Learn Poetry Flashcards
Manhunt Quotes:
“the frozen river which ran through his face”
“damaged, porcelian collarbone”
“parachute silk”
“foetus of metal beneath his chest”
“unexploded mine”
“then, and only then, did i come close”
Manhunt context
peace-keeper in Bosnia - discharged to injury and depression
about Eddie and Laura Beddoes
PTSD from war
Manhunt form/ structure
couplet - long stanzas
couplets rhyme at start but breaks down making poem feel disjointed conveys theme of brokenness
Manhunt themes
war and lasting effects
suffering - mental + physical
The Manhunt Title
suggests a chase or searching for something or that he is lost
organised search for criminal
In this case, wife’s search for for the man she knew and her relentless, yet tender, exploration of his inner trauma that leads to an understanding of him
The Soldier Quotes:
“If I should die”
“richer dust”
“a pulse in the eternal mind”
“hearts at peace, under an English heaven”
The Soldier form/structure
sonnet - expresses love and devotion for country
clear rhyme scheme demonstrates persona’s commitment to England
The Soldier Context
Wrote idealistically about war. Had not seen action as died of blood poisoning from mosquito bite while on ship to war
The Soldier Title
suggests an anonymous person, reflecting how many soldiers died during WWI - universal experience
definite article “the” stresses the central importance of the average soldier in war and is used to inspire personal patriotism
The Soldier themes
deep and lasting love
faith, belief, and worship
attitudes to war and patriotism
She Walks in Beauty Quotes
“She walks in beauty, like the night”
“all thats best of dark and bright”
“A heart whose love is innocent”
She Walks in Beauty form/structure
lyrical in tone and nature, focusing on abstract ideas of beauty and innocence
each stanza one sentence giving sense of fluidity and reflecting her effortless grace, poise and elegance
She Walks in Beauty context
English Romantic
Said to be inspired by the wife of Byron’s first cousin - saw her at party and struck by beauty - appreciated beauty and to him she epitomises aesthetic beauty
She Walks in Beauty Title
celebrates female beauty, a portrait of a woman through someone else’s eyes
pronoun ‘she’ suggests air of mystery around woman because he doesn’t know her
main character nameless and therefore could argue she is objectified and subject to male view rather than being a real presentation of woman
She Walks in Beauty themes
love
faith and worship
beauty and goodness
Living Space Quotes
“nails clutch at open seams”
“eggs in a wire basket”
“the bright, thin walls of faith”
Living Space form/structure
irregular form using stanzas and lines of different lengths, mirroring random construction and chaos of the building and precarious nature of life
no rhyme reflecting disorder od space described
Living Space context
born in Pakistan and now lives in Britain and India
poetry often explores life in India and difficult conditions in which the poorest live
Living Space title
ironic as little “living space” in slums
suggests how other people view it as just a ‘living space’ and not a home
“living” as adjective, makes you begin to understand that this tiny space, where life shouldn’t exist, is alive with life and faith
Living Space themes
sense of place
faith, belief, worship
innocence and goodness vs danger and darkness
As Imperceptibly as Grief quotes
“As twilight long begun”
“The dusk drew earlier in -/The morning foreign shone”
“Our Summer made her light escape./Into the Beautiful”
As imperceptibly as Grief form/structure
one stanza, one sentence
lines short and frequently connected by hyphens creating pauses and giving poem a tone of melancholy reflection
As imperceptibly as Grief context
Was a recluse so didn’t leave hose often
before she wrote poem, several family members had died
As imperceptibly as Grief title
“imperceptibly” could suggest no-one notices speaker’s pain and grief because happened so gradually/ loss of summer goes unnoticed
“grief” suggests pain is unbearable and overwhelming. Grief is seen to be life-changing
Cozy Apologia quotes
“I could pick anything and think of you”
“dappled mare” “silver stirrups” “chain mail glinting”
“thin as liquorice and as chewy”
“I fill this stolen time with you”
Cozy Apologia form/structure
first stanza:
uses cliched image of knight in shinning armour,
rhyming couplets - conforms traditional presentation of their love and intimacy
second stanza:
reminisces of childhood crushes
rhyme scheme disrupted when thinking of past relationships she regrets
third stanza: ends with how happy she is with her everyday ordinary
back to ABAB rhyme scheme as domestic harmony restores
Cozy Apologia context
seems to be autobiographical, affectionate tribute to husband
Cozy Apologia title
defend her relationship because others might view as ‘boring’ and ‘uneventful’ but to her, it’s special and worth protecting. Fred is Doves husband
Valentine quotes
“it is a moon wrapped in brown paper”
“it will blind you with tears”
“its fierce kiss will stay on your lips”
