POETRY KNOWLEDGE ORGANISER

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1 Alliteration Repetition of sounds in a group of closely connected words Assonance Hear the mellow wedding bells Repetition of a vowel sound (such as a, e, i, o, u, y, etc ) The serpent hisses where the sweet bird sings Sibilance Repetition of soft consonant sounds (such as s, f, ch, etc ) Onomatopoeia As of someone gently rapping, rapping at my A word formed from the sound it describes chamber door. Metaphor All my words flattened, rolled, turned into felt, slowly melting. A figure of speech implying a comparison between two relatively unlikely things. Simile The sky resembles a backlit canopy, A comparison between two unlike things, with holes punched in it usually with the words like or as. Enjambment Rifle s rapid rattle Personification Guilty feet have got no rhythm. The giving of human qualities to an animal, object or abstract idea. Pathetic Fallacy Some say the Earth / Was feverous and did The attributing of human emotions to the weather or nature shake. Imagery Draws on the 5 senses to aid the imagination Repetition I looked upon the rotting sea, And drew my eyes away; I looked upon the rotting deck, And there the dead men lay. Repeating a word or phrase for emphasis, unity or power The running on of a sentence over two lines in a stanza Caesura Winter kept us warm, covering A pause (punctuation) that is Earth in forgetful snow, feeding not at the end of a line. A little life with dried tubers. POETRY KNOWLEDGE ORGANISER Verse / Stanza Traditionally a verse is one line of a poem. However, it is now often used as an alternative to stanza to name a grouping of lines. ABAB Rhyming Pattern The frog half fearful jumps across the path, And little mouse that leaves its hole at eve Nimbles with timid dread beneath the swath; My rustling steps awhile their joys deceive, Internal Rhyme found in the middle of a line. Blank Verse Poetry written in lines of ten syllables in iambic pentameter, but without rhyme. Rhythm The flow or movement of a line fast or slow, calm or troubled. It gives a poem a metrical pattern. Form Relates to poem s external shape consider its silhouette. But vainly the fierce frost Interns poor fish, ranks trees in an armed host, Hangs daggers from house eaves And on the windows ferny ambush weaves; In the long war grown warmer The sun will strike him dead and strip his armour. Quatrain A four line stanza or poem of any format. Dead boughs take root in ponds And ferns on windows shoot their ghostly fronds. What's that fluttering in a breeze? It's just a piece of cloth that brings a nation to its knees. Stanzas; lines; use of punctuation, What's that unfurling from a pole? rhyme scheme, rhyme breaking, It's just a piece of cloth that makes the guts of men grow bold. building momentum A B A B di dum di di dum di di dum di dum di di dum di di dum di dum di di dum di dum di di dum di dum di di dum di di dum Rhyme A rhyme is where two words sound the same. It is often used at the end of lines. Half Rhyme where two words almost sound the same. AABB Rhyming Pattern Out cam his mother, dear, greeting fu sair, And out cam his bonnie bryde, riving her hair. The meadow lies green the corn is unshorn But bonnie George Campbell will never return The frog half fear ful jumps a cross the path Rhyming Couplets Two consecutive lines of poetry are paired in rhyme. Structure Internal development and relationship between parts (skeleton and internal organs), considering generalisation and resolution; mood (does it develop?) A A B B Free Verse Not constrained by patterns of rhyme or rhythm. Metre The pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables in a line of poetry. It is the rhythmic structure of a verse or line of poetry.

2 BAYONET CHARGE TED HUGHES (1957) Ted Hughes, was a former RAF serviceman and includes a great amount of natural and historical ideas in his poems and he often looks at man s impact on nature. His father served during World War One and fought at Ypres. Similarly to Owen, Hughes uses the poem to challenge traditional patriotic ideals. The ideals of glory, honour, and serving one s country are shown to be irrelevant and meaningless when faced with the horrors of war. Propaganda Young men were enlisted to join the army and persuaded with war propaganda about serving one s country and being thought of as heroes. In reality the war was brutal and inhumane; there was nothing dignified about it because the men suffered torturous deaths and in the trenches, had to put up with mud, rats, lice. In the winter they were exposed to extreme cold and often rations were scarce. is about a nameless soldier going over the top in the trenches. Soldiers would have bayonets attached to the end of their rifles and would use them to stab enemy soldiers. The nameless soldier in the poem seems to become more a weapon than a man, rushing toward the enemy. It is not clear at the end whether he dies but there is definitely a change in him. His actions are very raw and primal, much like an animal, suddenly pausing, preparing to react. clearly is set around conflict in that it is a soldier rushing out of the trenches on the attack. However the poem also looks at ideas like transformation, humanity and nature (in the form of the yellow hare and green hedge). In the poem the solider is almost more machine or animal than human and this is reflected in the power themed words used to describe him. Free verse poem There are three stanzas and the work is largely blank verse with no set structure (irregular). In part the different lines help show the pace of the charge, sometimes fast, sometimes stumbling. Towards the end it picks up speed, perhaps as he approaches his destination or doom. uses a lot of enjambment and caesuras to give a bizarre and erratic speed to the poem. This helps again give a structure to the speed of the charge but also the confusion and intensity of the battle with explosions and gunfire as well as the jumbled thoughts of the soldier. The patriotic tear that had brimmed in his eye / Sweating like molten iron from the centre of his chest Simile soldier s patriotic ideals are useless now he is faced with the reality of conflict Contrast between brimmed, (positive connotations of abundance and pride), and sweating highlights this contrast Suddenly he awoke and was running In media res (in the middle of things) Creates a sense of urgency and highlights the