Muhammed Shafay Sheikh 10br

A Cottage in the Lane

The writer uses strategic ways to grab the reader’s attention. The title
used for this poem creates many assumptions and thoughts by the
reader, ‘A Cottage in the lane’. This phrase could have many meanings.
It brings a picture to the reader's mind and shows us the surroundings
of the cottage. A ‘lane’ might tell us that the cottage is surrounded by
trees and by nature. Another assumption about the cottage is that it
could have been in an isolated and lonely place that is away from
civilization. Even though it is away from people, the cottage invites
nature to seek protection inside it. ‘Squirrels nesting’, ‘mice in the
cellar’, ‘birds that came’. These few phrases tell us that the writer has
described the cottage as a welcoming place for all animals. The animals
were living a wonderful life of their own, not paying attention to the
owner. It is as if the owner never existed and they ruled the cottage all
by themself with no worry. The writer shows this as he says, ‘How full
her mind was, or how to blank, how rich she was or how poor was to
them of no concern’. This is an excellent display by the writer to show
the thoughts of the animals and how the animals think they control the
house. Oxymoron has being used here by the writer to show the two
opposite outcomes of the women. These are used by the writer as it is
an effective way of communicating an idea that is not easily
understood. They mostly use it to elicit emotion, help readers form
mental images, and draw readers' attention. Not only that but this line
is also known as an enjambment. This allows thought to overflow
across lines. Enjambment creates fluidity and brings a prose-like quality
to poetry.
Muhammed Shafay Sheikh 10br

Furthermore, the writer continues the poem by describing the

condition of the women that used to live there. Words like ‘ghost-in-
waiting’, ‘so quietly’, ‘lived in one small room’ all indicate the feeling of
depression and loneliness. This idea of her lack of presence keeps on
going further down the poem, ‘evaporation’. Moving onwards, the
writer shows us that the life of the woman was very crucial for the
animal’s survival. She didn’t care if the animals were seeking comfort in
her house but after her death, the animal’s happiness and joy had come
to an end. ‘flag of surrender’ this creates an image in the reader's mind
for the loss of the animals and it has an overall morose tone by the
writer. Throughout the poem, there is a vast use of poetic techniques.
Simile has been used to describe the birds singing, ‘A song as pure as
the rain-washed air.’ The writer uses these to describe a thing by
adding an example to it. There are other techniques used such as blank
verses. The writer uses very little to no rhyme in the poem, he could do
it deliberately. This makes it sound more realistic to the reader.

Near the end of the script, the writer closes the poem by concluding the
aftermath of the women’s death. He states the end of animals taking a
hostage. ‘where once a dynasty of toads held court’. This is obviously
exaggerated by the writer, but it gives us a clear mindset of how long
these animals have taken shelter in this cottage. The phrase ‘pest
controller's snare’ gives an evil tone to the poem and this also marks
the end of the animals. The overall poem is written in one complete
stanza with a neat flow with some examples of rhyme. He uses many
poetic techniques. The lines are different and unique from the one
before, one is short another is long. Some sentences end with
punctuation marks and most of them don’t. The writer doesn’t use any
paragraphs, but this type of poem can be known as a narrative poem as
Muhammed Shafay Sheikh 10br

it tells us a story. The writer doesn’t share his emotions and all the text
is written in the third person.