Poetry Flashcards
1
Q
Ozymandias Context
A
- radical inspired by French Revolution
- romantic poet - nature + corrupt power
- wanted to end oppression of ordinary people
- Ozymandias refers to tyrannical Ramasses II
- makes links between Ramasses and current George III - seen as tyranical and generally disliked
2
Q
Ozymandias Form
A
- sonnet (octet + sestet) - reflects self-love of Ozymandias
- irregular rhyme scheme - art/society can develop, don’t have to be limtited
3
Q
Ozymandias Quotes
A
- ‘I met a traveller from an antique land’
- ‘The hand that mocked them, and the heart that fed’
- ‘Of that colossal wreck’
4
Q
‘I met a traveller from an antique land’
A
‘second-hand account’ → distances speaker from criticisms of George III, avoids sounding unpatriotic
‘antique’ → corrupt rulers are outdated, message to move on from tyranny
5
Q
‘The hand that mocked them, and the heart that fed’
A
volta at end of octet → turns awful ruler into lasting work of art, irony in legacy
‘the hand’ → Ozymandias mocking those he deems beneath him
‘heart’ → ironic, offers no care to people, emotionally/physically empty
ambiguity → describes both Ozymandias and sculptor
sculptor → mocks Ozymandias by capturing cruelty, reveals truth
6
Q
‘Of that colossal wreck’
A
‘colossal’ → alludes to Colossus statue, reminds audience power is temporary, art outlives rulers
irony → Ozymandias wants legacy through power, Shelley wants legacy through art/poetry
7
Q
The Emigrèe Context
A
- emigrèe - female emigrant, leave country to escape tyranny/poverty or better life
- Rumens from southern England - encountered many emigrants in 1990s (Rumen’s upbringing) when it was widespread
- poems in ‘thinking of skins’ collection - focus on Eastern Europe/Russia
8
Q
The Emigrèe form
A
- 8/8/9 line stanzas, final extra line changes end word from ‘death’ to ‘sunlight’ - allowing immigrants into country is a positive thing, not negative
9
Q
The Emigrèe quotes
A
- ‘there once was a country… I left it as a child but my memory of it is sunlight clear’
- ‘It may be at war, it may be sick with tyrants, but I am branded by an impression of sunlight’
- ‘My city hides behind me. They mutter death and my shadow falls as evidence of sunlight’
10
Q
‘there once was a country… I left it has a child but my memory of it is sunlight clear’
A
Story mother tells → Suggests a narrative passed down to a daughter.
‘Was’ → Past tense, the country no longer exists.
‘Sunlight’ → Symbolizes happiness and hope, recurring throughout.
11
Q
‘It may be at war, it may be sick with tyrants, but I am branded by an impression of sunlight’
A
Leaving country → represents escape to a better place, free from tyranny, sickness, and war, symbolizing freedom and new life
‘Impression’ → suggests her perspective is subjective, questioning memory and perception of events
‘Sunlight’ → symbolizes happiness, hope, positivity, and resilience carried from the past into the new life
‘Branded’ → evokes ownership, marking her by her past; suggests she can’t escape it, but still carries hope, believing her home country might recover.
12
Q
‘My city hides behind me. They mutter death and my shadow falls as evidence of sunlight’
A
Volta → Shifts tone, speaker feels under threat.
‘They’ → Could refer to tyrants or new country’s rejection, hinting at racism.
‘Shadow’→ Indicates lingering past, with “sunlight” symbolizing happiness or a legacy of positivity.
13
Q
Remains context
A
- based on Guardsman Truman who fought in Iraq - Battle of Basra in 2003
- psychological effects of war - PTSD which is very common for soldiers returning from war
14
Q
Remains form
A
- dramatic monologue starting in media res
- no regular rhyme/rhythm - sounds like story
- final couplet in same metre - guilt will stay with him
15
Q
‘On another occasion we got sent out’
A
‘Another’ → implies this isn’t the first, suggests buildup, this is the worst
Passive language → deployment sounds like punishment, war is psychologically punishing
16
Q
‘One of my mates goes by and tosses his guts back into his body’
A
Colloquial → Casual language for a serious action, attempting to pass it off as normal. This reflects how the speaker has changed due to war, possibly alt- trying to deny or downplay the horrors he’s witnessed.
