english poems

what: a wifes husband that has returned from war with physical scars

who: wife

how:

• extended metapor of war and the wifes battle to help her husband
• physical injurys - most mentioned and obvious
• mental injurys more towards the end as she gets to know him again
• the first couplet seem like it could be a normal love poem
• first couple could also mean worried and upset (passionate) and day to day caring(intimate)
• each couplet is different - different experience/injury
• couplet - could represent the two people in the relationship
• couplet starts with her actions then his injurys
• ending of poem: past tense - hes still closed off, she may given up

structure: different injuries in each couplet

language:

• his body is described using a range of different adjectives that descibe damage
• different verbs are used to to describe how the woman is caring or the injured man

why: to show how relationships can end

language:

• similie suggests the hour is like a coin thats been dropped as for a beggar 'bright as a dropped coin'
• 'for thousands of seconds' -gives the sense of time slowing down, also making time sound longer
• 'turning your limb to gold' - might symbolise the way that love makes everything look different
• 'now.' -single word sentance brings the focus to the moment that the poet is trying to capture
• 'spins gold, gold, gold from straw' - rumpelstiltskin does this in the fairy tail, makes love seem like magic

structure:

• features of a Shakespearean sonnet – e.g. the rhyme scheme.
• Enjambment is used to create pauses that suggest time stopping

paris- cityof romance and love

what: hes gone paris with someone but he is unhappy about his old relationship, he doesnt want ot out out into the city, he wants to stay in the hotel room

who: a man - steriotype

how:

• repetition - shows selfishness
• words that suggest isolation, lack of freindship, alone, out of control-'wounded' 'hostage' 'maroonded'
• awkward language-speaking as he is thinking - 'i dont care'
• swearing to show aggression 'sod off to sodding'
• 'learning who you are' -suggest he doesnt know her that well
• 'learning what i am' -doesnt consider himself as a who, hes a mess,
• repetition of 'I' - shows he is only thinking of himself
• elipsis (...) shows hes talking as he is thinking
• repetition of 'im in paris with you' - just want to fucus on the moment, almost saying be greatful im here with you

what: the poet compares the phone calls in a relationship to a gun fight in a western

how:

• enjambment - 'im all alone' - emphasis lonelyness
• lines set out like a bullet travelling - 'through the heart'
• list of 3 - ideas linked to western - emphasises comflict
• 'sheriff' - police in western version but in this case a freind or mum?
• extended metaphor - comparing text/phone call argument to a gun fight
• Repetition 'And this.. and this.. and this.. and this..' - makes it seem like the kisses are bullets fired from a gun

why:

• to explore how people behave in a relationship
• how love can cause pain and how it can cause conflict

what:

• a woman who is obsessed with a man and this man doesnt like her back

who:

• narrator- woman who is obsessed
• tone - romantic, upset

how:

• each couplet deals with a new idea
• each couplet relates the two people together e.g. if you are this then i am this
• 'iron first in the velvet glove' - suggest she wants him to be firm but also gentle with her
• 'tattoo me' - a heart with an arrow is a traditional tattoo
• 'ill be the twice the me' - last stanza - play on words because her name is mimi
• metaphor to show what she wants him to be to her

why:

• explore relationships when the other person doesnt love you back

what:

• an event in the narrator's childhood - but it can also be read as being about sibling relationships in general

how:

• first word 'saddled' emphasises his frustration
• 'sprouting six year old' alliteration - gives a sense of contempt
• 'i was night and he was ten' - contrast between how young they are and how grown up they feel at the time
• 'stroll'- the older two moved more slowly and with confidence
• 'distance'- suggest the physically distance and the distance in their relationship

structure:

• first stanza - shows the relationship between the brothers
• 2nd stanza - explains how the younger one had to go back and how the two older ones went on
• 3rd stanza- describes how the youngest got left behind

what:

• voice speaking about mother and all the things she has done for her

who:

• voice- grown up 'child' who has now gone to their 'wide future'
• tone - sadness,reflection, celebration, gratefulness, emotional

how:

• there is 1 metaphor per stanza but then lots together toward the end, this suggests build up of emotion/ flood of feeling
• all metaphors link to nature-natural relationship between mum and daughter
• 'you were' -past tense - dead, moved on, grown up?
• 'water to me' - pure, you need water to survive
• 'moons eye to me' - looking up to mum, bright, connection
• 'sunrise to me' - guidance, bright, happy, need sun,pretty
• 'go to your wide futures, you said' - voice of poem, now on her own, voice of poem is dissappointed- doesnt want to leave
• last line on its own shows isolation, child moving away from mother

why:

• relationship between mother and child- voice of poem telling the reader to appriciate what there mothers do for them

what:

• a harmonium in a church that was played by an old man being thrown out

who:

• tone- happy, upset, sarcasm

how:

• personification of the harmonium - its described like an ageing person 'fingernailed'
• first stanza sets the scene
• 2nd stanza descirbes the harmonium
• 3rd stanza - history of the harmonium an the people who've sung to it
• 4th stanza - describes father
• 'father and son' 'had opened their throats'- harmonium has braught communities, father and son together  though 100 years - finally braught out of the church and brings another father and son together
• last 3 lines - father catches son by suprise-cant think what to say - commons and enjambment to show he is stuck for words
• repetition - 'pedalled and pedalled' - shows the passing of time
• semantic field between old man and harmonium e.g. 'yellowed fingernails' 'smokers fingers'

why:

• show how history can bring people together, show relationship between father and son

what:

