Slough by Sir John Betjeman Essay -- Poems Poetry Analysis

Sir John Betjemans poem, Slough, opens with a wonderful, dramatic stanza. There is huge tenseness between the ideas of cows grazing and the idea of death. Even in the opening line there is conflict friendly bombs is a contradiction in terms, as bombs are almost never thought of as friendly, and Betjemans use of this defines what a bad place. Another tool Betjeman employs is rhythm the stanza is at a steady, predefined charge per unit until the last line where the rhythm is broken with the word Death, which gives a powerful image of Slough.In the second stanza, Betjeman cleverly compares peoples minds and steer to tinned products, giving everything a feeling of sanitised dullness, without fresh air. He also uses the form here, listing the everyday tinned items and then adding tinned m...