Anthologies Flashcards
A first person speaker exploring an intense event
A dramatic monologue
14 line poem, usually about love
Sonnet
“Suddenly he awoke and was running- raw”
Bayonet charge- unprepared, confused and vulnerable, raw emotions? Raw skin, damaged and blistered by the clothing supposed to protect him
“In what cold clockwork of the stars and the nations/was he the hand pointing that second?”
Bayonet charge-Blaming universe and higher powers- God(“stars”-navigation/government(“he”) was it his will to put him through this pain, rhetorical question shows he believes it’s pointless
“King, honour, human dignity, etcetera”
Trying to find motivation to carry on. They all start with all this motivation and by the end of it the lost isn’t important enough to list”etcetera”
Context for bayonet charge
Ted Hughes was speaking in third person “he”referring to any soldier. His father was in ww1, new advancements in technology and undertrained soldiers meant they were going over the top blindly
Bayonet charge structure
3 stanzas
1. Put in the centre of action “suddenly he awoke”
2.doubting why he’s there “in what cold clockwork of the stars”
3.victimised and lost hope “human dignity, etcetera”
Enjambment shows disconnection of soldiers, not in a strong formation, stumbling unprepared going over the top- a mess
“My last duchess” title
“That’s my last duchess painted on the wall”first line
Repetition of “my” shows aggressive possessive behaviour. He introduces her, she has no power immediately
“(Since none puts aside the curtain I have drawn for you but I)” My last duchess
Repetition of personal pronouns”I” shows constant need to show himself off and give himself credit. Curtain is a metaphor for his power over her, no one is allowed to see her without his permission, shows craving for power over her even after she has passed
“Her looks went everywhere” my last duchess
He thinks she doesn’t respect herself because she “stoops” to speak to “lower class” as well as other men. This makes him insecure and possessive
“As if she ranked my gift of a nine-hundred-year-old name with anybody’s gift”
Suggests he believes she should consider herself lucky to have his name as a “gift” shows arrogance. The verb “ranked” means he thought everything was a competition and always compared himself to others
Speaker in the poem?
Duke of Ferrara 1500s, thought to have murdered his wife
Structure in my last duchess
Rhyming couplets reflecting him making it appear as if he’s in control but the enjambment symbolises that he’s nit actually in control, his mind is an insecure mess that is undeniable through the enjambment smothering any sense of order in what he’s saying
Form of my last duchess?
Dramatic monologue, answers his own questions, dominating the conversation
“Exposure” title
Exposing them to the harsh elements which took the lives of many soldiers, exposing reality of war, you didn’t always die a hero, the weather was the main predator most of the time, exposing the unprepared army letting them die from the weather
“The merciless iced east winds that knive us…” exposure
Personification shows his cruel and literally murderous it was, the sibilance represents the sounds of the wind, the ellipsis suggests it’s never ending
“Pale flakes with fingering stealth come feeling for our faces” exposure
Alliteration symbolises the snow seeking them out. The snow is insidious and unavoidable, it kills people off in mass numbers and can’t be fought, everyone is a victim
“But nothing happens” exposure
Boring and actionless War, it’s not what it seems
“Suddenly he awoke”first line bayonet charge
Adverb- emphasises soldiers being unprepared and the confusion felt by soldier and reader
Awoke- War is like a nightmare
“Raw” repetition in first two lines bayonet charge
Shows difficulty expressing feelings of war-vulnerability
“Bullets smacking the belly out of the air” bayonet charge
Personification-violent imagery- nature is the victim and is under attack
“Patriotic tear that had brimmed in his eye sweating like molten iron from the centre of his chest” bayonet charge
Simile, original patriotism turned to fear and panic. Centre of chest emphasises deep pure fear
In what cold clockwork of the stars and the nations was he the hand pointing that second?” bayonet charge
“He” god? Does he want this for them? Stars- navigation, feel lost. Astrology- was this war destined? Nations-insignificance to authority. Cold clockwork- soldiers just a cog in a machine. Rhetorical question- pointlessness
“King, honour, human dignity, etcetera” bayonet charge
Criticises patriotic value, meaningless motivation, not worth listing. Means little or nothing when facing the heat of war
“His terror’s touchy dynamite” bayonet charge
Alliteration, metaphor showing fear of own ability to hurt people and become a killing machine
Why repetition of similes in bayonet charge?
6 similes shows war has to be compared to something else as it’s impossible to describe with words the sheer horror
Ted Hughes-bayonet charge context?
Dad in WW1
Liked animals and nature, lived in countryside
Liked astrology
Admired Wilfred Owen
Enjambment and seizura in bayonet charge?
Enjambment has disjointing effect, especially between verses. Mirroring soldiers chaos. Seizura twice in verse 2 allows the reader to stop and think
“My” My last duchess
Repetition of pronoun tells us he’s self obsessed and sees his ex wife as an object he owned, shows us his domestic power
“Fra Pandolf” My last duchess
“Fra” means brother(religious figure/monk) poet suggests they weren’t romantically involved at all, showing the Duke is just paranoid. Duke suggests they were flirting.