chaos of war Threw up a yellow hare that rolled like a flame / And crawled in a threshing circle, its mouth wide Metaphor, Yellow is the colour of fear and hares are prey. Natural and frightened image juxtaposed with his own machine like nature. Possible that the hare is another soldier shot and scared / cowardly, trying to escape. Dehumanised. Juxtaposition (throughout) of natural images with mechanical ones, highlighting conflict and contrast between man and nature. Slowly our ghosts drag home All their eyes are ice Metaphors They are on the brink of death / are close to breaking point Men have lost their humanity and dignity in war. This depiction is antithesis (opposite) to propaganda images of heroism seen before war But nothing happens Repetition gives a sense of the boredom caused by waiting Speaker seems to have lost sight of what he is fighting for. Emphasises pointlessness of war. Dawn massing in the east her melancholy army / Attacks once more in ranks on shivering ranks of grey Personification freezing conditions (personified throughout) are seen as being as dangerous as the enemy. The soldiers are fighting two battles at once and at one point, bullets are seen as less deadly than the cold. Contradiction: dawn, usually associated with ideas of light and hope, is (here) hostile and brings even more suffering Free verse poem uses a large amount of ellipses, caesuras and repetition to create an on going sense of waiting and boredom. is made of eight stanzas with a consistent use of a half line to end. This reinforces the sense of stasis or sameness throughout the poem that nothing is happening. There is use of pararhyme showing words which appear to rhyme yet sound wrong when read to create the sense of unsettledness in the poem the soldiers are feeling. Owen also uses a huge amount of onomatopoeia and alliteration in the poem to emphasise the atmosphere and the sound of weather. Based on war the poem links to conflict. It is about the weather and conditions of living in the trenches, representing the conflict between man and nature. This is extremely relevant because man has created machines that can launch explosive shells for miles and destroy the landscape, yet nature can still do the most harm. Owen s poem focuses on the misery felt by WW1 soldiers waiting overnight in the trenches. Although nothing is happening (there is no fighting), danger remains because they are exposed to the extreme cold and their overnight wait is terrifying. The eight stanzas are gripping because the speaker describes the trauma of living and struggling in such poor conditions. There is a sense of despair and lost hope. WW1 Poetry The war was often criticised because of a huge loss of life for very little gain. During the Somme over 60,000 British soldiers died in one day, and in all they only gained 6 miles by the end of the war. Owen s poems were often angry that the soldiers were in muddy dangerous trenches while the generals behind the lines lived in comfort. Owen s poems tried to show the truth of conditions to people back home. He was no against fighting, but was angry about the conditions soldiers had to live with in order to do so. i. Wilfred Owen was a soldier and officer in World War 1. He is one of the main poets who exposed the brutalities of trench warfare and the senseless waste of life caused by World War One. ii. He was drafted to France in 1917, in what was the worst winter of the war. After spending January to April in the trenches, he was sent to a war hospital for the shell shocked (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder). iii.owen was killed on 4 November 1918 trying to get his men across the Sambre Canal. The news reached his parents seven days later, on Armistice Day. iv.despite his views on the senseless waste of war, Wilfred Owen was awarded the Military Cross in recognition of his courage and leadership during the breaking of the Hindenburg Line in October EXPOSURE WILFRED OWEN (1917)

3 REMAINS SIMON ARMITAGE (2008) Simon Armitage is a famous UK poet, known for being very direct in his work. He is known for his deadpan delivery, with formally assured, often darkly comic poems, which have looked at the experiences of war and soldiers. He interviewed veteran soldiers of different wars, including the Gulf War. The reference to desert sand in this poem suggests that it reflects the experiences of soldiers in the Gulf War. PTSD Post traumatic stress and mental illness is very common in soldiers who struggle to come to terms with some part of their duty, normally a horrific memory of killing or being in danger which gives them nightmares and panic attacks as well as depression and sometimes suicidal tendencies. presents a dark and disturbing image of a soldier suffering post traumatic stress disorder. Told anecdotally, it begins as not the only unpleasant account the soldier has in his memory, detailing his killing of a looter, the violence and then his perpetual guilt. The final lines show that the memory was not left behind in the place of war in a distant land, but is with the speaker all the time. He feels as though he will always have blood on his hands. is originally set in a warzone and naturally looks at conflict in a direct way. However it also looks heavily at the after effects of conflict and the long term effects it has on the people involved. Power is partly shown in this as well, firstly the soldiers power over life and death but later the power over their own memory and experiences. Mental health and morality are also key in this. The speaker appears to be numb conflicted between the horror and trivialising the whole experience. Dramatic monologue poem Written in 8 stanzas, the last of which being a couplet, ends on a dramatic note. It does not rhyme and the poem is a monologue, using very conversational asides and syntax to structure the sentences into a conversational tone. Enjambment and caesura emphasises the speaker s natural speech. Another key factor is the use of colloquialism (slang) and personal pronouns to lend a sense of realism, There is a loose set of rhymes, often internal and used to give an almost childish aspect to the horror of the warzone. It perhaps suggests how numb this soldier is. End of story, except not really Short sentence, caesura Emphasise prolonged guilt and trauma speaker believed the memories would remain at war when he left Could reflect his stark (sudden) realisation that they