Question

Read the excerpt from “The Bellman’s Speech”. Describe how the author’s choices in writing style and form create a narrative poem. Its habit of getting up late you'll agree That it carries too far, when I say That it frequently breakfasts at five-o'clock, tea, And dines on the following day

Answer 1

• In the excerpt from “The Bellman’s Speech”, the author uses alliteration, that is, the repetition of identical initial consonant sounds in successive or closely associated syllables within a group of words, and sometimes it can occur in those spelled differently. It is also called initial rhyme:

"That it carries too far, when I say

That it frequently breakfasts at five-o'clock"

• Moreover, the author uses enjambment to trick the reader or to encourage readers to continue thinking about the idea, which is expressed in one line, and then continues through to the next one. As in the whole excerpt:

"Its habit of getting up late you'll agree

That it carries too far, when I say

That it frequently breakfasts at five-o'clock tea

And dines on the following day"

• Enjambment in poetry occurs when a verse moves over from one line to another without a terminating punctuation mark. In other words, a line of poetry that does not finish at the line break, but moves over to the next one.

Answer 2

In the excerpt from "The Bellman's Speech," the author creates a narrative poem because it tells a story with a beginning, middle and end, written in verse, with characters and with a first person point of view. Narrative poetry does not always rhyme, and it may also be long or short. An example of narrative poetry is "The Canterbury Tales," by Geoffrey Chaucer. In the passage, the narrator refers to the act of getting up late.