Love and Relationships Poetry - LANGUAGE

Question 1

What 2 poems could you use for the theme Growing Apart?

Answer 1

› mother any distance
› walking away
› follower

Question 2

What 2 poems would you use for the theme Unrequited Love?

Answer 2

› porphyria’s lover
› sonnet 29 (‘I think of thee!’)
› the farmer’s bride
› love’s philosophy

Question 3

What 2 poems would you use for the theme Obsessive Love?

Answer 3

› sonnet 29 (‘I think of thee!’)
› porphyria’s lover
› love’s philosophy

Question 4

What 2 poems would you use for the theme Family Love?

Answer 4

› mother any distance
› walking away
› eden rock
› follower
› before you were mine
› climbing my grandfather

Question 5

What is the content and key aspects of ‘Mother, Any Distance’?

Answer 5

The speaker the describes how his mother helps him to move into a house, using the event as a symbol of his independence.
This poem exposes the need to renegotiate parent-child relationships as time passes.

Question 6

What is the content and key aspects of ‘Walking Away’?

Answer 6

First person narrative where the speaker reflects back on the anxiety of dropping his young son off to his first game of football at boarding school.
18 years on, he is still affected by the image of his son nervously walking away.
The poem ends with the recognition of the pain of separation but counters it with acceptance that “love is proved in the letting go”.

Question 7

What is the content and key aspects of ‘Follower’?

Answer 7

The speaker recalls watching his father expertly plough the family farm. His father is an image of strength and reliability and the son admired him and wanted to be just like him.
As time passes, the father-son roles reverse.
The speaker recalls a time before life choices separated him from his father; whilst this separation was painful, it was inevitable.

Question 8

What is the content and key aspects of ‘Porphyria’s Lover’?

Answer 8

Dramatic monologue which describes a stormy night when he strangled his lover, Porphyria, to death using hair own her so that she would be with him forever. The speaker is clearly insane and beloved that his lover wanted to be murdered so she could stay with him forever.
This poem reveals the dangers posed by possessive and obsessive love.

Question 9

What is the content and key aspects of ‘Sonnet 29 (“I Think of Thee!”)’?

Answer 9

This sonnet is a declaration of passionate love. She tells how she obsessively thinks of him so much that her thoughts have begun to obscure reality of him.
Browning conveys how unrequited longing for a lover can consume you, make you impatient and even distort reality. She challenges an assumption of patriarchal cultures that women should not have the freedom to articulate sexual desire.

Question 10

What is the content and key aspects of ‘The Farmer’s Bride’?

Answer 10

A farmer married a young girl and she tries to escape as she is scared of him. The farmer is frustrated that he has been rejected and his frustration build up towards the end of the poem where he appear to lose control suggesting that he may force himself upon her.
This poem reveals the detrimental impact of patriarchal values on men and women. When the husband’s concept of marriage is not fulfilled, he becomes frustrated but is unable to speak sensitively to his wife, leaving her marginalised by the patriarchal system.

Question 11

What is the content and key aspects of ‘Love’s Philosophy’?

Answer 11

The speaker tries to seduce his listener, emphasising that nothing in nature is single so they shouldn’t be either.
Whilst the poem could be interpreted as a playful attempt to seduce a lover, it could equally be a reflection on the unscrupulous actions of a man focussed purely on sexual enjoyment.

Question 12

What is the content and key aspects of ‘Eden Rock’?

Answer 12

The speaker imagines looking across a river where he sees his parents as a young couple. It was written in the present tense to make the memory seem real. They live a simple but happy life conveying the importance of family and how wealth isn’t important.
Causley affectively articulates the pain of separation and the longing to be reunited.

Question 13

What is the content and key aspects of ‘Before You Were Mine’?

Answer 13

The speaker describes her mother’s life before children, reflection on how the arrival of a baby meant a loss of freedom showing her feeling of guilt.
Duffy explores the treatment of women who didn’t conform to 1950s gender stereotypes, as well as reflecting on the child’s admiration for their parent showing the strength of familial love.

Question 14

What is the content and key aspects of ‘Climbing My Grandfather’?

