Poems:

Who wrote Ozymandias? What was their background?

• Percy Shelley
• Expelled from university, wasn't a popular poet when alive, drowned age 29, pacifist, political, wealthy.

What is the main message of the poem?

• The statue has fallen apart over time and no one cares, links to the idea that every powerful figure will be forgot about and will drift away eventually.
• An indirect attack on King George III.

What is the structure of the poem?

• An irregular sonnet - elements of Shakespearean (rhyme scheme) and Petrarch sonnets (octive - shows power and sestet - shows loss in power). 
• Mix of forms to create a new form - a message that all power gives way to new power.
• Irregular rhyme scheme with 10 sylables per line.

• "I met a traveller" - he detaches himself from the poem, so he can cririsise the monach without being in trouble.
• "Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare" - a metaphor of his big ego, yet nature has outlived the statue and him, shows irony that his legacy is isolated.
• "King of kings" - he thinks he is a 'God', yet ironic, that no one is listening.

Who wrote London? What was their background?

• William Blake.
• Supported revolution, believed everyone without power is in misery.

What is the main message of the poem?

• London, the greatest city, yet so dirty and corrupt.

What is the structure of the poem?

• Rhyme scheme - reflects a walking pace, like he is walking through London.
• Last line in each stanza has an impact and sums up the stanza.
• Stanza 1: misery    Stanza 2: refusal to stand tall    Stanza 3: Sacrifice    Stanza 4: Corrupt

• "Chimney-sweeper's cry ... black'ning church appalls" - juxtaposition of a child's cry and church bells ringing, something in which has positive connotations.
• "Youthful harlot's curse" - corrupting the idea of childbirth with sexual exploitation and prostitution, women had no rights.
• "Marriage hearse" - oxymoron which juxtaposes the joy of marriage and misery of death, death rates were high.
• "Runs in blood down palace walls" - symbolic metaphor representing that we scarifice to protect the powerful.

Who wrote The Prelude? What was their background?

• William Wordsworth
• A romantic poet (wrote about the world we live in), troubled relationship with parents, embraced nature as a method of relief.

What is the main message of the poem?

• Young William Wordsworth goes on a journey in a boat, the journey represents a spiritual journey. However, as he manipulates nature, the journey becomes hostile. It shoes the spiritual growrh of the poet.

What is the structure of the poem?

• Poem changes from euphony (pleasant words) to cacophony (harsh words) the more the journey goes on.
• Iambic pentameter - represents constant pace.
• One long verse without major breaks - reflects overwhelment of the poets journey.

• "Led by her" - nature is given a gender and personified.
• "Glittering idly in the moon" - positive connotations at the beginning
• "The horizon's utmost boundary" - the horizon represents nature limiting the progress of the journey, it marks the shift in tone.
• "There hung a darkness" - dark, sinister tone as he reflects on the conflict in his mind.

Who wrote My Last Duchess? What was their background?

• Robert Browning.
• Didn't fit into London society, had to marry his wife in another country because her father was overprotective.

What is the main message of the poem?

• The Duke shows off his power and suggests he controlled his wife's life; there is a conflict between the person he is and who he wants to be.

What is the structure of the poem?

• Dramatic monologue
• Enjambment - shows he doesn't have fill control, he can't control his anger.
• Tangents - he thinks we care about what he is saying, as if we should be interested.
• Iambic pentameter and rhyme scheme - ironic contrast between a love poem and domination.

• We never hear the wife, this reflects Victorian society.
• "Fra Pandolf's hands" - vein as he shows off and values the artist more than the portrait of his wife.
• "Will't please you sit and look at her?" - Inferior demands.
• "The curtain I have drawn for you" - metaphor - the picture of her is hidden, so he is the only one who gets to control who sees her and when.
• "Dies along her throat" - sinister, did he kill her as an act of jealousy?
• "Notice Neptune ... taming a sea horse" - metaphor of neptune being dominant, like him.

Who wrote The Charge of the Light Brigade? What was their background?

• Alfred Tennyson
• Middle class family, was refused marriage due to poverty which created a hatred for those in higher class.

What is the main message of the poem?

• Hero's have been made from the Crimean War and he shows their bravery for going ahead with orders despite knowing the danger that higher archy had made a mistake.

What is the structure of the poem?

• Dactylic dimetee - mirrors the movement of horses and military nature.
• First half is about the valley, the second is the retreat.
• 6 stanzas to represent the 600 men.