“cling to your fingers, / cling to your knife”
Valentine form/structure
deliberate rejection of traditional love poetry forms such as sonnet
stanzas irregular length, some one line
lacks rhyme and rhythm and feels disjointed
words and ideas built up and repeated throughout which could mirror different layers of onion, as poem’s meaning revealed gradually
Valentine context
response to radio presenter who asked her to write an original poem for Valentines day
contemporary poet making a statement about modern culture
Duffy likes to break conventions, criticises societies materialistic views
Valentine title
title suggests poem will be simple expression of love, however just like an onion, many different layers to poem. surprising the reader
A Wife in London quotes
“she sits in the tawny vapour”
“the street lamp glimmers cold”
“He - has fallen - in the far South Land…”
“His hand, whom the worm now knows”
A Wife in London form/structure
two parts each with own title - create anticipation and factual descriptions add to speaker’s detached tone
speaker in poem is observer who watches in a detached manner contributing to helpless and melancholy tone
A Wife in London context
Speaking about Boer War - many thought it was unnecessary and wasteful of life
A Wife in London title
‘a’ wife reflects the tragedy of how many lives lost at war, could be any wife in London at the time
emphasises universality of this experience for women, who were alone and separated from husbands thousands of miles away
Death of a Naturalist quotes
“bubbles gargled delicately”
“warm thick slobber” “daddy frog” “mammy frog”
“poised like mud grenades”
“If i dipped my hand the spawn would clutch it”
Death of a Naturalist form/structure
first-person narrator reflecting on their childhood
blank verse makes poem sound conversational
lack of rhyme scheme may suggest change not always predictable
two stanzas, each with different attitude towards nature, first stanza focuses mainly on personas childish wonderment, while nature presented as unfamiliar and threatening in second stanza
Death of a Naturalist context
Four year old brother died in car accident when Heaney was young boy, death affected him badly and many poems about loss of innocence
Grew up on farm, many poems reflect upbringing
Death of a Naturalist title
‘death’ suggests metaphorical death of the speaker’s innocence. Could also represent that it is lost forever and they cannot get it back
the ‘naturalist’ is the innocent natural child who blithely collects frogspawn, innocence dies as matures into adolescence and is replaced by tainted experience
Death of a Naturalist themes
loss of innocence
passing of time
Hawk Roosting quotes
“in sleep rehearse perfect kills”
“I sit in the top of the wood”
“I kill where I please because it is all mine”
“My manners are tearing off heads”
“I am going to keep things like this”
Hawk Roosting form
Dramatic monologue from hawk perspective
First person gives authority and commands poem without debate or interruption
framing device - poem begins and ends with “I” reflecting arrogance
no rhyme - harsh, blunt
stanza has four lines - decisive controlling nature of hawk
Hawk Roosting structure
Begins with Hawk perched high in tree, untroubled and considering position in hierarchy. Relaxed and sure of its position as rehearse…
Supremely confident and asserts that rights are beyond debate
Ends on assured statement and complete future control
Hawk Roosting context
Wrote many poems about natural world
Hughes said poem wasn’t about cruelty (many thought human allegory) just wanted to show Hawks natural way of thinking
Hawk Roosting title
Image of Hawk suggest power. Word “Roosting” implies that Hawk feels at home and comfortable in perch
Suggests still, and not swooping bird of prey, gives sense Hawk is meditating in powers of destruction
Prelude quotes
“It was a time of rapture”
“I heeded not the summons”
“we hiss’d along”
“through the darkness and cold we flew”
“an alien sound of melancholy”
“the orange sky of evening passed away”
Prelude form/structure
First person - specific memory
Blank verse mainly iambic pentameter - sounds natural and unforced as if intimate and personal conversation with the reader.
Enjambment creates spontaneity to memory and sense of joy
two main sections - main focus on memory, recalled in vivid and exhilarating detail
tone is carefree and one of wild abandonment and is punctuated with caesuras and lists which convey the energetic excitement of children
Prelude context
Romantic who grew up in idyllic setting of Lake District - where poem is set
Started to write ‘the Prelude’ in his 20s and never finished it
‘the Prelude’ is autobiographical and focusses on Wadsworths childhood and relationship with nature
Prelude themes
Nostalgia - looks back on childhood and presents and idyllic scene from his memories.
Awareness - Poem ends with narrator showing greater appreciation of natural world. References to the ‘distant hills’ and to the east and west suggest he has become more aware of the vast scale of nature
