Poems Flashcards
Nothing beside remains
Ozymandias
In every cry of every man,
In every infants cry of fear,
In every voice, in every ban
London
The mind forged manacles I hear:
London
I met a traveller from an antique land
Ozymandias
Narrator hasn’t even seen the statue irl he’s only heard of it. This emphasis how unimportant ozymandias is now
Vast, trunkless, stone
Ozymandias
Emphasises size and stature but also shows that the statue has been destroyed by nature
Stand in the desert
Ozymandias
Setting suggests absence of life and vitality
Shatter’d visage
Ironic — even a powerful human can’t control the damaging effects of time
Sneer of cold command
Ozymandias
The sculpture understood arrogance of ruler
Survive, lifeless
Ozymandias
Having ‘survive’ and ‘lifeless’ on the same line hints at how art can outlast human power, but the ruined statue shows that ultimately art can’t immortality, juxtaposed
The hand that mock’d them
‘Mock’ can mean to ridicule, or the create a likeness of something — perhaps the sculpture intended his statue to make fun of ozy
King of kings
Ye mighty
Ozymandias
Arrogant and powerful — he even challenged other rulers
Look
Ozymandias
Having a stressed syllable on the start of the line heightens Ozymadias’s tone of command
Despair!
Ozymadias
Irony — he tells other rulers to ‘despair’ because of the size and grandeur of his ‘works’ but in fact they should despair because their power is temporary and ultimately unimportant, like his.
The decay of that colossal wreck
Ozymadias
The ruined statue shows how human achievements are insignificant compared to the passing of time
Nothing beside remains
Ozymadias
Irony of inscription on the pedestal contrasting with surroundings
Boundless and bare
Lone and level
Ozymadias
Alliteration — emphasises the feeling of empty space in the surrounding desert
Stretch far away
Ozymadias
The desert is vast and survive far longer than the broken statue, emphasising the insignificance of the statue and of ozymandias
When was romanticism a thing?
Late 1700 and early 1800
What did the ‘romantic’ poets believe in?
Emotion rather than reason, tried the capture intense experiences in their work and particularly focused on the power of nature
Shelly dislike the monarchy, absolute power and the oppression of ordinary people. What were his political views inspired by?
French Revolution 1789-1799
Where the monarchy was overthrown
Wander
London
This sounds purposeless — could reflect how he feels powerless to change what’s happening
Each chartered street
London
Suggests the whole city is affected, not just one area
Chartered Thames does flow
Humans try to control powerful natural features the the river Thames but the power of nature will prevail over human power
Mark
London
Means ‘notice’ but also suggests everyone he sees is marked by experience
Marks marks
Every
Every
Every
London
Repetition emphasises feeling of bleakness — despair effects everyone and there’s no escape from it
Infants cry of fear
I hear
London
The speaker hears various distressing noises — makes this seem like a vivid, hellish experience
Mind-forged manacles
London
People are trapped in every way, even by thoughts and attitudes
Chimney-sweeper’s
London
Chimney sweeps were usually young children, emotive image of child labour encourages reader to reflect on inequality in hierarchy and how power of humans can easily be corrupted
Black’ning church
London
Seems to be angry at all forms of power — describing church as blackening could suggest it is corrupt or that it is tarnished by the failure to look after the people. Or it could be a grim visual image of the ugliness caused by the Industrial Revolution
Runs in blood down palace walls.
London
Might be a reference to the French Revolution — sounds like he thinks ordinary people suffer while this in the palace are protected behind walls
Youthful harlot
London
Contrast between innocence of youth and sordidness of prostitution
Curse
London
He hears prostitutes cording but may also mean they are a curse to London??
Blast the new born infants tear
London
The innocence of newborn babies is lost immediately — society damages its members
Absence of hope for everyone suffering under the hand of the corrupt people in power
Blights with plagues
London
Powerful language of illness and disease. Destruction is implied by ‘blights’ and ‘plagued’ hints at something that’s uncontrollable and destined to affect lots of people
Marriage hearse
London
Oxymoron — links the happy image of marriage with death. Suggests that everything has been destroyed
Contrasts shows everything is effected and nothing is innocent
What were the names of the two volumes of poetry Blake illustrated and wrote which explored the state of human soul ?
‘Songs of Innocence’ are positive poems which focus on childhood, nature and love, whereas the ‘Songs of Experience’ ( including ‘London’) look at how innocence has been lost, and how society has been corrupted