• "Half a league, half a league, half a league onward" - repetition to emphasise a march and makes the reader feel weary, like the soldiers.
• "Valley of Death" - death is inevitable and is awaiting them.
• "Some one had blunder'd" - an attack on the higer archy for making a mistake, which caused many deaths, yet no man was scared.
• "Cannon to the right... cannon to the left... cannon in front" - despite being surrounded by weapons, they only have swords and still go on showing bravery.
• "Noble six hundred" - the poet commands us to remember those that died and were brave, a proud tone.

Who wrote Exposure? What was their background?

• Wilfred Owen
• Member of the British army, had a career in the church, but left.

What is the main message of the poem?

• Soldiers being exposed to poor weather conditions in war and us being exposed to the truth of war.

What is the structure of the poem?

• Filled with eclipses to enhance the idea of waiting for war.
• Para-rhyme to reflect the unsettlement in soliders.

• "Merciless iced east winds that knive us..." - eclipse suggests its never ending, sibilance gives an oppressive approach, personifies the wind to make it sound like an enemy.
• "But nothing happens" - repeated multiple times to enhance the idea that the reality of war wasn't always fighting, but most, waiting for war.
• "Misery of dawn" - traditionally, dawn is a time of hope, a new beginning, juxtaposed with the misery of war.
• "Her melancholy army attacks once more" - metaphor - the clouds are an army, he compares the weather to fighting the Germans.
• "For love of God seems dying" - questioning God's existance; old beliefs are fading.
• "Eyes are ice" - are they dead or emotionless to death?

Who wrote Storm on the Island? What was their background?

• Seamus Heaney
• Poems are based on rural life, Northern Irish.

What is the main message of the poem?

• The relationship between nature and man. It is a metaphor for the conflict in Ireland.

What is the structure of the poem?

• Blank verse with unrhymed verses to give a conversational tone.
• Present tense.
• Enjambment - suggests we have no control over weather.
• Iambic pentameter juxtaposed with general Irish talk to represent conflict in Ireland.

• "Storm on the Island" - first 8 letters spell "Stormont" which are the parliment buildings in Ireland.
• "This wizenend earth has never troubled us" - makes the earth sound like an old friend.
• "You know what I mean" - conversational tone.
• "Exploding comfortably" - oxymoron, makes it seems like storms are a normal thing.
• "Spits like a tame cat turned savage" - similie to suggest that weather is only scary if we let it.

Who wrote Bayonet Charge? What was their background?

• Ted Hughes
• Father served in WW1, obsessed with astrology and nature.

What is the main message of the poem?

• A solider running out of the trenches to attack and the indescribable horror of war.

What is the structure of the poem?

• Detailed, lengthy stanzas to represent thick mud.
• Complex sentences to enhance confusion of the soldier.
• Enjambment and caesura to give an erratic speed to the poem.

• "Suddenly he awoke... running - raw in raw-seamed hot khaki"- a sudden entry to the poem, makes the reader feel confused, like the soldier. The repetition of "raw", reflects the 'raw' emotions of the soldier.
• "Sweating like molten iron from the centre of his chest" - the similie brings a sense of hell to the poem and the idea he is sweating suggests he is trying to get control.
• "Patriotic tear" - juxtaposition of being upset or scared with doing what is right for the country.
• "In what cold clockwork of the stars and the nations was he the hand pointing that second?" - the soldier is the clog in the clock, no one cares about him as long as the job is done.
• "yellow hare" - image of death and cowardness, he victimises nature to emphasise effect of war on nature.
• "King, honour, human dignity, etcetera" - moral justifications become meaningless because war has destroyed nature.
• "His terror's touchy dynamite" - he becomes a form of a human bomb, a weapon.

Who wrote Remains? What was their background?

• Simon Armitage
• He has a collection of poems about discharged men, direct in his work.

What is the main message of the poem?

• The after effects of war on a soldier; the power his mind has when he remembers his experience.

What is the structure of the poem?

• Enjambment - to give a conversational format.
• Colloquial language - adds to the conversational tone and gives a sense of realism.
• Told anecdotally.

