Receipt to make soup poem analysis essay sample

Alexander Pope was born in 1688 in London to a retired linen . merchant father and a mother who were both Roman Catholic
They moved to Binfield when Pope was very young where they met numerous other Roman catholic families, which would later go on to play a very significant part in Pope’s poetry career

Due to his religion, he was precluded from receiving a formal education since Catholics were not permitted into universities at the time and was instead educated by Catholic priests for a short period of time The poem was written in 1726 on the occasion of this soup being made in order to help Pope’s own recovery from a near fatal car accident. Pope then decided to share and recommend this soup to his friend Jonathan Swift who had recently returned from Ireland and is . mentioned in the poem

Take a knuckle of Veal
Specific ingredients
(You may buy it, or steal),
Use of humor almost like inside
In a few pieces cut it,
Brackets add personal joke touch as if inside joke
In a Stewing pan put it,
Monosyllabic lexis: simplistic
Salt, pepper and mace effect like in a recipe,
Must season this knuckle,
Knuckle”: ‘ kn’ & ‘ ck’ are“ without much description or
Then what’s join’d to a place, strong and hearty sounds onomatopoeia
With other Herbs muckle;
That which killed King Will,
Rhyming couplets add
Use of a riddle makes it more
And what never stands still, humor and make it easier to informal and like a quiz
Some sprigs of that bed understand
Where Children are bred,
Which much you will mend, if
Both Spinage and Endive,
And Lettuce and Beet,
With Marygold meet; alliteration
Put no water at all;
Archaic language
For it maketh things small;
Repeated use of semicolon to add impact
Which, lest it should happen,
for what follows it
A close cover clap on;
Put this pot of Wood’s mettle: Juxtaposition
Imperative sentences and specific
In a hot boiling kettle, skimming = light, swift, actions quick
And there let it be, fat = heavy, thick, gloopy
(Mark the Doctrine I teach)
About————let me see,————Mocking his friend and how Thrice as long as you preach. much he talks
So skimming the fat off,
Like he was finally able to accomplish something
Say Grace, with your hat off
O then, with what rapture
Exclamatory sentence! Will it fill Dean and Chapter
Name of recipient so more
Use of imperative makes it seem more like a recipe personal happiness soup brings

FORM AND STRUCTURE
There are no stanzas used throughout the poem to make it flow more easily and make it more humorous
Does not use a specific rhyme scheme and alternates often between AABB and ABAB in order to make It more exciting/ unpredictable
Uses riddles semantics in order to add to comedic and entertaining element

MOOD AND TONE
The atmosphere of the poem is humorous and entertaining. As shown by the monosyllabic lexis the poet intended for the poem to be simple thus read easily as to make it more light-hearted and humorous
The tone of the poem is joyful yet witty at the same time. The frequent use of riddles creates an entertaining effect and exclamation mark at the end evaluates the whole poem as joyful

OVERALL POSSIBLE
MEANING
The fact that the poem is used as a way to make the pope have a swift recovery, links into how soup is stereotypically associated. When being ill or sick
Soup is symbolic in the poem of the need of comfort when being ill and exaggerates how important food can be in certain moments of your life The poet uses soup as an almost secret message of comfort to the pope, linking into how powerful food can be and what it can represent