will forever plague him and I swear / I see every round as it rips through his life Metaphor; Alliteration; Enjambment; violent, gruesome imagery Highlights brutal nature of the attack His response: swearing, and an oath of his reliving it in slow motion his bloody life in my bloody hands Metaphor, Repetition, bloody imagery Reinforces his frustration Swear words (colloquial mark of anger or regret) or all that was left of the body and: Symbolic, guilty image of blood on his hands (like Lady Macbeth) that cannot be removed to fields which don t explode beneath the feet /of running children in a nightmare heat. Juxtaposition, enjambment, metaphor, rhyme Contrast of home, where he now safely finds himself, with the horror faced by innocent victims of war (children) Like the images, this depicts huge suffering on an unimaginable level Those children are positioned in the warzone of a hot climate and seemingly within an explosion he / a priest preparing to intone a mass Enjambment, Metaphor, Alliteration Religious imagery, emphasises seriousness of his task, a solemn activity Paints him as respectful towards and committed to his work He is bestowed with a vitally important role and, like a priest, faced with suffering The reader s eyeballs prick / with tears, between the bath and pre lunch beers Metaphor, Alliteration, Enjambment & Bathos (effect of anti climax: lapse in mood from sublime to trivial/ridiculous) Insignificant injury to reader: brief effect shows comfort of those at home who are not directly affected by war image contrasts with the images of pain that run throughout the poem Narrative poem Written in 4 stanzas the poem features rhyming couplets interspaced with nonrhyming lines. The regular structure can represent the order he is giving to the chaos in his photos, perhaps also the almost mechanical process he is going through and putting that distance between himself and the context. is written as a narrative, leading us through the act of the photographer processing his photos, this again helps create a sense of detachment or even cynicism about what this action reflects, that people suffer and lose lives and the end result to us is a few pictures chosen for the newspapers. looks at conflict in the sense that he has taken photos of war and fighting. However there is also conflict between the warzone and Rural England, the poet is trying to emphasise how out of touch people are about the truth of war, as well as how it is more a business or bit of gossip rather than life changing and destructive. Horror and indifference are revealed through language, imagery, and a central paradox (while more widespread and prevalent than at any other time in history, impact of imagery of war upon those of us exposed to it is rapidly declining). Written about a war photographer, returned home and developing his photos. The process of developing old style film photos is unusual for many to understand today. Film is very sensitive to light; it must be done in a dark room lit with red light. The photo itself is developed with chemicals which slowly bring out the photo, it is then hung to dry. This creates a sinister atmosphere, red light, surrounded by hanging photos and chemical smells. looks at the contrast between war zones and safety of home and the way people cannot comprehend the truth (a single photo cannot show everything). War photography is a very dangerous job, many are killed and injured as they must get in harms way to get their photos. Emotional disconnect The voice in the poem comments how he imagines people to read the newspaper and feel emotionally affected by the images, however, they soon forget about them and continue on with their own lives. In the meantime, though the wars continue and the images that the photographer has taken remain with him. The war photograph then returns to a similar warzone to continue his work. comments on the hypocrisy of the middle classes who lead comfortable lives and are so far metaphorically and literally from the suffering that goes on in the world. Carol Ann Duffy is a well known British poet whose well liked poetry engages with gender and oppression, expressed in familiar, conversational language that made her work accessible to a variety of readers. In 2009 she became the first woman appointed poet laureate of Great Britain. WAR PHOTOGRAPHER CAROL ANN DUFFY (1985)

4 KAMIKAZE BEATRICE GARLAND (2013) s perspective Although this poem may be about a specific Japanese military practice during wartime, the poem has contemporary relevance: instead of thinking of it as a military strategy in the distant past, it might also prompt the thought that suicide missions are part of contemporary conflicts too and are very much in the news. perhaps prompts us to, think about the consequences of suicide missions for families in the modern world as well as in past conflicts. Kamikaze During the Second World War, the term 'kamikaze' was used for Japanese fighter pilots who were sent on suicide missions. They were expected to use up all their weapons and then suicide by flying into their targets (enemy warships) as a final act of destruction. The word 'kamikaze' literally translates as 'divine wind'. Japan considered it a great honour to die for your country. Explores the testimony of a kamikaze pilot s daughter. Unlike many of his comrades, he turned back from his target and returned home. vividly explores the moment the pilot decides, sketching out the consequences over the rest of his life. Not only is he shunned by his neighbours but his wife refuses to speak to him or look him in the eye. His children, too, gradually learn that he is not to be spoken to and begin to isolate and reject him. The real conflict is between the rules of a society s honour in Japanese culture, and the will to survive and return to a family. The conflict is particularly profound because there appears to be no right answer and the pilot dies, one way or another, in the eyes of his family, if not in body, the poem explores the futility of trying to avoid your own fate/destiny.. Narrative poem changes to italic/font during the penultimate stanzas, indicating change of speaker: daughter passing on story to her own children (narrator explaining this process)? Consistent structure uses quite regular syllable patterns drifting up and down in length, this gives the poem a tone of nostalgia, but also rhythm of waves which can represent a helplessness: things