I am currently undertaking a dance course and for our exam we have to choreograph a dance on the poem At 3 am by Wendy Cole. I was wondering if you could help me understand what the poem is about as I am finding it hard and there seems to be no information on the internet about it. You all were able to interpret other poems so well that I hoped you could help me......

This is the poem in full,

At 3 am

the room contains no sound
except the ticking of the clock
which has begun to panic
like an insect, tapped
in an enourmous box.

Books lie open on the carpet.

Somewhere else
you're sleeping
and beside you there's a woman
who is crying quietly
so you won't wake.


Any ideas you have about the poem, what it is saying, the structure, the poetic devices used etc, anything! would be extremely helpful.

The actual stimulus for the dance is just up to and including "the books lie open on the carpet" it does not include the end verse but it is still relevent as part of my research,

Thank you sooooooooo much to anyone who has the time to reply!

Hollie, first of all let's set the record straight. The poem is by Wendy Cope.


At 3 am

the room contains no sound
except the ticking of the clock
which has begun to panic
like an insect, trapped
in an enourmous box.

Books lie open on the carpet.

Somewhere else
you're sleeping
and beside you there's a woman
who is crying quietly
so you won't wake.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


What the narrator has done in the poem is to give the characters, her own feelings.

The clock who feels like a trapped insect... is the narrator.
It is also the narrator who has begun to panic because it is getting late.
Obviously, her lover hasn't come home. She assumes he's with someone else.

In stanza two she says as much. "you're sleeping and beside you there's a woman"
It is the narrator who is crying and wishes that he were sleeping next to HER and IF he were, she would not wake him.

The center line, could be interpreted in two different ways. If like everything else in the poem, the narrator is talking about HERSELF, then the open book is a foil for her feelings which she is displaying as "an open book".
If the book is not symbolic, then she might just be using it as an example of an unfinished task which she has left because of the late hour.

Les



Post Edited (01-17-05 11:35)

Thanks les that has helped me ALOT! It gave me alot of ideas on how to communicate the poem through dance. Oh and sorry for saying cole, typo! hehehe

Thanks. Hollie x x x

I'm so happy to find someone who is having the same problem as me finding information on Wendy Cope At 3 am! i'v read Les reply and its helped me so much as well!

Cheers
Lizzy

i am also doing as dance and am thinking of doing this 50 mark question. my interpretation of the poem is an abusive husband and a woman asking for help through her poetry. I think that the poem is about the calm after the storm which is i presume is an argument which had just taken place, leaving the books open of the floor after having someones rage taken out on them.

The lines like an insect, trapped in an enormous box is her feeling of being trapped in her own house, due to her abusive husband and what he might do if she left her box.

I think the clock ticking begining to panic is her emotions taking her over and making her panic at the thought of leving her husband.

Hope this helped, and good luck!

im doin as aswel its hard to interpret the poem isnt it. anyway thnx alot uve all helped me xxxxxxxxxxxxxx tasha wootton

bump

i actually saw this poem as a child who scared in his own house he has a felling of being trapped because he is young and defenceless there is always a feeling of panic and the clock symbolises this. his mother is abusive because she is abused.

anyone feel the same?

hiya i am doing this as my 50 mark question for my AS dance course. Thank you for giving me some thoughts on the poem but I am stil stuck. I don't actually know what to write about in the coursework so if anyone can help me then please do. Has anyone made up a dance for the poem yet?
xxxxxxxxxx

hiya i am doing this as my 50 mark question for my AS dance course. Thank you for giving me some thoughts on the poem but I am stil stuck. I don't actually know what to write about in the coursework so if anyone can help me then please do. Has anyone made up a dance for the poem yet?
xxxxxxxxxx

GOD I H8 AS DANCE!!!! my interpretation would be...."ticking of the clock which has begun to panic" this i feel shows how anxious she is trying to escape something, as she gets so far away shes dragged back, she wants to be free but she is perminently trapped within her own feelings. she compares herself to an insect, insects dont really get that far maybe thats why shes described herself as this. "books lie open on the carpet floor" RANDOM!! maybe she has tried reading things at 3am to take her mind off of her situation, what ever that is, but they are "left open" maybe indicates there's unfinished buisness.
The poem speaks of restless nature, it seems that Wendy cope is up til 3am reading and longin for her lover to return. I dont no if this has helped any of u dancers, this is so hard i may have the complete wrong view of this poem, who no's god wish i was chummy with the examiner to no exactley what we have to do!!!!

loves u all xxxxxx

GOD I H8 AS DANCE!!!! my interpretation would be...."ticking of the clock which has begun to panic" this i feel shows how anxious she is trying to escape something, as she gets so far away shes dragged back, she wants to be free but she is perminently trapped within her own feelings. she compares herself to an insect, insects dont really get that far maybe thats why shes described herself as this. "books lie open on the carpet floor" RANDOM!! maybe she has tried reading things at 3am to take her mind off of her situation, what ever that is, but they are "left open" maybe indicates there's unfinished buisness.
The poem speaks of restless nature, it seems that Wendy cope is up til 3am reading and longin for her lover to return. I dont no if this has helped any of u dancers, this is so hard i may have the complete wrong view of this poem, who no's god wish i was chummy with the examiner to no exactley what we have to do!!!!

