Great to see so many people getting involved--and sorry for not replying earlier. SO... I shall create a list of questions both for Of Mice and Men and for the poetry, and post it up. Also a list of useful terms...
When you're thinking about the effects of poetic structures such as alliteration and assonance, a good way to approach it is to just consider how it would work if they weren't there... think of a synonym that works in every way apart from the alliteration or whatever, and see how it changes the impact of the poem. Remember my exercise about 'The Eagle'?
He holds/grips/clasps the crag with crooked hands
Close to the sun in lonely/distant/foreign lands
Ringed by the blue/azure/cobalt world he stands
The wrinkled/scarred/wavy sea beneath him crawls
He gazes/watches/looks from his mountain walls
And like a thunderbolt he swoops/falls/dives
If you look at the choices there, it's a good way of seeing why Tennyson puts in those devices.
The anthology says "Ring'd with the azure...". I know it isn't important, but which is correct, since i've attempted to learn this poem?
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