By Allen Curnow

Born in Timaru, Christchurch in 1911, died in He was one of the most celebrated New Zealand poets. Attended University of Canterbury and Auckland In 1934, he found a job at the Auckland Star and started writing poems. Was very successful, receiving numerous famous awards, including the Order of New Zealand in Allen Curnow wished to answer questions that did not present themselves as public and answerable, but questions which are always private and unanswerable.

 Many images are used in the poem. Be sure to use them in your analysis of the poem. SIGHT SOUND SMELL FEELING

 Poem is in rhyming triplets, all three lines of each stanza rhyme.  Eg. Stanza 1: “pines”, “lines”, “signs”.  Eg Stanza 2: “Beach, teach, screech.  The consistent rhyme scheme perhaps shows that time is predictable (you know when certain events happen at a certain time) and stable. It is always with us.

 Personification: The whole poem is a personification of Time. Time is personified as having God like characteristics..”I am, you have heard it, the beginning and the End.”  Repetition: 'I am' Showing that Time feels it’s importance/ arrogance/ authority in the world we live in.  Alliteration: 'I, Time, call down, condense, confer.' Repetition of the “C” sound shows it’s dominance over all activities taking place.  Themes: Time, Nature, and Memory

 Metaphors: 'I, Time, am all these, yet these exist- Among my mountainous fabrics like a mist.' Time is saying it exists in everything that happens but these things like mist, do not hold the same permanence as time itself.  'I, more than your conscious carrier.' It is more important than our memories…

Stanza 1 I am the nor'west air nosing among the pines I am the water-race and the rust on railway lines I am the mileage recorded on yellow signs. ______________________________________________________________________________ - Associated with the past, isolation and peace. - “nosing” personifies air -Time is dynamic like the “water-race” -Static like the unused railway -The ‘mileage’ presents the idea of distance These images imply that time allows people to move through life and their destinations, though time itself is static like the mileage shown on the “yellow signs.” The first stanza presents a mysterious opening.

Stanza 2 I am dust, I am distance, I am lupins back of the beach I am the sums sole-charge teachers teach I am cows called to milking and the magpie's screech, _____________________________________________________________________________ - Rural association -Only line of the first 4 stanzas which has three “I am”s in one line -All three things contrast – dust, distance lupins showing the expansiveness of time - “sole-charge teachers” emphasizes the rural environment which time is lingering on in this stanza. Sole charge teachers are found in 8% of primary schools in NZ and they are usually rural schools with one class and one teacher. -The farm animals also add to the peaceful atmosphere. -Appeals to the senses with sight and sound -Again, thanks to time these events exist

Stanza 3 I am nine o'clock in the morning when the office is clean I am the slap of the belting and the smell of the machine I am the place in the park where the lovers are seen. _____________________________________________________________________________ - Urban Area -Mentions a specific time “nine o’clock in the morning” -Time marks the beginning of work in an ordinary office in society, allows love to occur, and allow humans to be productive at work. -Appeals to Sight, Sound and Smell.

Stanza 4 I am recurrent music the children hear I am level noises in the remembering ear I am the sawmill and the passionate second gear. _____________________________________________________________________________ -Time is at work when music is played – -Perhaps a driver is hurrying due to the existence of time, as he is changing to a high gear “passionate second gear” -Appeals strongly to the sense of sound

Stanza 5 I, Time, am all these, yet these exist Among my mountainous fabrics like a mist, So do they the measurable world resist. _____________________________________________________________________ - “ Yet these exist, among my mountainous fabrics like a mist” - Time is trying to say that everything that exists in the world is transient, temporary while time itself is everlasting. -This stanza hints that the world is measurable, whilst time itself is immeasurable and abstract. -We are the ones who resist time as there is often not enough time on our side to get things done. We are forced to confront the truth about time, that it is unstoppable.

Stanza 6 I, Time, call down, condense, confer, On the willing memory the shapes these were: I, more than your conscious carrier. ______________________________________________________________ Call down – reprimand, scold - request Condense - to become more compact, perhaps changing shape in this case Confer – to offer a gift Attempts to personalize time using this alliteration. Conscious Carrier -Heavy Consonance on ‘C’ and also breaks the rhyme -Time is more important than memories

Stanza 7 Am island, am sea, am father, farm, and friend, Though I am here all things my coming attend; I am, you have heard it, the Beginning and the End. ______________________________________________________________ Personalizes time by saying it is an -island, -sea, -father, -farm -friend. Concluding sentence – Time encompasses everything from the start to end; virtually everything is associated with time. Refers itself to God. “The beginning and the End”. It is there at the creation of the world and when the world ends. Perhaps sees itself as powerful and as omnipotent as God.

Time is ubiquitous, allows for memory and a force which is dynamic and passive at the same time. Time allows for the existence of everything, and if there was no dimension of time in the universe, nothing would exist.

 Individual work: Use the PPP structure (point, proof, pertinence)  How does the poet convey the concept of time in the poem? (Write at least one side of a foolscap paper.)  ( Look at the literary devices used such as alliteration, personification, metaphors, similes, repetition and other devices like rhythm, form) Does the poet personify time? Is time seen as an abstract concept or something concrete and tangible?)

Time  Try to define ‘Time’.  Share your definition with the rest of your table.  Compare findings—did you define ‘Time’ in a logical or scientific way, or did you use a more abstract method?  What different ways can you think of measuring the passage of time? Clocks Carbon dating, tree rings, rust, wrinkles….

 Each group will be given one stanza.  You have 20mins to discuss and explain the stanza and the poem as a whole.  First tell the class your group’s thoughts on the poem.  Then, each student in the group explains the stanza line by line.