Poetry anthology 3.0

Question 1

What is the context behind Sonnet 43?

Answer 1

Poet became reclusive after brother died
Married a poet
Strong religious upbringing

Question 2

What quotes could be used for Sonnet 43? (8)

Answer 2

“how do I love thee?”
“depth and breadth”
“feeling out of sight”
“sun and candlelight”
“purely”
“with my lost saints”
“smiles, tears, of all my life!”
“better after death”

Question 3

What are the other important stuff to say about Sonnet 43?

Answer 3

Enjambment + inconsistent rhyme scheme shows chaos and desperation to express love
Sonnet - love and passion

Question 4

What is the context behind London?

Answer 4

Lived in London
Lost faith in religion and critisiced it

Question 5

What quotes can be used for London? (9)

Answer 5

“chater’d”
“every face I meet”
“marks of weakness, marks of woe”
“every”
“mind-forg’d manacles I hear”
“black’ning church”
“runs in blood down palace walls”
“youthful harlot”
“marriage hearse”

Question 6

What are the other important stuff to say about London?

Answer 6

Consistent structure and rhyme scheme just like situation in London is consistent
Dark imagery (e.g. “black’ning”, “midnight”)

Question 7

What is the context behind As Imperceptibly as Grief?

Answer 7

Dickinson was highly reclusive and considered an eccentric
Fascinated by nature

Question 8

What quotes can be used for As Imperceptibly as Grief? (9)

Answer 8

“grief”
“summer lapsed away”
“imperceptible at last”
“Quietness distilled”
“herself”
“foreign shone”
“courteous, yet harrowing grace”
“without a wing”
“her light escape”

Question 9

What are the other important stuff to say about As Imperceptibly as Grief?

Answer 9

Lack of full stops - passing of time can’t be stopped or slowed
Dashes - emphasises lengthy process for her, tries to control rapidly passing time

Question 10

What is the context behind Cozy Apologia?

Answer 10

Auto-biographical poem
Takes time to reflect on her ordinary life during a hurricane

Question 11

What quotes can be used for Cozy Apologia? (9)

Answer 11

“for Fred”
“this lamp”
“do-it-now-and-take-no-risks”
“worthless boys”
“sweet with a dark and hollow center”
“cussing up a storm”
“content, but fall short of the divine”
“when has the ordinary ever been news?”
“stolen time”

Question 12

What are the other important stuff to say about Cozy Apologia?

Answer 12

Ordinary structure = ordinary lifestyle
Rhyming couplets = perfection/normalcy
3rd stanza rhyme scheme lost = a bit of chaos in her otherwise normal life
Ornothological imagery = nesting, feelings of safety
Brackets throughout give a conversational tone - casual
When topic goes away from Fred, rhyme scheme stops = Fred necessary to keeping the normalcy and stability in her life

Question 13

What is the context behind Valentine?

Answer 13

Reminiscent of metaphysical poets - approaching ordinary objects/subjects in original ways

Question 14

What quotes can be used for Valentine? (9)

Answer 14

“not a red rose”
“light”
“careful undressing”
“here”
“grief”
“I am trying to be truthful”
“for as long as we are”
“wedding-ring”
“lethal”

Question 15

What are the other important stuff to say about Valentine?

Answer 15

Pragmatic, controlling tone
Short sentences show deperation and insecurity
Free verse structure - does not follow conventions, just like their relationship
Fragmented speech, repetition, enjambment - struggle to communicate

Question 16

What is the context behind A Wife in London?

Answer 16

Poet very critical of Victorian society and examines social constructs
Poem about Boer War

Question 17

What quotes can be used for A Wife in London?

Answer 17

“a wife in London”
“tawny vapour”
“waning taper”
“cracks smartly”
“he-has fallen”
“fog hangs thicker”
“his hand whom the worm now knows”
“fresh-firm”
“hoped”
“they would learn”

Question 18

What are the other important stuff to say about A Wife in London?

Answer 18

Fragmented structure = message takes a while to understand, gets the message in bits
“fallen” vs “worm now knows” - gets more brutal as she sees the reality of the situation

Question 19

What is the context behind Death of a Naturalist?

Answer 19

Heaney born in 1939 in Northern Ireland
Celebrates beauty of nature

Question 20

What quotes can be used for Death of a Naturalist? (11)

Answer 20

“death of a naturalist”
“flax and rotted”
“there were dragon-flies”
“but best of all”
“in the shade”
“yellow in sun and brown in rain”
“rank”
“angry frogs”
“invaded”
“mud grenades”
“clutch it”

Question 21

What are the other important stuff to say about Death of a Naturalist?

Answer 21

View of nature completely changed - innocent, childish views to negative, more realistic ones
Constant use of onomatopoeia (e.g. “croaking”) shows threat and danger

Question 22

What is the context behind To Autumn?

Answer 22

Romantic poet who appreciated nature
Wrote in 1800s

Question 23

What quotes can be used for To Autumn? (7)

Answer 23

“to autumn”
“maturing sun”
“bless”
“swell the gourd”
“granary floor”
“with patient look”
“soft-dying”

Question 24

What are the other important stuff to say about To Autumn?

Answer 24

Vocabulary is rich and sensuous
Poem highlights that autumn coming is good for some animals (“hedge-crickets sing”) and bad for others (“small gnats mourn”)

Question 25

What is the context behind Dulce?

Answer 25

Killed in action
One of war’s most famous poets

Question 26

What quotes can be used for Dulce? (11)

Answer 26

“bent double, like old beggars”
“sludge”
“men marched asleep”
“dropping softly behind”
“Gas! Gas! Quick, boys”
“someone”
“guttering, choking, drowning”
“smothering dreams”
“every jolt, the blood”
“my friend”
“desperate glory”

Question 27

What are the other important stuff to say about Dulce?

Answer 27

Enjambment = sense of chaos, uncontrollability, unpredictibility just like lives of soldiers during war
Title is sarcastic

Question 28

What is the context behind Ozymandias?

Answer 28

Romantic poet critical of monarchy and religion

Question 29

What quotes can be used for Ozymandias?

Answer 29

“ozymandias”
“vast and trunkless legs of stone”
“frown”
“sneer of cold command”
“heart that fed”
“king of kings”
“look”
“colossal wreck”
“sands stretch far away”

Question 30

What are the other important stuff to say about Ozymandias?

Answer 30

Criticism of church and religion - Ozymandias compares himself to god
Poem is sonnet = Ozymandias loves himself
Rhyme scheme is constantly changing just like power

Question 31

What is the context behind The Prelude?

Answer 31

Love for nature and enthusiast for the ideals of the French Revolution
One of the people marking beginning of romantic movement

Question 32

What quotes can be used for the Prelude? (8)

Answer 32

“was set”
“visible for many a mile”
“cottage windows”
“twilight blaz’d”
“flew”
“not a voice was idle”
“sent an alien sound”
“melancholy, not unnoticed”

Question 33

What are the other important stuff to say about The Prelude?

Answer 33

Prelude = piece of music before a performance begins, poem talks about beginning of poet’s life