August 6, 1945

1. August 6, 1945 By Alison Fell

2. The Poem In the Enola Gayfive minutes before impacthe whistles a dry tuneLater he will saythat the whole blooming skywent up like an apricot ice.Later he will laugh and trembleat such a surrender, for the eyeof his belly saw Marilyn's skirtsfly over her head for everOn the river bank,bees drizzle overhot white rhododendrons Later she will walk the dust, a scarlet girlwith her whole stripped skinat her heel, stuck like an oldshoe sole or mermaid's tailLater she will lie downin the flecked black ashwhere the people are becomeas lizards or salamandersand, blinded, she will complainMother you are late. So lateLater in dreams he will lookdown shrieking and seeladybirdsladybirds

3. Alison Fell Alison Fell was born in 1944 at Dumfries and was educated in Dumfries before moving to Edinburgh Art College. She published poetry and fiction for adults and children. She moved to London in 1970 where she co founded the women's street theatre group.

4. Enola Gay The poem refers to the Enola Gay which is the plane which dropped the bombs. The whole poem is written as if someone was on it. It is referring to the pilot who dropped the bombs, and how menacing and horrible he is. It is referring to him as if he doesn’t care about it which makes him seem even worse e.g. “He whistles a dry tune”.

5. Use Of Colours The writer uses lots of colours in the poem to give the reader the image of the explosion before and after. How the explosion goes from tropical bright colours to dark ash like colours. It refers to the ground as “ladybirds” because the only colours are the red blood and the ash from the explosion which is really effective on the reader.

6. Referance To Family The Enola Gay is named after the pilots mother and the bomb is called the little boy. On the ground there is a blind girl looking for her mother who just got blown up by the bomb which is horrible. This tries to make the poem seem more personal.

7. Metaphors “Where the people are become as lizards or salamanders” this shows how the people are joining the fire. The ancient idea that salamanders can live in fire. This is describing how the frying humans blend in with the fire. Which is a really effective piece of imagery.

8. Similies “Girl with her whole stripped skin at her heel, stuck like an old shoe sole or a mermaids tail” which is a very effective comparison for the imagery of the injuries. You can really imagine this image he is trying to get across to the reader.

9. Conclusion The poem is trying to aware people of the horrors of Hiroshima and the slaughter that happened on that day. The writer is trying to make the reader feel what the people did when they were going through this e.g. watching their families die. How it scared them for life and the fact that they will never have a day where they don’t think about what happened to them. That some of people who survived will never be able to walk again. These are the horrible images the writer is trying to get across. We found it a very effective poem which uses a lot of imagery and emotive language.

10. The End By Toby & Laetitia