Poems - Lit Flashcards
Form of “If”:
Father’s advice to son
Regular rhyme pattern - self-control
Form of “Prayer before birth”:
Free verse
- randomness/chaos of life
Prayer format “O hear me”
Form of “Blessing”:
Free verse
- spontaneous event
- different people’s actions
Form of “Search for my tongue”:
Free verse
- fluid movement from one language to another
Mid section - Gujerati
- Visual representation of how different languages are
Form of “Half-past Two”:
Free verse
- lack of strict form - child able to break free
Form of “Piano”:
Lyric poem
- expresses emotions
Regular rhythm - 3 quatrains
- calm & ordered
Rhyming couplets
Form of “Hide and Seek”:
Continuous single stanza
- suggests speed of transition between childhood nativity & bitter adult knowledge
Form of “Sonnet 116”:
Shakesperian sonnet form
3 quatrains
Regular patterns - sense and control
Form of “La Belle Dame sans Merci”:
ballad - written 18th century
set medieval times
Quatrains - regular patterns
Circular structure - trapped by obsession with woman
Form of “Poem at 39”:
Free verse
- reflects nature of memory as it moves from past to present
Form of “war photographer”:
Regular shape - 6 line stanzas
- creates order from chaos of war
Form of “Tyger”:
Rhyming couples
Equal length lines - tetrameter
Form of “My Last Duchess”:
Dramatic monologue
Continuous single stanza
- doesn’t allow others to speak
Form of “Half-caste”:
Free verse
Performance poem
Form of “Do not go gentle”:
Villanelle - 19 lines
- 2 repeatign rhymes
Form of “Remember”:
Petrarchan sonnet
Octave
Theme of “if”:
navigating life and its dangers/hardships
building character
gender and masculinity
parental advice
Theme of “Prayer before birth”:
War & man-made violence
man’s inhumanity to man
powerlessness of individual
Theme of “Half-past Two “:
Power of the imagination
Time - artificial construct
Child & adult relationship
Teachers as adults with authority
Theme of “Piano”:
memory & revisiting past
childhood
mother & child relationship
power of music
Theme of “Hide and Seek”:
Loss of childhood innocence
Friendship & betrayal
Isolation & loneliness
Loss of hope & aspirations
Complexity of adult world
Theme of “Sonnet 116”:
Idealised love
Marriage
Time
Permanence
Theme of “la Belle Dame sans Merci”:
Dangerous love
Dangerous woman
Power & powerlessness
Imagination & dreams
Sickness & death
Theme of “Poem at 39”:
Father & daughter relationship
Past memories
Loss & death
Building character
Theme of “War photographer”:
Death
War & suffering
Politically powerless & invisible
Theme of “Tyger”:
Creation
Power
Danger
Theme of “My last Duchess”:
Power & tryranny
Jealousy & pride
Marriage
Death
Theme of “Half-caste”:
Language
identity
Racial prejudice
Challenging attitudes
Cultural tensions
Theme of “Do not go gentle”:
Death & dying
Living life to the fullest
Father & son relationship
Strength & weakness
Theme of “Remember”:
memory
Death and loss
Romantic love
