Poetry anthology Flashcards
1
Q
What is the context of The Man With Nights Sweats?
A
- AIDS epidemic
- He’s gay
2
Q
What are the themes of The Man With Nights Sweats?
A
- Dreams being unreal
- Fear of dreams becoming a reality
- Loss of friendship
- Growth of the gay community and unprotected sex
- Disease and vulnerability
- Mortality
3
Q
How is disease and vulnerability a theme of The Man With Nights Sweats?
A
- Rhyme scheme - ABAB CC indicates control of emotional pain
- Iambic trimeter mimics breathing
4
Q
How is mortality a theme of The Man With Night Sweats?
A
- First person depicting the human life span
- The shield symbolises vulnerability and lack of protection sexually, emotionally and against the loss of friends
5
Q
What is the context of Night Sweat?
A
He’s bipolar
6
Q
What are the themes of Night Sweat?
A
- Writer’s block
- BPD
- Relationship with wife
- Religion
- Water
- Suicidal
7
Q
How is writer’s block a theme of Night Sweat?
A
- Illness imagery
- “My life’s fever” L8 displays his passion for writing
- “One writing!” L9 demonstrates frustation
- Shakespearean sonnet in the first half indicates a desire to write good poetry
8
Q
How is BPD a theme of Night Sweat?
A
- Rhyme scheme - Jumbled - indicates mood swings
- Physical symptoms of inner turmoil
- “My child” L21 shows his inner child
- Two moods: half 1 - night L14, half 2 - day
9
Q
How is his relationship with his wife a theme of Night Sweat?
A
- Conclusion
- Saviour
10
Q
How is religion a theme of Night Sweat?
A
- Death
- Christianity
- Links with water
- Baptism/new life
11
Q
How is water a theme of Night Sweat?
A
- Links with religion
- Repeated references
12
Q
How is suicidal a theme of Night Sweat?
A
- Contrasting halves
- Choice
- Impact upon life, illness and writer’s block
13
Q
What are the themes of Rain?
A
- D plosives
- Rain motif
- Solitude
- Religion
14
Q
How are D plosives a theme of Rain?
A
- Draws attention to the word
- Keeps the rhythm to join the poem together
15
Q
How is the rain motif a theme of Rain?
A
- Constant experience
- Emotional symbols of sadness
- Relentlessness
- Internal feeling
16
Q
How is solitude a theme of Rain?
A
- Emotional
- Not physical
- Caesuras emphasise them
17
Q
How is religion a theme of Rain?
A
- “Washing me cleaner” L5 indicates washing sins of killed people away
- “Blessed are the dead” L7
- “But here I pray” L8
- Concept of faith
- Final dance
- Death is better
- Suicidal
18
Q
What is the context of The Spirit Is Too Blunt an Instrument?
A
- Feminist
- Influenced Robert Lowell (Night Sweat)
19
Q
What are the themes of The Spirit Is Too Blunt an Instrument?
A
- Baby/body
- Mind
20
Q
How is baby/body a theme of The Spirit Is Too Blunt an Instrument?
A
- Precision
- Perfection
- Contrast to mind
- Intricate
- Complex
- Created by sexual freedom
- Beginning
- 9 lines per stanza reflect gestation period
21
Q
How is mind a theme of The Spirit Is Too Blunt an Instrument?
A
- Problematic
- Reckless
- Illogical
- Emotions of love and anxiety
- Contrast to body
- Last stanza
22
Q
What are the themes of From Long Distance?
A
- Denial of grief
- Loneliness in stanza 1 and 2
- Sympathy
- Routine
- Embarrassed/ashamed
23
Q
How is routine a theme of From Long Distance?
A
- Normal
- Orderly
- Regular
- Structured
- Rhyme scheme - ABAB stanza 1-3 changes - ABBA - stanza 4 indicating the change of POV
- Breaking the iambic pentameter shows the disordered and sporadic nature of grief
24
Q
How is being embarrassed/ashamed a theme of From Long Distance?
