Power and Conflict Poems

Meaning - Accounts a disastrous battle between British cavalry and Russian forces - the Crimean War. A miscommunication sent the Light Brigade charging into a valley surrouded by the enemy. It was swords versus guns and much of the Light Brigade were killed.

Context - Failed and blundered attack by British cavalry in Crimean war against Russia in 1850's.

Language 1 - "Rode the six hundred" repeated to progress the journey of the men and build tension. Revised to include negative lexis "not" to suggest that many had died. Changes tone from active to sombre.

Language 2 - "Jaws of Death" death is personified as a monster to provide graphic imagery. Adverb "Boldly" suggests that the men's bravery went unfaltered. "Valley of death" taken from Lord's Prayer, biblical ideas included to emphasise the scale of importance and connects with the ethereal presence of the soldiers, gives poem an epic quality.

Structure - Chronological account of the events of the battle. Repetition at end of each stanza gives the impression of horses galloping, giving the poem a fast pace. Momentum broken by unrhymed lines suggest soldiers falling - chaos

Attitudes - War is inevitably futile. Focuses on how soldiers should be remembered for their bravery rather than criticise the mistake of the military leaders.

Themes - Abuse of Power, Fear and Isolation, Reality of Conflict

Meaning - Soldiers of WWI are awake at night, afraid of an attack but nature is made to be the main enemy. They imagine returning home but fear that people are forgetting them.

Context - Owen wrote the poem from the trenches to reveal his anger towards loss of life and poor conditions in the trenches, influenced by his anti-war thoughts.

Language 1 - Bleak Language e.g. assonance - "slowly our ghosts drag home" - the 'oh' sound makes the journey sound painful and slow.

Language 2 - Nature is the true enemy because is angered by war. It is personfied "merciless iced east winds that  knive us". Landscape is "grey" - no colour reflects boredom but also German uniforms were grey - aligns nature with the enemy.

Structure - Ellipses reflect waiting with repetitiion of "but nothing happens" represents futility of war and monotony of the men's experiences. Regular rhyme scheme represents monotony of war, half rhymes are jagged like the reality of men's experiences to reflect confusion.

Attitudes - War is a painful physically and emotionally - fatigue and injury. Soldiers lost hope against nature

Themes - Reality of Conflict, Abuse of Power, Power of Nature

Meaning - Accounts the experiences of a soldier going over the top of the trenches. A while into his journey he almost stops and tries to comprehend the reason for fighting.

Context - Many soldiers in the trenches suffered 'shellshock' and were treated as 'cowards'.

Language 1 - in medias res " suddenly he awoke", sounds confused and in a vulnerable state. Adverb "suddenly" suggests that war is about action and not glorified by patriotism and honour. Lists reasons for going to war "etcetera" suggests they aren't worth listing - no hope

Language 2 - Simile, "Like a man who has jumped up in the dark and runs", creates image of someone blind and irrational, suggests no rational reason for war.

Structure - refers to soldier as "he" to preserve his anonymity to say people don't matter in war and regard war universally. Irregular rhyme scheme reflects panic and struggle through the mud.

Attitudes - challenges patriotism, terror is overriding emotion, soldier is physically disorriented by gunfire and questions his purpose there. 

Themes - Reality of Conflict, Anger and Isolation, Effect of Conflict

Meaning - A group of soldiers shoot a man running from a bankraid but do not know whether he was armed or not. The soldier is haunted by whether the man was justifyably killed.

Context - PTSD in modern conflicts such as Iraq and Afghanistan, where soldiers have benn prosecuted.

Language 1 - "his bloody life in my bloody hands" - refers to man's blood and swearing in anger and frustration. Refers to Lady Macbeth blood on her hands and inevitably allusion hints that the speaker is unbalanced by his guilt just as Lady Macbeth 

Language 2 - colloquial language "tosses his guts" - horrific imagery speaker desesitised to death and violence - devalues human life.