Juxtaposition of language types → The contrast between casual and gory language exposes the true nature of the event.
Sibilance → Emphasizes the sinister, eerie qualities of war.
‘Tosses his guts’ → Alt- Could be a metaphor for sickness or disgust, symbolizing the speaker’s revulsion at the violent act.
17
Q
‘but near to the knuckle, here and now, his bloody life in my bloody hand.’
A
Discordance → not ending with rhyme shows psychological damage, unresolved feeling
‘bloody hands’ → Macbeth allusion, guilt leads to deadly consequences
‘my’ → acceptance, possibly progress or speaking to psychologist
repetition of ‘bloody’ → trauma inescapable, war memories haunt him
‘here and now’ → trying to stay present, alt- still trapped in past
‘knuckle’ → willing to fight emotional damage, internal struggle
‘bloody’ → double meaning: gore and anger, physical + mental trauma
18
Q
War photographer context
A
- War photographers go to armed conflicts to take pictures, often killed, didn’t used to be protected by conventions
- Duffy friends with War Photographer, interested in challenges they faced
- refers to: Irish Troubles, Siege of Beirut, Cambodian Genocide
19
Q
War photographer form
A
- 4 equally sized quantrains - shows care he takes in work
- multiple switches between trochaic/iambic pentamter between lines - unsettles reader
20
Q
War photographer quotes
A
- ‘In his darkroom he is finally alone with spools of suffering set out in ordered rows’
- ‘a priest preparing to intone a Mass. Belfast. Beirut. Phnom Penh. All flesh is grass’
- ‘From the aeroplane he stares impassively at where he earns his living and they do not care’
21
Q
‘In his darkroom he is finally alone with spools of suffering set out in ordered rows’
A
Trochaic/iambic switch → Rhythm shift reflects tension or confusion in the photographer’s mind
‘Dark room’ → Symbolizes darkness, could refer to both the literal space and the dark nature of the images or the war itself
‘Finally’ → Suggests relief, implying he finds no joy in his work, possibly after seeing too much suffering
‘Spool’ → Technical photography term, but alt- it could symbolize each photo capturing new suffering or death, emphasizing the cycle
Sibilance → Reflects the sinister nature of his job and the war, creating a cold, eerie tone
Semantic field of graveyard → Could evoke imagery of mass graves or the death toll of war, reinforcing its tragic, dehumanizing impact
22
Q
‘a priest preparing to intone a Mass. Belfast. Beirut. Phnom Penh. All flesh is grass’
A
Trochaic, iambic switch → Reflects war’s confusion and disruption.
‘Mass’ and ‘grass’ → Half rhyme, unsettling, symbolizes ambiguity.
Plosive ‘p’ alliteration → Refers to violent deaths, gunshots, war’s brutality.
‘Priest’ ironic metaphor → Priest records death, questioning God’s role in war and suffering.
List of conflicts → Escalates war’s destructive scope.
Biblical allusion → Suggests life’s inevitability of death, critiquing war and Christianity’s justification.