Answer 14

The speaker uses extended metaphor of mountaineering to describe how he gets to know his grandfather. Like climbing a mountain, the journey is tiring and requires persistence, but holds great rewards.
Developing relationships may require persistence and hard work but leads to great rewards.

Question 15

What is the context of ‘Mother, Any Distance’?

Answer 15

›the poem was published in 1990s, when Armitage was 30 years old.
› it was part of a collection called Book of Matches. The poems within this book were all short enough to be read within the time it takes a match to burn. This image of the burning match represents how theses moments of life disappear quickly.

Question 16

What is the context of ‘Walking Away’?

Answer 16

› Cecil Day Lewis was an Irish poet who lived between 1904 and 1972. This poem was published about 1960s and is about his first son, Sean.
› he was the poet laureate for five years until his death.
› Day Lewis had himself attended boarding school and so could appreciate the anxiety and pain from both sides of the relationship: this is apparent in the descriptions of his nervous son.

Question 17

What is the context of ‘Follower’?

Answer 17

› Seamus Heaney lived from 1939-2013.
› he grew up on his father’s farm in Northern Ireland and so the poem is thought to be autobiographical.
› the poem was published in the 1960s, within a collection on themes of childhood, identity and rural life.
› in 1947, the NI Education Act opened up access to secondary and university education so Heaney took advantage of this and left the family farm to attend university.

Question 18

What is the context of ‘Porphyria’s Lover’?

Answer 18

› porphyria is a disease that can result in insanity. Browning might be comparing being in love with insanity and a delusional view of reality.
› Porphyria is portrayed as a sexual and seductive woman. This could be the untrustworthy speaker’s way of justifying the murder.
› first published in the 1830s.

Question 19

What is the context of ‘Sonnet 29 (“I Think of Thee!”)’?

Answer 19

› Browning wrote the poem in the 1840s about her then lover, and future husband, Robert Browning.
›This was a private poem for her husband but he encouraged her to publish it so she published it in the book entitled “Sonnets from the Portuguese” to protect her reputation within a moral and judgemental society.
› there is a joyous religious undertone to the poem. She compares him to palm tree: in Christianity, the palm tree represents faith.

Question 20

What is the context of ‘The Farmer’s Bride’?

Answer 20

› published in the 1910s.
› Charlotte Mew was thought to be homosexual and lived through a time when homosexuality was not accepted by society.
› this might explain some of the poem’s themes. The poem deals with an unconventional relationship and frustrated desire for a woman.
› women had fewer rights like being unable to choose their won husband, own property or file for divorce. Expected to conform to stereotypes, completing household chores and submitting to their husband’s desires.
›written during the Suffragette movement.

Question 21

What is the context of ‘Love’s Philosophy’?

Answer 21

›Shelley was a romantic poet. Romanticism was huge movement in 18th and 19th century literature, whereby writers focused on the power of and connections between human emotion and the natural world.
› the poem was first published in the 1810s.
› Shelley’s use of religion as a persuasive technique in the poem is ironic as he was an atheist, a highly controversial viewpoint in the 19th Century.

Question 22

What is the context of ‘Eden Rock’?

Answer 22

› Charles Causley was from Cornwall. He lived from 1917-2003.
› published in the 1980s, the poem is thought to be autobiographical: he is perhaps talking about his parents as he’s father fought in WW1 and died from lasting injuries when Causley was just 7 years old.
› Causley said that he had made-up the location of Eden Rock. It is a dream-like place, and perhaps reflects an idyllic life rather than his actual life.
› he wrote ‘Eden Rock’ late in his life when he was meditating on approaching death.

Question 23

What is the context of ‘Before You Were Mine’?

Answer 23

› Carol Anne Duffy was born in 1955 in Glasgow. The poem was published in the 1990.
› it is an autobiographical poem and makes reference to the streets of Glasgow, conveying her nostalgia for her home city.
› Duffy was made Poet Laureate in 2009.
› the poem depicts working-class life in 1950s Glasgow and young women’s ways that they had to live of which the speaker’s mother refuses to conform which exposes the tensions this creates in the family.

Question 24

What is the context of ‘Climbing My Grandfather’?

