Loss and absence

Question 1

London: absence of positivity

Answer 1

absence of anything positive in poem- speaker refers to the absence of freedom (“the chartered Thames”), innocence (“Blasts the new-born infant’s tear”) and morality (“harlot’s curse”)

Question 2

London: absence of hope

Answer 2

absence of hope, with no sense that anyone can do anything to improve the situation. final image of plagued “marriage hearse” implies the cycle of suffering will continue

Question 3

Exposure: absence of hope

Answer 3

men in trenches have no hope of things improving. the dejected line, “we only know war lasts, rain soaks and clouds sag stormy” emphasises that their lives are miserable and filled with suffering