23
Q
‘From the aeroplane he stares impassively at where he earns his living and they do not care’
A
Trochaic and iambic switch → Creates rhythm of confusion and instability, mirroring soldier’s emotions
Ends with rhyming couplet → Irony, suggests a sense of completeness that the soldier doesn’t feel
Ambiguous → ‘Staring at Britain to go to war country’ alt- ‘Staring at war country to come back to Britain’
‘Impassively’ → Feels nothing, no pleasure at coming home alt- Raising awareness to help war country
‘Earns his living’ → Irony, as the soldier is living while others are dying
24
Q
Bayonet Charge context
A
- rural upbringing - animal focus
- inspired by Wilfred Owen in depicting horrific realities of war
- highlights brutality of trench warfare as tribute to father
- intended to warn against war
25
Bayonet Charge form
- switches between iambic/trochaic pentameter - no natural rhythm in war, unnatural
- stanzas 8/7/8 lines - no pattern/coordination in the mess that is war
26
'Suddenly he awoke and was running- raw in raw-seamed hot khaki, his sweat heavy'
**Start in media res** → Dramatic opening
**‘Awoke’** → War as unnatural awakening, normal life feels like a dream compared to war
**Repetition + enjambment of ‘raw’** → Emphasizes emotional and physical pain of war, homophone of 'roar' reflects the negative noise of war
**‘Running’ ‘Suddenly’** → Suggests speed, contrasted by long sentence, mimicking breathlessness of soldier
**‘Khaki’** → What’s supposed to protect him, but instead attacks him, as it feels 'hot'
**‘Sweat’** → Supposed to protect him physically, but being 'heavy' makes it counterproductive
**Semantic field of slowing down** → Soldier feels vulnerable
27
'Threw up a yellow hare that rolled like a flame and crawled in a threshing circle, its mouth wide'
**Noticing surroundings** → Seeing the world differently
**Nature attacked** → Hare acting unnaturally
**Fast verbs** → Describing something slow
**‘Hare’** → Symbolizes soldier feeling slow, not moving fast enough
**‘Thresher’** → Sorts wheat from chaff, biblical imagery, life being cut down (AFIG)
**‘Circle’** → War feels endless, post-WW2 fear of WW3
**‘Flame’** → Like soldier’s khaki uniform
**‘Threw up’** → Hare appearing suddenly alt- Soldier’s fear making him sick
**‘Yellow’** → Symbolizes cowardice, soldier’s fear alt- Symbolizes happiness, contrast with nature alt- Homophone ‘hare/hair,’ soldier’s youth with blonde (yellow) hair
28
'His terror's touchy dynamite'
**Own terror** → Will explode and kill him, may lead to irrational act alt- Mind exploded, can’t think clearly
**‘Touchy’** → Associated with feelings, suggests psychological effects of war, may have temper
**Anger** → At false justifications for war
**Escape** → Trying to avoid reliving war trauma
**Post-war victim** → Soldier still affected by violence after war
29
Charge of the Light Brigade context
- Battle of Balaclava 25th October 1854 - miscommunication sent British Light Brigade (cavalry) into Russian artillery battery, high casualties
- Tennyson predominantly against war thought mostly focuses poem on honour
30
Charge of the Light Brigade form
- dactyls - rhythm of song, written to celebrate
- rhyming couplets/triplets drive poem like horses advancing, unrhymed lines could reflect horrors, horses falling
31
'Half a league, half a league, half a league onward, All in the valley of death'
**‘Half’ anaphora** → Mimics sound of horses
**‘Valley of death’** → Allusion to Psalm 23, soldiers are not charging to die in vain; God is on their side, they will go to heaven
**Repetition of ‘half a league’** → Slows time, implies they will never reach their goal, inevitable death by Russians
32
'while all the world wondered'
**Disrupting dactyl** → Disrupted by thought, questioning why men were sacrificed
**‘Wondered’** → Rhymes with ‘blundered’ and ‘hundred,’ showing awe at sacrifice alt- World questioning why men were sacrificed for nothing
**Repeated line** → Reinforces subliminal message
**Tennyson unaware** → Subconscious thoughts alt- Deliberate but discreet comment
33