will happen, regardless, he will still die. The use of asides and calm rural language juxtaposes the setting of war, giving the poem a much more personal scope on a major event. One way journey into history Metaphor, irony could highlight the significance of the act and the honour it could bring him Also, becomes an ironic statement on his never coming back regardless of his choice: his being ostracised when he does return consigns him to history in the minds of his family. at the little fishing boats / strung out like bunting / on a green blue translucent sea Simile, colour imagery Emphasises attractive temptation of life, symbolising his inner conflict Positive image, celebratory connotations. Ironic, given what the pilot is about to do Perhaps symbolising life and joy; acts as a reminder of what he is leaving behind. This makes his fate even more tragic. with a flask of water, a samurai sword / in the cockpit, a shaven head / full of powerful incantations Listing, metaphor Suggests this is a ritual, giving a sense of dignity, and respect for tradition, Collectively represents duty, from Bushido code of honour to patriotic brain washing, masked as metaphoric armour I listened, hoping to hear / your playground voice catching on the wind. Metaphor, caesura, enjambment Represents her longing to turn back time; to recapture the sound of him as a child. a metaphor for elusiveness and fleetingness like the son s spirit voice. Echoes previous stanza, where she says: and this is where it has led me showing she is being drawn to join him spasms of paper red, disrupting a blockade / of yellow bias binding around your blazer. Metaphor; imagery: colour, military, injury; caesura; enjambment; alliteration Symbolises danger of war Foreshadows danger that awaits the son Alliteration: stuttering sound, showing her nervousness of letting her child go to war, with his external façade of firmness and smartness, hiding his own inner turmoil He is bound by his duty to go All my words / flattened, rolled, turned into felt, Metaphor, triple, caesura, enjambment is a depiction of a mother s pain and grief as she sends her son to war. Here, that grief and fear has left her speechless Enjambment upsets the expectation of words, the caesura and the semantic field of sewing suggests a desire to stitch her life back together Dramatic Monologue 4 stanzas and no rhyme scheme. Structured along events in life of mother and child. 1 st the mother considers remembrance day and idea of the poppy which triggered the memory. 2 nd she talks about preparing and seeing her son off. 3 rd, it explores the emptiness left in his absence. 4 th, she feels drawn to a war memorial returning the story to the start, yet now without her son. Lots of enjambment and familiar nouns enhance the idea of natural tone and the mothers voice. looks partially at conflict because of the nature of the son going to war, however it looks at conflict more from the perspective of those it leaves behind and the emotions of families. It is a behind the scenes view of conflict rather than addressing the conflict itself. There is also a level of conflict in the mothers emotions, pride, fear, sadness. Armistice Sunday Set in the present day, the poem reaches back to the beginning of the Poppy Day tradition. Armistice Sunday began as a way of marking the end of the First World War in It was set up so people could remember the hundreds and thousands of ordinary men who had been killed in the First World War. Today, the event is used to remember soldiers of all wars who have died since then. Follows a mother of a son who has grown up and gone to war. contains many clues that this is a more modern conflict, however the poem ends at the memorial, suggesting the son died at war or has at least not yet returned home and is now missed by the mother who fears the worst. is based very heavily around the idea of Poppies as memorials and therefore the idea of memory. flashes back to key moments of the life of the mother and son and contains a range of emotions. There is genuine sadness but also pride. doesn't seem to comment heavily on the war itself. War and peace There is a huge contrast with some of the imagery of the poem, sometimes linking to violence blackthorns of your hair / Blockade and the more peaceful homely images released a song bird / play at being Eskimos. This contrast emphasises the conflicting emotions in the mother When Poppies was written, British soldiers were still dying in wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. As a way of trying to understand the suffering that deaths caused, the poet laureate Carol Ann Duffy asked a number of writers to compose poems, including Jane Weir. POPPIES JANE WEIR (2009)

5 MY LAST DUCHESS ROBERT BROWNING (1842) Robert Browning was a poet in the 19th century. The son of a wealthy bank clerk, he didn't fit in as much in London society, he left the country and went to Italy to marry fellow poet Elizabeth Barrett because of her over protective father. As a result they were both familiar with over controlling patriarchs in the family as well as Italy itself. The Duke You will note the Duke is the only character that speaks. Despite talking to someone, he never lets them speak. The Duke thinks the world revolves around him simply because he has "a nine hundred years old name". In criticising the character of his late wife, he reveals the unpleasant side of his nature. Of importance to him are his family name and his long established descendants as well as material possessions, especially those such as impressive pieces of art (coveted by others). is loosely based on the Duke of Ferrara and is written from his perspective, talking to a messenger about arranging his next marriage. The assumption is that he was dissatisfied with his former wife and had her murdered because she did not measure up to his expectations. He is contemptuous of the simple things that gave her pleasure such as sunset, fresh cherries, riding her mule. He believed her to be naïve and undignified. The idea of Power and Conflict is shown in the way the speaker (the Duke of Ferrara) is showing off his power and also suggesting the control he had over the Duchess s life. There is also conflict between who he presents or wants himself to be and who he really is as a character. Dramatic Monologue (a speech given by one character). uses a large number of pauses (caesuras) along with lines that flow into