Christopher Law
May 08 TZ1 English A1
Unseen Paper 1 Poem- Hello Day – Worldwide
This poem is about the poet imitating a radio announcement to express his desire for a worldwide Hello Day to break through social barriers, which exist in daily life. The title of the poem is ambiguous and at first sight absurd and provocative. ‘Hello’ has denotations of greeting and connotations of friendliness. The parenthesis help to establish the setting of the poem, which is possibly a radio station, where an announcement is being made, or this could simply be a part of the poets imagination. ‘World Hello Day’ is possibly a day fabricated by the poet.
In the first stanza, distance and unfamiliarity is created with the use of the pronoun ‘their’. A hyperbole is used to describe the hostility that exists in the opposing town, as good morning is considered ‘offensive’. This reveals the poets dissatisfaction towards people in ‘their town’. The poet imitates the people in the other town by inserting sophisticated and aggressive diction, which also portrays the tense atmosphere in the other town. The word ‘unsolicited’ not only highlights coldness and dissociation, but also is suggestive of conventions that exist in modern society. The word ‘provocative’ shows the poets feeling of bewilderment. The use of enjambment here is perhaps imitative of the persuasion of businessmen and lawyers who speak with tone. The tone is uncertain in the first stanza as the poet uses the word ‘maybe’, which indicates his uncertainty for what they need. This also adds to establish a colloquial tone, which is imitative of the poet’s own train of thought. By using caesura the poet also emphasizes the words ‘hello day’ and compares it to a ‘token’ or a ‘gesture’. Gestures and tokens are small deeds, thus this comparison serves to indicate the urgency of a ‘hello day’.

In the second stanza, the poet