'honour' 'honour'
**Anaphora of imperatives** → Instructs reader to celebrate sacrifice
**Context** → Newspapers questioning sacrifice, Tennyson (poet laureate) refocuses on celebration
**Public persona** → Wants celebratory tone, but subtle embedded criticism
34
Kamikaze Context
- Japanese seafaring culture - many Japanese worked at sea, peace contrasted with kamikaze pilot
- kamikaze means 'divine wind' - dying for country seen as honourable
- pilots sent on suicide missions in WW2 after Pearl Harbour bombing (1941)
35
Kamikaze form
- free verse - feels like natural speech, may be telling story with moral (shouldn't metaphorically kill family members) to children
- attempted form - no form reflects how father never given true form in poem, attempts form with regular 6 line stanzas, she attempts to give him form by making him 'Grandfather'
36
'Her father embarked at sunrise with a flask of water, a samurai sword'
**Sibilance** → Sense of peace, reflects peace in death
**‘Sunrise’** → Represents Japan alt- Divinity, connecting with God after sacrifice
**‘Water’** → Symbol of purity alt- Christian baptism for audience
**‘Embarked’** → Boarding a boat, foreshadows decision to turn back
37
'the loose silver of whitebait and once a tuna, the dark prince, muscular, dangerous'
**‘Silver’** → Biblical allusion, Judas betrays Jesus for 30 silver
**‘Loose’** → Emphasises moral corruption, fish highlight betrayal
**‘Prince’** → May reference Japanese royal family alt- Pilot’s betrayal as a ‘dark’ act
**‘Muscular’** → Suggests strength of his decision
38
'And sometimes, she said, he must have wondered which had been a better way to die'
**‘must’** → Desperation to rationalise decision, love for father
**Suggests no contact** → Memory too painful
**‘die’** → He’s emotionally dead to family, never accepted back
**Hopeful tone** → Japan survived war, became economic power alt- Father may have too (‘Grandfather’s boat’)
39
Poppies context
- Weir asked to write war poem by Carol Ann Duffy
- poppies grew on Flanders field, symbol of WW1 memorial
- Weir has 2 sons - writes about childhood positivity
40
Poppies form
- no regular rhythm/rhyme - mother exploring her own feelings, more natural
- long sentences + enjambment - lost in memories
41
'spasms of paper red, disrupting a blockade of yellow bias binding around your blazer'
**‘Spasms’** → Semantic field of pain, her pain saying goodbye alt- Son’s pain in death
**‘Red’** → Symbolic of blood
**‘Blockade’** → Clothing term alt- Military tactic, blocking supplies
**‘Blazer’** → Not military uniform, school/formal wear—could be leaving for school/uni, mother grieving his departure
42
'blackthorns of your hair. All my words flattened, rolled, turned into felt'
**‘Blackthorns’** → Nature = purity alt- Metaphor for being prickly to mother, took hair she won’t touch
**‘Felt’** → Fabric term, linked to feelings, but ‘felt’ is soft while she avoids emotions
**Prickly/Soft Contrast** → Opposite to son, he expresses emotions directly, she irritates him, must sense nuance
**‘Melting’** → Her words dissolve into meaninglessness
43
'The dove pulled freely against the sky, an ornamental stitch, I listened, hoping to hear your playground voice catching in the wind'
**‘Dove’** → Son free from war in death alt- Both free, he moved out
**‘Stitch’** → Connection to mother, his leaving lets her write
**‘Playground’** → Wishes for younger version of him, not one leaving
44
Exposure context
- Owen against war, died 1 week before end of WW1
- wrote poem in trenches
- much fighting happened in weather extremities - winter 1916-17 one of the coldest
45
Exposure form
- every 5 line stanza roughly same size - thinks he's in control, half-rhymes show he isn't
- small repeated line - poem is conveying political message (wants war end or soldiers to be better equipped)