one another (enjambment) to capture the tone of the speaker talking away to the messenger and adding in tangents (small opinions and asides). It uses rhyming couplets and iambic pentameter to reflect the style of romantic poets, despite being much more sinister and dark. It is another façade for the Duke s character. But thanked / Somehow I know not how as if she ranked / My gift of a nine hundredyears old name / With anybody s gift. Broken syntax, caesura, enjambment Duke s language indicates his jealousy (despite his arrogance) He s horrified that she didn t appreciate his name its attributed status His fragmented (broken) syntax shows his anger / frustration at her lack of gratitude This grew, I gave commands; / Then all smiles stopped together. Metaphor, Euphemism Implies (hinting) that he had her killed The use of caesura and short phrases highlights the swiftness, coldness and ruthlessness with which he disposed of her life That s my last Duchess painted on the wall Since none puts by / The curtain I have drawn for you, but I Possessive 1 st person pronoun Symbolism Even in death, the Duke still controls his wife. The way he treats the portrait is symbolic of the way he treated her when she was alive my throughout links to the Duke s view that his wife belonged to him Two vast and trunkless legs of stone Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, Metaphors (for political power) describes the ruined statue. Just as the face of the statue is shattered, decay[ed] and a wreck, so too is Ozymandias power My name is Ozymandias, king of kings: / Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair! Repetition Shows how Ozymandias wished to portray himself as omnipotent (all powerful) It suggests he is trying to deify himself (make himself a god) and wants to be worshipped as one. Nothing besides remains round the decay / of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare Alliteration in remains round and boundless and bare Juxtaposition of colossal and wreck emphasises the contrast between his former power and his current state Caesura and Enjambment throughout contributes to a sense of fragmentation, mirroring the broken statue and the way Ozymandias power has crumbled Sonnet A sonnet (14 lines) with loose iambic pentameter. Iambic pentameter is pairs (iams, of sounds da dum) with 5 (pentameter, think of pent like in pentagon) in a line making 10 syllables overall. Sonnets were generally popular romantic or love poems, perhaps this being a love poem about Ozymandias, a joke about the ruler s ego. Or simply to capture the romantic and exotic tone of a lost legend. The Rhyme scheme is irregular, perhaps symbolic of the broken statue itself, no longer perfect. We can imagine Ozymandias as a powerful ruler who sees himself as a king of kings, perhaps a great warrior and one of the most powerful men in the world. is almost being ironic, pointing out that now all that remains is an arrogant boast on a ruined statue. Perhaps the poet feels sorry for him or is laughing at his expense. Either way it looks about the inevitable downfall of all rulers and tyrants, and how nothing, not even power, lasts forever. The narrator of Shelley's poem says he met a traveller from an "antique" (a land with a long, ancient history) land, and then tells us the story the traveller told him. The man had seen the remains of a huge statue in the desert. There were two enormous legs without a trunk (the body) and next to them lay a damaged "visage" (face). The pedestal on which the statue stood is still intact of the statue were words which reflected the arrogance and pride of Ozymandias. Those words seem very hollow now as the magnificent statue is destroyed and none of the pharaoh's works have lasted Allegory The statue in the poem, broken and falling apart in the desert with nobody to care is an allegory of Ozymandias and of every powerful man or woman, the idea that they will also drift away until they are just another grain of sand. Shelley was writing during the time of the Industrial Revolution which while on the one hand, it made Britain great through industries such as steel and coal mining, it was at the expense of a vast workforce who were paid horrifically low wages, had no welfare, and lived in great misery and poverty. The era is also known for the extreme expansion of the empire and in 1818 when the poem was written the British Empire spanned across the globe. In 1773 it was said of the British Empire that "this vast empire on which the sun never sets, and whose bounds nature has not yet ascertained." This means that there was also one part of the Empire that was in daylight. Shelley was critical of this expansion which mustered and abused an oversees workforce working to increase Britain s wealth. OZYMANDIAS PERCY BYSSHE SHELLEY (1819)

6 EXTRACT FROM THE PRELUDE WILLIAM WORDSWORTH ( ) William Wordsworth was a romantic poet, writing poems about the world we live in and our place in it, challenging people and the way they thought at the time. The Romantic Era began circa 1780, ending circa 1850, with the Victorian era. Their interests were nature, the importance of the individual, the importance of emotions over rational thought and challenging political power which exploited and enslaved the working class. Epics (large length poems) and romantic poetry were common. Wordsworth was inspired by memories of events and visits to different places, explaining how they affected him. The Stealing of the Boat (like a story in itself) is a very small extract in a long epic poem that was an autobiographical poem, added to by Wordsworth at different points in his life. The extract begins in early evening when the poet steals a boat. He feels a little guilty but desires to row across the lake. As he rows it darkens and he is conscious of the beauty of the sky and stars. He writes in a magical tone of the moonlight reflected on the water and extends the imagery, with a magical quality and a sense of calm, to describe his elf boat as gliding across the water like a swan. However, suddenly becoming aware that the stars are no longer visible, he is engulfed by a great black shape (we know it s a mountain). He panics, rows back to shore as fast as he can, but this incident leaves him shaken. He suffers nightmares, imagining the black shape of the mountain as some monster. shows the spiritual and moral growth of the poet, how he comes to terms with who he is, and his