The Saddest Noise, the Sweetest Noise

The Saddest Noise, the Sweetest Noise

The saddest noise, the sweetest noise,The maddest noise that grows, --The birds, they make it in the spring,At night's delicious close. Between the March and April line --That magical frontierBeyond which summer hesitates,Almost too heavenly near. It makes us think of all the deadThat sauntered with us here,By separation's sorcery

Made cruelly more dear. It makes us think of what we had,And what we now deplore.We almost wish those siren throatsWould go and sing no more. An ear can break a human heartAs quickly as a spear,We wish the ear had not a heartSo dangerously near

Analysis

BLUE PEN: which technical features and meaning can you find?

AnalysisBLACK PEN: Can you find:

enjambmentsyntax - error or line of interestsibilancemodalityparadoxtetrametertetrimeterinternal rhymelexical chain

Analysis

RED PEN: add the missing technical details and ideas.

The saddest noise, the sweetest noise,The maddest noise that grows, --The birds, they make it in the spring,At night's delicious close.

The saddest noise, the sweetest noise,The maddest noise that grows, --The birds, they make it in the spring,At night's delicious close.

sibilance in line 1sibilance draws our attention to the sound of the line and slows the pace

The saddest noise, the sweetest noise,The maddest noise that grows, --The birds, they make it in the spring,At night's delicious close.

sibilance in line 1sibilance draws our attention to the sound of the line and slows the pace

repetition of noisefurther draws our attention to sound

The saddest noise, the sweetest noise,The maddest noise that grows, --The birds, they make it in the spring,At night's delicious close.

sibilance in line 1sibilance draws our attention to the sound of the line and slows the pace

repetition of noisefurther draws our attention to sound

full rhyme lines 2 & 4draws attention to the increasing sound without yet stating what the noise is

The saddest noise, the sweetest noise,The maddest noise that grows, --The birds, they make it in the spring,At night's delicious close.

sibilance in line 1sibilance draws our attention to the sound of the line and slows the pace

repetition of noisefurther draws our attention to sound

full rhyme lines 2 & 4draws attention to the increasing sound without yet stating what the noise is

Paradoxhow can something be both sad and sweet?

The saddest noise, the sweetest noise,The maddest noise that grows, --The birds, they make it in the spring,At night's delicious close.

sibilance in line 1sibilance draws our attention to the sound of the line and slows the pace

repetition of noisefurther draws our attention to sound

full rhyme lines 2 & 4draws attention to the increasing sound without yet stating what the noise is

internal rhymeincreases the sound devices in this opening stanza and draws attention to the opening paradox

Paradoxhow can something be both sad and sweet?

The saddest noise, the sweetest noise,The maddest noise that grows, --The birds, they make it in the spring,At night's delicious close.

sibilance in line 1sibilance draws our attention to the sound of the line and slows the pace

repetition of noisefurther draws our attention to sound

full rhyme lines 2 & 4draws attention to the increasing sound without yet stating what the noise is

internal rhymeincreases the sound devices in this opening stanza and draws attention to the opening paradox

Paradoxhow can something be both sad and sweet?

allusion to loversbirds, spring and night all remind us of lovers

Between the March and April line --That magical frontierBeyond which summer hesitates,Almost too heavenly near.

Between the March and April line --That magical frontierBeyond which summer hesitates,Almost too heavenly near.

lexical chainlinks the change of season with geographic or political borders; ‘between’ suggests a no-man’s-land

Between the March and April line --That magical frontierBeyond which summer hesitates,Almost too heavenly near.

lexical chainlinks the change of season with geographic or political borders; ‘between’ suggests a no-man’s-land

personificationsummer is personified as someone just out of reach

Between the March and April line --That magical frontierBeyond which summer hesitates,Almost too heavenly near.

lexical chainlinks the change of season with geographic or political borders; ‘between’ suggests a no-man’s-land

personificationsummer is personified as someone just out of reach

syntaxenjambment of 2nd and 3rd increases pace which is then slowed by comma after ‘hesitates’ causing the reader to hesitate at the end of the line

Between the March and April line --That magical frontierBeyond which summer hesitates,Almost too heavenly near.

lexical chainlinks the change of season with geographic or political borders; ‘between’ suggests a no-man’s-land

personificationsummer is personified as someone just out of reach

syntaxenjambment of 2nd and 3rd increases pace which is then slowed by comma after ‘hesitates’ causing the reader to hesitate at the end of the line

modalityneutral and high modality of ‘almost’ and ‘too’ juxtaposed echoing the paradox of ‘saddest’ and ‘sweetest’ in stanza 1

It makes us think of all the deadThat sauntered with us here,By separation's sorceryMade cruelly more dear.

