the word' frantic' in l17 hints that the burst will lead to a cut-off;

the refs to 'God' l6, 'congregation' and 'blessing' l22suggest the religious status of water;

v4 reminds us that water baptises children with the forgiveness of God's son (note the pun sun/son)

Implicit contrast with western culture, where water is plentiful.

Verses and rhythm add to the meaning.

v1 sets the scene;

v2 stresses the value of water;

v3 is long with long sentences, suggesting the rush of the mains water. Note the vivid simile in l1 'like a pod' , the metaphor 'silver' in l9 to suggest the value of water, the alliteration in l20 (p.....) to remind us children are perfect, made in god's image.

I realise that water is a blessing, just like God's blessing. It is appropriate that water - gift of life –is used in the ceremony of baptism.The poem begins in the material world (basics of life) and ends in the spiritual.

Presents from My Aunts...

As an immigrant, she's caught between two cultures;

1. she's half English;

2. she wants other things, not clothes - things separate from her

3. her schoolfriend is not impressed

4 she is an immigrant, 'of no fixed nationality' and thinks of the journey away from Pakistan.

Free verse -as if thinking aloud;

confessional ;

uses 'I' - written in 1^st person;

broken lines suggest thoughts;

l24 effective metaphor;

strong colours and visual images;

1 the dance is a metaphor for the voyage of slaves across the Atlantic –they descend into ship’s holds before surfacing on foreign soil;

1 strong incnatatory rhythm suggests dance;

2 pattern of limbo/limbo like me looks like waves;

3 incremental repetition (20-23) suggests the horror of the captives’ realisation of their fate;

I realise the ordeal and challenge of a limbo dance as well as the real horrors of the slave voyages and the centuries of oppression.

1 concentration of hard, monosyllabic words gives an unwelcome tone;

2 the ‘amiable weeds’ are native and belong but are unwanted: they symbolise the poor and black;

3. the ‘Port Jackson trees’ are imported and valued, like the white settlers;

The environments of the Caribbean island and London are contrasted in terms of both sound and colour (eg emerald/grey metallic or seabirds/roar);

‘Morning’ suggests a pun on ‘mourning’ – the man misses his island;

Sense of not wanting to get up in such an environment – he ‘heaves himself’ up;

Evil can be found within good as good is found within evil.

A concentration camp commandant may be a good loving father to his own children despite spending the day as a murderer.

1 The mood of the poem is a bleak one: even the ‘dawn’ –normally a symbol of hope- is here ‘despondent’ and marked not by sunrise (hope) but ‘drizzle’ (note the alliteration);

2 the four stanzas in blank verse move from the particular to the general, from the observed to the philosophical;