Peotry Context and Themes Flashcards
1
Q
Climbing My Grandfather Context
A
- Waterhouse was interested in the natural world and also wrote walking guidebooks
- His poetry was often concerned with family
2
Q
Climbing My Grandfather Themes
A
- Memory
- Family
- Achievement
- Childhood
3
Q
Singh Song Context
A
- Nagra was born to Punjabi Indian parents who owned a corner shop
- Stereotypes exist in Britain concerning people of Indian origin owning shops and working hard
- Nagra wants the reader to deal with and accept the accent which is often made fun of in media
4
Q
Singh Song Themes
A
- Marriage
- Romance
- Expectations
- Identity
5
Q
Winter Swans Context
A
- Sheer’s poetry often used natural imagery and concerns relationships
- The collection of poems which ‘Winter Swans’ is from looks at separations of different kinds
6
Q
Winter Swans Themes
A
- Reconciliation
- Commitment
- Nature
7
Q
Before You Were Mine Context
A
- Duffy’s poetry is often about women’s experience
- The poem is autobiographical and based on old photos of her mother
- The family moved from Glasgow to Strafford
8
Q
Before You Were Mine Themes
A
- Love
- Change
- Loss
- Personal history
9
Q
Mother Any Distance Context
A
- Armitage wrote it for his ‘Book of Matches’ - 30 sonnets written for his 30th. Based on a party game in which players have to talk about their life in the time it takes for a match to burn
- He often writes about adolescence and growing up
- Children leaving home is a big event in the modern day
10
Q
Mother Any Distance Themes
A
- Freedom and Restriction
- Growing up
- Separation
11
Q
Follower Context
A
- Heaney was born into a large Irish farming family. This experience of Irish rural life is often present in his poetry
- Many poems were about his father
- A lot of his poems are concerned with the past
12
Q
Follower Themes
A
- Father/Son relationship
- Nature and connection to it
- Innocence
13
Q
Eden Rock Context
A
- Causley’s father died when he was 7 after returning from war injured
- Children often appear in his poetry and innocence is a theme
14
Q
Eden Rock Themes
A
- Death
- Parental love
- Memory
15
Q
Walking Away Context
A
- Day Lewis often drew inspiration from his relationship with his children
- Poem written about his son, Sean, who was starting boarding school
- Day Lewis had a difficult relationship with his own father and became increasingly alienated from him
16
Q
Walking Away Themes
A
- Distance/separation
- A sense of loving and nostalgia
- Protective impulses
- Growing acceptance
17
Q
Farmer’s Bride Context
A
- Mew’s family had a history of mental illness ; her and her sister made a pact never to marry in fear of passing it on.
- She committed suicide
- The poem is set slightly earlier where husband’s control of wives was even stronger and women’s rights were limited
18
Q
Farmer’s Bride Themes
A
- Madness
- Control
- Desire
- Unrequited love
- Nature
19
Q
Letters from Yorkshire Context
A
- Dooley lived in Yorkshire and London
- Nostalgia for a simpler rural life and subtle criticism of the pressures of modern life
- Draws on romantic genre - connection with nature
20
Q
Letters from Yorkshire Themes
A
- Distance and separation
- Love presented as eye-opening and refreshing
- A sense of longing
- A strong unbreakable connection
- Communication
21
Q
Neutral Tones Context
A
- Hardy is famous for his pessimistic tone of writing. Many poems deal with disappointed in love and life
- Written when he was 28, the poem ironically comes to reflect his later failed relationships
22
Q
Neutral Tones Themes
A
- Death of love
- Regret
- Loss
- Memory
23
Q
Sonnet 29 Context
A
- Barrett Browing had a secret affair with Robert Browing and her poems were written to him
- Her poems were written for private reading but Robert Browing encouraged her to publish so the emotion presented is real
24
Q
Sonnet 29 Themes
A
- Passionate love
- Separation
25
Love's Philosophy Context
- Shelley was a romantic poet
- Poem shows a typical romantic focus on nature and the purity of emotions - favoured over intellect and reason
- Shelly argued that poetry brings about moral good and can be a source for empathy, compassion and love
26
Love's Philosophy Themes
- The nature of romantic love
| - Seduction
27
When We Two Parted Context
- About a women who Byron had an affair with
- Byron was known for promiscuity and scandal
- The pain that lost love can cause was a common theme in literature
- As a romantic and lyric poem, the focus on personal feelings is typical
28
When We Two Parted Themes
- Illicit love
- Separation
- Regret
29
Porphyria' Lover Context
- Patriarchal society
- Women expected to be passive and submissive
- Victorian society were very concerned with morals and respectability
- Violence was rising - consequent feeling of anonymity
30
Porphyria' Lover Themes
- Power
- Control
- Madness
- Desire
