Place poetry

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london by william blake

  • THEME- ANGER, DISGUST, HELPLESSNESS AND NO HOPE FOR FUTURE
  • everywhere he goes he sees misery and despair, nothing can escape and thats exagerated by his use of a baby being cursed
  • FORM- ABAB rhyme scheme mirrors someone walking through a town, its monosylabic and creates a sense of relentlessness
  • STRUCTURE- quatrians- no change=no change for london

CAN BE CONTRASTED WITH- vision=no hope for the future or wind=more enthusiastic views towards the landscape

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The wild swans at the coole- william yeats

  • THEME- MEMORY, TIME, BEAUTY AND SADNESS
  • The poet thinks about how time has changed for him yet the swans havent changed- he is almost jealous as they have love and freedom
  • FORM- first person gives a sense of nostalgia and the random rhyme scheme shows confusion in whats happened in his life
  • STRUCTURE- by the end of the poem when the swans fly off and disturb the peace it is mirrored in the liveliness

CONTRASTED WITH- crossing the loch and cold knap lake= memories 

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Extract from the prelude by william wordsworth

  • THEME- POWER OF NATURE, ATTATCHMENT TO BAD MEMORY
  • poem is about a man who starts his journey excited and by the end is haunted by the memory- he witnesses huge mountains and is intimidated by them
  • FORM- uses blank verse so has no rhythm- natural speech shows the memory is important as he speaks in first person
  • STRUCTURE- first half is care free second half is dark and sinister, looks like a block on the page showing he is rambling and just wants to forget

CONTRASTED WITH- below the green corrie=shows power of nature but BTGC has positive memories or the moment= shows power of nature compared to man or cold knap lake= has attatcment to a memory

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Spellbound By emily bronte

  • THEME- attatchment, power of nature (enchantment)
  • The poem is about a woman who wants to leave yet she cannot, she is spell bound, the power of the storm seems frightening yet we find out she doesnt want to leave
  • FORM- regualr quatrians make poem sound like a chant or a spell, ABAB rhyme scheme exagerates this
  • STRUCTURE- the whole time the poem sounds as if she is under control but the last line suggests its her own freewill

CONTRASTED WITH- crossing the lock= both show magic with landscape or storm in the black forest as both are mesmirzed by nature

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Below the green corrie by norman maCraig

  • THEMES- POWER OF NATURE, JOURNEY, MEMORY
  • The poem is about a man feeling intimidated by nature, he was aprehensive but became thankful for the experience as it was eye opening
  • FORM- free verse makes the poem sound exciting-like it is being described as it happens, shows how the memory is personal
  • STRUCTURE- distinct ideas in each stanza, first one is threatening the second is aprehensive and the third is thankful

CONTRASTED WITH- extract from the prelude= negative journey or storm in the black forest= to show sheer power of nature

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Storm in the black forest by D H lawrence

  • THEME- POWER OF NATURE, BEAUTY AND POWER OF NATURE COMPARED TO MAN
  • the poem is about a storm thatt does not want to rain- it has a mind of its own, the narrator ends by questioning the power of man- nature cannot be controlled.
  • FORM- free verse and irregular length make the poem sound chaotic , in the final stanza exclamation points enhance the excitement
  • STRUCTURE- flick of a switch the narrator turns on the reader, sarcastically

CONTRASTED WITH- wind= more frightneing than beautiful 

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wind by Ted hughes

  • THEME- POWER OF NATURE, RELATIONSHIPS AND FEAR
  • the poem describes a storm that is violently going on outside however it could represent a fierce argument and thats shown from the use of a couple narrator
  • FORM- enjambment makes the storm sound unpredictable and violent
  • STUCTURE- the five stanzas are split into the storms effect on the landscape and the storms effect on the couple- confusing as 5 stanzas is regular and the storm is irregular

CONTRASTED WITH- storm in the black forest= power of nature, extract from the prelude= fear towards the landscape

