Lecture notes
Patrick Kavanagh- A Christmas Childhood
- Institution
- CCEA
This is a comprehensive analysis of Kavanagh's A Christmas Childhood. It includes structural and linguistic analysis.
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A CHRISTMAS CHILDHOOD This is one of the more lyrical, positive euphoric poems of Kavanagh as he writes about his
childhood
The spiritual rebirth of Kavanagh characterises his euphoric writing
Kavanagh presents an idyllic view of his childhood Christmas
FORM AND STRUCTURE
The poem has a 2 part structure
Part 1: Looks back at childhood retrospectively but includes the adult perspective
Part 2: Reminisces over his idyllic childhood Christmas
The 2 part structure of the poem marks a shift from the more universal adult perspective of
the 1st part of the poem to Kavanagh’s own personal childhood experiences in the 2nd part of
the poem.
The poem is told through a first person perspective
The idealised, euphoric, child-like language used in the 2nd part of the poem contrast with the
erudite language and Edenic imagery
The measured regularity of the stanzaic form of part 1 emphasises the philosophical musings
of childhood that dominate the first part of the poem
The 1st part of the poem has an ABAB rhyme scheme, however this is not rigidly regular and
there is some half rhyme
There is more half rhyme and suggestion of rhyme in part. This coupled with the use of
shorter lines mirrors the childlike perspective of the 2nd half of the poem
The poem consists of 13 quatrains
LANAGUGE AND IMAGERY
Body of Poem
Part 1
Stanza 1
Line 1: The alliteration of “potato- pits” evokes an unglamorous image. However,
throughout the poem there is a paradoxical presentation of that which is usually considered
mundane. As a poet, Kavanagh finds value and virtue in the ordinary. In the poem there is a
continuous subversion. The Nativity story takes on the quality of the locale/normal while the
mundane/banal/ordinary takes on a miraculous/divine quality. This also emphasises the
speakers awe and wonder at the natural world
Line 2: The hyperbolically euphoric presentation of childhood evoked through the repetition
of “wonderful” emphasises Kavanagh’s idyllic view of childhood which has been
transformed by the power of imagination
Line 3: The alliteration of “paling-post” coupled with the simple use of language shows how
Kavanagh sees the divine through the ordinary.
Line 4: The idealisation of a Christmas remembered evoked through “magical” gives an
ecstatic, euphoric quality to the poem. Again, the ordinariness of the music takes on the
quality of the divine
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