November Poem Analysis

November poem analysis

The poem I am going to be analyzing is called ‘November.’ This poem is about death. In the poem, the author Simon Armitage gives a clear message about what he thinks death is and how to deal with death. He also gives clear connection with the poem to the title, which makes the reader understand the poem better. In this essay I am going to include the following; the poets attitude to his subject, the poets descriptive skills, the language used, how the poem affects me, and more.

Firstly, Simon Armitage named the poem ‘November.’ I think he did this as it suggests November is the month where the leaves start falling off the trees. It is the month when everything starts turning dark and cold, which I think states death. It is the month before December, which is considered the end, meaning the grandma in the poem is close to dying. I think Simon Armitage names the poem this as the poem has to do with death. I believe that you have to read the poem before understanding the title, this because the word November could mean anything, but since the poem is about death we can connect the title with death more.

Secondly, the messages that were given throughout this poem implies that there is an on going cycle and that we are all going to die. This is shown when the character in the poem says ‘we are almost these monsters.’ From this phrase we can emphasize that they know they are also going to die some day. I know this because they describe the old people as having ‘slack breasts, stunned brains, and their boldness’ when they describe the old people like this it conveys zombies and monsters, so when the characters in the poem say ‘we are almost these monsters’ it means that they are also going to become like the old people they were describing. The old people that the characters were describing were dying, meaning they were almost becoming these monsters. The second message the author was telling us was that we are all hopeless to old people, for example if their body is failing we can’t help them and do anything about it since they are going to die. In addition to that I think the message is also that instead of feeling sad about it, you should just get on with your life, and try not to worry about it, because there is nothing anyone can do about it, and going around worrying isn’t going to make anything better.

Simon Armitage uses different descriptive skills during the poem. To begin with the author makes the poem interesting by comparing two completely different things. For example, he compares the word ‘terror’ which ‘dusk.’ This is interesting because terror is artificial meaning it is fake, meanwhile dusk is real. This makes the poem more interesting as Armitage uses artificial and real things together.
Another key descriptive skill to consider is that the author use fresh and varied vocabulary. For example, he uses words such as ‘monsters’ to describe old people. He also uses the phrase ‘I drive through the twilight zone.’ From these phrases and words we can see that the author is trying to make the poem more interesting. Rather than using old people Armitage uses the word monster to make the reader think more about what the he meant. Furthermore, Simon Armitage uses the phrase ‘I drive through the twilight zone’, which was an old TV show during the 70’s, which helps us figure out around what time this poem was set, as well as the atmosphere he was driving through and how he felt.
The author, Simon Armitage, does not tell us who John is. His feelings are not directly shown, as well as the other character in this poem, however, the speakers reassurance of him suggest that John is uneasy about what he is doing, whereas the other character (whom is unnamed) says ‘It is time.’ This suggests he or she knows what they are doing unlike John.
Simon Armitage uses images to describe the grandma very clearly, so it is easy to image what is happening to her and what she is doing. Armitage doesn’t specifically say what the grandma is doing; instead he uses complex words to make the reader think more carefully. For example, in the passage it says ‘she sinks’ which in my opinion is referring to hell as heaven is represented to be up and hell is supposed to be down, so the grandma is ‘sinking’ into hell.

This poem has the effect on me to seize the day, and to make the most out of it, also known as the ‘Carpe Diem’ reference. This means that you should take risks, you should do things that you normally wouldn’t do. This poem also tells the reader, as I mentioned before, not to go around worrying when a person is going to die, this is shown when the character in the poem says ‘One thing we have to get, John, is out of this life.’ This tells us that the characters in the poem wants to find the good in life, not bad, so they decide to get out of the miserable life they are in now and start a new fresh healthy loving life. I believe you should live life to its fullest because if you go around wondering all day when a you or someone else is going to die you wouldn’t live your life to the fullest, you would go around worrying which is not what life is about. Life is about living to the fullest extent, and making the most out of it. If your life were you thinking about how you are going to die it wouldn’t make your life interesting or fun at all. In conclusion this poem had the effect on me not to worry about thing so much, and do what you want to do without anything or anyone affecting that. As I just mentioned this helps people deal with death as they realize whilst reading this poem that it doesn’t matter what other people think of you, as long as you are happy you should continue to do what you are doing. You also shouldn’t go around worrying, again, you should live life to its fullest no matter what has happened or what situation you are in.

At times Armitage uses unusual detail. For example, in the passage it says ‘badly parked car.’ This is an unusual detail, as he didn’t describe why the car was so badly parked. This, again, makes the reader have to use their imagination; in my mind this represents the characters being so sad that they cannot park the car properly. It also means that they are so nervous and so heartbroken they cannot do anything properly, I think this is because later says in the poem that they had to get drunk to numb themselves. Another example would be ‘Outside we watch the evening, failing again.’ This is unusual as you would not describe the evening as failing, so the audience does not understand what this means, as people don’t tend to say this, meaning this is not a very usual thing to say which makes this an unusual detail.

In conclusion the most key techniques used in this poem were use of complex sentences, simple, repetitive structure, words suggesting effort/challenge/tough times, use of direct, specific words to give detail and add authenticity to the account. I believe this poem uses many techniques, words and phrases that require you to think very carefully about what the author has just written. As a summary of this poem, I think it has a lot of meaning to it even though it is very short. It gives a clear story, but at the same time it makes the reader think about some words and phrases extra carefully.