Poet đ˛ Flashcards
Night Sweat Themes
Self doubt toll of creative anxiety from WRITERâS BLOCK
Canât do what he thinks his lifeâs purpose is
Drowning
Writers block poses existential threat to the speaker
worried he will be submerged beneath his self doubt
power and pain of relationships - wife: tempers his creative and existential anxiety but also depresses the speaker as she takes on his pain
Night Sweat Literary Devices + Structure
Structure:
very loose iambic pentameter with irregular metre (scattered like his mind, doubt deviates from regular rhythm)
has rhyme
Devices:
claustrophobic imagery(lines 6,7,8,9)
assonance and alliteration
symbolism of Drowning/water
Allusion to Rabbit and Hare story
Night Sweat - Synonym
The City Planners Themes
Critiques humanityâs obsession of imposing order on the environment
rigidity and control as a sign of panic
Humanity is doomed in attempting to regulate an irrational world
snow, untamed nature
The City Planners - Structure and Devices
Structure:
Free verse, Unpredictable metre(contrast to the uniformity of city planning)
Stanzas get shorter
Devices:
consonance sibilance and alliteration appear a lot
personification(end of 1st and start of 2nd stanza)
metaphor simile irony⌠somewhere
The City Planners - Synonym
Ozymandias - Theme
The poem implicitly critiques ultimate transience of political power through its suggestion that great âomnipotentâ rulers and their kingdoms fall to the sands of time
the speaker uses example of Ozymandias to make a pronouncement about the ephemeral nature of power to critique tyranny
suggests humanityâs impotence compared to the natural world
Power of Art - capturing passion and leaving legacy far beyond the political power of a ruler
Ozymandias Structure and Devices
Structure:
Sonnet(broken rhyme scheme reflects the broken statue)
loose iambic pentameter
sand as a symbol of natureâs power which can destroy all human achievements âsands of timeâ
Devices:
Alliteration/sibilance lines 2-7 ishâŚ
irony - how art lasts longer than political rule while showing the brutality of regime(shows the poetâs confidence that his own poem will stand the test of time)
caesura and enjambement
Ozymandias - Synonym
From Long Distance - Themes
Death, Grief, Denial
The speaker finds some solace, in accepting that his fatherâs grief wonât always make sense
Speaker harbours no delusions about death that it is the end
persistence of love - love doesnât fade away in death it lingers becoming a testament to the deep enduring bonds families share
From Long Distance - Structure and Devices
Structure:
meredithian sonnet
structured stanzas and rhyme scheme(musical and easy to read)
direct colloquial language
loose iambic pentameter - tidy meter(father tidying up his things)
Devices:
enjambement and caesura
alliteration
Anaphora/repetition
From Long Distance - Synonyms
grief: sorrow, torment, misery, lament, anguish, mourn
love: attachment, endearment, devotion, adoration, compassion
denial: rejecting, incredulous, repudiation
TSITBAI - Theme
Perfection of body vs messiness of spirit
marvel at perfection
passions are rough and clumsy
spirit lacks natureâs âignorant precisionâ
cold and mechanical description
Nature lacking self awareness and passion
TSITBAI - Structure and Devices
Structure:
Free verse - conversational / natural / colloquial
No rhyme scheme(serious and reflective)
Devices:
alliteration, consonance, assonance(musicality / emphasis / poemâs rhythm)
asyndeton(exaggerate complexity)
metaphor
TSITBAI - Synonyms
He Never Expected Much - Themes and Context
Themes:
realism pessimism acceptance
Speaking to the voice of the world admitting he has met the low expectations that it has set
random, neutral, unfair nature of the world/fate
sober realism is a wise approach to life but canât guarantee happiness
clear eyed realist, accepts life.
although taking pride in wisdom, there is a serious undertone of regret that he was not more idealistic or emotionally invested in life
Context:
86th Birthday
He Never Expected Much - Structure and Devices
Structure:
iambic trimeter and tetrameter
AAABCCCB rhyme scheme
swinging sound tempers pessimistic content
Echo (sound like a chorus or incantation, fitting for a pessimistic worldview)
Devices:
Alliteration Assonance (musicality and reinforce meaning)
Apostrophe - figure of speech in which it is talking to something not there
World given anthropomorphic character
Irony - wishing he had greater emotional investment though he is wise
allusion to previous poems Neutral Tones and Haps which reflect his grimness
He Never Expected Much - Synonyms