place in nature and the world. The Prelude is "a poem on the growth of my own mind" with "contrasting views of Man, Nature, and Society". Epic poem Written as part of a much larger piece. This section is 44 lines in blank verse with no rhyme scheme or regular structure. There are no stanzas, although there is punctuation to aid reading. The Prelude is conversational, as if Wordsworth is sat next to us, telling us the story himself. The work is in iambic pentameter to give it a consistent pace. As the poem progresses the journey the poet is on becomes rougher and words like and are repeated to give it a breathless speech like natural rhythm, pace and feel. One summer evening (led by her) I unloosed her chain, and stepping in / Pushed from the shore Nature is powerful, indicated by verb led, it is also benevolent and gentle Enjambment: reflect poet s sense of freedom as he takes off across the lake Personification: reinforces idea of nature as kind and gentle Huge and mighty forms were a trouble to my dreams Metaphor, vague language Language describing effect of experience Highlights narrator s confusion and unsettling nature of experience Power of nature overwhelms him still The horizon s bound, a huge peak, black and huge, / As if with voluntary power instinct, / Upreared its head Plosive alliteration (hard sounds) Rhythm break: nature s power cannot be tamed (overpowering) Personification: menacing and frightening, reacting to his presence Black : Associations with power and death Blows full blast, it pummels your house too, Exploding, Spits like a tame cat / Turned savage, We are bombarded Images of danger; uncontrollable nature despite seeming innocent Violent military imagery, explores ideas of inhospitality and nature s cruelty. Man is presented as insignificant in comparison Alliteration, Direct Address, Enjambment, Simile We are prepared: we build our houses squat Emphatic opening line and caesura Poem opens with a strong statement. Emphasises islanders confidence and sense of security Caesura reinforces speaker s certainty, as well as sense they are safely barricaded in their homes Strange, it is a huge nothing that we fear Juxtaposition and irony, Caesura Highlights situation s strangeness. Huge physical preparations against air! Something invisible and intangible (yet frightening) Contrast between huge nothing and solid rock at poem s start makes the storm seem even more menacing because human preparation is insufficient protection Blank verse poem is in blank verse with 19 lines. There are 5 feet (10 syllables) in each line. The verses are unrhymed and it gives it a very conversational tone. This is added to by the use of asides you know what I mean. The poem is in present tense to suggest the storm is occurring at the time, creating a sense of drama and reinforcing the idea that storms happen all the time. uses a great deal of enjambment to help add to the conversational tone. is in the first person plural (we) so there is a sense of community, of everyone being affected by the storm together and in the same way. concerns mans uneasy relationship with powerful natural forces, looking at the conflict between nature and man and peoples fear of the weather. However the poet also points out that the fears are really rather small in the grand scheme. There is also a hint of war and conflict in the way the weather is described with bombardment and salvo. Feelings of vulnerability and fear are expressed in the face of the potentially destructive might of a storm. The setting of the poem is a small island off the coast of Northern Ireland. It is a place exposed to the elements and gives the impression of being isolated. The people of the island have to build their house on strong foundations and roof them well so that when storms come over the island the houses will be safe. The winds are so extreme that trees are unable to grown there and neither can crops such as oats and wheat that are used for hay grow there either. The people on the island are prepared for the storm but are still afraid despite their preparations. At the end of the poem the persona admits that what they are afraid of is something indescribable: a huge nothing. However, this can be interpreted as being that they do not actually need to be afraid. Fear ends with it is a huge nothing that we fear, the suggestion is not just about the weather but also potentially many things. As a Irish Catholic, religion is a big element in Heaney s life. He humbles the weather into very human terms unlike other poems which fear it s might. In many ways he is also humbling the idea of God. Reducing his power into a huge nothing. The suggestion of fear is that power is only there if you let the other thing scare you. Behind his walls and well prepared, he doesn't need to fear and so the weather (and god) lose power. Seamus Heaney was a poet in Ireland, he grew up in a farming community and many of his poems were about very normal and homely subjects. He uses a large number of agricultural and natural images in his work as metaphors for human nature. STORM ON THE ISLAND SEAMUS HEANEY (1966)

7 THE ÉMIGREE CAROL RUMENS (1993) According to the critic Ben Wilkinson, Carol Rumens has a fascination with elsewhere. This is clear in The Émigrée, which deals with a land and a city which for the speaker is permanently elsewhere. Rumens is writing in the context of war torn zones in the world and the millions of people who have been displaced because of conflict.. Perspective Imagery The spelling of the word Rumens chooses émigrée is a feminine form, which tells us the speak is female. A large amount of imagery is used within the poem to try and capture the concept of the city from this perspective, including personification, though much of this is deliberately vague. explores the memory of the poet and their experiences in a far off city they spent time in as a child (looking at this city through those child s eyes and her happy memories), she compares these to the much harsher truths she knows as an adult. Emigree relates to the word emigrate, the idea that a person goes and settles in another country, sometimes not feeling welcome to return. bases many of the ideas on modern examples of emigration from countries like Russia or the Middle East where people are fleeing corruption and tyranny, or those countries change in their absence to some from of dictatorship. has a deep sense of conflict in terms of