Appreciation : (4 marks)Read the extract and write the appreciation of the poem :They hear no sound, the swell is strong;Though the wind hath fallen they drift along,Till the vessel strikes with a shivering shock,-‘O Christ! it is the Inchcape Rock!’…

Answer: Appreciation of ‘The Inchcape Rock’ by Robert Southey (ballad; rhyme scheme aabb; alliteration, exclamation, inversion, imagery; theme: as you sow, so shall you reap).

Appreciation : ‘The Inchcape Rock’ is a ballad by the English Romantic poet Robert Southey. The title refers to a dangerous reef off the east coast of Scotland, on which the good Abbot of Aberbrothok had fixed a warning bell. The wicked pirate Sir Ralph the Rover cut the bell off just to annoy the Abbot. The given extract describes the end of the story. A year later Sir Ralph returns, rich with plunder, on a dark, misty night. With no bell to warn them, his ship drifts on the strong swell and strikes the Inchcape Rock with a ‘shivering shock’. In despair he tears his hair and curses himself as the waves rush in and the ship sinks. In his dying fear he imagines a dreadful sound, as if the Devil below were ringing his death knell with the Inchcape Bell. The theme is that evil deeds bring their own punishment — as you sow, so shall you reap. The poem is written in four-line stanzas with the rhyme scheme aabb (strong–along, shock–Rock, hair–despair), which gives it a regular, song-like ballad rhythm. Figures of speech include Alliteration (‘strikes with a shivering shock’, ‘Ralph the Rover’), Exclamation (‘O Christ! it is the Inchcape Rock!’), Inversion (‘One dreadful sound could the Rover hear’) and vivid imagery of the sinking ship, while ‘The Devil below was ringing his knell’ is a powerful image of irony, since the bell he removed now seems to toll his death. The language is simple and narrative, with dramatic, fast-moving action. I like the poem because it tells a gripping story and teaches a clear moral lesson.