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Enemies

Elizabeth Jennings (1926-2001) was an English poet known for her plainspoken and objective style, often reflecting her Roman Catholic faith and personal experiences. Her notable works include 'Recoveries' and 'The Mind Has Mountains,' which explore themes of mental health and personal struggle. The poem 'Enemies' depicts the unsettling arrival of strangers in a city, highlighting themes of fear and mistrust among the inhabitants.

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120 views5 pages

Enemies

Elizabeth Jennings (1926-2001) was an English poet known for her plainspoken and objective style, often reflecting her Roman Catholic faith and personal experiences. Her notable works include 'Recoveries' and 'The Mind Has Mountains,' which explore themes of mental health and personal struggle. The poem 'Enemies' depicts the unsettling arrival of strangers in a city, highlighting themes of fear and mistrust among the inhabitants.

Uploaded by

reply2praju
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd

Enemies Elizabeth Jennings.

Elizabeth Jennings (1926-2001) was born in Boston,


Lincolnshire but moved to Oxford at the age of six where she
lived for the rest of her life.

Elizabeth was an English poet whose works relate intensely


personal matters in a plainspoken, traditional, and objective
style. Her verse frequently reflects her devout
Roman Catholicism and her love of Italy.

Some of the best of her later poems concern her nervous


breakdown and its aftermath, such as those collected
in Recoveries (1964) and The Mind Has Mountains (1966).
Other works include The Animals’ Arrival (1969), Extending
the Territory (1985), and Familiar Spirits (1994).
Literary Devices
•Extended metaphor – A metaphor that continues throughout a passage or an entire literary work, developing a complex
comparison.
•Parallelism – The repetition of similar grammatical structures or patterns in a sentence or series of
sentences to create rhythm and emphasis.
•Enjambment – The continuation of a sentence or phrase beyond the end of a line of poetry without a pause or punctuation.
•Sibilance – The repetition of 's' or 'sh' sounds in words to create a hissing effect, often used for mood or emphasis.
•Allegory – A narrative or work of art that conveys a hidden meaning, typically moral, political, or philosophical, through
symbolic characters and events.
•Anaphora – The deliberate repetition of the first part of a sentence or clause for rhetorical effect and emphasis.
•Repetition – The intentional reuse of words or phrases to emphasize an idea or create a rhythmic effect.
•Dysphemism – The use of harsh or offensive language to convey a negative or derogatory meaning in place of a neutral or
positive term.
Enemies
Last night they came across the river and
Entered the city. Women were awake
With lights and food. They entertained the band,
Not asking what the men had come to take
Or what strange tongue they spoke
Or why they came so suddenly through the land
Now in the morning all the town is filled
With stories of the swift and dark invasion;
The women say that not one stranger told
A reason for his coming. The intrusion
Was not for devastation:
Peace is apparent still on hearth and field.
Yet all the city is a haunted place.
Man meeting man speaks cautiously. Old friends
Close up the candid looks upon their face.
There is no warmth in hands accepting hands;
Each ponders, 'Better hide myself in case
Those strangers have set up their homes in minds
I used to walk in. Better draw the blinds
Even if the strangers haunt in my own house'.

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