emotions and memory, the poet is torn between her childhood memory and her adult understanding. This also reflects in the form of the city itself today which has become a hostile totalitarian place. The concept of a city can be a metaphor for memories and growth in general, progression from childhood to maturity. Narrative poem follows a 3 stanza structure with repetitive ideas, like sunlight. The opening includes attempts to capture the memory, the 2 nd stanza builds on this, fleshing out the city in her mind, the 3 rd veers towards facing up to the modern dark place her city of memory has become. Lacking a particularly consistent structure or any use of rhyme, this captures the speaker s uncertain understanding of her city (enhanced by unusual and unnatural links between ideas and metaphoric choices). The poem uses enjambment to create a flowing pace to the work of a narrative speaker. That child s vocabulary I carried here / like a hollow doll, opens and spills a grammar. Enjambment, simile, paradox words and opinions she was forbidden to speak about are still inside her, like the filling of a doll (something done to her). Suggests the oppressive regime she fled dehumanised the population, so she lost her essential identity. doll is hollow yet spills grammar sunlight clear, branded by sunlight, bright, filled paperweight, the white streets, tastes of sunlight, being dark, my shadow falls as evidence of sunlight Metaphors, Repetition Suggest speaker has an idealised, almost dream like picture of the past. Not as perfect as she remembers; dark and death imply flawed reality/memory Sense that her relationship with the place may be threatening to her in some way worst news, at war, tyrants, rolls its tanks, banned by the state Newsroom vocabulary depicts war torn country under control of a brutal government. If speaker s memories are of childhood, these terms represent harsh realities of adult world If buildings were paper, I might / feel their drift, see how easily / they fall away on a sigh, Metaphor, Caesura, Enjambment, Present tense suggests society s fragility. Implies how delicately balanced civilisation is Over time, buildings can and will be destroyed by nature (nature prevails) and outlasted by humans Emphasises importance of humans over things pages smoothed and stroked and turned transparent with attention. Sibilance, alliteration, enjambment, syndetic triple, metaphor paper supports rhythms of life, frail yet meaningful, transparent to let the light of God through Compounded activity paper reacting to one repeated activity Juxtaposition: reader s care still damages Metaphor: we learn more by reflecting on ourselves Maps too. The sun shines through / their borderlines, Caesura, metaphor Maps literally and metaphorically show us the direction of travel Indicates human control and constraint that separates us, but here nature shines through to overcome how we segregate ourselves A transparent society could remove all borders to create unity. Dramatic Monologue is written as an on going monologue with some internal rhyme through the poem (though with no real pattern to it). It uses enjambment to create a very human and calm tone. starts looking at the joy of simple things like well used paper and wonders what the world would be like if it had the same qualities. The final part of the poem is both hopeful and a warning. Against pride but in favour of growth and acceptance. looks at conflict in terms of destruction and politics particularly, it hints that we make our own conflict by holding on too tight to power and control and actually the need to relax and remember we are all human. Using a modern speaker looking out at the conflict and troubles of the modern world: destruction, war and politics, money and wealth as well as issues like terrorism and identity, the poem remarks how nothing is meant to last. We should be willing to let go, to not hold on too tightly, and to pass things on in their time to be remade. Here, tissue paper is as an extended metaphor for life. She considers how paper can 'alter things' and refers to the soft thin paper of religious books, in particular the Qur'an. There are also real life references to other lasting uses we have for paper in our lives such as maps, receipts and architect drawings. Each of these items is connected to important aspects of life: journeys, money and home. These examples demonstrate how important but also how fragile paper is. In the final stages of the poem, the poet links the idea of a building being made from paper to human skin, using the words 'living tissue' and then 'your skin'. This is quite a complex idea, and the meaning is open to interpretation. She may be suggesting that the significance of human life will outlast the records we make of it on paper or in buildings. There is a sense of the fragility of human life; the fact that not everything can last. Koran, Buildings, Maps and Grocery slips: These objects are symbols of wider issues in the world, notably religion, structures of power like the twin towers but also the major cities and landmarks of various nations, maps represent borders of countries and the divides in politics and culture while grocery slips could represent the influence of money and wealth on society, for better or worse. wonders what would the world be like if these things were more like the tissue. Imtiaz Dharker is a poet and film maker, she has Pakistani origins and was raised in Glasgow. A great number of her poems look at issues such as religion, terrorism and global politics/identity. As a result her work can be difficult to grasp. TISSUE IMTIAZ DHARKER (2006)

