owen sheers
Relationships are presented as unpredictable and can often be dangerous. To what extent and in what ways do you agree with this statement with reference to Four Movements in a Scale of Two?
Many of Owen Sheers’ poems in ‘Skirrid Hill’ explores the nature of love and relationships using imagery to symbolize a less than idealized version of love. Impulsive actions are made as two naïve people enter a relationship oblivious to consequences and Sheers uses this to map out an unpredictable course of true love as passionate and lustful yet dangerous. “Four Movements in a Scale of Two,” presents love in a relationship from different perspectives by pairing poetry with music – occasionally melodic or out of tune, with one mistake ruining an entire orchestrated piece.
The title is linked with musical imagery, “ four” (4/4) represents time signatures - various line lengths throughout the poem also mirror this, four also suggests that the poem is in four parts meaning four key stages to the relationship. ‘Movements’ imply the tempo of the relationship, how fast/slow the couple decided to take it or how quick the relationship ends. ‘Scale of two’ signifies the lovers in the relationship. Music and poetry complement each other however this poem contradicts this belief on the relationship eventually ends, music symbolizes the harmonies of the early stages of a relationship … yet this contrasts with the harshness …
Sheers sets the scene portraying the couple as superficial similarly to an opening of a film, the metaphor “cut to us/overhead shot,” suggests the couple were not in love however were enticed with the idea of it. Sheer’s writes this like a screenplay as if they were playing a part which reflects the title of Pages - like they’re obliged to ‘act’ like lovers. The series of metaphors ‘foetus curled’ is our first indication to movement suggesting how tight knit the two are acting inseparable however it also indicates how inexperienced they are thus giving the
Many of Owen Sheers’ poems in ‘Skirrid Hill’ explores the nature of love and relationships using imagery to symbolize a less than idealized version of love. Impulsive actions are made as two naïve people enter a relationship oblivious to consequences and Sheers uses this to map out an unpredictable course of true love as passionate and lustful yet dangerous. “Four Movements in a Scale of Two,” presents love in a relationship from different perspectives by pairing poetry with music – occasionally melodic or out of tune, with one mistake ruining an entire orchestrated piece.
The title is linked with musical imagery, “ four” (4/4) represents time signatures - various line lengths throughout the poem also mirror this, four also suggests that the poem is in four parts meaning four key stages to the relationship. ‘Movements’ imply the tempo of the relationship, how fast/slow the couple decided to take it or how quick the relationship ends. ‘Scale of two’ signifies the lovers in the relationship. Music and poetry complement each other however this poem contradicts this belief on the relationship eventually ends, music symbolizes the harmonies of the early stages of a relationship … yet this contrasts with the harshness …
Sheers sets the scene portraying the couple as superficial similarly to an opening of a film, the metaphor “cut to us/overhead shot,” suggests the couple were not in love however were enticed with the idea of it. Sheer’s writes this like a screenplay as if they were playing a part which reflects the title of Pages - like they’re obliged to ‘act’ like lovers. The series of metaphors ‘foetus curled’ is our first indication to movement suggesting how tight knit the two are acting inseparable however it also indicates how inexperienced they are thus giving the