Poems

First Love By: John Clare

Themes: First Love

Rhythm: Steady 

• He is so certain she is the one

Narrative: First Person Narrative

• More realistic, have no choice but to agree

Summary: The poem suggests love from a far, most likely in a situation where she is oblivious to the man and what he is thinking as the woman has no voice in the Poem

Ambivalnce - Two different meanings

• Love and violence
• example - "blood burnt round my heart"

By:Matthew Arnold

Context: 

• Written in victorian times
• Charles Darwin study questions everyones belief on God, heaven and Hell

Theme: Isolation

Tone: Harsh, smooth occasionaly

Narrative: Third Person Narrative

Summary: Two people want to be together but they can't. We are all 'islands', seperate and discommunicated from each other. It is blamed on God, he is referenced to in the Poem suggesting he is cross with church

Sonnet

• 14  lines long
• 3 quatrains 
• 1 X rhyming cuplet
• alternative rhyming scheme

By: Christina Rossetti

• Victorian
• Part of devot christian family
• Never married
• Faith important to her

Theme: Remebering, Love

Narrative:First Person narrative

Tone/Rhythm: 'Ponderous', soft, indulgent, fondess

Shall i compare thee...?

By: William Shakesphere

Theme: Love, Nature

Type: Sonnet

Summary: Comparing a thee to a summer's day, but saying she it better. She will never loose her beauty to him!

The marriage of true Minds

By: William Shakesphere

Type: Sonnet

Theme: Love, marriage (two things joining)

Summary: Love is forever, even when death approches them, it never fades

Register

By: Michael Laskey

Theme: Letting go of child, growing up

Rhyming scheme: No obvious rhyming scheme - her daily role is changing

Narrative: First Person Narrative

Summary: Her childs first day at school

The gift

• posotive
• recieving
• thankful
• giving - proud, honured

By: Chris Banks

Punctuation: Lack of punctuation - hard for her to talk

Theme: Family willl always be there, when child looks after parent

Structure: lack of sturcture - wasn't suppose to happen

Relationship with son: Suggest he is not normally very effectinate - doesn't show his love - 'cool son' - overwhelming for her

A kiss

By: Ben Jonson

Language: Soft words, excitable

Tone: No measure tone - to excitable

Rhyming scheme: Irregular 

One Flesh

By: Elizabeth Jennings

Theme: Love, lonleyness, isolation, break down or relationships

Rhyming scheme: Each stanza has its own rhyming scheme

• Not consistent
• Irregualr
• Like their relationship - glimps of hope

Summary: A couple that used to be so close relationship has gone wrong somewhere and now they are so seperate. There relationship does not involve sex, as there passion between one another has faded. 

Narrative: Third person - Their childs perspective

The wife seems to want more as she described as daydreaming, man seems justifed by situation.

Follower

By: Seamus Heany

Rhyming Scheme: Slant rhyme - deliberate- not quite going to be the man his father was - frustration

Theme: Father and son relationship, role model

Summary: Child follows his father around when younger and used to think he was a nuisance, but when he got older, they reverse role 

Football after school

By: Patricia McCarthy

Theme: Letting go of child, growing up - references to violence

Narrative: Mother's voice 

Structure: Disconnected/Disjointed - reflection of lack of control

Mum: She is worried about what will happen to him as there will be more football after school. She is not worried about him, but the others around him influencing him.

Laundrette

By: Liz Lochhead

Tone: Monotonous - staying the same, dull repitive

Stanza 1,2 and three start with WE - inclusive

Summary: Laundrette used to be a place of community but now everything has changes and everyone does not pay attention to each other- they'd rather watch the laundry spin round. reference to everyone is to focused on own lives, do not have time to engage with others.

A poem for my Sister

By: Liz Lochhead

Theme: Whole poem is a methaphor for life and growing up

Summary: She is wishing her sister does not follower her footsteps