Flashcards
POEMS - Quotes
Cards in this deck (85)
- 1"I met a traveller from an antique land"OZYMANDIAS
1. FORM - second hand account
2. He hasn't seen the statue - only heard of it. - 2"The lone and level sands stretch far away."OZYMANDIAS
1. Alliteration - empty space/ surrounding desert.
2. LANGUAGE OF POWER - Desert vast and survives longer than statue. - 3"sneer of cold command"OZYMANDIAS
1. Angry Language - leader is arrogant
2. Sculptor understood his arrogance. - 4"colossal wreck"OZYMANDIAS
1. Oxymoron - contrasting words
2. Irony - even powerful humans can't control the damaging effects of time. - 5"Marks of weakness, marks of woe." "every"LONDON
1. Repetition - emphasises feeling of bleakness.
2. Despair affects everyone and there's no relief from it. - 6"infant's cry of fear" "I hear"LONDON
1. USE OF THE SENSES - the speaker hears various distressing noises.
2. Creates a vivid, hellish experience. - 7"youthful harlot's curse" "Blasts the new-born infant's tear" "marriage hearse"LONDON
1. Contrast - innocence and happiness destroyed and lost. - 8"black'ning church"LONDON
1. Speaker seems angry at power.
2. Corrupt - tarnished by its failure to look after people.
3. Pollution - Industrial Revolution. - 9"I wander through each chartered street"LONDON
1. First-person narrator - personalises the poem.
2. Purposeless - he feels powerless to change whats happening.
3. The whole city is affected - not just one area. - 10"And blights with plagues the marriage hearse"LONDON
1. Powerful language of illness and disease.
2. Oxymoron - suggests that everything has been destroyed. - 11"By day, and were a trouble to my dreams"THE PRELUDE: STEALING A BOAT
1. Unsettling image - helps us to empathise with him.
2. Contrast to tone and mood at start. - 12"Leaving" "Still" "Small" "Until" "melted all" "light"THE PRELUDE: STEALING A BOAT
1. The succession of 'I' helps the poem flow - like the boast moving gently across the lake. - 13"act of stealth"THE PRELUDE: STEALING A BOAT
1. The narrator knows he's doing something wrong.
2. Foreboding - first hint that something isn't quite right. - 14"Proud of his skill" "Unswerving line"THE PRELUDE: STEALING A BOAT
1. Confident Language - narrator is confident, maybe a bit arrogant.
2. Contrasts with later in the poem. - 15"When,"THE PRELUDE: STEALING A BOAT
1. Volta (point of change)
2. Emphasised by being at the start of a line and by a caesura. - 16"The horizon's bound, a huge peak, black and huge."THE PRELUDE: STEALING A BOAT
1. A mountain appears on the horizon.
2. Very different lang. Darker and more threatening. - 17"I struck and struck again, and growing still in stature."THE PRELUDE: STEALING A BOAT
1. As narrator rows away from mountain, it seems to be growing (more of it is in view)
2. Feels like a nightmare. - 18"struck" "still" "stature" "shape" "stars" "so" "seemed"THE PRELUDE: STEALING A BOAT
1. The repetition of sibilant sounds creates a sinister mood. - 19"no pleasant images of trees, of sea or sky".THE PRELUDE: STEALING A BOAT
1. Narrator no longer sees nature as pretty images.
2. He's learnt there is more to that. - 20"That's my last duchess painted on the wall"MY LAST DUCHESS
1. Objectification - sounds as if he owns the duchess herself, not just the picture of her.
2. "my" suggests power over her. - 21"if they durst"MY LAST DUCHESS
1. Structure
2. Suggests people were scared of his anger. - 22"not the first, are you to ask me thus"MY LAST DUCHESS
1. Creates the impression of a question from the visitor.
2. Power - we hear it from the Duke, he's in complete control. - 23"Half-flush that dies along her throat"MY LAST DUCHESS