“(Since none puts by the curtain I have drawn for you, but I)” my last duchess
Curtain represents the power he had over her while she was alive and also emphasise the fact that he still has an urge to keep her to himself and take control even when she’s dead. He’s insecure about her even when she’s dead.
“I” My last duchess
Shows he’s self obsessed and the Envoy never speaks, telling us he’s dominant in the conversation and he has a condescending, selfish nature
“Her looks went everywhere” my last duchess
Believes his wife’s opinion reflects him, shows weakness in dependency on his wife’s admiration. Jealous, paranoid. Insecurity is shown perhaps not power
“Which I have not” My last duchess
Duke claiming he couldn’t have sorted it out with her because he didn’t have speech skills, however, he’s able to provide this whole argument. He’s an unreliable narrator
“Will’t please you rise?” My last duchess
Framed as questions, but they were demands. Fact the Envoy’s stood shows he literally is lower in social standards and the Duke is a controlling superior
“Notice Neptune, though, Taming a sea horse, thought a rarity” my last duchess
Symbolises what he feels is the males’ role- taming women
My last Duchess structure- rhyming couplets, one long verse, enjambment
Rhyming couplets- tight control of syllables per line reflects tight control over duchess
One long verse- reflects his overpowering speech. Like a rant. Overwhelming character
Enjambment- smothers rhyme, reflects lack of actual control of emotions. Shown through him blurting about the murder
“Suddenly he awoke” bayonet charge
“Suddenly” emphasises confusion felt by soldiers and how unprepared they are. “Awoke”- War is like a nightmare and disconnects soldiers to reality. Repetition of “raw” in first two lines suggests difficulty in expressing emotion. Could also show vulnerability
“Bullets smacking the belly out of the air” bayonet charge
Violent imagery, personification suggests attack on nature and portraying nature as the victim. War has several detrimental effects
“The patriotic tear that had brimmed in his eye sweating like molten iron” bayonet charge
Simile tells us original patriotism has turned to fear and panic. Father in world war 1 suggests he’s telling us War isn’t worth the patriotism
“In what cold clockwork of the stars and the nations was he the hand pointing that second?” Bayonet charge
Rhetorical q shows pointlessness of war. “He”tells us he could be asking god why this is happening to them. Alliteration “cold clockwork” suggests soldiers are a cog in a machine and not treated like humans. “Stars” could suggest they are lost physically or mentally as they are used for navigation, could be linked to astrology because Ted Hughes was fascinated. “Nations” shows perceived insignificance to authority
“King, honour, human dignity, etcetera”bayonet charge
Criticises patriotic value of war, any reason to go to war means little or nothing when facing the heat of it. Motivation isn’t even worth listing
“His terror’s touchy dynamite” bayonet charge
Metaphor represents the fear of their own ability to harm people and become and killing machine
Bayonet charge structure
Enjambment has a disjointing effect, mirroring the soldier’s chaos
Seizures twice in second verse forces reader to stop and think. Makes it hard to read and understand, reflecting feelings of the soldier
Constant motif of sunlight- the emigree
Used to describe her childhood memories, suggesting happiness due to it bringing a sense of belonging. The idea of a white-ish sunlight tells us of the innocence of these memories, romanticising the reality of what she saw
“It may be at war, it may be sick with tyrants, but I am branded with an impression of sunlight” the emigree
Model conditional verb “may” coveys what she knows to be true but she’s reluctant to admit to herself or change her perception of her sunlight city. Describing the city as “sick” shows a mothering instinct to cafe for this place. “Branded” is quite aggressive, and shows belonging to the city no matter what war is going on
“That child’s vocabulary I carried here like a hollow doll, opens and spills a grammar. Soon shall I have every molecule of it” The emigree
The simile “like a hollow doll” suggests Russian dolls, a children’s toy, this could mean the language she knows from when she was a child is underdeveloped. The adjective “hollow suggests the shallowness of the language as there is no depth and maturity applied to it as she hasn’t heard it when she was older. “Coloured” idea suggests the language being something beautiful, creative and valuable. The word “molecule”shows minuscule breadth of knowledge
Emigree structure
3 even stanzas full stopped. This gives us the impression of story telling as it’s easy to read and gradually fills in blanks of memories. Basic vocabulary, very visual, reflecting child like way
“It’s usual home” the prelude
At the beginning, he has power over where things belong. He can disturb nature and recognises it is wrong but takes joy in the dominance
“Small circles glittering idly in the moon” the prelude
His actions create beauty
“Proud of his skill” “with an unswerving line” the prelude
Very arrogant, juxtaposed later on in the poem. Shows he can use and abuse nature and manipulate it however he likes, he believes he can row perfectly in line. Boastful- takes pride in his ability
“Elfin pinnace” extract from the prelude
Metaphor of ‘Fairy boat’ makes the scene seem magical and shows his man made effects of the boat make it more beautiful.