A
- The poet of his father
- His father of how he is dealing with grief
- Societal expectations of stoicism
25
What are the themes of Ozymandias?
- History
- Power
26
How is history a theme of Ozymandias?
- "Half sunk a shattered visage lies" L4 depicts loss and a mood of mourning
- "Antique land" L1
- "Look on my Works" L10
- Capitalised "Works" and "Wreck" represents the fight against time
- "Wreck, boundless and bare" L12
- Ending of loss contrasts images of grandeur and suggests a longing and hope for what came before
- Irony of the loss of power
- "Lifeless things" L7 contrasts the idea that time/nature is alive and flowing
- “Nothing beside remains” uses a short sentence to display the finality of death and decay
27
How is power a theme of Ozymandias?
- "Sneer of cold command" L5
- "Hand" and "Heart" contrast the sides of the ruler
- Of ruler
- Of time
- “My name is Ozymandias, king of kings” L10 is 11 syllables instead of 10 suggesting he was more important than others
28
What are the themes of City Planners?
- Controlling of nature
- Arrogance/ignorance
- Perfection
29
How is controlling of nature a theme of City Planners?
- Impacts of this on the future
- Stanza 3 and 4 future tense is foreboding
- Stanza 4 is about climate change
- "Slant of avoidance to the hot sky" L16 displays the sheltering of inhabitants from nature
- "Discouraged grass" L12 indicates nature giving up against human control
- Free verse reflects the unpredictability of nature
- Frequent enjambement reflects the fluid, uncontrollability of nature
30
How is arrogance/ignorance a theme of City Planners?
- "Gradual as glaciers" L27 shows how they will sink slowly and no one will notice until it is too late
- "Concealed from each other" L32 demonstrates that they don't even know who each other are
- "His own private blizzard" L33 references climate change and how they cannot see the obvious damage they are doing
- "Transitory lines" L35 displays the impermanence and human ignorance of potential future impacts
31
How is perfection a theme of City Planners?
- "The sanities" L4 as opposed to insanities
- "Pedantic rows" L5 shows their concern about minor details
- Exact
- "Sanitary trees" L6 depicts them as perfectly clean with no imperfections
- Unnatural/artificial
- "Neatly sidestep hysteria" L14 is personification of the avoidance of chaos
- "The smell of spilled oil a faint sickness lingering in the garages" L17+18 the pollution shows the imperfection of suburban areas
- "As a bruise" L19 is another imperfection
- "Unsurveyed" L31 means unregulated
- "Guessing directions" L34 shows a lack of certainty leading to imperfection
- "Bland madness" L38 is juxtaposition indicating chaos bought by creating perfection and highlighting the illusion of perfection in suburban life
32
What is the context of He Never Expected Much?
- Novelist
- Atheist
- Written when he was elderly
33
What are the themes of He Never Expected Much?
- Mortality
- Insignificance
- Religion
34
What is the significance of the rhyme scheme in He Never Expected Much?
- Emphasises lines B and D by breaking the pattern creating a fatalistic tone
- Monotonal/routine structure represents life's repetitiveness
35
How is mortality a theme of He Never Expected Much?
- "You have kept faith with me" L1 means that he is still alive
- "Mysterious voice" L11 shows the ambiguity of death
- "Dropped underground" L16 demonstrates that nature wins and we are all the same in death
36
How is insignificance a theme of He Never Expected Much?
- "Never, I own, expected I" L7 displays the same depressive attitude as an adult
- "That life would all be fair" L8 indicates the child's strong sense of justice
- "Many have loved me desperately" L7
- "Many with smooth serenity" L8
- Repetition of many emphasises human insignificance
- "Just neutral-tinted haps" L19 shows how life is rather empty in contrast to the religious meaning of life
- "Each year might assign" L24 displays no choice therefore human insignificance and lack of control, only your reaction to life
- "Stem such strain and ache" L23 shows that he wasn't disappointed/hurt because "He Never Expected Much" which is the way to survive life as evidenced by his old age
37
How is religion a theme of He Never Expected Much?
