Going To Him Happy Letter Flashcards Preview

Philosophy > Going To Him Happy Letter > Flashcards

Flashcards in Going To Him Happy Letter Deck (18)
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1
Q

Key themes

A

Love, excitement, regulation

2
Q

Why is this poem a stark contrasts to other poems

A

It holds optimism and themes of love

3
Q

How does the poem keep with the context of a typical Victorian women

A

The undertones of tension and restrain because they couldn’t ‘put themselves out’ (wait for a suitor, so sending a letter is improper)

4
Q

Key techniques

A

Irregular line length, caesura, bathos

5
Q

Expl. “Going to him happy letter”

A

Immediately sets a tone of happiness. Quite unseen in the rest of the canon (already can tell poem is anomalous)

6
Q

Explain “I only said the syntax”

A

Refers to framework, perhaps of social rules? Comforting to society May prevent what the speaker really wants to say (left the Verb and pronoun out)

7
Q

Explain “and left the verb and pronoun out”

A

Implies cryptic expression of love with letter acting as the medium

8
Q

Explain “tell him how the fingers hurried-then-how they waded-slow-slow”

A

Implies gushing thoughts followed by self regulation (maybe fearing that the speaker may feel improper) -also implies sensuality

9
Q

Explain “you could hear the bodice tug, behind you”

A

The letter is kept in the bodice of the speaker (erotic undertones?) -either towards the man or the art of writing

10
Q

Explain “as if it held but the might of a child”

A

The letter is written with young raw energy. -it could be the speakers vulnerability. Contrasts any ideas of sensibility in attempting to restrain

11
Q

Explain “you almost pitied it”

A

Bathos- undercutting sadness in the middle of a poem about happiness and excitement

12
Q

Explain “it would split his heart to know”

A

Is there another man? Would this truth hurt the man she is writing to?

13
Q

Explain “and then you and I were silenter”

A

Implies end of correspondence and possibly because of the split heart already mentioned

14
Q

Explain “night finished before we finished”

A

Holds sexual undertones. Contrasts bizarrely with nursery rhyme structure of third stanza

15
Q

Explain “gesture coquette and shake your head”

A

Remain flirtatious but do not disclose yourself, or in other words, the letter is designed to tease the man that receives it

16
Q

How does the speaker appear

A

Naive and innocent to begin with and then provocative and fraught with emotion

17
Q

What do the dashes imply

A

Censorship, displaying self awareness

18
Q

How are the apparent beloved kept apart

A

By boundaries of language - grammatically, syntactical and physically