Belfast Confetti
How does the poet present the effects of conflict in the Belfast Confetti?
The poem ‘Belfast Confetti illustrates the aftermath of a bomb during the troubles that people in Belfast experienced. The title ‘Belfast Confetti’ is a heading that has a dual meaning. On one had the homemade bombs that the IRA used are referred to as Belfast confetti due to the nuts and bolts they put in the shrapnel. The second is more complicated. Confetti is usually used in times of celebration such as weddings, which is strange as the poem is about something completely different to a celebration. It is usually thrown over the heads of the bride and the groom, so it rains down on them. Carson may be using that title to create a metaphor; the nuts and bolts flew over the head of people just like confetti does.
Carson presents the poem with widespread references to punctuation marks using words such as ‘Exclamation Marks’ and ‘Sentence’. “It was raining exclamation marks” this is trying to represent the noises made by falling shrapnel. Generally, exclamation marks are used when someone is shouting or when words need to be emphasised. As you can imagine, the noise of the bombs and chaos it caused must have had a huge effect on the noises that were being heard, people screaming, sirens sounding and huge fires blazing. To understand the poem you have to delve deeper into the meaning of the way in which the title of the poem is worded. This poem is very chaotic which matches this experience.
The poet also does not present any type of metre or rhythm, this could be because he wanted the poem to be seen and read with the confusion which the people felt after the bomb was detonated. This gives the poem more reality than it would do if there was a clear structure to it.
Analysing the lines in the poem, I can see a trend of contradictions and dual meanings. For example “All the alleyways and side streets blocked with stops and colons” on the outside this line tells us that the escape what
The poem ‘Belfast Confetti illustrates the aftermath of a bomb during the troubles that people in Belfast experienced. The title ‘Belfast Confetti’ is a heading that has a dual meaning. On one had the homemade bombs that the IRA used are referred to as Belfast confetti due to the nuts and bolts they put in the shrapnel. The second is more complicated. Confetti is usually used in times of celebration such as weddings, which is strange as the poem is about something completely different to a celebration. It is usually thrown over the heads of the bride and the groom, so it rains down on them. Carson may be using that title to create a metaphor; the nuts and bolts flew over the head of people just like confetti does.
Carson presents the poem with widespread references to punctuation marks using words such as ‘Exclamation Marks’ and ‘Sentence’. “It was raining exclamation marks” this is trying to represent the noises made by falling shrapnel. Generally, exclamation marks are used when someone is shouting or when words need to be emphasised. As you can imagine, the noise of the bombs and chaos it caused must have had a huge effect on the noises that were being heard, people screaming, sirens sounding and huge fires blazing. To understand the poem you have to delve deeper into the meaning of the way in which the title of the poem is worded. This poem is very chaotic which matches this experience.
The poet also does not present any type of metre or rhythm, this could be because he wanted the poem to be seen and read with the confusion which the people felt after the bomb was detonated. This gives the poem more reality than it would do if there was a clear structure to it.
Analysing the lines in the poem, I can see a trend of contradictions and dual meanings. For example “All the alleyways and side streets blocked with stops and colons” on the outside this line tells us that the escape what