1. Dramatic irony - image of wife blushing juxtaposed by references of death.
2. A more sinister meaning - References to death are out of place and suspicious. - 24"Will't please you sit and look at her?"MY LAST DUCHESS
1. Sounds polite - but being quite forceful. - 25"Even had you skill in speech - (which I have not)"MY LAST DUCHESS
1. False modesty - he clearly does like speaking. - 26"Notice Neptune, though, Taming a sea-horse, thought a rarity."MY LAST DUCHESS
1. Casually changing subject from his wife back to his art collection.
2. Suggests power - he does not need to account for his actions.
3. The return to the subject of his art collection emphasises power & wealth. - 27"Half a league, half a league, half a league onward"THE CHARGE OF THE LIGHT BRIGADE
1. Form - rhythm sounds like horses galloping, gives the impression that the horses are unstoppable.
2. Repetition - emphasises the number of soldiers involved. - 28"valley of death" (1st stanza) "valley of death" (2nd stanza)THE CHARGE OF THE LIGHT BRIGADE
1st. Sounds sinister - forebodes something bad will happen.
2nd. Biblical reference - makes the poem seem solemn and significant. - 29"Cannons to right of them, Cannon to left of them, Canon in front of them"THE CHARGE OF THE LIGHT BRIGADE
1. Repetition at start and end of lines - reflect way the soldiers are surrounded.
2. Also reflects the sound of gunfire. - 30"All the world wonder'd:"THE CHARGE OF THE LIGHT BRIGADE
1. Ambiguous - could mean people marvelled at their bravery.
2. Or they wondered why they had been sent on the charge.
3. Context - The poem was written in 1854. Many newspapers were critical of leadership but this focuses on bravery of soldiers. - 31"shot and shell" "jaws of death" "mouth of hell" "sabre stroke" "Shatter'd and sunder'd "Volley'd and thunder'd" "Plunged" "Reel'd"THE CHARGE OF THE LIGHT BRIGADE
1. Violent Imagery - Sibilance emphasises ammunition flying at them.
2. Images personify death - soldiers can't escape.
3. Powerful sibilant and onomatopoeic verbs suggest noise from cannons. - 32"Honour the charge they made! Honour the Light Brigade"THE CHARGE OF THE LIGHT BRIGADE
1. Repetition of command.
2. Meant to leave reader with the idea that they should honour the cavalry. - 33"Our brains ache, in the merciless iced eat winds that knive us..."EXPOSURE
1. Form - a shared painful experience.
2. Nature personified and seems to be attacking them. - 34"like a dull rumour of some other war"EXPOSURE
1. Biblical ref to Matthew 24:6.
2. Jesus foretells the end of the world:
He says "You will hear of wars and rumours of wars" - 35"Dawn massing in the east of her melancholy army" "Pale flakes with fingering stealth come feeling for our faces -"EXPOSURE
1. Dawn personified using lang. of battle - normally dawn brings hope, but not here.
2. Snowflakes personified - they're maliciously seeking the men's faces. - 36"What are we doing here?" " - Is it that we are dying"?EXPOSURE
1. Rhetorical question asks what the point of it all is.
2. Another question - possibly answering the first question, they're here to die. - 37"But nothing happens"EXPOSURE
1. Final stanza ends the same as the first stanza.
2. Suggests that death doesn't change anything.
3. No progression - emphasises that war is futile. - 38"We are prepared: we build our houses squat, / Sink walls in rock and roof them with good slate."STORM ON THE ISLAND
1. Strong opening - feeling of safety, contrasts with later in the poem.
2. A lot of words on feeling of safety and security in the first two lines.
3. End-stopping - emphasised security, contrasts to rest of poem. - 39"Blast: you know what I mean"STORM ON THE ISLAND
1. Plosive sound has a greater impact because it comes at the start of the line.
2. The narrator speaks to reader in a chatty tone - making you reflect on your own personal experience of storms. - 40"Exploding comfortably" "spits like a tame cat turned savage"STORM ON THE ISLAND