8 CHECKING OUT ME HISTORY JOHN AGARD (2007) John Agard was born in British Guiana (now called Guyana) in the Caribbean, in He moved to the UK in the late 1970s and is well known for powerful and fun performances of his work. He uses non standard phonetic spelling (written as a word sounds) to represent his own accent, and writes about what it is like being black to challenge racist attitudes. From the poet s perspective as a black Caribbean person being educated in England, the persona complains that history is taught from the point of view of white British people, that there is conflict between fact and truths, obscured by race or gender, which fails to take into account that British society is multi cultural. Using inclusive examples of black historical figures, he shows us how little we are taught of significant moments in history featuring people of black ethnic origin: we are given a one sided, white view of history to the exclusion of blacks. gives examples of powerful black figures from history, often involved in conflicts themselves in one way or another. Noticeably the poet emphasises how we often celebrate our national or cultural history, without looking at the history and culture of those we were in conflict with. Racial identity and history are important to the poem and the poet writes with a phonetic style to capture their voice and create tone emphasising his Caribbean origins. Conflict occurs when we see the contrast with what we are taught and what we are not, the nature of the characters and history involved being conflict and the conflict of the victor (whom we remember) and those we don't. is also at conflict with dem or with fact and fiction to emphasise the conflict in his own identity. Dramatic Monologue Written in irregular rhyme and with short mixed enjambment in verses it creates the tone of am angry frustrated man. It also captures the accent and rhythm of the Caribbean ethnicity of the poet and the parts of the work in italic are almost song like with a rhythm evoking stories passed down in song or to a beat. This emphasises that not just the history, but the way it is passed on is very much a part of the poets identity and draws on his own Caribbean background, at conflict with the repetitive names and dates he was apparently being taught at English schools. Dem tell me/ Dem tell me/ Wha dem want to tell me Repetition, dialect, caesura Caribbean dialect and phonetic spellings expresses speaker s individuality and cultural heritage, deliberately isolates European readers 3 rd and 1 st person narrative, Dem and me create confrontational feel between himself and his European education Bandage up me eye with me own history / Blind me to me own identity Alliteration, metaphor, enjambment, dialect Emphasises how speaker feels injured and hurt by his European education Speaker believes it is impossible to know your identity if you do not know your own history speaker is angry and resentful at colonialism and how it has blinded him to his own heritage Nanny / See far woman / Of mountain dream / Fire woman struggle / Hopeful stream / To freedom river Italics, indents, fragments, enjambment, metaphors Celebratory tone, emphasising images of nature and using epic vocabulary pitching speaker and nature against European readers Nanny is inspirational; a driving force for positive change Black history deliberately isolated or left out I wander through each chartered street / Near where the chartered Thames does flow The mind forged manacles I hear Emotive language, repetition, alliteration, metaphor, enjambment London s inhabitants presented as trapped in their suffering, by gov. and own attitudes, preventing better lives chartered is listed and regulated Repetition highlights extent of government authority: control over rivers, usually associated with nature and freedom Marks of weakness, marks of woe., Blast s the newborn infant s tear Emotive, vivid, sensory language; syntactic parallelism, alliteration, semantic field expresses not only extent of suffering, but also anger at institutions failure to help Metaphorical scars of oppression / control Marks of poverty and syphilis In every cry of every man, / In every Infant's cry of fear, / In every voice: in every ban, Syntactic parallelism, anaphora Rhythmic emphasis reinforces suffering London is a tortuous and agonising place Sense that everybody, regardless of age, is living in this dystopian city pervades. Dramatic Monologue (Iambic Tetrameter) Written in four stanzas with a (strict) regular alternate ABAB rhyme scheme, the poem is mostly written in iambic tetrameter (four feet). This may reflect the regular walking pace of the narrator as he walks around London or the rigid control exacted against the people. The last line in each stanza tends to deliver a powerful statement which sums up the rest of the stanza. Stanza 1 focusses on misery, Stanza 2 on peoples refusal to stand tall, Stanza 3 about the way people are sacrificed for the rich and powerful, Stanza 4 how all this poverty is corrupting everything good about family and life. London is about the lack of and abuse of power. Set in the capital of the world s most powerful country (at the time), slavery is suggested by manacles, while soldiers sighs runs in blood down palace walls, contrasting between those with power and those without. Blake criticises the terrible conditions. He criticises the laws, prostitution and religion and its failures. The speaker draws attention to the cry of the chimney sweeper and the blackening of church walls, implying that the church as an institution is inactive (unwilling to help those in need). It ends on the terrible consequences of sexually transmitted disease which was rife at the time because of the high rates of prostitution. The poem is pessimistic: without hope for the future. Set at a time in England where there was poverty, child labour and a horrific war with France. Women had no rights, death rates from disease and malnutrition were high and the industrial revolution had resulted in many large oppressive factories. Blake s poems often railed against these and how London, arguably the greatest city in the world, was so dirty and corrupt. Blake sees the rapid urbanisation in Britain as a dangerous force. Children are no longer free to enjoy childhood; instead working in dangerous conditions. Charters restrict freedoms, ultimately resulting in the restriction of thinking. The speaker suggests that unless conditions change, a revolt will come. Revolution and People Power During this time France had thrown off and executed their king (1789). The People s revolution was meant to show that all men are equal and have power. In Britain, a country with an old monarchy and aristocracy, this was scary. Blake is perhaps supporting revolution, asking people to throw off the manacles of their belief that they should be told what to do. William Blake was a poet in Victorian/Georgian England, he wrote a selection of poems in his anthologies songs of innocence and experience, most of those poems had a counterpart. The Experience poems were often more bitter or cynical whereas the innocence poems were often naïve and simple. London is one of the few without a counterpart. LONDON WILLIAM BLAKE (1794)