Answer 24

› Andrew Waterhouse was a lecturer at an agricultural college.
› this was taken from his first book of poetry, published in 2000. He died in 2001.
› the poem seems to be autobiographical, with the poet reminiscing about his childhood – when perhaps everything seemed bigger, including his grandfather.

Question 25

What are the uses of language in ‘Mother, Any Distance’?

Answer 25

› “your fingertips still pinch the last one-hundredth of an inch..” - shows how the mother is trying to keep hold of her son and trying to stop him from moving away or becoming independent.
↳ the verb “pinch” shows how it could be harmful to the son and instead of keeping him close, she may be pushing him away. Short ‘i’ reinforces the mother’s attempt too cling on tot he tape measure and her son.
› “the line still feeding out, unreeling years between us” - the tape measure is an extended metaphor of an umbilical cord representing support, nourishment and a lasting connection.
› spatial imagery - hyperbolises the house’s daunting size.
› “the acres of the wall, the prairies of the floors” - images of wide open spaces implying the theme of freedom.
› “anchor. Kite.” - the mother is the anchor representing security and restriction and the son is the kite flying free but remaining connected to safety.
› “something has to give” - use of colloquialism.
↳ suggests that the son has reached breaking point and wants freedom from his mother’s control.
› “to fall or fly.” - use of ambiguity.
↳ does the son think his big for freedom will succeed or does he still need his mother.

Question 26

What are the uses of structure and form in ‘Mother, Any Distance’?

Answer 26

› sonnet structure but with an extra line symbolising him breaking away and desire for freedom from restrictions and patterns.
› irregular rhyme scheme symbolises his desire for independence conflicted with is anxiety over loosening their bond.
› the poem shifts from “you” to “I” showing independence and that he has become the focus.
› single word sentences and regular caesura slow pace and convey apprehension.
› ellipsis in last stanza conveys uncertainty and how he finally reaches out towards the “endless sky”.

Question 27

What are the uses of language in ‘Walking Away’?

Answer 27

› “wrenched”, “scorching”, “gnaws” - painful verbs convey the intensity of the experience.
› “a sunny day with the leaves just turning”, “nature’s give and take” - images of nature convey how the father now realises that this is a natural process for parents
↳ “into the wilderness” also conveys anxiety.
› “the touch-lines new-ruled” - use of metaphor.
↳ new boundaries were set for the father, symbolising the son’s independence.
› “ordeals will fire one’s irresolute clay” - irresolute means ‘uncertain’. He now accepts that the experience will make his son more solid and strong, like fired clay.
› the word “away” is repeated throughout emphasising the theme of separation.
› “a half-fledged thing set free” - nature imagery.
↳ the nestling is too young to fly implying the child is too young to leave.
›” how selfhood begins with a walking away, and love is proved in the letting go” - children must become independent and parents must express their love allowing their children to leave.

Question 28

What are the uses of structure and form in ‘Walking Away’?

Answer 28

› first-person narration conveys personal nature of the poem.
› the use of enjambment and caesura create a conversational tone, further adding to the personal tone and authenticity of the poem.
› steady rhyme scheme of ABACA reflects the consistency of the father’s love for his son.
↳ the c rhyme and the circular structure suggest disharmony and continuing pain.
› first two stanzas describe the day (eighteen years ago) and the final two stanzas reflect on how the memory still pains him after so long.
› slow, irregular rhythm reflects the speaker grappling with his thoughts.

Question 29

What are the uses of language in ‘Follower’?

Answer 29

› “his shoulders globed like a full sail strung” - assonance of ‘ou’ and ‘obed’ emphasise the size of his father’s shoulders.
↳ simile conveys how his father can harness great power like a sailing ship.
› “an expert” - short sentence, caesura and sharp consonant sounds reflect father’s precise and unquestionable skill.
› “i stumbled in his hob-nailed wake” - son’s clumsiness contrasts the father’s expertise.
↳ double meaning of ‘wake’ suggesting ‘trail’ but also ‘ a vigil for the dead’, foreshadowing the father’s decline.
↳ the sailing metaphor is extended – the father is so powerful he leaves a ‘wake’ like a ship. He leaves a great impression on the boy.
› the title applies to both father and son at different times of their lives.
› “mapping the furrow exactly” - vocabulary choice emphasises perfection and the son’s awe of his father.
› “but today it is my father who keeps stumbling behind me, and will not go away - use of ambiguity.
↳ the father-son roles have reversed but also that the father’s lost skill haunts the son, while also reminding him that he lacks that skill himself.

