1. ‘They brought him in on a stretcher from the world/Wounded but humorous’
Indicates the difficult working life he had before he retired. Connotations of violence – resilient character
Assonance – repeated ‘u’ sound helps to reflect the facial expression to go with the pain

2. ‘boiler-rooms, row upon row of gantries rolled/
Alliteration – cleverly interlinks the two aspects of his past
‘boiler-rooms, row upon row of gantries rolled/
Away to reveal the landscape of a childhood/
Only he can recapture
Helps to visualise the bleak, confined industrial landscape of the Belfast shipyard. Leaves his recent memories behind and re-enters his childhood deliberately
Assonance – ‘o’ sound echoes the wonder of the shipyard

3. Metaphorical language
‘discreetly up to no good/Or banging round the house like a four-year-old’
Mahon paints a humorous, personal
picture of his grandfather.
Childlike
‘Each night/His shrewd eyes bolt the door and set the clock/Against the future’
Portrait changes. Adds to the sense of mystery surrounding him. His eyes reveal to the poet his private dread about the future.
Metaphorical language

4. ‘then his light goes out’
‘Nothing escapes him; he escapes us all’
The poet remains proud of his grandfather, still remains a mystery, an enigma
‘discreetly up to no good’, ‘his shrewd eyes’, ‘cute’, humorous’
‘then his light goes out’
Nuance of the death that awaits his aging grandfather
A vivid, humane portrait of his grandfather painted for us throughout. Mischievous, enigmatic character. Colloquial terms-good effect

5. Sound effects Alliteration Rhyming Assonance
‘Boiler-rooms, row upon row of gantries rolled away to reveal...recapture’
Cleverly interlinks the two parts of the grandfather’s past: his work and his childhood
Assonance
Rhyming
Note the ‘u’ and ‘o’ sounds repeated:
‘wounded but humourous’
‘bolier-rooms, row upon row of gantries rolled’
Sounds are revealing. ‘u’ sound makes the facial expression to go with the pain. ‘o’ sound echoes the wonder of the impressive scene of the shipyard
Irregular rhyming pattern – slight irregularities suit the subject matter
Long distance rhyming – ‘landscape’ (L.4) ‘escape’ (last line) – cleverness

6. Alliteration & assonance contribute to the unique, indefinable portrait he builds of his GF
Irregular rhyme
pattern-suits
subject matter
‘Grandfather’
Sonnet in which we are exposed to a man who becomes an enigma both to Mahon and the reader.
Not strict form, gives it natural feeling with run on lines and simple everyday words - conversational language
Personal poem. Expresses his memories of GF’s retirement years through affectionate & humane portrait
Examines issue of passage of time and denial of the inevitability of death – universal relevance