In-depth analysis of the poem Hard to find. This document consists of 4 resources compiled into one. All the important notes are labeled to make the summary as short as possible for easy learning.
Title: Hard to find
Summary: The speaker struggles to find the right words to express how her heart feels
Analysis:
Stanza 1: The speaker describes how words sometimes come freely
1 Words are everywhere Meaning: The speaker highlights the abundance of words
Hyperbole: Words are all over
2 daily One word line: To emphasize the availability of words every day
3 we read them, and they fly out Fly out:
- Words fly out when the speaker is "provoked"/ feels emotional
- They leave / escape.
4 like nobody's business when we are Provoked:
provoked… - To deliberately stir up a feeling.
- In context: Words fly out quickly without thought.
Like nobody's business:
- The words can’t be controlled.
- They fly out of the mouth very quickly.
Ellipsis:
- Stresses the difficulty / frustration that the speaker
experiences when words can’t come out
- The ellipsis shows that the conversation has not been
resolved / the words that flies out of the poet’s mouth.
- The words have not been found.
Stanza 2: Words may come easily, but the right ones not
5 but there's always something hard to Solitary line:
understand… - The speaker is highlighting the theme of the poem - it's
impossible to understand why words that should give
meaning are hard to find.
But:
- Volta: change in tone
- Shows her dilemma – words may come easily but the right
words are hard to find
Ellipsis:
- Shows that she cannot find the words.
- The line, like the meaning she is seeking, is open-ended
Irony:
- Words may come easily but the right words are hard to find
Stanza 3: Emphasizes just how difficult it is to understand why the exact words are hard to think of.
6 they are hard to find Meaning: She can’t find the correct words to express herself.
7 when they are needed by the heart; Needed:
- Something is essential
- Not want – she does not desire but needs
Personification ‘needed by the heart’:
- The words are needed the heart in order for it to be
understood
8 when the heart feels, Personification ‘heart’:
- The heart is given human quality of feeling
9 words hide like they are not part of life. Personification ‘hide’: The words hide when they are needed.
Not part of life:
- The speaker feels that the words are unable to properly
explain her life.
- They separate her from her own understanding of her life.
Simile: Words are like people not wanting to be found.
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