Summer Rain, by John Foulcher
John Foulcher writes interesting poetry because he can make the reader see, feel, and think. Summer Rain , demonstrate to the reader that Foulcher’s poetry is not only thought provoking and realistic, but it is also able to capture aspects of society through his unique use of imagery.
Summer Rain is a longer poem than most others written by John Foulcher, which has messages throughout it. Summer Rain is set on a highway during a traffic jam, an experience many people have experienced. The start of the poem sets the scene economically, informing the reader that it is 4 o’clock and that the cars “clutter on the highway”. This gives the reader a visual image of peak hour traffic on a highway, so they can now almost see what is going on in the poem. Foulcher compares the cars to a familiar object, writing, “clutter on the highway like abacus beads”. This simile gives the reader another important visual image. That is the image of traffic grouping as it slows, and slowly ungrouping as it begins to slowly crawl along again, put simply, bumper-to-bumper traffic. “Cars clutter” is also an example of alliteration. The next line reads, “no one dares overtake”. It is using the strong word dares, instead of just saying no one overtakes, to highlight the danger in trying to overtake while the traffic is grouped and crowded. Foulcher then writes, “Sunlight scrawls through the dust and the fumes, and shadows slap at the edge of the grass”.
This contains several important writing devices. “Sunlight scrawls” and “Shadows slap” are both examples of alliteration, which makes them stand out more to the reader. The whole sentence also gives a strong visual image eg. We can imagine the vehicles kicking up dust and letting out fumes. From “sunlight scrawls the reader can tell it is later, because it is scrawling, not direct. “Dust and the fumes” also appeals to the senses, the readers sense of smell, so we can imagine ourselves the smell that must be present on the highway.
Summer Rain is a longer poem than most others written by John Foulcher, which has messages throughout it. Summer Rain is set on a highway during a traffic jam, an experience many people have experienced. The start of the poem sets the scene economically, informing the reader that it is 4 o’clock and that the cars “clutter on the highway”. This gives the reader a visual image of peak hour traffic on a highway, so they can now almost see what is going on in the poem. Foulcher compares the cars to a familiar object, writing, “clutter on the highway like abacus beads”. This simile gives the reader another important visual image. That is the image of traffic grouping as it slows, and slowly ungrouping as it begins to slowly crawl along again, put simply, bumper-to-bumper traffic. “Cars clutter” is also an example of alliteration. The next line reads, “no one dares overtake”. It is using the strong word dares, instead of just saying no one overtakes, to highlight the danger in trying to overtake while the traffic is grouped and crowded. Foulcher then writes, “Sunlight scrawls through the dust and the fumes, and shadows slap at the edge of the grass”.
This contains several important writing devices. “Sunlight scrawls” and “Shadows slap” are both examples of alliteration, which makes them stand out more to the reader. The whole sentence also gives a strong visual image eg. We can imagine the vehicles kicking up dust and letting out fumes. From “sunlight scrawls the reader can tell it is later, because it is scrawling, not direct. “Dust and the fumes” also appeals to the senses, the readers sense of smell, so we can imagine ourselves the smell that must be present on the highway.