1. Violent imagery.
2. Oxymoron - juxtaposition of feelings of fear and safety.
3. Simile - shows how familiar things become frightening during the storm. - 41"strafes" "salvo" "bombarded"STORM ON THE ISLAND
1. Violent imagery.
2. Language used to describe war - the wind is compared to a fighter plane attacking the island. - 42"It is a huge nothing that we fear"STORM ON THE ISLAND
1. The storm is invisible - there is nothing there.
2. Contrasts with solid "rock" mentioned in the second line of poem. - 43"Suddenly he awoke and was running - raw"BAYONET CHARGE
1. Structure - poem starts in medias res (in middle of action).
2. Sounds confused - events seem like a nightmare but this confirms it's real. - 44"The bullets smacking the belly out of the air"BAYONET CHARGE
1. Violent Imagery and onomatopoeia - describes the sound and impact of the shots.
2. Metaphor - emphasises shock of gunfire and that the soldier is in medias res. - 45"patriotic tear" "Sweating like molten iron from the centre of his chest"BAYONET CHARGE
1. Simile - his patriotism turned into fear and pain.
2. His heroic ideals have been replaced by painful reality. - 46"he almost stopped –"BAYONET CHARGE
1. The stanza pauses on the action.
2. The soldier starts to focus why he is there. - 47"In what cold clockwork of the stars and the nation"BAYONET CHARGE
1. Emphasis the soldier's insignificance and lack of control in his situation.
2. "cold" implies that the people in charge of the war don't care about individual soldiers. - 48"King, honour, human dignity, etcetera / Dropped like luxuries"BAYONET CHARGE
1. These are the reasons that persuade people to go to war. Using "etcetera" shows they're not even worth listening.
2. He's been reduced to a basic level - he's attacking out of desperation, not moral principle. - 49"His terror's touchy dynamite"BAYONET CHARGE
1. The soldier seems to have become a weapon, rather than a human being.
2. He's purely driven by his terror. - 50"On another occasion"REMAINS
1. Sounds like a series of stories.
2. The reader is listening in. - 51"probably armed, possibly not"REMAINS
1. There's a doubt here, which contrasts strongly with the definite action that follows.
2. Repetition of this later in the poem - shows that he's replaying the events in his mind, and hints at his inner turmoil. - 52"all" "all three" "Three"REMAINS
1. Repetition - he's keen for the reader to know that it wasn't just him.
2. Hints that he feels guilty. - 53"open fire"REMAINS
1. Comes as a surprise.
2. Sudden violence doesn't fit the casual tone. - 54"it rips through his life" "broad daylight on the other side"REMAINS
1st. Violent metaphor - contrasts shockingly with the colloquial style of the first 2 stanzas.
2nd. Graphic Imagery - he says he can see straight through the bullet holes in the man's body. - 55"sort of inside out"REMAINS
1. Almost childish descriptions
2. The speaker is unable to process the event in an adult way. - 56"End of story, except not really"REMAINS
1. Volta (changing point)
2. The speaker's mood changes. - 57"His blood-shadow stays on the street"REMAINS
1. A visual reminder of the death.
2. Foreshadows the memories that are going to haunt him. - 58"Then I'm home on leave."REMAINS
1. Short, simple sentence - he thinks that once he's home he'll forget the terrible things he's seen.
2. The suddenness of the line suggests the speaker is confused. - 59"But I blink"REMAINS
1. The stanza ending reflects the blinking.
2. The enjambment carries you forwards.
3. The horror is still there when the next stanza starts. - 60"Sleep" "Dream"REMAINS
1. Short words - separated by caesurae.
2. Sound like gun shots. - 61"some distant, sun-stunned, sand-smothered land"REMAINS
1. The violent parts of the compound adjectives "stunned" and "smothered" show how the place is affected by war.
2. Long-line and sibilance - slow the pace and reflect the speaker's lack of clear thought. - 62"his bloody life in my bloody hands"REMAINS
1. Ambiguous - talking about man's blood, but also swearing in anger.
2. There's no collective responsibility - he feels responsible.
2. Possible ref. to Macbeth - he's as guilty as Lady Macbeth and can't wash his bloody hands. - 63"Three days before Armistice Sunday" "Before you left"POPPIES
1. Repetition - emphasises parallel between national and personal mourning and remembrance. - 64"Individual war graves" "a blockade"POPPIES
War Imagery
1st. An ominous reminder that war kills individuals, so loss is personal.
