'Her voice, singing, Baked in a land of brown, black and purple. Light, milk coffee clouds; Dark, cook chocolate shadows; Sparkle Stabs of Sugared Violet.
Ohne Zucker Bitte. Kein Kandis."
This 7 line poem, by Daniel Sumption, inspired by a song about treacle ( a sugar-based oleaginous comestible used especially in baking and desserts) speaks in the first line of a female voice singing, which reminds the narrator of colours, perhaps reminiscent of sweet times evoked by pleasant foods.
In the second line, there is an allusion to baking, or perhaps of distant lands; the colours (of her voice) are of cakes and sweet things, or distant remembered landscapes, topped by light, milky clouds.
The fourth line contrasts the lightness of the third with a darker motive: strong alliteration in 'cook chocolate' and a hint of assonance between 'chocolate' and 'shadow' further empower the metaphor. There's an almost tabloid-esque triple alliteration in 'Sparkle Stabs of Sugared Violet' to further home the empathy the author feels with the voice, singing so sweetly.
Only in the last two lines does the author add a mischievous contrasting twist: 'Ohne Zucker Bitte.' (One sugar, please ), and an alliterative contradictory voiceless velar plosive in the last line: ' Kein Kandis (No sugar.)
The poem could perhaps be a reminisce, a longing for welcoming domestic pleasures; the warm scent of baking, and the promise of pleasant, homely times.
Susan Schofield
1st Year OU Arts Student: Y160- 'Making Sense of the Arts' BA(Hons) English Lit.
dansumption
· 5 months ago
Very good, but "ohne" means without, not "one" - I feel this fundamentally undermines your analysis.
Also, I seem to remember that I spent ages dithering over "cooking chocolate" vs "cook's chocolate", before settling on "cook chocolate".
2009/7/1 Disqus <>:
Dan
· 5 months ago
Very good, but "ohne" means without, not "one" - I feel this fundamentally undermines your analysis.
Also, I seem to remember that I spent ages dithering over "cooking chocolate" vs "cook's chocolate", before settling on "cook chocolate".
Suz
· 5 months ago
Yes, my 'ohne' translation cocks it right up, innit? English Lit, not German Lit. :-)
Should now read: alliterative voiceless velar plosive
You could hyphenate 'cook-chocolate' to avoid the intrusion of an implied or ambiguous possessive, or leave it as is for interesting mystery; Cooking Chocolate? The Cook's Chocolate? Hmmm.
Anyway. Jolly nice,
sue
Boutique Hotels Sydney
· 5 months ago
What a thought "Dar, cook choclate shadow" . It can loose the heart of anyone.
dansumption
· 5 months ago
Hmm, seems I'm being invaded by interesting spam-bots. It's enough to loose [sic] my heart.
All Comments
Baked in a land of brown, black and purple.
Light, milk coffee clouds;
Dark, cook chocolate shadows;
Sparkle Stabs of Sugared Violet.
Ohne Zucker Bitte.
Kein Kandis."
This 7 line poem, by Daniel Sumption, inspired by a song about treacle ( a sugar-based oleaginous comestible used especially in baking and desserts) speaks in the first line of a female voice singing, which reminds the narrator of colours, perhaps reminiscent of sweet times evoked by pleasant foods.
In the second line, there is an allusion to baking, or perhaps of distant lands; the colours (of her voice) are of cakes and sweet things, or distant remembered landscapes, topped by light, milky clouds.
The fourth line contrasts the lightness of the third with a darker motive: strong alliteration in 'cook chocolate' and a hint of assonance between 'chocolate' and 'shadow' further empower the metaphor. There's an almost tabloid-esque triple alliteration in 'Sparkle Stabs of Sugared Violet' to further home the empathy the author feels with the voice, singing so sweetly.
Only in the last two lines does the author add a mischievous contrasting twist: 'Ohne Zucker Bitte.' (One sugar, please ), and an alliterative contradictory voiceless velar plosive in the last line: ' Kein Kandis (No sugar.)
The poem could perhaps be a reminisce, a longing for welcoming domestic pleasures; the warm scent of baking, and the promise of pleasant, homely times.
Susan Schofield
1st Year OU Arts Student: Y160- 'Making Sense of the Arts' BA(Hons) English Lit.
fundamentally undermines your analysis.
Also, I seem to remember that I spent ages dithering over "cooking
chocolate" vs "cook's chocolate", before settling on "cook chocolate".
2009/7/1 Disqus <>:
fundamentally undermines your analysis.
Also, I seem to remember that I spent ages dithering over "cooking
chocolate" vs "cook's chocolate", before settling on "cook chocolate".
Should now read: alliterative voiceless velar plosive
You could hyphenate 'cook-chocolate' to avoid the intrusion of an implied or ambiguous possessive, or leave it as is for interesting mystery; Cooking Chocolate? The Cook's Chocolate? Hmmm.
Anyway. Jolly nice,
sue
It can loose the heart of anyone.