• "Probably armed, possibly not" - a sense of guilt that he could have killed innocent. It is repeated later in the poem to enhance guilt.
• "Myself and somebody else and somebody else are all of the same mind" - the men lose their identity and respond to situations the same.
• "Three of a kind all letting fly...rips through his life" - metaphor of the bullets destructing the man and his life.
• "Sort of inside out" - he finds it difficult to describe what he has done.
• "One of my mates" - colloquial language.
• "Carted off in the back of a lorry" - disregards human life and dehumanises the victim, they are treated like an animal.
• "End of story, except not really" - contrast in what he wants to believe and what is reality.
• "Blood-shadow stays on the street" - he can't forget his actions, a metaphor that guilt remains.
• "His bloody life in my bloody hands" - refereance to MacBeth as Lady MacBeth struggled to remove the blood, representing her guilt, like his guilt remains.

Who wrote Poppies? What was their background?

• Jane Weir
• She uses everyday words but adds a deeper meaning to them, a textile designer.

What is the main message of the poem?

• A mother preparing her son for war and her development in emotions. When he is gone, she trys to reconnect by memories.

What is the structure of the poem?

• Enjambment - she is overwhelmed by emotions.
• Told chronologically, however, her memories are erratic showing confusion and vulnerability,
• Familiar nouns - enforces a motherly tone.

• "Before Armistice Sunday... before you left" - repetition to emphasise the parallel between national and personal mourning.
• "Spasms" - connotates an injured body, she thinks of the worst before her son has even left, foreshadows the danger.
• "Bandaged" - her choice of words shows she is emotionally wounded.
• "Smoothed down your shirt's" - a domestic, motherly image.
• "Play at being Eskimos" - revisits childhood memories.
• "Blackthorns" - a link to Jesus, suggests the sacrafices her son might have to make.
• "Like a treasure chest" - a similie to show the world from her son's perspective.
• "Intoxicated" - a mothers pain, but son's excitement.
• "Released a song bird from its cage... a single dove" - symbollic for her son leaving, a symbol of peace or mourning.
• "I traced the inscriptions on the war memorial" - a sense of touch shows the distance between them, is she visiting the war memorial because her son died or as a reconnecting moment?

Who wrote War Photographer? What was their background?

• Carol Ann Duffy
• Inspired by her friendship with a war photographer.

What is the main message of the poem?

• A war photographer returning home to develop his photos, a contrast between the war zones and safety.

What is the structure of the poem?

• Tightly controlled structure shows the contrast with the chaos of war and saftey of home.
• Written as a narative - creates a sense of cynicism, the idea that people die and in the end, it results to a few photographs.

• "Darkroom" - a place of sanctuary, contrasts with the warzone, represents the detatchment between the public and warzones.
• "Set out in ordered rows" - represents graves or bodies, comparing the warzone and effects of war with a few photos.
• "As though this were a church...Belfast, Beirut, Phnom Penh" - contrast in evil, sinister imagery, like listed warzones to religious imagery.
• "He has a job to do" - breaks the sanctuary.
• "A stranger's features...start to twist" - suggests he is developing the photo or someone is in pain.
• "Half-formed ghost" - ambiguous, no one remembers, a metaphor that they could be dead now.
• "Black-and-white" - photograph, good v evil, truth v lies.
• "Tears between...pre-lunch beers" - rhyming within a line to represent how quick people get over events.
• "They do not care" - effective last line to sum up the poem.

Who wrote Tissue? What was their background?

• Imtiaz Dharker
• She writes poems with multiple interpretations, has Pakistani origins, a lot of her poems look at religion, terrorism and global politics.

What is the main message of the poem?

• A reminder that nothing is meant to last. It is written from the view of someone looking at the negative things on earth.

What is the structure of the poem?

• Enjambment - reflects lack of control humans have over the world.
• Starts with looking at the simple things that cause joy, but, ends with a warning or hope.

• "Tissue" - paper, human tissue?
• "Paper that lets the light shine through" - referance to God or Allah, Bible or Quran, paper has power when used for religious purposes.
• "Pages smoothed...transparent with attention" - has been handed down, important in families
• "Maps...sun shines through their borderlines" - the segregation of the world by mankind, we try to control everything, even nature. However, nature's power is permanent and overpowers human power.
• "Roads, railtracks, mountainfolds" - listing to represent man's attempt to control nature.
• "Fine slips... paper kites" - we concentrate on receipts and economy, a man made concept, however, if we treated life with childlike ways, it would be a happier place. We cause our own problems.
• "Daylight break through capitals"  - pathetic fallacy that nature will break through man's creation.
• "Turned into your skin" - links paper and human tissue.

Who wrote The Emigree? What was their background?

• Carol Rumens
• Uses arresting imagery and symbolism.

