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BIRDSHOOTING SEASON
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Olive Senior is the award-winning author of eighteen books of fiction, non-fiction, poetry, children’s literature, and other published works. Her many awards include Canada’s Writers Trust Matt Cohen Award for Lifetime Achievement, the OCM Bocas Prize for Caribbean Literature, the Commonwealth Writers Prize, an honorary doctorate from the University of the West Indies, and the Gold Medal of the Institute of Jamaica. (more)
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LITERAL MEANING
Hunters gather at the persona's house during bird hunting season. The persona explains that the men become very attached to their guns and indulge in a ritual that promotes male bonding and machismo, ie drinking. The women, on the other hand, perform domestic tasks (www.bulbsoup.com) that prepare the men for the birdshooting season. The men leave early in the morning and the children watch them go. The little boys long to become bird hunters, while the little girls wish that the birds would escape.
Hunters gather at the persona's house during bird hunting season. The persona explains that the men become very attached to their guns and indulge in a ritual that promotes male bonding and machismo, ie drinking. The women, on the other hand, perform domestic tasks (www.bulbsoup.com) that prepare the men for the birdshooting season. The men leave early in the morning and the children watch them go. The little boys long to become bird hunters, while the little girls wish that the birds would escape.
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Birdshooting season the 2. men
make marriages with their guns 1. My father's house turns macho as from far the hunters gather 5 All night long 3. contentless women 4. stir their brews: hot coffee chocolata, cerassie wrap pone and tie leaf 10 for tomorrow's sport. 5. Tonight the men drink white rum neat. In darkness shouldering their packs, their guns, they leave We stand quietly on the 15 doorstep shivering. 6. Little boys longing to grow up birdhunters too Little girls whispering: Fly birds fly. Poet: Olive Senior |
LITERARY DEVICE
1. PERSONIFICATION
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DEFINITIONS: LITERARY DEVICES
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TABLE: LITERARY DEVICES
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IMPORTANT WORDS/ PHRASES
2. 'men make marriages with their guns' (Stanza 1, lines 2-3)
This expression means that the men literally become very attached to their guns. Marriage is a union where two people cleave to each other, therefore, the men cleave to their guns. It is constantly with them.
3. 'contentless women' (Stanza 2, line 5)
The word content means to be in a state of peaceful happiness. Therefore, to be contentless means to be utterly miserable. So, the women were not pleased with the fact that they had been displaced.
4. 'stir their brews: hot coffee chocolata, cerassie wrap pone and tie leaf' (Stanza 2. lines 6-8)
This shows the chores that the women have to perform in order to prepare the men for birdshooting season.
5. 'Tonight the men drink white rum neat' (Stanza 2. lines 10-11)
This highlights the fact that the men drink white rum at room temperature and undiluted. White room is a very strong and potent drink, so if you can drink it neat, you are (www.bulbsoup.com) either a 'rum head' aka alcoholic or you can 'hol' your liquor', aka possess a high tolerance for alcohol. The implication is that this is a 'pre-sport' that the men indulge in, with the aim being to prove one's masculinity.
6. 'Little boys longing to grow up birdhunters too Little birds whispering fly birds fly' (Stanza 3, lines 15-18)
This highlights a contrast in how birdshooting is viewed. The girls want the birds to be free and safe, while the boys want to emulate the men and become birdhunters too.
2. 'men make marriages with their guns' (Stanza 1, lines 2-3)
This expression means that the men literally become very attached to their guns. Marriage is a union where two people cleave to each other, therefore, the men cleave to their guns. It is constantly with them.
3. 'contentless women' (Stanza 2, line 5)
The word content means to be in a state of peaceful happiness. Therefore, to be contentless means to be utterly miserable. So, the women were not pleased with the fact that they had been displaced.
4. 'stir their brews: hot coffee chocolata, cerassie wrap pone and tie leaf' (Stanza 2. lines 6-8)
This shows the chores that the women have to perform in order to prepare the men for birdshooting season.
5. 'Tonight the men drink white rum neat' (Stanza 2. lines 10-11)
This highlights the fact that the men drink white rum at room temperature and undiluted. White room is a very strong and potent drink, so if you can drink it neat, you are (www.bulbsoup.com) either a 'rum head' aka alcoholic or you can 'hol' your liquor', aka possess a high tolerance for alcohol. The implication is that this is a 'pre-sport' that the men indulge in, with the aim being to prove one's masculinity.
6. 'Little boys longing to grow up birdhunters too Little birds whispering fly birds fly' (Stanza 3, lines 15-18)
This highlights a contrast in how birdshooting is viewed. The girls want the birds to be free and safe, while the boys want to emulate the men and become birdhunters too.
THEMATIC CATEGORY: Nature, Childhood Innocence, Women in Society, Love and Family Relationship.
ATMOSPHERE
The tone of the poem is reflective. The persona is reporting on the storm.
The mood of the poem is calm. The persona is calmly remembering a time in her life.
The tone of the poem is reflective. The persona is reporting on the storm.
The mood of the poem is calm. The persona is calmly remembering a time in her life.
Contributor: Leisa Samuels-Thomas
Shaun Thomas
Shaun Thomas
Senior, O. 'Birdshooting Season' in A World of Poetry. Edited by Mark McWatt and Hazel Simmonds McDonald. Pearson Education Ltd, 2005.
http://olivesenior.com/
http://olivesenior.com/