It makes us think of all the deadThat sauntered with us here,By separation's sorceryMade cruelly more dear.

narrative voiceuse of 1st person plural includes reader in the emotional experience of the poem

It makes us think of all the deadThat sauntered with us here,By separation's sorceryMade cruelly more dear.

narrative voiceuse of 1st person plural includes reader in the emotional experience of the poem

lexical chain‘sorcery’ links with ‘magical’ of previous stanza

It makes us think of all the deadThat sauntered with us here,By separation's sorceryMade cruelly more dear.

narrative voiceuse of 1st person plural includes reader in the emotional experience of the poem

lexical chain‘sorcery’ links with ‘magical’ of previous stanza

tetrameter/tetrimeterfinal only scans if ‘cruelly’ is pronounced with 3 syllables dragging the word out and drawing attention to it

narrative voiceuse of 1st person plural includes reader in the emotional experience of the poem

lexical chain‘sorcery’ links with ‘magical’ of previous stanza

tetrameter/tetrimeterfinal only scans if ‘cruelly’ is pronounced with 3 syllables dragging the word out and drawing attention to it

sibilancecreates hissing, playing with sound and complementing the harshness of the image

It makes us think of all the deadThat sauntered with us here,By separation's sorceryMade cruelly more dear.

It makes us think of what we had,And what we now deplore.We almost wish those siren throatsWould go and sing no more.

It makes us think of what we had,And what we now deplore.We almost wish those siren throatsWould go and sing no more.

narrative voiceuse of 1st person plural continues to include reader in the emotional experience of the poem

It makes us think of what we had,And what we now deplore.We almost wish those siren throatsWould go and sing no more.

narrative voiceuse of 1st person plural continues to include reader in the emotional experience of the poem

alliterationof ‘w’ increases pace by gliding from one word to the next and further emphasises the plural 1st person voice

It makes us think of what we had,And what we now deplore.We almost wish those siren throatsWould go and sing no more.

narrative voiceuse of 1st person plural continues to include reader in the emotional experience of the poem

alliterationof ‘w’ increases pace by gliding from one word to the next and further emphasises the plural 1st person voice

pronoun repeated emphasising the depth of sorrow and pain

It makes us think of what we had,And what we now deplore.We almost wish those siren throatsWould go and sing no more.

narrative voiceuse of 1st person plural continues to include reader in the emotional experience of the poem

modalityhigh modality of ‘deplore’ reveals strength of emotion

alliterationof ‘w’ increases pace by gliding from one word to the next and further emphasises the plural 1st person voice

pronoun repeated emphasising the depth of sorrow and pain

It makes us think of what we had,And what we now deplore.We almost wish those siren throatsWould go and sing no more.

narrative voiceuse of 1st person plural continues to include reader in the emotional experience of the poem

alliterationof ‘w’ increases pace by gliding from one word to the next and further emphasises the plural 1st person voice

allusionGreek sirens who lured sailers to their deathsmodality

high modality of ‘deplore’ reveals strength of emotion

pronoun repeated emphasising the depth of sorrow and pain

An ear can break a human heartAs quickly as a spear,We wish the ear had not a heartSo dangerously near.

An ear can break a human heartAs quickly as a spear,We wish the ear had not a heartSo dangerously near.

paradoxhow can an ear break a heart? links to ‘saddest sound’ ‘sweetest sound’ of opening line = “I love you”

An ear can break a human heartAs quickly as a spear,We wish the ear had not a heartSo dangerously near.

kinaesthetic imagery‘breaking’ sudden and violent yet echoes cliché of broken heart

paradoxhow can an ear break a heart? links to ‘saddest sound’ ‘sweetest sound’ of opening line = “I love you”

kinaesthetic imagery‘breaking’ sudden and violent yet echoes cliché of broken heart

paradoxhow can an ear break a heart? links to ‘saddest sound’ ‘sweetest sound’ of opening line = “I love you”

alliterationbreathiness of aspirated ‘h’ suggestive of sobbing?

An ear can break a human heartAs quickly as a spear,We wish the ear had not a heartSo dangerously near.

kinaesthetic imagery‘breaking’ sudden and violent yet echoes cliché of broken heart

paradoxhow can an ear break a heart? links to ‘saddest sound’ ‘sweetest sound’ of opening line = “I love you”

alliterationbreathiness of aspirated ‘h’ suggestive of sobbing?

An ear can break a human heartAs quickly as a spear,We wish the ear had not a heartSo dangerously near.

modalityfull rhyme and repetition of ‘heart’ in final stanza brings sound of poem to closure

kinaesthetic imagery‘breaking’ sudden and violent yet echoes cliché of broken heart

paradoxhow can an ear break a heart? links to ‘saddest sound’ ‘sweetest sound’ of opening line = “I love you”

alliterationbreathiness of aspirated ‘h’ suggestive of sobbing?

enjambmentrushes us on to ‘quickly’ and ‘dangerously’

An ear can break a human heartAs quickly as a spear,We wish the ear had not a heartSo dangerously near.

modalityfull rhyme and repetition of ‘heart’ in final stanza brings sound of poem to closure

kinaesthetic imagery‘breaking’ sudden and violent yet echoes cliché of broken heart

modalityfull rhyme and repetition of ‘heart’ in final stanza brings sound of poem to closure

paradoxhow can an ear break a heart? links to ‘saddest sound’ ‘sweetest sound’ of opening line = “I love you”

alliterationbreathiness of aspirated ‘h’ suggestive of sobbing?

enjambmentrushes us on to ‘quickly’ and ‘dangerously’

An ear can break a human heartAs quickly as a spear,We wish the ear had not a heartSo dangerously near.

similespeed, violence and aggression of spear