What is the main message of the poem?

• The contrast between childhood and adulthood understandings. A metaphor for growing up.

What is the structure of the poem?

• Stanza 1: capturing memory  Stanza 2: builds details  Stanza 3: facing truth
• No particular structure - represents the uncertain understanding of the speaker.
• Enjambment - creates a flowing pace,

• "Emigree" - an emigrant, someone who moves from a country because of political conditions. A feminine form, suggesting the speaker is a woman.
• "There once was a country..." - an idea that it is a fairytale.There is no specific country, suggesting this is a made up place or addressing to any other emigrants.
• "Sunlight-clear" - pathetic fallacy to show positive images of sunlight juxtaposing with adulthood understandings.
• "I am told" - distinction between what she is told and experience.
• "It may be sick" - personifying the town, as if it has been infected, but can be saved, a hopeful idea.
• "Sunlight" - repeated at the end of every stanza to reflect that she wants to be in the light.
• "As time rolls its tanks" - personifies time, that it is destructive, over time, the city has changed, destructing her memories.
• "It tastes like sunlight" - synaesthesia which blurs the image of vision and taste to show confusion.
• "My city comes to me in its own white plane" - personifies town, the idea that others have fled and will bring culture.
• "My city...dancing... city of walls" - juxtaposition of town identities, like her growth from childhood to adulthood.

Who wrote Checking Out Me History? What was their background?

• John Agard
• Born in Caribbean, but moved to Britain, taught about British history but not his own.

What is the main message of the poem?

• A conflict between with what we learn, which is irrelevant, to what we should be learning.

What is the structure of the poem?

• Enjambment - shows angry emotions.
• Italic - shows importance of Caribbean history.
• Uses structure to buld a rhythm to portray an oral tradition of stories.

• "Dem tell me" - repetition to emphasise the separation between himselff and education, phonetic spelling of Caribben spellings to show how he has brought over his culture regardless of what the system wants.
• "Bandage up me eye with me own history, blind me to me own identity" - shows deliberate attempt tp hide history, a metaphor of vision and blindness.
• "And all dat... dem tell me about **** Whittington and he cat" - he dismisses British history and makes it more trival.
• "Vision" - images of light when he talks about his own culture, yet contrasts with the image of blindness when talking about British history.
• "Napoleon, battalion" - rhyme to show the importance of oral communication in his own culture.
• "Cow who jump over de moon... spoon" - talks about nursery rhymes to show his education in Britain, he uses simple rhyme schemes to mock it.
• "Robin Hood" - uses falklore characters in comparison to his more relevant ones like Mary Seacole, who travelled to the Crimean War.
• "But now I checking out me own history I carving out me identity" - he creates his own identity based upon heritage and the final lines sum up the poem and gives a sense of celebration.

Who wrote Kamikaze? What was their background?

• Beatrice Garland
• She works in the NHS, has an intrest in why those gave their life for higher archy.

What is the main message of the poem?

• The idea of a soldier dying regardless of whether he completes the suicide mission or not; if he completes it, he dies in honour, but, if he doesn't, he comes back to a family who are disappointed and avoid him.

What is the structure of the poem?

• Italic font shows change in speaker, it enhances the idea that a daughter is passing on the story.
• Final couplet enables the reader to have their opinion.
• Only three full stops in the poem to show lack of control.
• Enjambment - reflects movement of plane.
• Lines have varied syllable patterns to reflect a sense of sickness in the kamikaze pilot.

• "Her father embarked at sunrise" - sets the scene that a father is going on an 'adventure', Japan is the 'land of the rising sun', sunrise is meant to be a time of a new beginning.
• "Enough fuel for a one-way journery into history" - highlights the honour soldiers recieved and enforces the idea of a suicide mission.
• "Must" - repeated modal verb as an attempt to justify his actions, shows bond between narrator and pilot.
• "Bunting...green-blue translucent sea" - usually associated with celebrations, shows what he will miss with vivid memories.
• "Figure of eight" - infinity symbol to suggest he is trapped in a cycle.
• "Dark shoals of fishes flashing silver as their bellies swivelled" - a metaphor for the aircraft doing the motion they use to hit targets.
• "Turbulent...safe" - contrast to show confusion.
• "Mackerel, black crabs...once a tuna" - fish represent freedom, but also weakness as they are the weakest in the food chain.
• "Which had been the better way to die" - contemplation whether suicide would have been better than returning.