46
Exposure quotes
- 'Our brains ache, in the merciless iced east winds that knive us. Wearied we keep awake because the night is silent'
- 'So we drowse, sun-dozed, littered with blossoms trickling down where the blackbird fusses. Is it that we are dying'
- 'Pause over half-known faces, All their eyes are ice, but nothing happens'
47
'Our brains ache, in the merciless iced east winds that knive us. Wearied we keep awake because the night is silent'
**Contrast of War** → ‘Knives’ from wind, not enemy (ironic)
**Nature’s Reaction** → Punishing man’s barbarism
**‘I’ Assonance** → Slows rhythm, mimics prolonged exposure
**Long Lines** → Drawn out like slow death
**Irony** → Night is ‘silent’, should aid sleep but creates fear
**‘W’** Alliteration → Stretches time
**Half Rhymes** → Unsettling, poet wants war’s end but doesn’t reach it
48
'So we drowse, sun-dozed, littered with blossoms trickling down where the blackbird fusses. Is it that we are dying'
**Escaping Mentally** → Imagining summer but tied to present
**‘White blossoms’** → Snow, not real blossoms
**‘Blackbird fusses’** → Even good memories disrupted
**‘Blossoms’ vs. ‘Littered’** → Beauty contrasted with negativity
**‘Sun-dozed’** → Good in summer, deadly in trenches
**Sibilance** → Nature luring him to fatal sleep
**‘Dying’** → Mind slowing, sees home alt- Brain showing last happy memories
49
'Pause over half-known faces, All their eyes are ice, but nothing happens'
**Men Dying** → Literal **alt-** metaphorical
**‘Half-known’** → Died quickly at front alt- Avoided bonding to lessen grief
**'Ice’** → Bodies frozen **alt-** Burial party unfeeling, war numbs emotions **alt-** ‘I’ lost identity
**‘Nothing happens’** → Prefer battle over freezing alt- Wants political action **alt-** Wants death as escape
50
Storm on the Island context
- Troubles - conflict in NI over late 20th century, unionists wanted to stay UK, nationalists wanted to become part of Island, 3.600+ killed
- Heaney's childhood affected by troubles - Protestant unionist
51
Storm on the Island form
- whole extended metaphor - storm symbolic for battle
- final 4 line stanza (others 5) - we must write final line, power to change
- ends with half-rhyme couplet - feeling of unease, things haven't been resolved, we must write ending well
52
Storm on the Island quotes
- 'Storm on the Island'
- 'You might think that the sea is company, exploding comfortably down on the cliffs'
- 'Strange, it is huge nothing we fear'
53
'Storm on the Island'
**‘Stormont’** → N.I. parliament, war’s solution must be political
**‘Island’** → Homophone for Ireland, political message clear
**Contrast: ‘Storm’ & ‘Island’** → Big conflict on small land, problem can be solved
**Political Solution** → War must end through agreement
54
'You might think that the sea is company, exploding comfortably down on the cliffs'
**‘Sea’** → Juxtaposes isolation of Ireland with idea conflict is everything, should change
**‘Exploding Comfortably’** → Contradiction, symbolises bombings + desensitisation
**Distance vs. Proximity** → Bombings seem far but will come closer
**Alt** → Fear war will spread to Britain, not truly ‘isolated’
55
'Strange, it is huge nothing we fear'
**‘Strange’** → Challenges NI reader to see conflict as unusual
**Oxymoron** → ‘Nothing’ they fear has ‘huge’ impact
**War Over ‘Nothing’** → Realising this could end it
**Alt** → ‘Nothing’ = death, only ‘huge nothing’ if no God, critiques Christianity, faith driven by fear of death
56
London context
- lived in London - poverty, prostitutes, syphillis
- radical reformist - anti-monarchist fueled by French revolution
- rejected organised religion, thought church (and government) was corrupt
57
London form
- quatrains (4 line stanzas)
- regular rhyme scheme
- childlike form - to get message across, written in way even child can remember
- volta in final stanza to focus on corruption of men