loves u all xxxxxx

GOD I H8 AS DANCE!!!! my interpretation would be...."ticking of the clock which has begun to panic" this i feel shows how anxious she is trying to escape something, as she gets so far away shes dragged back, she wants to be free but she is perminently trapped within her own feelings. she compares herself to an insect, insects dont really get that far maybe thats why shes described herself as this. "books lie open on the carpet floor" RANDOM!! maybe she has tried reading things at 3am to take her mind off of her situation, what ever that is, but they are "left open" maybe indicates there's unfinished buisness.
The poem speaks of restless nature, it seems that Wendy cope is up til 3am reading and longin for her lover to return. I dont no if this has helped any of u dancers, this is so hard i may have the complete wrong view of this poem, who no's god wish i was chummy with the examiner to no exactley what we have to do!!!!

loves u all xxxxxx

GOD I H8 AS DANCE!!!! my interpretation would be...."ticking of the clock which has begun to panic" this i feel shows how anxious she is trying to escape something, as she gets so far away shes dragged back, she wants to be free but she is perminently trapped within her own feelings. she compares herself to an insect, insects dont really get that far maybe thats why shes described herself as this. "books lie open on the carpet floor" RANDOM!! maybe she has tried reading things at 3am to take her mind off of her situation, what ever that is, but they are "left open" maybe indicates there's unfinished buisness.
The poem speaks of restless nature, it seems that Wendy cope is up til 3am reading and longin for her lover to return. I dont no if this has helped any of u dancers, this is so hard i may have the complete wrong view of this poem, who no's god wish i was chummy with the examiner to no exactley what we have to do!!!!

loves u all xxxxxx

u all suck..............

hello

hows it goin

good here

hey yeah i liked your poem!!!!!!!!

Bump for Penny et. al.


Les

who do you all think its about abuse ur all so sinnical and pesamistic its obviously just about something innocent like insomnia and the tickin and the bug are those annoying things that keep you up wen u cant sleep!

jees every 1 lighten up its just dance

if u h8 it that much do wt im doing and drop it u cn oick up another as subject while finishing ur a2's im gonna oick up english lit

if ya h8 it dont do it!!

Hi i'm doing that dance but i have to write in my essay what number question it is and i dont have a clue!!! And what's an essay objective?
I feel a big fat fail coming my way...

I just really need to know what number question the poem one is cos i've lost my paper and i have to finish it today!

THANKS
Jo xxx

hey jo,
The poem is question number three. I had the same problem as all of u in tryin' to find some info on the poem but you've all help loads! cheers :-D!!

jen x

if ur makin up the dance 4 it (like i am) then dont bother with "what the poem means". Just show the imigary in the poem, thats where we'll get the marks. Show motifs of clock hands, being trapped, insects, and finish with some opening motifs 4 "books lie open". They didnt acctually giv us the 2nd stanza so thats not important. They don't care about ur interpretation!!!

i got my exam tomorrow and im doing 3am, good luck if anyone else is too........

I think whoever said concentrate on the images is dead right. What an amazing dance it could make. You dont need to say what the poem means - its what the poem DOES that is important. You have some great images - mad clocks - insects - open books - a woman crying. Also you have the the steady rhythm of the clock as it starts to break down - your ears start to play tricks - when you are really tired!

The interpretation of the poen is highly important as if you look at the mark scheme half the marks (25) are for the interpretation of the poem and how you incorporate this into your dance. They dont just want to see a nice dance they want to see someone who has looked into the stimulus deeply and developed it. Not just reciting the poem through dance. for instance one girl in my class interpretated it as someone being repressed and feeling trapped and developed this through her motifs and movement and took it as far as dressing like a mime artist, but she still made reference to the poem by including clock type movements. Whereas on the other side of the scale one girl stuck very true to the poem and was the woman saying the poem and showed her trying to reach out but being pushed back and developed movements that represented bits of the poem such as the books lieing open. I think its really hard fro your solo dance coz they dont just want a dance you have to justify everything!!!! In the end I went for the painting Office At Night coz it really captivated me and played the secretary in the painting attempting to secude her boss! I was really happy with the way mine turned out coz im an actress at heart so I really got to act through my dancing! Good luck to anyone who hasnt doen their solo dance exam yet, mine was two weeks ago now. And good luck on the exam paper becoz thats going to be a hard one!

Good luck everyone if you haven't yet dont your performance of it - mines on Monday and at a centre that i have never seen before!!!!!

i am sick of this poem now but at least it'll all be over soon.

good luck for your written exam too