2nd. Suggests that she feels shut from her son's life. - 65"spasms" "bandaged"POPPIES
1st. Makes he reader think of an injured body.
2nd. She is emotionally wounded and he might be wounded in war. - 66"smoothed down your shirt's upturned collar"POPPIES
1. Domestic, motherly image.
2. This may be the last time she can do this for her son. - 67"graze my nose" "run my fingers through the gelled blackthorns of your hair"POPPIES
Tactile Imagery
1st. The mother longs for the closeness she had with her son when he was little.
2nd. "blackthorns" allude to Jesus: he wore thorns on his when he was sacrificed. Hints the sacrifice her son may make. - 68"I was brave"POPPIES
1. The mother asserting her bravery.
2. Subverts the idea that it's only those who go to war who are brave. - 69"intoxicated"POPPIES
1. The son's excitement contrasts with his mother's sadness.
2. It could also link to lack of control - the son giving up control of his life by joining the army. - 70"without a winter coat or reinforcements"POPPIES
1. Battle imagery makes her sound vulnerable. - 71"I traced"POPPIES
1. Touch is important to the mother.
2. The memorial is a solid object, unlike her wishes and memories. - 72"your playground voice catching on the wind"POPPIES
1. Memories from childhood.
2. Linking leaving to go to school to leaving to join the army - 73"In his darkroom he is finally alone"WAR PHOTOGRAPHER
1. The darkroom tells us where he is.
2. Also hints at the subject matter of his photographs - 74"spools of suffering set out in ordered rows"WAR PHOTOGRAPHER
1. The reels of film are described like soldiers, or like rows of war graves.
2. Paradox - chaos and suffering are reduced to something ordered. - 75"All flesh is grass"WAR PHOTOGRAPHER
1. Biblical reference - from Isaiah 40:6.
2. ^^^^^ which means human life is temporary. - 76"He has a job to do"WAR PHOTOGRAPHER
1. Simple sentence using monosyllabic words.
2. He has to put his emotions aside, like a soldier does. - 77"of running children in a nightmare heat"WAR PHOTOGRAPHER
1. Ref. to Vietnam War photo.
2. This links at the importance of the photographer's work, as the photo is sometimes credited for helping end the war. - 78"Something is happening"WAR PHOTOGRAPHER
1. Volta (turning point").
2. The focus switches to the personal cost of war.
2. He's remembering a specific death and its impact. - 79"a half-formed ghost"WAR PHOTOGRAPHER
Ambiguous
1. Photograph is still developing
2. Suggests body has been mutilated. - 80"blood stained into foreign dust"WAR PHOTOGRAPHER
1. Reminder that this is happening somewhere else.
2. Hints at the lasting impact of war. - 81"A hundred agonies in black and white"WAR PHOTOGRAPHER
1. Emotive metaphor to describe his photos.
2. Having the pictures printed seems to confirm and solidify the suffering they show. - 82"he earns his living and they do not care"WAR PHOTOGRAPHER
Ambiguous
1. Could refer to readers of the newspapers who don't care about the victims of war.
2. Could also refer to the wider world, which is apathetic to others' suffering. - 83"Paper that lets the light"TISSUE
1. "Paper" begins the first two sentences in the poem - intriguing the reader.
2. Suggests importance and perhaps drives the change that the third line alludes to. - 84"written in the names and histories, who was born to whom"TISSUE
1. Paper is used to record family history.
2. Whole lives can be summed up by marks on paper. - 85"if buildings were paper"
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- Year 10 English Flashcards on POEMS - Quotes, created by Ihsan Choudhury on 05/05/2018.
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