- Atheist context
- "Well, World, you have kept faith with me" L1 addresses his experiences as personified and indicates faith not religion
- "'Twas then you said, and since have said" L9 is the World's message repeated throughout life and further emphasised by repetition of "Times since have said" L10
- "From clouds and hills around:" L12 shows that it is all around with god-like ideas of omniscience and omnipotence
- "Mysterious voice" L11
- "Many have loved me desperately" L13 contrasts the World knows us but we don't know it
38
What is the context of Rain?
WW2
39
What are the main themes of The Planners?
-Ignorance
- Nature
- History
40
How does "They" L1 reflect the theme of ignorance in The Planners?
- Anonymous
- Supernatural
- Unable to be reached
- Above people
- Unblameable
41
How does "Anaesthetic, amnesia, hypnosis" L15 reflect the theme of ignorance in The Planners?
- Sedated
- Unaware of what is happening
- A distraction
- Asyndetic
42
How does "To stain the blueprint" L21 reflect the theme of ignorance in The Planners?
- Not going to spoil the plans
- Not going to open the public's eyes
- Irony
43
How is power over nature a sub-theme of The Planners?
- "Even the seas draw back and the skies surrender" L8+9 personification and sibilance
- "Anaesthetic, amnesia, hypnosis" L15 demonstrates thought being controlled by another
- "They build and will not stop" L17 displays the planners as powerful, omnipotent and unstoppable creating an atmosphere of fear
44
How is controlling of nature for perfection a sub-theme of The Planners?
- "Gleaming gold" L13 creates and image of perfection contrasting imperfections and supressing humanity within its own flaws
- The poetry in the final stanza conveys that creativity and imperfection have been eliminated
- Varied stanza lengths challenges this theme
45
How does "Gridded" L1 reflect the theme of controlling of nature for perfection in The Planners?
- Mathematical ruling
- Cannot be broken
- Repeating, regular poem
- Practical/useful
46
How does "Dental dexterity" L12 reflect the theme of controlling of nature for perfection in The Planners?
- Alliteration
- Indicates a desire for perfection
- Sterile
- Pristine
- Clean
- Metaphor
47
How is history a theme of The Planners?
- "Anaesthesia, amnesia, hypnosis" L15 suggests inability to remember
- "The drilling goes right through the fossils of last century" L18 is plosive demonstrating aggression with a negative tone
- "History is new again" L19 implies that the damage done to the past is too great so no past remains
- "Our past's tomorrow" L24 saying look back at how far we've come
48
What are the themes of Funeral Blues?
- Death
- Isolation
- Grief
49
How is death a theme of Funeral Blues?
- "Bring out the coffin" L4 emphasised by a medial caesura
- "He is Dead." L6 emphasised by capitalisation and pause, broadcast for importance
50
How is isolation a theme of Funeral Blues?
- Sounds S1 no distraction/outside communication
- "My talk, my song" L11 means of communication, doesn't want communication with the outside world or continued running of life, bitter tone
- "The stars are not wanted now; put out every one, Pack up the moon and dismantle the sun" L13+14 asking for perpetual and whole darkness for he is distraught, alone, empty, hopeless and nihilistic
- End-stopped lines feel cut off
51
How is grief a theme of Funeral Blues?
- "Stop all the clocks" L1 for he's lost his sense of time, needs time to mourn being emphasised by the medial caesura
- "Silence the pianos" L3 no music therefore no joy and no sense of rhythm/time
- "Moaning overhead" L5 personified sadness
- "Policemen wear black cotton gloves" L8 would normally wear white but black to mourn
- Personal pronouns S3 are repeated as active grief being more empathetic/relatable
- "My North, my South, my East and West" are compass points implying a loss of sense of direction and uses anaphora
- Time phrases in S3 suggest that time is gone/broken and he's lost his sense of time
52
How do imperative verbs in S1 reflect the theme of grief in Funeral Blues?