Question 30

What are the uses of structure and form in ‘Follower’?

Answer 30

› the six stanzas of four lines each are written in iambic pentameter. The steady rhythm reflects the steadiness and reliability of the father’s ploughing.
› the rhyme scheme of ABAB occasionally slips to half- rhymes, symbolising how the boy falls short of his father creating a melancholic tone and a sense of imperfection.
› structure mirrors movement of the horse - the enjambment of “a single pluck / Of Reins” reflects the turning around of the horse.
› the volta (and role reversal) occurs in the final stanza when it is his father who is “stumbling / Behind me”.
› focus shifts from father to the son/speaker.

Question 31

What are the uses of language in ‘Porphyria’s Lover’?

Answer 31

› ‘let the damp hair fall’ - conveys Porphyria’s sexuality, which would have been viewed as sinful by Victorians. ›‘murmuring how she loved me’ - verb ‘murmuring’ suggests he doesn’t believe her or feels manipulated. ›‘that moment she was mine, mine’ - he seizes and preserves this moment of control by killing her. ↳repetition of ‘mine’ is sinister.
› ‘blushed bright beneath my burning kiss’ - he is deluded, thinking that the redness in her strangled face is actually just blushing.
› juxtaposition of ‘burning kiss’ conveys destructive passion.
›”blaze up, and all the cottage warm” - contrasts the warmth of the cottage with extreme weather lulling the reader into false sense of security.
› “vainer ties” - suggests Porphyria has another life beyond the cottage.
›”porphyria worshipped me” - suggests that the speaker has convinced himself that Porphyria’s visit reveals not only love but devotion which also suggests that he is unbalanced.
› “made my cheek lie there” to “only, this time my shoulder bore her head” - positions are reversed in line 19 and line 50 as Porphyria’s head rests on the speaker’s shoulder suggesting that he snow in control.

Question 32

What are the uses of structure and form in ‘Porphyria’s Lover’?

Answer 32

› asymmetrical rhyme scheme (ABABB) and enjambment create and effect of instability and unpredictability just like the speaker himself.
›poem is in two parts that mirror each other -
in the first half, Porphyria is dominant, speaker is passive. The volta (turning point) is when he says “I looked up at her eyes”. In the second half, the speaker is dominant and Porphyria is passive.
↳ this perhaps reflects the all-consuming power of love.
› contrasts of love and violence used throughout.
› repetition of ‘yellow hair’, first to convey her beauty, then used to murder her.
› “when glided” - suggests the movement of a ghostly form, foreshadowing Porphyria’s death.
›iambic tetrameter and simple rhyme reinforce the shock of the murder.

Question 33

What are the uses of language in ‘Sonnet 29 (“I Think of Thee!”)’?

Answer 33

› extended metaphor of the lover as a strong tree, and the narrator’s obsessive thoughts as vines that grow around him and that sexual desires are natural. Her ‘wild vines’ ‘hides the wood’.
› “i think of thee!” - immediate direct address of her lover creates a personal and intimate tone.
› “renew they presence”, “Rustle thy bought” - imperatives reveal her longing and urgency.
› sibilant sounds create the rustling sound of her ‘thoughts’.
› “drop down heavily” conveys the weight of her obsessive thoughts, and her desire to shed them.
› “there’s nought to see” - suggests that thoughts overwhelm so the image of the lover is lost.

Question 34

What are the uses of structure and form in ‘Sonnet 29 (“I Think of Thee!”)’?

Answer 34

› the traditional form of a sonnet is eight lines presenting a problem, followed by six lines presenting a solution.
↳ this sonnet breaks with convention by presenting the solution, or volta, (for him to ‘instantly’ return) in the middle of line 7 - this urgency shows the narrator’s impatience to be with him.
› repetition of ‘thee’ conveys her obsession with him.
› first person addresses the absent lover urgently, passionately.
› “palm tree” - a metaphor for the masculine lover portraying strength.