Structure - Poem begins as if it will be an amusing anecdote but turns to graphic description of man's death. Stanza five there is a volta when man feels guilty.

Attitudes - casual attitude to the man's death - tone is anecdotal - human life is devalued by war, war is scarring just as the man is tormented by the death of another (guilt).

Themes - Effect of Conflict, Reality of Conflict, Isolation and Fear

Meaning - A mother describes her son leaving home and she tries to reconnect with his memory by visiting place were he once was.

Context - Poppies are a rememberance symbol, and we celibrate Armistace Day every year.

Language 1 - metaphor, "steeled the softening of my face", trying to compose herself for him and be brave - mothering tone - "this is where it has led me" - "this" vague pronoun has double meaning - location and to her son's death 

Language 2 - Verb, "Intoxicated" son was rebellious and wanted to be away from home - excitement contrasts mother's saddness. Represents lack of control, which he gives up joing the army 

Structure - Enjambment relfects the mother fighting for composure from her loss of her son who she treasured greatly but he was "intoxicated" to go.

Attitudes - war has a negative effect on the people at home too, struggle to let children follow their own paths, fear of losing a child or relative and waiting

Themes - Isolation, Effect of Conflict, Abuse of Power

Meaning - A war photgrapher is in a darkroom developing the photos he had taken in various warzones. As the photo develops, he remembers a man's death and grows angry at the uncaring nature of the people in England

Context - famous War photograph of children fleeing 'Napalm ' attack, could have ended Vietnam war.

Language 1 - "stranger's features slowly start to twist" double meaning - photo developing - man in pain - graphic imagery verb "twist" associated with discomfort

Language 2 - "a hundred agonies in black and white" pun and dark humour - printed in newspapers - war is black and white morality - man's detachment from emotions for his job

Structure - time shift triggered by narrowing phrase "something is happening" to lead read through haunting reality behind the photo. Poem is a sestet.

Attitudes - horrific pain of war contrasted with ordinary pain at home, people at home do not understand or care because it doesn't affect them, detached from emotions to do his job

Themes - Reality of War, Ignorance, Anger/memories

Meaning - narrator meets traveller who tells him about a statue in the desert of a king who boasts about his power in the inscription of the statue. Now only ruins remain.

Context - Egyptian Pharoah Ramses II who had great statues of himself built during his reign to comemorate his power. 

Language 1 - "Ye Mighty and despair" exclamation - authorative tone -ironic no one listening. "sneer of cold command" synaesthesia - arrogant cruel dictator - ironic nothing left 

Language 2 - "Lone and level sands stretch far away" juxtaposes statue worn away but nature lives on. sand is a metaphor for time - nature is immortal not man 

Structure - Irregular rhyme scheme - broken legacy. sonnet - love for himself and romantic/exotic tone of long lost legend - distance reader from Ozymandias

Attitudes - Power cannot be immortalised. Art can only temporarily preserve human existence

Themes - Decay of Power, Abuse of Power, Power of Nature 

Meaning - narrator descibes a walk through London where it is affected by misery and despair but the wealthy do nothing about it.

Context - French revolution (people executed king) scared the British because it was a country of aristocracy and monarchy. Poem encourages people to rise up for what is right. Blake did not trsut authoritive figures such as chuches.

Language 1 - "marks of weakness, marks of woe" - anaphora - people branded to show place in society. "mind-forged  manacles" alliteration, metaphor people belief in own weakness

Language 2 - "chimney sweeper's cry/ Black'ning church" juxtapose dirty children and clean church - religion is used to suppress people.

Structure - ABAB rhyme scheme reflects pace walking through London

Attuitudes - People to blame because of their own belief in hopelessness - indoctrination

Themes - Corruption of Power, Poverty, Suffering

Meaning - narrator finds a boat and sets happily across the lake but turns around when he sees an intimidating mountain

Context - Wordsworth believed in romanticism - the power and aw of nature. Autobiographical.

