Explore How the Poet Creates the Scene in the Poem ‘in Romney Marsh’.
Explore how the Poet Creates the Scene in the Poem ‘In Romney Marsh’.
This poem centres on the experiences of the poet in the place Romney Marsh. Right from the beginning, we can tell that this is not going to be just an ordinary description of a place, because had it been that, the poet would have just named it ‘Romney Marsh’. The addition of the word ‘In’ makes the poem sound like an account of things that have happened there. This is backed up immediately by the first stanza, which begins with ‘As I went…’ The fact that it is in the first person immediately sets the tone, and informs the reader that this is a personal story of the poet’s experiences with the Marsh. The anaphora of ‘I’ in the first stanza also helps to bring this out.
Throughout the poem the poet makes frequent use of the senses. Sounds are very prominent in this poem, as they bring the place to life. For example, ‘ringing shrilly’, or ‘clashed on the shore’. In the former example, at the start of the second stanza, this phrase is significant, as it effectively kills the jovial, relaxed mood from the first stanza, and creates a rather more eerie one. This mood does not last long however, and with the phrase ‘a veil of purple vapour flowed’, the jovial mood is restored. This image is one of several, along with ‘like sapphire glowed’, and ‘the saffron beach, all diamond drops’, which contain royal and rich connotations, emphasising how special this place is for the poet, that he would go as far as to compare it to expensive, valuable things like diamonds or saffron. The tranquil mood is upheld throughout by words of gentle movement such as ‘flowed’, ‘trailed’, or ‘wagged’. These all bring the place to life and give it a peaceful, tranquil atmosphere.
There are several examples throughout the poem of religious imagery, whereby the poet compares something in the marsh to something sacred or deeply religious. For example, ‘roses filled Heaven’s central gates’. Here he has possibly arrived at
This poem centres on the experiences of the poet in the place Romney Marsh. Right from the beginning, we can tell that this is not going to be just an ordinary description of a place, because had it been that, the poet would have just named it ‘Romney Marsh’. The addition of the word ‘In’ makes the poem sound like an account of things that have happened there. This is backed up immediately by the first stanza, which begins with ‘As I went…’ The fact that it is in the first person immediately sets the tone, and informs the reader that this is a personal story of the poet’s experiences with the Marsh. The anaphora of ‘I’ in the first stanza also helps to bring this out.
Throughout the poem the poet makes frequent use of the senses. Sounds are very prominent in this poem, as they bring the place to life. For example, ‘ringing shrilly’, or ‘clashed on the shore’. In the former example, at the start of the second stanza, this phrase is significant, as it effectively kills the jovial, relaxed mood from the first stanza, and creates a rather more eerie one. This mood does not last long however, and with the phrase ‘a veil of purple vapour flowed’, the jovial mood is restored. This image is one of several, along with ‘like sapphire glowed’, and ‘the saffron beach, all diamond drops’, which contain royal and rich connotations, emphasising how special this place is for the poet, that he would go as far as to compare it to expensive, valuable things like diamonds or saffron. The tranquil mood is upheld throughout by words of gentle movement such as ‘flowed’, ‘trailed’, or ‘wagged’. These all bring the place to life and give it a peaceful, tranquil atmosphere.
There are several examples throughout the poem of religious imagery, whereby the poet compares something in the marsh to something sacred or deeply religious. For example, ‘roses filled Heaven’s central gates’. Here he has possibly arrived at