• shakespeare is writting about how constant true love is and that it doesnt change when circumstances change

tone: romantic

how:

• constant rhythm = true love
• iamic pentametre - heart beat - good for love poem
• metaphor - compares love to the pole star. the pole star doesnt move in the sky and it is used by sailers to navigate
• near repetition - 'remover' 'remove' - suggests love is constant
• last two lines- poet guarunees what he is saying is true
• 'his bent sickle's' - old father time - shows that love doesnt change even when we get old

why:

• shows how true love doesnt change

what:

• love poem, expresses feelings for her husband-to-be. she loves him so deeply that she sees their love is spiritual and sacred. she believes she will love him even after death

who:

• narrator getting married
• tone-romantic,happy, excited

how:

• iambic pentametre- heart beat- love is connected to the heart
• repetition- 'i love thee' - shows how much she loves him
• 'i love thee freely' - she loved without reward
• each repetition of love is followed by a different idea which shows her love has different aspects
• 'smiles,tears' - love isnt just about the good times
• 'better after death' - everlasting love, links her love to heaven which suggests its spiritual nature
• list of 3- 'depth and breadth and height' - shows how love has no end
• religious words - 'being and ideal grace' 'right' 'praise' 'faith' 'saints' 'god' - show right, pure and good of her love, commited to him, unconditional
• exlamation mark (!) - extra emphasis of life
• elipsis(...) - adds another idea-building
• lack of full stops and end of line commas - fast pase, rushing to get ideas out

why:

• show how much she loves her husband-to-be

what:

• narrator is telling the woman he loves that she shouldnt play hard to get and wants to be wooed
• he says they should enjoy each other whilst they are young attractive. he trieslots of different arguments to persuade her

how:

• first two lines - the poet is basically saying if we had enough time in the world, i would spend time adoring you
• alliteration - 'long love's day' - long 'L' sound lengthens the sound
• 'vegetables' - take a long time to mature
• 'two hundred' 'hundred years' ;thirty thousand' - he finds the time to adore her
• rhyming in 2nd stanza 'hear' 'near' suggest time is moving quickly
• 3rd stanza - hes getting impatient - repetition od 'now' lets do this now!
• enjambment - last 2 lines - positive tone-hope
• 'worms shall try that long preseved vaginity'- hes saying she will die a virgin, hes trying to shcok her so he gets what he wants

why:

• exploring a relationship when somebody doesnt love you back

what:

• farmer married to a woman younger than him and she doesnt love him

tone: upset, angry

how:

• uses the different seasons to show what is happening
• rhyme scheme is all over the place because he is all over the place
• repetition and short sentances in last stanza- shows he is losing control of his feelings
• exclamation marks (!)- shows frustration - last stanza
• 'the short days...' he thinks he has waited long enough
• 1st stanza- autumn- relationship is collapsings like leaves falling off a tree(metaphor)
• 3rd stanza - natural imagery - comparing her to things that he knows-'young larch tree' 'first wild violets'
• 4th stanza - winter- relationship is getting worse, could represent he is getting into old age and times running out for him - nights are longer and it colder in winter

why:

• shows relationships in the olden days and how women married even if they didnt love the other person

what:

• narrator having a love affair, she keeps it a secret from her parents but her sister told them about it

who:

• narrator-having a love affair
• tone- angry,upset, jealously

how:

• rhetorical question - making the reader wait for the answer-'who told my father of my dear'
• repetition of 'maude' making it clear who is to blame
• repetition of 'sister' shows closeness of their relationship
• negative language 'spy and peer' this turns us agains maude and create sympathy for the narrator
• 'cold he lies' suggests hes dead - makes the poem more mysterious
• 'heaven-gate' the narrator thinks her and her lovers sins will be forgiven
• last stanza repeats the idea and increases the sense that the narrator is cusing ger sister

why:

• shows how relationship between sisters can change when they have been betrailed

what:

• little boy gets stung.narrator cuts down the nettles but the nettles grow back and the narrator realises his son will get hurt again

who:

• narrator-father
• tone- reflection, angry at nettles, sadness

how:

• words that suggest little boys vulnerbility-'sobs and tears' 'comfort' 'blisters beaded' 'tender skin' 'soothed' 'pain' 'raw' 'watery grin'
• battle words- makes it sound like a battle between the father and the nettles- 'spears' 'regiment' 'honed the blade' 'slashed in fury' 'stood upright' 'a funeral pyre' 'fallen dead'
• enjambment- '..comfort and i saw white blisters...' - emphasises the painful attack
• 'slashed in fury' - dads angry
• 'feel sharp wounds again'- could be a metaphor for the way that life goes - parents trying to protect child from getting hurt

shape and form:

• one clump like a clump of nettles
• lines look like spikes if you turn it on its side
• no stanza break
• no break in the cycle  

why:

• explore parent/child relationship
• can we protect out children as we would like to

what:

• poet wrote this poem for aparticular event. the day after the birth of his freinds baby
• he takes the fairy tale idea of iving out wishes of good things but twists it by wishing not for great beauty

how:

• enjambment creates a tone of mocking
• 1st stanza - positive presentation in a negative way - unrealistic and missing the point
• 'well, your a lucky girl' - sarcasm, comma adds sarcasm
• 2nd stanza - negatives presented in a positive way- more realistic
• 1st and nd stanza - contrasting pairs
• repetition of 'not' emphisises what he doesnt want
• last line-'catching the happiness is called' - enjambment emphasises the importance of the main idea of happiness