Amanda
STANZA 1 :
Don’t bite your nails, Amanda!
Don’t hunch your shoulders, Amanda!
Stop that slouching and sit up straight,
Amanda!
(There is a languid, emerald sea,
where the sole inhabitant is me—
a mermaid, drifting blissfully.)
Word meaning :
Hunch: bend
Slouching: sitting in a lazy way
Languid: relaxed
Emerald: here, green color
Inhabitant: resident
Drifting: carried slowly by the water
Explanation of the poem passage above: The poet is describing Amanda, a little girl who is
always pointed out by her mother for her mistakes and how she imagines her life to be. The poet
says that the mother is pointing out Amanda for biting nails which is a bad habit. Next she asks
her to sit straight without bending her shoulders. Amanda who has habit of bending her shoulders
and sitting lazily is being pointed out because her mother wants her to sit in the right posture. At
this point of time, when she is being scolded by her mother, she imagines herself to be in a deep
green sea. She says that she wants to be the only resident of this beautiful green sea. She
imagines herself like a mermaid who is alone there and leads her life in a very relaxing way. She
says that she wants to be carried away by the current of water and feel the relaxing environment
there.
Poetic devices:
Anaphora: Repeated use of a word at start of two or more lines (don’t bite… don’t hunch)
Assonance: use of vowel sound ‘o’ (don’t hunch your shoulders)
Rhyme: aaba ccc (Amanda, Amanda, straight, Amanda, sea, me, blissfully)
Metaphor: use of word emerald sea for green colour of sea being similar to the colour of emrald
Imagery: drifting blissfully
Alliteration: ‘Stop that slouching and sit up straight’ – ‘s’ sound is being repeated at the start of
closely placed words.
STANZA 2 :
Did you finish your homework, Amanda?
Did you tidy your room, Amanda?
I thought I told you to clean your shoes,
Amanda!
(I am an orphan, roaming the street.
I pattern soft dust with my hushed, bare feet.
The silence is golden, the freedom is sweet.)
Word meaning :
Orphan: A child whose parents are dead
Hushed: quiet and still place
Explanation of the poem passage above: Here the poet says that Amanda’s mother is inquiring
her about whether she has done her homework or not? And then she asks her whether she has
cleaned her room or not. Moreover she is also reminded to clean her shoes. So, here we can see
that the mother is constantly asking her questions regarding her homework being done or not or
whether she had cleaned up her room and shoes or not. But on the other hand, while Amanda is
listening to her mother’s instructions, she imagines herself to be an orphan who is roaming in the
streets. This means that she imagines if she would have been without parents she would have
walked freely in the streets. She would have drawn designs on the soft dust with her uncovered
feet very quietly. So, we can see that she thinks opposite to her mother. Her mother wants her to
keep everything neat and clean. But Amanda wants to play in dust with her bare feet. Moreover,
she is so fed up of these constant instructions from her mother, that she says silence is golden
which means that silence is very crucial and precious. She further says that freedom is sweet.
This means she never feels free when she is with her mother.
POETIC DEVICE :
Anaphora: Repeated use of a word at start of two or more lines (did you finish….did you tidy)
Rhyme: Rhyme scheme is aada eee (Amanda, Amanda, shoes, Amanda, street, feet, sweet)
Assonance: use of vowel sound ‘o’ (Thought, told, you, your, shoes)
Repetition: use of word ‘Amanda’
Metaphor: silence is golden – silence is said to be glorious like golden colour
freedom is sweet – freedom is said to be sweet in taste.
STANZA 3 :
Don’t eat that chocolate, Amanda!
Remember your acne, Amanda!
Will you please look at me when I’m speaking to you,
Amanda!
(I am Rapunzel; I have not a care;
life in a tower is tranquil and rare;
I’ll certainly never let down my bright hair!)
Word meaning :
Acne: Pimples
Rapunzel: A girl in the fairy tale by Brothers Grimm
Tranquil: calm, quiet
Rare: uncommon
Explanation of the poem passage above: Next, Amanda’s mother is disallowing her to eat
chocolates. She reminds her of pimples that Amanda faces due to eating chocolates. At last she
scolds her for not paying attention to what her mother says. At this moment Amanda imagines
herself to be Rapunzel. Rapunzel was a character from a fairy tale that was captured in tower by
a witch. The witch used to climb the tower with the help of long hair of Rapunzel that were let
down by her through the window. So, now Amanda wants to be Rapunzel because she feels that
life in the tower will be peaceful and unusual. She thinks she will be free and live in a peaceful
environment in the tower. She also confirms to herself that she will never let her hair down to
anyone so that nobody could come to her in the tower.
Poetic devices:
Rhyme: rhyme scheme aafa ggg (Amanda, Amanda, you, Amanda, care, rare, hair)
Assonance: use of vowel sound ‘e’ and ‘o’ (Will you please look at me when I’m speaking to
you
STANZA 4:
Stop that sulking at once, Amanda!
You’re always so moody, Amanda!
Anyone would think that I nagged at you,
Amanda!
Word meaning:
Sulking: be in a bad mood
Moody: unstable
Nagged: harass
Explanation of the poem passage above: Amanda’s mother now warns her for behaving in a very
odd manner. She asks her to stop being in a bad mood. Moreover she blames her of having such
an unstable mood. She also scolds her by saying that her behavior will one day make people
think that Amanda was constantly being harassed by her mother. So, here we can say that though
Amanda is always pointed out by her mother on every small thing but she can’t react to this. If
she reacts towards this by getting emotional her mother takes this against her sense of pride and
scolds her that she should not behave like this as others would think that Amanda’s mother is
very dominating towards her child.
Literary Devices:
Alliteration: ‘Stop that sulking’ – ‘s’ sound is repeated at the start of closely placed words
Repetition: use of word ‘Amanda’
Rhyme scheme: aaha (Amanda, Amanda, you, Amanda)
