Essay on Annotating Poetry

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Annotating Poetry
Annotating your selected poem is the
MOST IMPORTANT part of the analytical process and one which you will need to complete thoroughly before you begin writing. Annotate – to make critical or explanatory notes.

The title is a part of the text. Solar means sun but
‘flare’ has more than one meaning. It can be both to burn constantly and also to suddenly ignite.
Consider both.

Model annotation – Solar Flare
Rhyming pattern abab – links together ideas and contributes to rhyme.

I looked up at the Sun and he was frowning, his voice was like a fiery ball of flame,

First person ‘I’ invites a personal and intimate perspective but contrasted with ‘he’ and ‘his’ .
Personification of sun – creates a visual relationship

A simile to enable visual imagery but to a sound. Adds to image of anger.

he told me that the planet Earth was drowning,
“And mankind thinks,” he said, “that I’m to blame!

Shift in voice – still ’I’ but now the sun is talking

The poem has a definite rhythm – iambic – unstressed and then stressed syllable – what is the effect? – focus on most important words

Stanza 2
Repetition of personal pronouns positions us to listen to the sun’s ‘voice’ as authority.

“I’ve been here, burning constantly for ever,

I watched the planets cool and shape and form, my sunlight formed the seasons and the weather,

Language choices of ‘form’
‘formed’ ‘shape’ and
‘evolved’ are all positive connotations of creation.

and man evolved because your planet’s warm.
Change to address audience directly as’ your’ after changing focus to man serves make us feel gratitude. Stanza
3
Further use of personification here to emphasise

the relationship with the sun as a positive one (or perhaps there is something more behind that friendly face which we have missed)
“A hundred years ago I was the hero,

a friendly face to light a summer’s morn,

Contrast ‘hero’ and ‘zero’ – extremes – this is hyperbole
(exaggeration) and has the effect of and now my reputation stands at zero, creating a sarcastic tone. The sun is mocking his own status and our fickle affair with the sun’s powers. too much of me beams through a sky that’s torn.

This is a metaphorical reference to the damage to the ozone layer. Stanza 4
In this case ‘earth’ is representing ‘us’

“But I have stayed the same, it’s Earth that altered, you people wouldn’t stop your greedy ways, the fragile balance in the sky has faltered, and now it’s very close to end of days.
Apocalyptic
warning

Repetition of second person pronoun to emphasise who is being spoken to – we are the ones who have committed these offences against our own planet

Negative connotations of damage associated with ‘altered’ ‘faltered’ ‘greedy’ and ‘fragile’ as our fault, contrasted with previous positive connotations of creation associated with the sun. Stanza 5
Tone shift to ‘your’ and ‘you’ – accusatory – our fault

“Your ‘Climate Change’ won’t stop the world from spinning, the planet will remain when you are gone, and I’ll be here, like back in the beginning, with no-one left to beam my sunshine on.”

Alliteration of ‘b’ emphasises the time frame once again echoing the rep of ‘b’ in stanza 2 and reminding us of the sun’s longevity.

This is the end of the sun's ‘speech and the final tone is both resigned to their fate and disappointed. The end is inevitable but the sun’s role will be futile.

Narrative shift back to story-teller. The
Stanza
6 narrative style
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