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The author writes this poem in the first person displaying the character talking about herself. This is written to show that the character that the author displays is telling her story and point of view. This is displayed in many lines including, "I turn as our child tugs at the the string" and "I wait until I hear a gate latch lift." By the character describing her story we can tell that she is very overwhelmed, deeply saddened and the situation weighs heavily on her shoulders.This is indicated through lines such as "I wait until I hear a gate latch life, the turn of key in lock" and "I sit amongst toys and unwashed clothes" in order to describe her anxiety, sadness and sense of being overwhelmed.

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Stanza 1: The meaning that is behind stanza one is that when the character knows that her significant other is coming home she thinks about the way things used to be and now she has to put on a mask (displayed as a necklace) in order to feel as if things will be ok. This is displayed in the lines, "a blue that used to match my eyes, I like to think I am remembering you. I like to think you don't forget."

Stanza 2: The meaning behind stanza two is that the necklace (the burden of the relationship) weighs heavily on her shoulders and she has to distract herself from the pain that has been caused by being with her daughter.  This is displayed in the lines, "The necklace lies heavy on my skin,
it clatters when I reach down to lift my screaming child. I swing her, roll her in my arms until she forgets."

Stanza 3: The meaning behind stanza three is that the character feels a large amount of anxiety when the man is coming into the house and when he speaks in a voice that is not the same loving voice as she remembers her daughter pulls on the string and snaps it as if the relationship is the necklace being broken by the child. This is displayed in the lines, "in a voice that no longer seems familiar, only strange. I turn as our child tugs at the string. I hear a snap and a sound like falling rain."

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Stanza- A division of a poem created by arranging the lines into a unit, often repeated in the same pattern of meter and rhyme throughout the poem.

The Albatross is separated into three separate stanza's all describing different parts. The first stanza is about her putting on the necklace and how she feels about it. This is displayed in the line, "When I know you are coming home, I put on this necklace." The second stanza is about wearing the necklace while taking care of her child. This is displayed in the line, "it clatters when I reach down, the lift my screaming child." Stanza three is about her significant other coming home and the anxiety that it bring. This is displayed in the line, "I sit and she fingers the bead until you speak, in a voice that is no longer familiar, only strange.

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Ambiguity- A word or phrase that can mean more than one thing, even in its context.

An example of this in the poem is the necklace in general. In the poem the author displays the necklace as just an inanimate object but when taking a closer look there is an underlying figure. The necklace is a representation of the relationship between who the story is about and the person that is talked about quiet a lot. Through out the poem she discusses it as, "lies heavy on my skin", "a blue that used to match my eyes", "I hear a snap and a sound like falling rain" in order to show that the necklace is an object that represents the relationship that used to be fun and gentle and now is burdensome and difficult.

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Repetition- The purposeful re-use of words and phrases for an effect

An example of repetition being used in The Albatross is the last two lines of stanza one, "I like to think I am remembering you, I like to think you don't forget." This part affects the reader in the fact that the author is instilling the characters emotions about their thoughts towards the situation and what the necklace means to her. This causes different things for different readers but for me it displaced a since of passion but also sorrow towards the subject.

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Stanza 1: The author describes how every time that her significant other returns home that she puts on a necklace that makes her feel like she did before and that it makes her feel like she is remembering the good times.
Stanza 2: The author describes the burden that she takes on with the necklace as she comforts her daughter but more herself as she holds the child that is keeping her relationship together.
Stanza 3: The author describes the anxiety of hearing this mysterious person coming in the house. She describes the mess of the house while she holds their daughter that ends up breaking the necklace in a metaphor for the broken relationship.

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Allusion:
I turn as our child tugs at the string.
I hear a snap and a sound like falling rain

This is an allusion that is making a connection to the fact that not only does this women where this necklace when her significant other comes home but that the baby pulling and breaking it represents the idea that their relationship is broken. The necklace in general represents the impending doom.

Unknown Words:
The Albatross- a hinder in someone's life, impending doom (the significant other)

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Birth: 1962, London
Lives: Cambridge, England
Noteworthy Fact: Studied chemistry at Edinburgh University but dropped out to take illustration at Anglia Polytechnic University (The Albatross is the only known poem by her)
Source: Kate Bass." Poetry Foundation. Poetry Foundation, Web. 09 Jan. 2017.

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By: Kate Bass

When I know you are coming home
I put on this necklace:
glass beads on a silken thread,
a blue that used to match my eyes,
I like to think I am remembering you.
I like to think you don't forget.

The necklace lies heavy on my skin,
it clatters when I reach down
to lift my screaming child.
I swing her, roll her in my arms until she forgets.
The beads glitter in the flicker of a TV set
as I sit her on my lap
and wish away the afternoon.

I wait until I hear a gate latch lift
the turn of key in lock
I sit amongst toys and unwashed clothes,
I sit and she fingers the beads until you speak
in a voice that no longer seems familiar, only strange.
I turn as our child tugs at the string.
I hear a snap and a sound like falling rain.