58
London key quotes
- 'I wander through each chartered street'
- 'The mind forg'd manacles I hear'
- 'And blights with plagues the Marriage hearse'
59
'I wander through each chartered street'
**‘Chartered’** → Mapped streets seem helpful but show urbanisation, ownership, less freedom, more poverty
**‘I wander’** → Contrast, he is free—suggests we can be too if we see London differently
60
'The mind forg'd manacles'
**Metaphor**
**Alliteration** → Memorable message
**‘Manacles’** → Oppression, imprisonment, we are owned
**‘Mind’** → We created this, hierarchy is mental construct, escape = freedom
**‘Forg’d’** → Blacksmith imagery alt- Means fake, hierarchy is false, removing ‘manacles’ = true freedom
61
'And blights with plagues the Marriage hearse'
**Volta** → Shift in perspective
**Marriage Focus** → Not against it, married illiterate wife, taught her to read (feminist stance)
**‘Hearse’** → Men destroying marriage via prostitutes
**‘Plagues’** → STDs, incurable, killed wife slowly, passed to child
**‘Marriage’** → Men corrupt, breaking vows, think it's fine if wives don’t know
62
Tissue context
- Dharker from Pakistan - often deals with issues of identity/culture in her writing
- Koran - verbally communicated from Allah to Prophet Mohammed, described as guidance of mankind
63
Tissue form
- free verse - like natural speech, talking directly to us to get us to change our minds
- stanzas 4 lines until final para of 1 line (volta) - emphasises importance of her demand for change
64
'Paper that lets the light shine through, this is what could alter things'
**religious semantic field** → light = divine, light of God shining through all people
**'alter'** → homophone of ‘altar’, subtle Christian reference to bridge faiths
**'alter'** → also means change, poet wants to shift reader perspectives on faith and identity
65
'the back of the Koran, where a hand has written names and histories'
**'back'** → old Korans/Bibles often have names/history in back, used as protection
**'names and histories'** → what connects us is shared ancestry, not religious teaching
**shift from paper to skin** → tissue becomes metaphor for skin, carries identity
**'hand'** → universal symbol, shared human trait across cultures **alt-** 'hand' removed from body → suggests disconnection from our roots, Dharker wants to reconnect us
65
'thinned to be transparent, and turned into your skin'
**'thinned'** → structure not permanent, cultural borders easy to break
**'transparent'** → if we see others like ourselves, borders aren't threats
**alliteration of 't'** → draws attention to 'turn', highlights shift in mindset
**'your'** → wants shared experience, not literal skin colour, but shared humanity
**'your'** → dominant white/non-Muslim audience, minority seeking acceptance
**assonance of 'i'** → identity focus, aims for shared connection with reader
66
Checking out me History context
- Agar moved to UK - had to adjust to new culture, realised it was prejudice, education is unintentionally racist by only focusing on European history
- Agar moved from Guyana - has many cultural/historical links to Carribean, many Guyanese families migrated to UK
67
Checking out me History form
- starts with constrictive rhyme/rhythm when talking about UK, turns into free verse when talking about his personal culture - creates contrast, represents different cultures
- ends with couplet (traditional way of finishing poem) with happy ending - discovering our identity gives happy ending
68
'Dem tell me Dem tell me Wha dem want to tell me'
**Anaphora** → Repetition shows protest, highlights division.
**Assonance (‘e’ sounds)** → Builds rhythm, reinforces message.
**Rhythm** → Builds momentum for political point.
**Simple rhyme** → Aims to educate, accessible like a child’s rhyme.
**‘Dem’ dialect** → Rejects standard English, asserts identity.
**Repeated ‘me’** → Personal yet collective immigrant voice.
68
'A healing star'
