Gutter Press :: Poetry Analysis

Gutter Press This poem is about a sleazy tabloid newspaper. The writer is trying to get his point across about how ruthless the news editor Is, he does this by adding humour, some slight exaggeration and also with another character The cameraman, he has a totally different personality and also work ethic, In this essay I will use Dehns humour to demonstrate the scandal and sensationalism of the Editor. Almost all of the editors words are headlines:" Nun drinks whiskey...Mayor binds wife With chain...Baby found burnt in cot", these are all short snappy lines, which speed up The poem and are like real headlines, they're very quick and last very short, Soon to be replaced by other, more scandalous stories, the rapid pace is very important Adding a strong rhyme, Dehn includes alliteration:" Girl Guide Throttled...Baronet Bottled". The two different news people have totally different characters, one the editor, he is a ruthless man and his attitude towards other people is shown:" never mind who got hurt, no use grieving, lets get weaving, what's the latest dirt?" He doesn't care about the subjects of his work, just the Sex, Drugs and scandal of it all, the camera man adds a sharp contrast to his colleague, he uses elevated language and is a naturalist:" Shall I get a picture of the lovebird singing?", he speaks slower and more descriptive, this contrast is a clever addition to the poem by Dehn, It shows the sleazy editor in a worse light. "Shall i get a picture of her pretty little eggs?" "No, go and get a picture of her legs" This is bathos, an anti-climax, the cameraman is building the verse up with his inquisitiveness and slow speech, when the domineering editor blurts out what he Wants, and brings the tempo back down again, the editor is certain in what he says, and is not to be