Language 1 - "glittering", "sparkling" - semantically peacful lexis, "huge" and "mighty" - dangerous adjectives. Poem changes from euphony (pleasant sound) to cacophony (harsh sound)

Language 2 - "Went heaving through the water like a swan" this simile attempts to show a persons grace, but juxtaposition with heavy verb "heaving" revelas his naivety.

Structure - Iambic Pentameter - consistency - nature cant be changed. "horizon" volta - structured in three distinct parts Arrogance/Fear/Consequences nature is unpredictable 

Attitudes - nature should be respected as has ability to change thougths and persona

Themes - Power of nature, Human arrogance, Fear and isolation 

Meaning - Dramatic monologue of a Duke talking about his deceased wife who he couldn't control 

Context - Duke of Ferrara became dissatisfied with wife and killed her by poisonning her.  This reflects the job of women at this period of time. Browning objected to overcontrolling patriarchs 

Language 1 - "(... the curtain I have drawn for you)" - bracketed tangent suggests priviledge to see her and suggests that he can control who looks at her in death

Language 2 - "I gave commands then all smiles stopped together" euphemism for assassination. "half-flush that dies along her throat" - metaphor semantic field of death

Structure - Caesura/ enjambment - fight for composure, pride. Iambic pentameter - noble. Dramatic monolgue/enjambement - doesnt let others speak

Attitudes - Duke is proud of his possessions and enjoys the power he has over the painting 

Themes - Patriarchal Power, Jealousy, Revenge

Meaning - small isolated cottage near the sea in a storm and the exposure to the elements. Community thinks they are prepared but lose their confidence and begin to fear it.

Context - first eight letters spell Stormont (Northern Ireland's parliament buildings). Hints of previous violent political disturbances (republicans want independence from Britain). Conflict between Catholic and Protestant

Language 1 - Heaney uses natural images as metaphors for human nature, "salvo", "strafe","bombardment", military metaphors emphasise damage and suggest it is only what we make it to be. Forceful sound, "blast", strength of nature.

Language 2 - "a huge nothing that we fear", oxymoron suggests that our fear is a paradox, we fear the nothingness of the invisible wind. 

Structure - Written in blank verse gives a conversational tone - community. Shifts from security to fear in volta "But no", monosyllabic phrase reflects last moments of calm before the storm.

Attitudes - People can't do anything about their fear except wait for the storm to finish contrasting the safe and assured tone at the start of the poem. 

Themes - Arrogance of Humans, Power of Humans, Fear and Isolation

Meaning - First three stanzas talk about paper being used to record our history, paradox as paper is fragile yet controls our lives, poem remarks on how everything is temporary and we should be willing to let things go just as the fragility of tissue

Context - She has Pakistani origins and most of her work talks about the issues in the world

Language 1 - "might fly our lives like paper kites", double meaning, paper controls our lives and is an extended metaphor for life, gives a child-like innocence and ease and if we changed our approach to material ownership then we might regain that childhood peace of mind

Language 2 - poem is a parable in nature as suggests there is spiritual fulfillment in passing on ownership and letting things pass once having fulfilled their purpose, "they fall away on a sigh" transient verb "fall" suggests movement and change and is evocative of moving on

Structure - enjambment and lack of regular rhyme scheme used to create a human and calm tone relfects the narrator's desire for freedom and openness, irregularity of rhyme scheme suggests fragile tissue and instability of life

Attitudes - We hold on too tight to power and control and need to encompass openness and freedom, and let things move on

Themes - Power of Humans, Decay of Power, Abuse of Power 

Meaning - The speaker talks about a city she left as a child and with which she views in a wholey positive way even when others don't. The poet explores how perhaps positive memories of that country are not welcome in their new settlement.

Context - Explores modern examples of emigration such as from the Middle East where there country has been suffocated in tyranny, preventing their return.

Language 1 - "It tastes of sunlight", synaesthesia, jumble of the senses reflect confusion and emphasises the flawed but joyous nature of the memory

Language 2 - the narrator shows a sitaste for a new settlement as she personifes her city, "my city takes me dancing", humanising the city, juxtaposing the city with the one she is in now that has a different identity.]

