Changing the way you learn

Power and Conflict Poetry

Ozymandias
1. Percy Bysshe Shelley - Romantic Poet Disliked absolute power and oppression Inspired by the French Revolution
  1. Pride-Proud of his kingdom and achievements Arrogance-Believed he was the most powerful ruler and that he was better than those he ruled Power-Humans are insignificant compared to the passing of time and nature
2. Narrator meets a traveller who tells him of a Statue of a King in the desert Tyrannous reign but has crumbled away
  1. Key Quotes: "I met a traveller from an antique land" "vast and trunkless legs of stone" "shatter'd visage" "sneer of cold command" "King of Kings"
3. Form: Sonnet Irregular - Fragile human power Volta - Line 9 Second-hand account - Distances reader Disrupted iambic pentameter
  1. Structure: Builds up image with shifts in focus End describes enormous desert, insignificance of the statue
London
1. William Blake - 'Songs of Innocence and of Experience' Childhood, nature and the corruption of society Questioned the teachings of the Church
2. A walk around London Relentless misery - not even the young and innocent Power is the cause but do nothing to help
3. Form: Dramatic Monologue First person narrative, personalised Unbroken ABAB, relentless misery, sound of feet and movement
  1. Structure: Relentless images of deprivation and misery Stanza 1/2 Focuses on people, 3 on institutions, 4 returns to people, newborn babies
    1. Anger-Angry at people in power who do nothing Anger at society and the situation Hopelessness-People themselves are also to blame, trapped in their own attitudes Not able, or trying to, help themselves
4. Key Quotes: "I wander through each chartered street" "chartered Thames" "Marks of weakness, marks of woe" Repetiton "every" "black'ning church" "blood down palace walls" "new-born infant's tear" "marriage hearse"
The Prelude: Stealing the Boat
1. William Wordsworth - Romantic Poet Autobiographical poem that explores connection of nature and human emotion Character is shaped by experience
  1. Key Quotes: "(led by her)" "troubled pleasure" "she was an elfin pinnace" "a huge peak, black and huge" "upreared its head" "no pleasant images of trees" "trouble to my dreams"
    1. Confidence-Comfortable and in control, this is shaken by one event Fear-Nature is more powerful than humans, in awe but is also scared Reflection-How he is changed by the event Thoughts and reams are troubled
2. Takes a boat out onto the lake Initially happy and confident A mountain appears and he becomes afraid of size and power Haunted by scenes
  1. Structure: Three sections 1 - Light and carefree tone 2 - Distinct change after mountain appears, darker and fearful 3 - Reflection on how experience changed him
3. Form: First-person narrative Personal account, evokes sympathy Blank verse, regular rhythm, sounds like natural speech
My Last Duchess
1. Robert Browning - Fascinated by Italian Renaissance Duke of Ferrara's wife, suspicions she'd been poisoned
  1. Duke proudly shows off painting of his Duchess Angered by her flirtatious behavour, hints she was murdered Visitor has come to arrange next marriage
    1. Pride-Possessions and status Jealousy-Couldn't stand her flirting Power-Enjoys control over the painting that he didn't have when she was alive
2. Form: Dramatic monologue with iambic pentameter, in conversation with visitor Rhyming couplets, desire for control Enjambment, carried away with anger Unstable character with unsettling power
  1. Structure: Framed by visit to gallery but the Duke talks about the Duchess instead Builds towards a kind of confession before the identity of the visitor is revealed and they move on
  2. Key Quotes: "my last Duchess painted on the wall" "the curtain I have drawn for you" " "too soon made glad" my gift of a nine-hundred-years-old name" "i choose never to stoop" "I gave commands; then all smiles stopped together" "Notice Neptune... Taming a sea-horse"
The Charge of the Light Brigade
1. Alfred Tennyson - Victorian poet, tribute to those who died in the Crimean War
  1. Describes disastrous battle between British Cavalry and Russian Forces Misunderstanding meant the Light Brigade were ordered to advance into enemy fire Virtually defenceless with swords against guns
2. Form: Third person feels like a story Regular rhythm, imitating advance and energy of the battle Rhyming couplets/triplets drive poem forwards, but are broken by unrhyming lines to mimic falling, lack of rhyme scheme hints a chaos of war
  1. Structure: Describes battle in chronological order; initial charge, battle and retreat, summary of heroism
    1. Key Quotes: Repetition "half a league" and ".....six hundred" "cannon...." "jaws of Death...mouth of Hell" "flash'd" "volley'd and thunder'd"
      1. Admiration-The bravery/sacrifice of the men for obeying orders that killed them Patriotism-Men followed orders for their duty to their country Horror-Suggestion he is horrified by the violence of the battle
Exposure
1. Wilfred Owen - Written in trenches of WW1, was killed in battle Anger a wars waste of life and horrific conditions
  1. Soldiers in trenches awake at night, afraid of enemy attack Nature is the main enemy Men imagine returning home Believe that sacrificing themselves is the only way to keep family at home safe Return to thinking about deaths
    1. Form: Present tense with first person pronouns (our, we, us) Collective voice, shows shared experience ABBAC regular rhyme scheme, monotonous nature but are often half-rhyme, reflect confusion and fading energy Stanzas end with half line, mirror loss of hope
      1. Structure: Eight stanzas but no real means of progression Last stanza ends same as the first, monotonous life in trenches and the absence of change