- He's taking things away from everyone for everyone should feel loss
- Bitter
- Selfish
53
How does "Scribbling on the sky" L6 reflect the theme of grief in Funeral Blues?
- Messy indicating speed of delivery and sadness
- Anger
- Upset
- Alliteration
54
How does "I thought that love would last forever" L8 reflect the theme of grief in Funeral Blues?
- He can't love them now that they're gone
- They can't love him
- Alliteration creates a softer tone
55
How do the impossible tasks in S3 reflect the theme of grief in Funeral Blues?
- Destruction of nature conveys anger though it is beautiful and no ones fault
- Natural/physical objects create a greater sense of power/grandeur being middle ground (not abstract nor holdable)
- Metaphysical
- Imperatives
56
What is the context of A Consumer's Report?
- Satirical poet
- Written in 1970
57
What are the themes of A Consumer's Report?
- Consumerism
- Irony
- Disillusionment
- Existential questions
- Acceptance
58
How is irony a theme of A Consumer's Report?
- Reviewing life, mortality and mistakes
- Extended metaphor is cynical of imperfection
- Money
- Expiry
59
How are existential questions a theme of A Consumer's Report?
- Meaning of life
- Complexity of life
- Mortality
- Changing life
60
How is consumerism a theme of A Consumer's Report?
- Capitalism
- Unpersonal Vs opinionated
- Individuality
- Power of free verse
- "A Consumer's Report" compares products to life and challenges consumer culture
- "The name of the product I tested is life" L1 introduces the extended metaphor
- "It was not economical" L9 comparison to products that life is costly
- "The instructions are fairly large" L13
- "Things are piling up" L23 connotates production
- "Stop calling me "the respondent"" L28 addresses producer demonstrating that consumer culture is unpersonal
- "Sizes and colours should be uniform" L31
- "So finally, I'd buy it" L48 positive ending
61
How does "Also the price is much too high" L22 reflect the theme of consumerism in A Consumer's Report?
- Economics
- Loss greater than joy
- Pain
- Suffering
62
How does "Whenever they make it cheaper they tend to put less in" L35+36 reflect the theme of consumerism in A Consumer's Report?
- Manufacturing
- Monetary
- Get less out
- Enjoyment is expensive
63
How is disillusionment a theme of A Consumer's Report?
- Frustration at flaws of unpredictability and fragility
- "A Consumer's Report" compares product to life's flaws, links with acceptance
- "I had it as a gift" L4 didn't choose it
- "(I suppose I have about half left but it's difficult to tell)" L11+12 uncertain of shelf-life/mortality
- "It's difficult to think of a purpose" L19 reflecting the meaning of life
- "So fast" L23 that change is unwelcome
- "The world got by for thousands of years without this" L24-26 asks do we need life?
- "It doesn't keep" L23 displays mortality and decreases value
- "If you say you don't want it, then it's delivered anyway" L36+37 shows lack of control/choice
- "The competitive product" L51 implies the afterlife or a better life
64
How does "I didn't feel much while using it" reflect the theme of disillusionment in A Consumer's Report?
- Depressive
- Detachment
- Finite
- Mortality
65
How is acceptance a theme of A Consumer's Report?
Of flaws
66
What is the context of The Telephone Call?
- New Zealand
- 1986
- Scam call
67
What are the themes of The Telephone Call?
- Ambiguity
- Hope Vs disappointment
- Pressure/control
68
How is ambiguity a theme of The Telephone Call?
