Colour Analysis

Colour – Dorethea Mackellar

This poem is about a girl who never really saw true colour before, however she catches a glimpse of colour and will never let it go. Throughout this poem she goes onto explain how colour is in the world around you. “The lovely things that I have watched unthinking unknowing day by day………. that will not pass away,” shows the change the girl went through and how she was oblivious as to what she was missing.

The purpose of this poem is to show how wonderful the world around us and colour is. Another purpose of this poem is to show the change in people can also influence they look at the world. “Who gave this gift of colour, which who shall seek shall find,” shows that only those who seek to change will change.

The emotion of this poem portrays is wonder and loving. It makes the reader feel happy and in awe of what is actually around us. “That their soft dyes have seeped my soul in colour,” makes the reader feel slightly sad at what the person has missed for so long yet happy and glad that she has found colour.

This is an eight free verse stanza construction. There are no real interesting features that influence the structure of this poem. Enjambments’ and commas allow for the flow of words. The poet’s choices of words are enticing yet accurate. Words and phrases such as hillsides golden-green and soothed eyes are examples of how the word choice and descriptiveness of these words and phrases create image and rhythm that contribute to show how wonderful and colourful the world we live in is. The image presented in this poem change in each stanza; however each image relates to the next one through colours, gems and landscapes. “Almond trees in bloom and oleanders, or a wide purple sea,” shows that different colours relate to different scenery, showing that the world is colourful and changes in texture and appearance from a trees and flowers to the vast ocean. Rhythm in this poem makes the poem slow, floating and enticing. The rhythm does not change throughout this poem and by not changing the rhythm it completes the style of the poem. The slow movement of the poem adds to the scene and theme. Although alliteration is present in this poem it does not influence the theme or mood of this poem.

In summary this poem is well constructed and portrays a message which other poets have tried to compose but have never been able to accomplish what this poet has. This poem has achieved what the poet aimed to achieve, which was to portray that the world is wonderful and full of colour but if you don’t open your eyes you’re never going to see what god made for you.

Analysis of "Variations Of The Word Love"

The experience that this poem describes is the word love and the different forms it takes. From the love of a mother cooking their child a meal "you can cook with it to" to the soldiers love for their country "Love! Love! sing the soldiers, raising their glittering knives in salute."


The themes and messages the poet is trying to portray through this poem are different types of love. There is the dedication of people in love and how much they love each other, and take the step to marriage "Add lace and you can sell love". You can give your love to your partner. The willingness of falling in love but the fear of getting rejected or heart is a chance you take in the name of love. It shows that although some people are ready to dedicate themselves to one another, others are struggling to decided whether to fall in love or not. Other forms of love include, love of the environment, love between two people, and love of your country. These different types of love show that we should love everything and that love comes in many different forms.


The most prominent feeling in this poem is love. As it explains and enhances the different loves and in turn makes you feel love for those things. Another emotion/feeling the reader feels whilst reading this poem is sadness. An example of this is "you can hold on or let go".


This poem consists of two stanzas and is a free verse poem. Enjambment is used throughout the piece causes pauses which add to the flow, pronunciation and rhythm of this piece.


The poets choice of words is descriptive and captivating. "its single vowel in this metallic silence." Is a good example of this as it uses descriptive words and interesting phrases. Some of her word choices are very plain as well, "Then there is the two of us" yet it manages to capture our attention even more successfully than the previous quote.


There is a lot of imagery in this poem. Each line produces its own special picture and meaning and with the cmpletion of the stanzas and then the poem it makes a unique and lovely image. "you can hold on or let go" is a use of imagery as you can imagine two people holding each others hands whilst they are drifting apart.

This poem contains a lot of aspects; mainly consisting of imagery and language. It is about the love of everything in the world, for each being and the love for each other. It is well constructed peom that captures the essence of true love.