Cold Knap Lake

Structure
• 1st and 3rd stanzas are 4 lines, and the 2nd and 4th stanzas are 6 lines, concluded by the
2 lined 7th stanza
- Reflects what the poem says about memory- the main points are fixed but the
details are looser
• Half rhymes are used throughout poem “crowd...dead” and the last stanza has a full
rhyme to conclude the poem

Language
• Title
ois a real lake, “cold” is something we associate with fear and death, ideas explored in
the poem
• Suggest vagueness of memory
oCrowd...child”
- Characters are anonymous- we know little about them- they are strangers to us, as
they are to Clarke
• Dramatic language
o“a drowned child...she lay for dead”
- The opening of the poem is abrupt and straight to the point- we are not prepared
for the resuscitation of the child, we just think she is already dead.
- This is a dramatic way of showing how everyone else there felt
• Beautiful/ vivid description
o“blue lipped and dressed in water’s long green silk”
- This metaphor gives us a vivid image of the girl as she wakes up. The water’s long
green silk almost makes her sound like an enchanted creature of the water- like a
mermaid
o“troubled surface...dipped fingers of willows...heavy webs of swans”
- This creates a magical, enchanted sort of atmosphere, transporting us back to our
youth, where there were fairy tales and memories/beliefs in magic
o“heroine...wartime cotton frock”
- She can remember her mother most clearly as she is the only person there that
wasn’t a stranger and is a main part of the activity
• Loose memories
o“all lost things lie under closing water”
- Lost things could be our memories that eventually fade until they are lost
- Verb “lie” may refer to the tricks our memories play on us and make us ask whether
this is a memory or our imagination

Themes
• Parallels with a fairy story
oMiraculous rescue, a heroine, a poor family
- This makes it seem as if all children see everything as innocent and good, and
reflect everything back to the stories they hear or their vivid imagination of magic
and enchantment in the world
o “Troubled surface something else...?”
- May be the surface of the lake/ her uncertain memory/ but also the magic mirror in
fairy tales
• Religious scene
o“kneeling on the earth...red head bowed...gave a strangers child her breath”
- Makes the whole scene sound so much richer, as the mother gave her breath,
something of herself to her stranger
- it highlights how highly she thought of her mother (as people look to god) and her
admiration of her selflessness
Imagery
• Colour
oMother had “red” hair, which is something we associate with blood and life
oContrasts with “blue-lipped” girl
oThen the child became “rosy”, suggesting she had more energy and life in her than
before
• Personification
o“dipped fingers of willows”
- Like an idea form a fairy tale, that the trees are alive

Sound
• Sibilance
o“Webs of swans as their wings...”
- S sound imitate the sounds of swans in flight