      2. Key Quotes: "Our brains ache" "merciless iced East winds" "but nothing happens" "pale flakes with fingering stealth" "shutters and doors, all closed: on us the doors are closed - " "for love of God seems dying"
    2. Suffering-Reminders of real, physical pain and well as exhaustion and fatigue Home is painful Boredom-Sense of frustration Left to contemplate their own deaths Hopelessness-Defenceless against nature, little hope of a future
Storm on the Island
1. Seamus Heaney - Northern Ireland, Stormont, Political disturbances, homeland
  1. Safety-community feel safe and prepared Fear-security changes to fear and familiarity becomes frightening Helplessness-Cannot do anything except wait for it to pass
2. Thinks they are well-prepared, confidence diminishes, power of storm, fear as it hits
3. Form: Blank verse, everyday speech and converation First personal plural "we", collective experience All one stanza, security
  1. Structure: Shifts from security to fear Volta "But no:" monosyllabic phrase and caesura, calm before storm
    1. Key Quotes: "We are prepared"" "tragic chorus" "exploding comfortably" "spits like a tame cat turned savage" "wind dives and strafes invisibly. Space is a salvo" "bombarded by the empty air" "it is a strange nothing that we fear"
Bayonet Charge
1. Ted Hughes - Set during WW1, describes going 'over the top' Father served in and survived the war
2. Focuses on experience of a single soldier Thoughts and actions as he tries to stay alive Overriding emotion and motivation is fear Replaced the patriotic ideals he had before Anger at generals and higher commanders
  1. Form: Enjambment and caesura, uneven line lengths Irregular rhythm Struggling through mud Pronoun "he" anonymity Universal figure represent of any soldier
    1. Structure: Starts in medias res Covers soldiers movements over short space of time First stanza acting on instinct, second time stands still and thinks about situation, final stanza he gives up his thoughts and ideals, lost his humanity
      1. Terror-Challenges patriotism and shows terror as overriding emotion in battle Driven by fear rather than noble motive Confusion-Physically disorientated by gunfire and questioning why he's there
    2. Key Quotes: "Suddenly he awoke and was running" "raw-seamed hot khaki, his sweat heavy" "patriotic tear" "he almost stopped-" "threw up a yellow hare that rolled like a flame" "King, honour, human dignity, etcetera" "His terror's touchy dynamite"
Remains
1. Simon Armitage - The Not Dead effect of war on ex-soldiers Based on account of soldier in Iraq PTSD
  1. Group of soldiers shoot a man running away from a bank raid Death described graphically Isn't sure whether armed or not, plays on his mind Haunted by it
2. Form: No regular line length or rhythm, telling a story First person plural "we" shifts into singular "I" as he feels responsible, confession Final couplet, lines have the same metre, feeling of finality that the guilt will stay with him
  1. Structure: The poem begins as an anecdote or series of stories, turns to graphic description of death Volta at start of fifth stanza, tone change as he is changed by his guilt
  2. Key Quotes: "On another occasion" "probably armed, possibly not" Repetition "I see" "End of story" "But i blink...and he bursts again" "dug in behind enemy lines"
    1. Nonchalance-Casual attitude towards death of man, anecdotal Guilt-Can't get memory out of head Tormented Acknowledgment and confession
Poppies
1. Jane Weir - Mother describes her son leaving home to join the army, emotional reaction reminiscent of childhood with him, smartening uniform, trying to find traces
2. Form: First person narrative, strong impression of mother's emotions No regular rhyme or rhythm, narrators thoughts and memories Lond sentences and enjambment, absorbed in own thoughts Caesurae attempts to hold emotions together
3. Structure: Chronological, preparations, departure and afterwards Ambiguous time frame, memories of childhood are intermingled with memories of him leaving, not clearly distinguished
  1. Key Quotes: "crimped petals, spasms of paper red" "Sellotape bandaged" "steeled the softening of my face." "graze my nose" "gelled blackthorns of your hair" "a treasure chest" "released a song bird from its cage" "tucks darts pleats" "I traced the inscriptions on the war memorial" "playground voice catching on the wind"
    1. Loss-Of son, struggling to move on, hints a previous loss, starting school, may be dead Fear-Anxious for his safety, physical affect, bravery and restraint of those left behind Freedom-Loss for mother, excitement and freedom for son
War Photographer
1. Carol Ann Duffy - 'Napalm Girl' photo, Vietnam War The horrors of war on those who aren't fighting
  1. War photographer is in a darkroom, developing photos from war Contrast being home in England Remembers the death of a man and cries of his wife Speak of the apathy of others and how they are oblivious to the images they see
    1. Form: 4 equal stanzas of even length and regular rhyme scheme, "set out in ordered rows" The care he takes over his work Enjambment reflects the gradual revealing of the photo
      1. Structure: Follows the flow of his actions and thoughts Volta at start of 3rd stanza, remembers a specific death Focus shifts to how his work is received
        Key Quotes: "In his darkroom he is finally alone" "his hands, which did not tremble then" "Home again to ordinary pain" "running children in a nightmare heat" "Something is happening." "blood stained into foreign dust" "A hundred agonies in black and white" "they do not care"
        Pain-Depicts both real and emotional suffering Contrast between war and home Detachment-Separated from his emotions in battle to do his job Detached from ordinary life at home Anger-Ends with sense of anger at those who don't care about the suffering of others