- Illusion is controlling creating false hope
- Trust
- "They asked me" L1 is general address
- "You've won the top prize, the Ultra-super Global Special" L3+4 is hyperbolic
- "Or actually, with more than a million" L6 demonstrates uncertainty
- "You're going to get a million pounds" L24 is false validation
- "I haven't bought a lottery ticket for years and years" L27+28 portrays doubt
- "I still can't quite... " L39 the ellipsis indicates doubt
- "I'll believe it when I see the cheque" L40 desire for confirmation, suspicious
69
How is hope Vs disappointment a theme of The Telephone Call?
- "Are you sitting down?" L1 is a rhetorical question creating suspense and foreshadowing
- "And they laughed" L8 foreshadowing and questioning
- "Hang on!" L26 is the turning point
70
How is pressure/control a theme of The Telephone Call?
- "I'm going to sneeze - or cry" L20 creates contrast with the pause for emphasis
- "Don't be ashamed" L21 and "Relax, now, have a little cry" L25 are patronising and convey a controlling authority
- "A Retrospective Chances Model" L32 regains control through overcomplexity and trust in an expert
71
How is pressure/control a theme of The Telephone Call in S2?
- Questions
- Pressure "Come on", "tell us" and "Go on"
- "That's what they all say" L12 is mocking
- "I feel like the top of my head has floated off" L14+15 is a metaphor of light-headedness and lack of controlling emphasising it
- "Like a flying saucer" L16 is a simile emphasising it and unreal same as the prize which is picked up on
72
What if the context of Request to a Year?
- 1955
- Two fires collection about the Korean War and the threat of Nuclear war
- Activism
- Native rights poet
- Australian
73
What are the themes of Request to a Year?
- Change
- Women
- Art
74
How is change a theme of Request to a Year?
- Past Vs present
- Value of memory
- Family memory
- "If the year is meditating a suitable gift" L1 personification, framing and what Wright wants for the coming year
- "The sketch survives" L20 suggests a lost past due to technological advancement and the value of memory
- "Reach back" L22
75
How is art a theme of Request to a Year?
- Importance
- Memories and preservation
- Expression of values and desires
- "Artist's isolating eye" L17 displays detachment
- "The firmness of her hand" L22 indicates a desire for strength, security and artistic skill such as the recognition of her poems
76
How are women a theme of Request to a Year?
- Societal expectations
- Challenge of motherhood
- "My great-great grandmother" L3 repetition of great emphasises it along with the idea of respect for women
- "Legendary devotee" L4 uses language/vocab to convey admiration for her
- "Eight children" L5 demonstrates challenge and responsibility
- "From a difficult distance viewed" L9 portrays helplessness and the enjambement emphasises suspense
- "Impeded, no doubt, by the petticoats of the day" L13+14 shows damage due to societal views of women
- "Mother's day present" L21
- Addressing the year at the beginning and end strengthens the link between her and her great-great-grandmother
77
What is the structure of Upon Finding a Small Fly Crushes in a Book?
Petrarchan sonnet
- Represents a single idea
- First L8 point one
- Second L6 more metaphorical
78
What are the themes of Upon Finding a Small Fly Crushes in a Book?
- Fly is superior
- Mortality
- Human insignificance
- Religion
79
How is human insignificance a theme of Upon Finding a Small Fly Crushes in a Book?
Compared to the fly
80
How is religion a theme of Upon Finding a Small Fly Crushes in a Book?
- Humans sin
- Good people leave a legacy so behave
- "Pure relics of a blameless life" L7 implying that the fly is incorrupt
- "The book" L10 is metaphorical of the bible in contrast to the physical book in P1
81
How is the fly being superior a theme of Upon Finding a Small Fly Crushes in a Book?
- Angelic
- Significant
- Preserved
- Comical
- Compared to us
- Metaphysical ideas
- "Fair monument" L3
- "Thy wings gleam out" L4 elevates the fly with angelic comparison
- "Oh! that the memories, which survive us here, were half as lovely as these wings of thine" L5+6 the simile means that life's activities are less beautiful than the fly
82
How is mortality a theme of Upon Finding a Small Fly Crushes in a Book?
