Poetry
Analysis of ‘Diptych’
‘Diptych’, by Robert Gray is a free verse poem in which imagery is used to invoke feelings, but also specifically influence a reader’s first impression of character. Throughout the poem Robert Gray has swayed natural speech, used strong imagery and also included poetic tone to create a poem which allows insight to his childhood.
Robert Gray has explored his parent’s struggles during their marriage, in the poem ‘Diptych’. He likens his childhood experiences to a diptych hinge, which is a painting, photograph or drawing hinged in two separate parts, the joint cannot function without both parts. The poem has two separated sections, one which addresses Gray’s feelings towards his mother and the other aimed at his memories of his father. The two parts of the poem are very different and the reader is influenced during the poem by the tone and language which Gray uses. He displays his mother as a warm and caring woman, she acts based on her emotions and this is shown through her marriage and her ability to take care of things that needed to be done. To communicate his emotions, the first part of the poem, which addresses his mother, has a sympathetic poetic tone. In the second section Gray’s father is displayed as quite opposite to his wife, he is portrayed to not be fuelled by emotions and rather by manners and the preservation of his reputation. Throughout the poem Grays parents are shown to be quite opposites of each other, yet they also have a mutuality in their relationship. The example of his parents allows Gray to communicate to the reader how people may be close to each other but entirely unalike.
Gray has used poetic techniques such as punctuation, asides and a careful choice of words to convey meaning to the reader in his poem, ‘Diptych’. The portrait of his mother explores her strengths in the family, she is able to hold off a bull in her garden, ‘…she forced it, through the broken fence, it bellowing…’. The use of words like ‘forced’
‘Diptych’, by Robert Gray is a free verse poem in which imagery is used to invoke feelings, but also specifically influence a reader’s first impression of character. Throughout the poem Robert Gray has swayed natural speech, used strong imagery and also included poetic tone to create a poem which allows insight to his childhood.
Robert Gray has explored his parent’s struggles during their marriage, in the poem ‘Diptych’. He likens his childhood experiences to a diptych hinge, which is a painting, photograph or drawing hinged in two separate parts, the joint cannot function without both parts. The poem has two separated sections, one which addresses Gray’s feelings towards his mother and the other aimed at his memories of his father. The two parts of the poem are very different and the reader is influenced during the poem by the tone and language which Gray uses. He displays his mother as a warm and caring woman, she acts based on her emotions and this is shown through her marriage and her ability to take care of things that needed to be done. To communicate his emotions, the first part of the poem, which addresses his mother, has a sympathetic poetic tone. In the second section Gray’s father is displayed as quite opposite to his wife, he is portrayed to not be fuelled by emotions and rather by manners and the preservation of his reputation. Throughout the poem Grays parents are shown to be quite opposites of each other, yet they also have a mutuality in their relationship. The example of his parents allows Gray to communicate to the reader how people may be close to each other but entirely unalike.
Gray has used poetic techniques such as punctuation, asides and a careful choice of words to convey meaning to the reader in his poem, ‘Diptych’. The portrait of his mother explores her strengths in the family, she is able to hold off a bull in her garden, ‘…she forced it, through the broken fence, it bellowing…’. The use of words like ‘forced’