Structure - no consistent structure or regular rhyme scheme reflects the uncertain memory of her country and a lack of understanding of its situation. Enjambment in the first stanza shows lack of willingness to forget about her city.

Attitudes - There is a sense of yearning for the past as if she is intoxicated by the memories emphasising the strength of identity and the human mind

Themes - Abuse of Power, Memories, Hope and freedom

Meaning - a kamikaze pilot sets off an his suicide mission, which was regarded as a great honour but turns around to come home. His daughter imagines that this was because he saw the beauty of nature and remembers his innocent childhood. When he returns home he is shunned by his family who act is if he weren't there at all 

Context - In WW2, flying their planes into enemy ships (kamikaze) was seen as respect and honour for the family and country.

Language 1 - "cloud-marked mackerel, black crabs, feathery prawns", listing contrasts the rural fishing imagery with war-based imagery, linking the pilot with the fish, that feel trapped and isolated or perhaps evidences the beauty of nature that has the power to change minds

Language 2 -  "sunrise", imagery and symbolism, Japan was known as the land of the rising sun, which links the pilot to his culture and duty, positive noun juxtaposes the pilot's later life

Structure - use of italic indicate a change of speaker creating a more personal and human tone to evidence the effect of patriotism on family

Attitudes - The poem explores the destructiveness of patrotism as the narrator questions whether it would have been a better way to die on the suicide mission.

Themes - Effect of Conflict, Judgment, Isolation 

Meaning - The narrator talks about his identity and how it looks to his history, He is only taught about British history and not his Caribbean roots. He lists famous figures from other cultures and concludes by saying that he is going to create his own identity based upon his heritage.

Context - The poet explores how we often celebrate our own national history without learning about the history of those we were once in conflict with. It also explores how fact and truth are often obscured by race and gender.

Language 1 - "stream","river", natural imagery suggests the power of "Nanny de marroon" emphasising the cultural and environmental links we lack in our own culture.

Language 2 - "dem" pronoun is repeated throughout to preserve a sense of anonymity towards the education system and perhaps portray a general dislike towards the higher powers. Phonetic style captures the voice and tone of the caribbean origins

Structure - Caribbean history has more broken syntax than the English to give them a more serious tone. The English history stanzas also have more simple rhymes in order to make it sound childish "go"/"no"

Attitudes - need to forge your own identity even if unsupported by authority

Themes - Abuse of Power, Identity, Anger 

Oxymandias - Storm on the island, both poems show decay of power and how humans always lose to nature.

London - Exposure, different context by suffering is the same becuase of the neglect of those in power.

The Prelude - Storm on the island, humans overwhelmed by nature despute early arrogance.

My last Dutchess - The Emigree, Both personas claim ownership over things, but for different reasons.

Charge of the lgiht brigade - Exposure, Front-line soldiers being ignored and left to die by those in power.

Exposure - Bayonet charge, Both explore links to shellshock and post traumatic stress disorder.

Storm on the island -The prelude, Arrogance of humans over nature before awe-inspiring realisation.

Bayonet charge - Remains, Both poems are about post traumatic stress disorder, shellshock but a century apart.

Remains -War photographer, Both experience haunting memories of modern conflict.

Poppies - The Emigree, Persona in 'Poppies' remembers her son whereas the person in The Emigree remembers her city.

War Photographer - exposure or Bayonet charge, the reality of conflict is a key theme in all these poems.

Tissue - Ozymandias, Contrasting powers of humans and nature, and arrogant fragility of humans.

The Emigree - Poppies, Simular use of enjambment to show a lack of willingness to forget.

Checking out me history -The Emigree, Both poems refer to unnamed 'they' as their enemies.Both people are effected by foreign countries.

kamikaze - Remains, Persona's fear of judgment is almost justified by the treatment of the kamikaze pilot.