I have read several poems written by Grace Nichols  as part of my learning for English.  She was born in Georgetown, Guyana, in the Caribbean and emigrated to the UK in 1977.  Lots of her poetry has Caribbean rhythms and is influenced by her life there and the difference between that and her life in the UK.

I then analysed two of her poems in much more detail.  Firstly I looked at Hurricane hits England and then The price we pay for the sun.

Then I wrote my own poem, copying the style and techniques that Grace Nichols uses.

Here’s my poem.  See my notes below.

My poem in the style of a Grace Nichols poem: The perfect wave

 

Waiting for the perfect wave brings lots of

emotion

All his senses tingling, telling him

it’s coming,

It won’t be long.

 

I spent

hours

days

weeks

Searching for the perfect wave

 

It’s tiring waiting,

Sitting in the deep sea

Of many, many waves

Trying to imagine

what yours will be like

 

Many sets of big waves

may pass right by you.

But you will know when

Yours arrives    

 

When it comes it’s amazing.

Happiness, joyfulness, excitement

When your wave comes

Everyone will know.

 

After many tiring hours of waiting

I started to read the angry waves

coming at me from all angles

I decided to try and catch a wild wave

wandering towards me

 

And finally I caught one.

I was riding a huge wave of happiness

Ups and downs,

carving out every last bit of

my wave

 

Fin Evans

 

In both poems I found out that the whole poem is a metaphor –  there is a deeper meaning from an initially simple thing.  Also, in both cases the poem works on both levels, literal and metaphorical.  

These are a few of my notes that analyse her poems.

Clues to the metaphor in first line and throughout – what the poem is REALLY about.

Enable the reader to feel closer or distant from the subject by using and changing the person that the poem is narrated by – first or third.  To shape the real meaning of the poem.

Show feelings and emotions  through using literary devices such as

Length of stanzas

Length of lines

Length and sound of words

Rhyme and half rhyme

Absence of rhyme

Repetition

Thirds

Emotive words

Order or chaos of writing

Alliteration

Tell a story

Very linked to natural surroundings such as

Weather

Hurricanes

Volcanoes

Sun

Bones

Earth

Skin

Cancer

Wind

Rain

Frozen lakes

Sea

Comparing places in her life and her feelings about them – purpose is to tell her story, getting something off her chest. – personal

Uses words that give clues in the context – unchained, sugar cane, hurricane.