'The Runaway Slave at Pilgrim's Point', by Elizabeth Barrett Browning, is a dramatic monologue spoken in the voice of a slave in leak. Browning was an abolitionist. In this poem, Browning departs from traditional values ​​of motherhood and creates a narrative in which the speaker kills her child, who is a product of this oppressive system. The narrator of this poem recounts the details and circumstances in which she murders her child; the speaker shows how slavery dehumanized her and deprived her of her maternal instincts. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay The narrator's tone imbues an overwhelming sense of unease and strangeness in stanza XIX. The structure of the stanza reveals flaws in this mother-child relationship. First, the rhyme scheme of this stanza, ababcdb, is irregular. Although the first four lines have an alternating rhyme scheme, line 131 ends with the word "mother" while line 132 ends with the word "child".[1] The two words do not rhyme and therefore create an uneven flow to the stanza. There is something unique about the narrator's relationship with her child, but up to and including the phrase "little feet" (128), the nature of the relationship is unclear. The emphasis on the baby's feet and the adjective "small" is a generic and common description a mother may use about her child; however, the next sentence, “it never grew”; (128) creates an alarm and hints at the baby's fate. A semicolon is attached to the end of this sentence, which, according to The Poetry Handbook, is "an intermediate stop" and provides a way to change the subject.[2] The narrator foreshadows but does not develop the brief premonition. The speaker says the baby “beat with his head and his feet, / His little feet that never grew; / He crossed them out, as he should have” (127-129). Consonance pierces these lines – the “t” sound is repeated often – forcing readers to enunciate each word carefully. Therefore, even though the phrase "never grew up" contains only two words, the narrator ensures that it is not overlooked. The meter here generates a regular beat, as it is dominated by the iambs. This creates a steady rhythm, which is juxtaposed with the unevenness of the rhyme scheme. The line “He scratched them, as he had to” (129) is in iambic, and this song-like rhythm contributes to the eerie mood. She uses the phrase “like a mother — /” (131) followed by a hyphen and a line break. The combination of the punctuation mark and the specific lineation shows his inability to complete his thought. The speaker seems preoccupied with the word “mother” and takes time to regain her speech. While the narrator stresses the second and fourth syllables in the first half of “I could have sung,” she stresses the first and third syllables in the following phrase “like a mother” (131), which reverses the iambic meter. The notable change from iambic meter to trochee creates additional friction within the stanza. The idea that the word “mother” distracts the narrator generates discomfort. [1] All quotes in this essay are from the poem “The Fugitive Slave at Pilgrim's Point” by Elizabeth Barrett Browning. [2] J. Lennard, “Punctuation,” in Poetry Handbook: A Guide to Reading Poetry for Pleasure and Practical Criticism, John Lennard (Oxford, England: Oxford University Press, 2005), 115-116. In stanza XX, readers observe the event that makes the narrator angry. When the speaker “closes the scarf”; (134) she moves the blanket that covers the child. She and the child “look at each other” (139) tothe first time in the passage. The colon, located after the word “close” (134), represents “the second heaviest stop”.[1] The colon connects the line to importance and is significant because it serves as a warning signal to the reader. She sees the baby's face when she moves the scarf. Commas – or short pauses – permeate the sentence: “So he is more alive than now” (136). The narrator also changes the tense of the verb in this line, as she moves from past to present. The word “then” indicates the past, while the phrase “now he does it” indicates the present. The speaker goes off on a tangent and becomes distracted. Her mind wanders to the baby's current state, again warning readers of her tragic fate. The short question “where?” (137) is a description of his original story, but it is poignant and captures more of the reader's attention. The dash before the question indicates her temporary distraction, as she moves from recounting details to wholeheartedly expressing her concerns by asking a question. Still speaking in the present tense, she exclaims: “Shut up! » (138). The narrator returns to reality, illustrated by the use of the exclamation point, and returns to her monologue in the past tense. There is a line break after the phrase “the child and the mother” (138) and she states that they “are wrong to look at each other” (139). The main bond between a child and its mother is their mutual gaze, so the qualms the narrator feels when she looks at her baby is disturbing. At this point, the relationship between a child and his slave mother deviates from traditional Victorian family relationships. The line break after “a child and a mother” (138) amplifies the contrast between the narrator's relationship with her son and the relationship of a free woman with her child. The words “black” and “fair” are emphasized in the meter of the last line, “When one is black and one is fair” (140). The narrator's child is at the center of the conflict between slaves and masters. The emphasis on the words “black” and “righteous” highlights his frustration with the difference between the two populations: the slaves are bound by servitude while the masters are free. [3] See Lennard, the Poetry Handbook, 115. The narrator exhibits various emotions in stanza XXI. She uses the possessive noun in the expression “the face of my child” (142). This is the first time in the passage where she directly acknowledges that the baby is her child, allowing the reader to perceive a visceral emotion of the maternal bond between a child and a mother, regardless of race. This actually amplifies the horror of infanticide. The narrator expresses her emotions through punctuation. The speaker says, “I tell you everything” (142), followed by a hyphen and a line break. Characteristic of the rest of the poem, she has to push herself to get through the most difficult part. She fights against the need to forget or not disclose information, manifested by the intensive use of punctuation. She uses commas and compounds it with hyphens in this sentence, signifying her hesitation. She emphasizes the word “master” in “master’s gaze” (144). The italics emphasize the narrator's sharp and bitter intonation. His anger towards his master is manifested by the multiplication of pauses. Caesuras allow the speaker to breathe and calm down before continuing. The narrator says: “the master's gaze, which fell/On my soul like his whip... or worse! — / » (144-145). She buys time to think about the “worst” things the master has done by using ellipses after the word “whip.” The exclamation point confirms his acrimonious spirit. The enjambment between the line break "to save him from my curse / I wrapped him in my shawl" (146-147) contrasts with the lack of fluidity of the rest of the, 2005.