Context Flashcards
Carol Ann Duffy (Valentine)
-Scottish poet and playwright
-Appointed in poet laureate in May 2009 and resigned in 2019 (first British woman and openly lesbian poet to hold the poet in history)
-She defies the literary the literary norm
-She follows in the poetic tradition of writing in monologues from the point of view of disturbed characters
-published in 1993
Simon Armitage (The Manhunt)
-takes on the persona of Laura Beddoes
-About Eddie Beddoes from his wife Laura’s point of view
-Eddie Beddoes was a British soldier who fought in the Bosnian War in the early 1990’s as part of the UN peacekeeping force
-he suffered the affects of PTSD, including depression, anxiety, flashbacks, guilt, and a sense of sense of isolation
Thomas Hardy (A Wife in London)
-he was an English poet, novelist and critic
-lived in the 19th century + was a Victorian poet
-he was influenced by Romanticism
-he was not pro-war unlike many other poets
-based around the Boer War (1899-1902) = in South Africa between British and Dutch over resources
-key themes= loss and tragedy
-Hardy is criticizing the lack of provision for war widows (adressing the dire circumstances of war widows)
Owen Sheers (Mametz Wood)
-he is a Welsh poet, author, playwright and television presenter
-was born in Fiji and raised in Wales
-he was the first writer in residence to be appointed by any normal rugby union team
-he was struck by the number of poets who fought-and died- at the Somme
-Mametz Wood was the objective of the 38th (Welsh) division
-Mametz Wood was published in 2005
Rupert Brooke (The Soldier)
-was a young scholar and poet
-died on 23rd April 1915 of blood poisoning whilst serving in the British Royal Navy (on a hospital ship anchored off the Greek Island Skyros whilst awaiting deployment in the Allied invasion of the Gallipoli Peninsula
-he was valued for his literary pedigree; Cambridge graduate
-enlisted in the army in his mid twenties when war broke out
he wrote a collection of sonnets in 1914 including ‘The Soldier’
-the soldier was read at St Paul’s Cathedral at Easter 1915
-the poem reflected the patriotic favor engulfing Engulfing England at this time
Wilfred Owen (Dulce et Decorum Est)
-from Shropshire, middle class, university educated
-was a teacher in France
-enlisted in 1915 under the influence of patriotic favour
-was wounded in 1917 and sent to Craiglockhart hospital in Scotland (where he met Seigrfied Sassoon who recognised his genius
-he was sent back to the front despite Sassoon’s letter to the war office begging them to protect Owen
-Owen insisted on returning for fairness
-he was killed one week before the armistice
-Dulce et Decorum Est was published in 1920 by Seigfried Sassoon
-was not greatly received : people were not ready to know the horror’s of WW1
Lord Byron (She walks in beauty)
-he was an English, romantic poet
-he was from a noble family
-believed in freedom
-scandalous behaviour = had to leave England
-died during the Greek War, aged 36
Rita Dove (Cozy Apologia)
-she is an American contemporary poet and essayist
-she was the first African American to serve as poet laureate of the United States
-Married to Fred Viebahn
-Hurricane Floyd was in September 1999
-killed 52 people
-floods destroyed 8,000 homes + damaged about 67,000
Elizabeth Barett Browning (Sonnet 43)
-she was a celebrated Victorian poet
-she is the most famous not only for her love sonnets to her husband but also her use of poetry to address social issues
-lived from 1806-1861 (died at 65)
–suffered from poor health and was on much pain relief
—ill from her early teens
-her father bitterly opposed the idea of her getting married
-came from a wealthy, extremely religious family
-she met Robert Browning, who began writing to her as he fell in love with her poetry
-they married in secret and moved to Italy
