WAEC Literature in English 2021 Theory — Question 21

Model answer

Points to develop: relation to theme; use of alliteration; use of repetition; use of assonance; cumulative effect of the use of the devices. In 'Binsey Poplars', the poet decries the destruction of nature through the felling of trees, using alliteration, repetition, and assonance to demonstrate nature's role in human affairs. Alliteration occurs across the poem, e.g. 'k' and 'l' in 'whose airy cages/quelled or quenched in leaves the leaping sun', and 's', 'd', 'w' sounds in 'That dandled a sandaled/Shadow that swam or sank... wind-wandering, weed-winding bank'; most sounds alliterated are voiceless/soft, conveying empathy and reinforcing the delicate, great loss of nature's destruction. Repetition (deliberate duplication of words for emphasis) occurs throughout, e.g. 'all felled, felled, are all felled', 'delve or hew'/'hew or delve', 'quelled/quelled', 'ten or twelve, only ten or twelve' — emphasizing and intensifying the point of loss and the destruction taking place. Assonance (repetition of identical/similar vowel sounds) appears in words like 'quelled/quenched/mend/end/delve/selve' and 'leaves/leaping sun' — heightening the feeling of loss and adding musical quality. Cumulatively, these devices reinforce the poet's regret and draw attention to the harm being done to the trees by human extension.