Tissue
1. Imtiaz Dharker- Born in Pakistan, raised in Glasgow, lives in Britain and India 'The Terrorist at my Table' Questions how well we know the people around us
2. The poem resists straightforward interpretation. Stanza 1-3 importance of paper in recording our history 4-6 paradox that paper is fragile and yet controls our lives Final 13 lines creating thing, human life, more complex and precious that other things but is also temporary and forms part of a bigger, ongoing story
  1. Form: The poetic voice is elusive, focus on humanity rather than a specific person/speaker Lack of regular rhyme or rhythm and the use of enjambment gives the poem freedom and openness, reflecting the poets desire for clarity Short stanzas, built up in layers, like life
    1. Structure: 3 parts, moving through ideas of history, human experience and creation of life Final, singular line stands out, makes reader reflect on their own identity and how its created
      1. Key Quotes: "Paper that lets the light shine through" "back of the Koran" "pages smoothed and stroked and turned" "If buildings were paper" "credit cards my fly our lives like paper kites" "a grand design with living tissue" "structure never made to last" "turned into your skin"
      2. Control-references to money,religion,nature and governments Freedom-Imagines a world free of restriction where human constructions are less permanent
The Emigree
1. Carol Rumens - Speaker talks about a city in a country she left as a child Purely positive view Seems under attack and unreachable but appears to the speaker in third stanza An unknown "They" threatens the speaker The city may not be real Could represent a time, person or emotion the speaker has been forced to leave
  1. Form: First person, no regular rhyme scheme or rhythm First two stanzas, lots of enjambment, more ceasura towards the end Feeling of confinement in her new "city of walls"
    1. Structure: The speakers memory of the city grows a the poem moves on It becomes a physical presence in the final stanza Each ends with "sunlight" reinforcing positive light
      1. Key Quotes: "There one was a country..." "That child's vocabulary" "I have no passport, there's no way back at all" "They accuse me" "Evidence of sunlight"
        Nostalgia-Unwavering positive memories, nothing changes her view Sense of yearning for the past which is partly fulfilled when it appears almost as a pet Threat-Suggestions it has been invaded or taken over Speaker chooses to ignore these Threatened in her new city
Kamikaze
1. Beatrice Garland - Kamikaze pilot sets off on a mission It was a great honour to serve your country The daughter imagines that he turned away from his mission because he saw the beauty of nature and remembered the innocence of childhood Shunned by everyone, even family, when he returned home
  1. Form: Mostly narrated in third person using reported speech from the daughter Her voice is heard directly in the later stanzas interjection of direct speech in fifth stanza Absence of the pilots voice highlights how he is cut off from society and third person emphasises the distance between pilot and daughter
    1. Structure: The first five stanzas form one sentence which covers an account of the pilots flight as the daughter imagines it The end of the sentence represents the landing and the final two stanzas deal with the fallout of his actions
      1. Patriotism-Patriotic pride and duty, failed his nation, destructive Shame-Pilot's wife feel ashamed and never speaks to him Regret-Final stanza feels loss, empathy with pilot
2. Key Quotes: "Her father embarked at sunrise" "full of powerful incantations" "at the little fishing boats strung out like bunting" "dark shoals of fishes flashing silver as their bellies" "and remembered how he" "-yes, grandfather's boat-" "they treated him as though he no longer existed" "was no longer the father we loved" "which had been the better way to die"
Checking Out Me History
1. John Agard - Poetry often examines cultures and identities The narrator talks about his identity and links this to his knowledge of history He was taught about British history but not about his Caribbean roots he lists famous figures and questions why he doesn't know about people from other cultures Mentions people from diverse backgrounds who should be celebrated He is going to create his own identity based on his heritage
2. Form: Narrator uses a misture of stanza forms which suggests he is breaking the confining language rules he's been taught Caribbean history stanzas have shorter lines and more broken syntax than the British, this emphasises them and makes them seem more serious The British stanzas have more simple rhymes, making them sound childish
  1. Structure: Poem alternates between historical and fictional figures from Caribbean and British culture, emphasising the differences between them The British figures are skipped over quickly, with little respect, whereas the Caribbean figures are covered in more detail
    1. Key Quotes: "Dem tell me Wha dem want to tell me" "Bandage up me eye with me own history" "Dick Whittington and he cat" "no dem never tell me bout dat" "healing star....yellow sunrise" "I carving out me identity"
      1. Anger-Narrator is angry at the education system for not teaching about who he is Admiration-Respects Caribbean figures and admires their achievements Wants to tell their stories Celebration-Embrace his own identity

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Power and Conflict Poetry

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	Created by Charlotte Woodward over 7 years ago