**Metaphor for Mary Seacole** → Elevates her, symbol of guidance.
**Mythologising** → Like Zeus did to Gods in constellations, she’s immortalised.
**‘Healing’** → Peaceful change, contrasts with violence.
**Guidance** → Agar aims for reform through education, not conflict.
**‘Seacole’** → Combines ‘sea’ and ‘coal’, evoking sunrise, warmth, and light.
69
'But now I checking out me own history I carving out me identity'
**Empowered by history** → Visiting ancestors' past gives him strength.
**Role model** → Encouraging Afro-Caribbean identity and pride.
**‘Carving out’** → Like a sculptor, shaping a powerful identity or creating art to reshape views. **alt-** referencing how poem is beautiful + influencial to emphasise importance of message
70
My Last Duchess context
Duke Alfonso II d'Este - poem believed to be about, married Duke of Tuscany's daughter, she was badly educated but brought sizeable dowry, died at 16, rumoured he poisoned her
- criticism - Browning's wife died in his arms 1861
71
My Last Duchess form
- dramatic monologue entirely by Duke - self-importance
- rhyming couplets - creating illusion of wholeness, wants to form couple, ironic as no equality, also heavily rehearsed, feels above law as will reveal he killed wife (dangers of patriachy)
- enjambment - trying to describe rhyming couplets
72
'That's my last Duchess painted on the wall, looking as if she were alive'
**‘Last’** → allusion to death; alt- the latest in line, implies pattern of marriages/killings
**‘Painted on the wall’** → fresco = painted fast into plaster, urgency in decision, impulse or obsession
**‘As if’** → dark humour; frozen moment of her death decision in painting
73
'twas not her husband's presence only, called that spot of joy into the Duchess' cheek'
**‘Only’** → Duke was present during painting; impossible for flirtation or affair
**‘Fra’** → friar; unlikely to be inappropriate, with monk
**‘Spot’** → literary motif for guilt/sin; ‘sin’ is joy or kindness, not immorality—criticises Duke’s warped morality
74
'Neptune, though taming a sea-horse' 'for me!'
**‘Neptune’** → metaphor for Duke, sees himself as god with power over life/death
**‘Seahorse’** → metaphor for Duchess (killed or new one), wants to dominate her
**Metaphor** → reflects patriarchy—men as gods, women as things to control
**Irony** → Neptune creates horses, Duke only tames; highlights his limitations
**Irony** → ‘White mule’ more impressive than seahorse; Duchess more impressive free than controlled
**‘Me’** → ends poem with focus on himself, shows egomania
75
Prelude context
- pantheism - God found in all things, celebration of nature due to this
- romanticism - celebrating nature, rejecting boundaries
- never published - personal thoughts, exploring his own mind/thinking, may have feared disapproval (inscest)
76
Prelude form
- single stanza in free verse - free expression without rigid forms of boundaries, recreating natural speech (speaking to himself intimately)
- penameter - sometimes iambic, sometimes trochaic, unsettling like experience being described
77
'One summer evening (led by her) I found a little boat tied to a willow tree'
**‘her’** → nature personified; blames nature not self for theft, sees act as natural
**‘willow’** → symbolic of sadness (drooping branches); foreshadows emotional cost
**willow limbs** → willow = body; reinforces personification of nature
**‘summer’** → contrasts sadness; symbolic of happiness + innocence
78
'The horizon's utmost boundary; far above was nothing but the stars and the grey sky'
**‘boundary’** → horizon = false limit; symbol of illusionary human boundaries (Romantic view)
**‘sky’** → often linked to God; here = freedom, no limits
**‘nothing’** → God absent; critique of Christianity as restrictive
**Romantic idea** → break imposed boundaries, choose your own
**autobiographical** → moment of childhood reflection on fate vs free will
79
'But huge and mighty forms, that do not live like living men, moved slowly through the mind by day, and were a trouble to my dreams'
**‘mighty forms’** → metaphor for god-like forces or social norms; may be guilt
**‘Do not live like living men’** → unnatural/divine ideas shaping him, not human influence
**‘mind’** → mental burden
**‘By day’** → constant presence, haunts him even when awake
**‘dreams’** → subconscious guilt, shame disrupting sleep
**Pantheism** → nature teaches morality, not religion
**Alt – incest** → ‘living men’ = social norms; dreams troubled by taboo feelings for Dorothy