- Inevitable
- Sudden
- Unexpected like the fly
- "Never meant to do thee hurt" L1 is sad about death
- "The book will close upon us" L10 indicates that death is inevitable
- "Just as we lift ourselves to soar away upon the summer airs" L11+12 shows death as sudden and implies ascension using nature imagery contrasting peace/happiness
- "Leave no lustre" L14 meaning light, literal as if we never existed and figurative as sinners don't leave legacy
83
What are the themes of Away Melancholy?
- Time
- Melancholy emotion
- Nature
- Religion
84
How is time a theme of Away Melancholy?
- "He carrieth his meat" L9 indicates that he's always been there
- "Raiseth - stone" L22 is a metaphor for the perpetual record of man's good
- "Speak not to me of tears" L28 uses the old tone and tone change to establish elderly authority saying don't think of the bad
85
How is melancholy emotion a theme of Away Melancholy?
- Banishment
- Be positive
- Power over our emotions
- S1 is the thesis and the stanzas justify it
- Movement verbs of S2 are a metaphor for melancholy also moving away
- "He of all creatures alone" L21 has the physical ability
- "Pours what he knows of good" L25 suggesting that thinking of good and our values helps
- "Be good?" L31 says not to ask why evil exists
- "Say rather it is enough" L32 that the stone of good is bigger than the worries
- "Stone of man's good growing" L34 means that we are continuing to do more good
- "Man aspires" L37 to be good and has thoughts of grandeur/future different to the ant
- "To good" L38 implying that we are naturally good/altruistic
- "To love sighs" L39+40 conveys that romantic love is unique to man since animals love for evolution
- "It is his virtue needs explaining not his failing" L45+46 asks us to focus on the good to banish melancholy
86
How does the title reflect the theme of melancholy emotion in Away Melancholy?
- Unexplained sadness
- Philosophical argue of how to get rid of blues
- Repeated throughout
87
How does "Is superlative" L19 reflect the theme of melancholy emotion in Away Melancholy?
- Man is the best
- Be happy about this
- Ant doesn't have melancholy so we shouldn't
- Declarative
- Change of tone
88
How is religion a theme of Away Melancholy?
- "The god" L24 is Us being the best like God
- "In his own blood lying" L42 indicates species killing each other
89
How does "Calling, good, God" L26 reflect the theme of religion in Away Melancholy?
- Portrays the creation of religion by us and that since we have the power to do this surely we can banish melancholy
- Religion can help banish melancholy and give purpose
90
How does "Beaten, corrupted, dying" L41 reflect the theme of religion in Away Melancholy?
- Rule of 3 sinful things
- War
- Money
- Power
- Asyndeton
91
How does "Yet heaves up an eye above" L43 reflect the theme of religion in Away Melancholy?
- Afterlife
- Metaphor of looking beyond ourselves
- Animals don't
92
How does "Cries, Love, love" L44 reflect the theme of religion in Away Melancholy?
- Cries for forgiveness
- Sadness
- Man feels both emotions more than animals, sometimes simultaneously
93
How does S2 reflect the theme of nature in Away Melancholy?
- Elementalism imagery
- Always been there
- Power to destroy and to heal
- Beautiful
- Nature cannot be melancholy
- Always happy
- Contrast
94
How do animals Vs us reflect the theme of nature in Away Melancholy?
- "The ant is busy" L8 with purpose so cannot worry, this is the cure
- "To be eaten or eat" L11 indicates finding food
- "Man, too, hurries" L13 the caesuras pick up pace by cutting the line and the rule of 3
- "Eats, couples, buries" L14 displays everyday tasks
- "He is an animal also" L15
95
What is the structure of From Long Distance?
Meredithian sonnet with the 11 syllable lines reflecting difficulty in coping with grief
96
What is the structure of A Consumer's Report?
- Free verse to parody a report
- Line breaks mimic consumer writing quickly as if the don't care and pay no attention
