The poem ‘Soap Suds’ is an exploration of the fleeting nature of memory, specifically those of childhood, and how we cannot remain in that adolescence forever. Through that exploration, the poem also serves as a telling of the transition from childhood to adulthood, as well as the vast differences that arise when we reach adulthood and leave all the qualities of childhood behind. The poet achieves this through varying usage of images, language and structure. In terms of language, there were two key ways in which it contributed to the theme of the poem: strong sensory appeal, and points of contention. There are four ways in which images are used: images relating to the nature of childhood in the second stanza, surreal images in the first and last stanza, repetition of images, and the return to the image of soap suds from the first to the last stanza. Lastly, in terms of the structure of the poem, two specific techniques were used: single-worded lines in the first and third stanza, and the contrast of rhythm. The first use of a language technique is strong sensory appeal, specifically appeal to smell, sight and sound. The use of smell is mainly in the first stanza when the smell of the soap suds brings the speaker back to the memory of his childhood, specifically in, “this brand of soap has the same smell as once in the big House he visited when he was eight”. After this line, the speaker is taken back to the memory of his childhood, and therefore the use of smell shows how we can be reminded of memories because of a sensory trigger as innocent as a soap sud, and this is therefore telling of the nature of memory. The use of sensory appeal to sight is ever-present in the poem, particularly in the second stanza when the poet lists the objects that he recalls from his childhood and in the last stanza. The strong appeal to sight has the effect of creating a very detailed visual experience of the speaker’s childhood that the reader can experience alongside him. It therefore fills the memory with so much more depth and pulls both the speaker and reader in more, showing how memories have a habit of pulling you in and making you want to remain in the happy images of the memories. The poet also appeals to sound when he refers to the “grown-up voice cries Play!” and “great gong booms”. Both of these sounds are very strong, not just in terms of how loud they are, but in terms of their intensity. The use of these intense sounds have two effects. Firstly, they contribute to making the memory so much stronger and overwhelming in order to add to the strength of the memory. Secondly, they are found in the third stanza of the poem when the poet is already being yanked away from his memory and back to reality, which hints at the fact that they serve as alarms to the speaker that he does not belong in this memory, therefore he needs to return to the dimness of the present-day. The use of appeal to these three senses has the effect of overwhelming the senses all at once in order to convey the intensity of the joy of that memory. When put together, it creates an all-rounded experience of the freedom and happiness associated with childhood in order to pull readers and the speaker in, which points to what the poet is trying to convey - that memories are enticing and make us want to stay in them, yet reality is always going to pull us back. The second use of a language technique is contention. Contention refers to when various aspects of a poem do not agree with each other, creating emphasis on the two elements’ differences. Contention is present in “the walled garden with bees” “vine under glass.” The use of contention emphasises the stark differences between the joys of childhood and the bleakness of adulthood, which can in turn be linked to the poet’s message of how memories may seem tempting, but we cannot remain in them forever. Next, the poet also uses specific techniques related to images. The first of these techniques is the images related to childhood that the poet uses in the second stanza. In the second stanza, the poet lists a multitude of objects he remembers from his childhood, however there is more to these objects than simply a re-telling of the things he remembers. Instead, each of these objects has a specific meaning attached to them. For starters, “a tower with a telescope” has reference to two objects: the telescope suggests the nature of childhood being about discovery and exploring, and it represents the curiosity and wonder that comes with being a child who is not used to the world quite yet. It also brings to mind the contrast between children and adults who are so caught up in day-to-day life that they cannot bother to explore the world. The tower, on the other hand, creates the image of a fairy-tale, and makes reference to the splendour that children seem to see the world in, which adults seem to lack. Next, the “two great faded globes” refer to how as a