‘Day Trip to Donegal’

1. Alliteration adds to the change of mood in the poem Conversational language at the beginning. Clever use of language throughout ‘Day Trip to Donegal’ Regular form of the poem contrasts with the chaotic feelings the poet stresses in the final stanza (5 stanzas, 6 lines, aabbcc) Poem deals with poet’s sense of alienation – psychological and spiritual . Imagination clearly at work in the poem Vivid, sensuous imagery throughout

2. ‘As ever, the nearby hills were a deeper green/Than anywhere in the world’ Idealised sense of place – rural, coastal beauty spot Alliteration – repetition of harsh ‘g’ helps to alter mood ‘grave’, ‘grey’ and ‘grimmer’ Hint at a darker vision. Alters the atmosphere

3. ‘And still the fish come in year after year – Herring and mackerel, flopping about the deck/In attitudes of agony and heartbreak’ Suggestions of pain and death add to the atmosphere of underlying unease set up in the first stanza ‘we changed-down into suburbs/Sunk in a sleep no gale-force wind disturbs’ Difference is highlighted between life in Donegal and Belfast.

4. Alliteration – repetition of soft ‘s’ ‘That night the slow sea washed against my head’ We are plunged into the terrifying world of the subconscious. We can almost hear the sound of the sea and its power ‘Performing its immeasurable erosions...muttering its threat ‘spilling into the skull’ Onomatopoeia The poet is anxious Images of the sea are blended with the experience of dreaming. Conveys the surreal, frigthening atmosphere of dreams

5. ‘At dawn I was alone far out at sea...no promise of rescue’ Alienation – psychological and spiritual Metaphor ‘cursing my constant failure...contriving vain overtures to the vindictive wind and rain Utterly intense atmosphere. Elements of nature symbols of obstacles in life- death,loss Ordinary ‘trip’ has forced him to face his deepest fears Symbols