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a vision by simon armitage

  • THEME- FUTURE, ATTATCHMENT, MANS EFFECT ON EARTH
  • Poem is about a man who finds the plans for the future in the bin- no hope for the future and how things didnt turn out how we had planned
  • FORM- Ten-syllabals lines represent a neat and tiny tone possibly relfecting the blue prints
  • STRUCTURE- becomes increasingly negative towards the end of the poem but dismisses the visions from the very first line showing it didnt have any hope

CONTRASTED WITH- london=no hope for future or crossing the loch= mans affect on the earth

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the moment by margaret atwood

  • THEME- POWER OF NATURE COMPARED TO MAN
  • The poem is about a person who seems to have their life sorted, yet it seems as if we do not own anything ( e.g. a house) nature controls us and is needed for us to live, this is made clear when it says that it takes back the air
  • FORM-no rhyme scheme helps the poem to sound natural , first two stanzas are on sentence which builds up intensity and shows how much nature controls
  • STRUCTURE-first stanza shows how we see things and the last stanza shows how things really are

CONTRASTED WITH- storm in the black forest= power over man, extract from the prelude= man has a realisation that he is nothing compared to nature

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cold knap lake by gillian clarke

  • THEME- ATTATCHMENT, MEMORY 
  • the poem is about a girl who remembers her mother saving a little girls life after she drowned in a lake however the 2 last stanzas question whether she can remember correctly
  • FORM- sentences are long showing how her memory is pouring out or how everybody is holding there breathe due to the tension
  • STRUCTURE- the poem begins with confident and detailed descriptions however by the end she sounds confused which makes us go back and reinterpret the poem- she could be admiring her mums bravery and exagerating it- it could be a dream

CONTRASTED WITH- below the green corrie and extract from the prelude= both show definite memories in comparison to this fuzzy one and both show attatchment to the memory 

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price we pay for the sun by grace nichols

  • THEME- POVERTY, HOME, ATTATCHMENT
  • the poem is about painful memories on the islands that the narrator lives, she wants to leave due to the diffiulties the islanders have that the tourists do not see
  • FORM- short lines with not much grammar reflects those who cannot really speak on the island and also first person shows how this decision is hard for her
  • STRUCTURE- The first stanza talks about the islands the second stanza talks about her views and the third concludes what she should do

CONTRASTED WITH- hard water= shows attatchment to her home or spellbound= she feels she cannot leave

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Neighbours by gillian clarke

  • THEME- FUTURE, HELPLESSNESS AND ANGER
  • the poem talks about the chernobyl disaster and the long term effects its had on europe, she talks about hope for the future
  • FORM-short stanzas look fragmented, like the news reports at the time and the disturbance of the peace
  • STRUCTURE- hasa confused, random tone which reflects how nobody had any idea what to do after the radioactive disaster

CONTRASTED WITH- london and a vision= they have no hope for the future 

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crossing the loch by kathleen jamie

  • THEME- ATTATCHMENT, MEMORY, RELATIONSHIP AND BEAUTY
  • the poem tells a story about a exciting journey on a boat, the narrator is young and naive so doesnt see the radioactive waste as dangerous but beautiful
  • FORM- conversational tone conveys how she is talking to the person she shares the memory with
  • STRUCTURE- the first 3 stanzas are relfection on a memory whereas the last stanza talks about how time as passed and what life is like now

CONTRASTED WITH- wild swans at the coole=both talk about time passing and how the place is beautiful or cold knap lake=has strong attatchment to memory

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hard water by jean sprackland

  • THEME- ATTATCHMENT AND HOME
  • The poem is about strong attatchments to her home, the water represents the truthfulness and raw community- life isnt easy but she feels loyalty to it
  •  FORM-no regular rhyme scheme showing how the poem isnt forced, its down to earth in the way the people talk- its honest 
  • STRUCTURE- first stanza has no order and is odd to represent the excitement of being on holiday but the rest of the stanzas are regular and long to show how the town is blunt and truthful, the last stanza shows how painful the water is but it makes her feel at home

CONTRASTED WITH- price we pay for the sun=attatchment to home or london=strong feelings about a place

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