhymes in the poem are "dress" (end of line 6) and "this" (end of line 8) or "Puce" and "curses" (in line 9). Where the line breaks? - Many poets end their lines with a natural pause signaled by the end of a sentence or phrase, or by some kind of punctuation mark. - Duffys line endings seem unnatural, often occurring in the middle of the phrase. Division of the poem
- written in free verse, in that it has no regular pattern
of metre or rhyme - arranged in four stanzas of equal length, which suggests some control in its speaker, undermining the madness the character is known for, which is one of the points of the poem. - contains 4 stanzas consistent of 4 lines each. - incorporation of both of short, one-worded sentences and long sentences to show the disjointed mental state of Miss Havisham. Enjambment - Enjambments occur when a poet breaks up a sentence or phrase in a strange place. - Often, those enjambments give the poem new, unexpected layers of meaning. Enjambment in Havisham 1) Beloved sweetheart bastard. Not a day since Effect: then - Evokes a sense of lack of control of the speaker. 2) I haven't wished him dead. Prayed for it - Allows for a creation of changes of pace where 3) so hard I've dark green pebbles for eyes, there are contrasts with short, shop pithy end 4) ropes on the back of my hands I could strangle stopped parts and short sentences. with. - her, myself, who did this/to me? The character 5) Spinster. I stink and remember. Whole days is struggling to deal with the fact that it has 6) in bed cawing Nooooo at the wall; the dress happened her on the first line. It then splits over 7) yellowing, trembling if I open the wardrobe; into the next stanza suggesting that it has finally 8) the slewed mirror, full-length, her, myself, hit her that she is the victim. who did this - Loves/hate It is another example of contrast 9) to me? Puce curses that are sounds not words. and suggests that the character can no longer trust 10) Some nights better, the lost body over me, love as the character believes that it can only 11) my fluent tongue in its mouth in its ear hurt her. It also shows how the character is stuck 12) then down till suddenly bite awake. Love's between loving and hating the man who left her. 13) hate behind a white veil; a red balloon 14 - Also, an example of bursting/in my face allows bursting in my face. Bang. I stabbed at a wedding for a rise and fall of tonal progression, a kind of cake. crash down to earth scenario. 14) Give me a male corpse for a long slow honeymoon. 15) Don't think it's only the heart that b-b-b-breaks. End-Stops (Caesura) - Poetry also pauses in the lines. One of such pauses is known as caesura, which is a rhythmical pause in a poetic line or a sentence. - It often occurs in the middle of a line, or sometimes at the beginning and the end. At times, it occurs with punctuation; however, at other times it does not. - Poets indicate it with a parallel symbol thus: ||. - Caesura can be medial (occurring in the middle of line), initial (occurring at the beginning of poetic line), or terminal (occurring at the end of a poetic line). End-stops (caesura) in havisham - There are numerous appearances of caesurae in "Havisham". - When caesurae appear to end short 1) Beloved sweetheart bastard. Not a day since then sentences such as "Bang." (14), it 2) I haven't wished him dead. Prayed for it is done to emphasize the word. It 3) so hard I've dark green pebbles for eyes, 4) ropes on the back of my hands//I could strangle also tells the reader a certain way with. to read the sentence. 5) Spinster. I stink and remember. Whole days - The semicolons in lines 6 and 13 6) in bed cawing Nooooo at the wall; the dress 7) yellowing, trembling if I open the wardrobe; tell the readers to pause before 8) the slewed mirror, full-length, her, myself, moving onto a different point in who did this the poem. 9) to me? Puce curses that are sounds//not words. 10) Some nights better, the lost body over me, - The caesura in "Havisham" helps the 11) my fluent tongue in its mouth in its ear readers when reading the text 12) then down till suddenly bite awake. Love's because they can hear the pauses 13) hate behind a white veil; a red balloon 14 bursting in my face. Bang. I stabbed at a wedding and hesitant speech of Miss cake. Havisham. This expresses the 14) Give me a male corpse for a long slow disjoined and unstable mind of Miss honeymoon. 15) Don't think it's only the heart that Havisham who has been greatly b-b-b-breaks. disturbed from her past event.