poetry anthology

Question 1

who wrote ‘when we two parted’ and what were some key themes?

Answer 1

Lord Byron

- loss - heartbreak - longing - romantic love - death

Question 2

who wrote ‘love’s philosophy’

Answer 2

Percy Shelley

- nature - unrequited love - longing

Question 3

who wrote ‘porphyria’s lover’

Answer 3

Robert Browing

- possession - insanity - longing - death

Question 4

who wrote ‘Sonnet 29 - I think of thee’

Answer 4

Elizabeth Barrett Browning

- desire - longing - obsession - passionate love - nature

Question 5

who wrote ‘neutral tones’

Answer 5

Thomas Hardy

- loss - longing - heartbreak - nature -memory -

Question 6

who wrote ‘letters from yorkshire’

Answer 6

Maura Dooley

Question 7

who wrote ‘farmer’s bride’

Answer 7

Charlotte Mew

Question 8

who wrote ‘walking away’

Answer 8

Cecil Day Lewis

Question 9

who wrote ‘eden rock’

Answer 9

Charles Causley

- memory - family love - death

Question 10

who wrote ‘follower’

Answer 10

Seamus Heaney

Question 11

who wrote ‘mother, any distance’

Answer 11

Simon Armitage

Question 12

who wrote ‘before you were mine’

Answer 12

Carol Ann Dufy

- parental bonds - admiration - nostalgia - guilt

Question 13

who wrote ‘singh song’

Answer 13

Daljit Nagra

Question 14

who wrote ‘winter swans’

Answer 14

Owen Sheers

Question 15

similarities between ‘when we two parted’ and ‘neutral tones’

Answer 15

both use imagery of grey and coldness to reflect sadness and illustrate the end of a relationship
“pale grew thy cheek in cold”
“they have fallen from ash, and were grey”

they both compare the end of a relationship to death

Question 16

differences in ‘when we two parted’ and ‘neutral tones’

Answer 16

in wwtp to ABAB rhyme scheme emphasises certain syablles and words like ‘cold’ ‘kiss’ ‘tears’

whereas in neutral tones the ABBA rhyme scheme is used to reflect how memories from the past continues to haunt him in the present

Question 17

what is the significance of the form and structure in when we two parted?

Answer 17

• cyclical structure to show that the pain is everlasting and also that he will never stop loving her
  “silence and tears” is repeated at the start and end
• ABAB rhyme scheme to emphasis certain words like ‘cold’ ‘kiss’ ‘tears’ highlights the persona’s pain
• consistent line and stanza length to show his constant pain and longing for her
• the poem moves through time, this juxtaposition of past and present emphasises that there’s no change in his feelings

Question 18

what is the significance of language in when we two parted?

Answer 18

there is a lot of language about death
byron describes her lover as dead to show how her feelings for him had died
“pale grew thy cheek and cold” - the violent imagery shows that the parting was painful and traumatic for the narrator

use of the personal pronoun “thee” he constantly addresses her creating the impression that he is still pre-occupied with her

Question 19

what can you say about context in when we two parted?

Answer 19

byron was famous for having lots of relationships with women, and it is thought that this poem is about his relationship with a married woman: Lady Webster

byron is used to being the one to end it when he got bored but it obviously really hurt him when she ended it perhaps it hurt his ego as much as his heart

Question 20

similarities between eden rock and before you were mine

Answer 20

• both subjects are possibly deceased through nuance; ambiguous use of past tense verbs such as ‘wanted’ in Before You Were Mine, as well as the noun ‘ghost’ used when describing the mother.
• religious imagery is used in Eden Rock through the sky being ‘whitened as if lit by three suns’; symbolises heaven opening. ‘Crossing’ may have the double meaning of crossing over to the afterlife
• They are both in equal stanza lengths; in Before You Were Mine, this seems to suggest that the narrator’s thoughts are a slow and balanced process. In Eden Rock, it creates a similar image of serenity in the consistency of it.
• Semantic fields are used in both for similar effects. The imagery of the sky whitening; the mother’s ‘wheat’ hair and the ‘blue’ cups suggest an image of heaven, which supports the interpretation that the parents are both dead.
• There are deeper meanings to both. Duffy’s poem has undertones of remorse, and may be a letter to her dead mother; Causley’s poem is still about death and passing over, despite the serene imagery.
• Both narrators have close relationships with their parents, as shown by the conversational tone and lack of rhyme scheme in Before You Were Mine, and the fact that Causley’s parents are ‘waiting for him’.

Question 21

differences between eden rock and before you were mine

Answer 21

Before You Were Mine contains direct address, to carry a conversational tone; on a deeper level, it may also make the poem an apology to her mother.

The last stanza is broken up into a quattraine and a single stanza in Eden Rock, to show the jarring reality of the narrator’s life, or perhaps him being snapped back to reality.

The tone of the pieces are different. In Eden Rock, the adverbs ‘slowly’ and ‘leisurely’ convey his crossing to the afterlife as a peaceful one; ‘Before You Were Mine’ carries a more conversational tone, that also has undertones of remorse- she describes her mother as “stamping stars from the wrong pavement

Duffy uses glamorous imagery to paint her mother as a ‘bold’ and ‘sparkling’ woman, which stresses the endless potential that the narrator snatched away from her. Causley’s parents are described as more passive figures, with his mother’s ‘hair… taking on the light’.

In Before You Were Mine, the narrator remains alive with her remorseful thoughts; in Eden Rock, the narrator passes over to be reunited with his parents. In this sense, you could say that the ending of Duffy’s poem is sadder, despite the death present in Causley’s.

Question 22

how is structure and form significant in love’s philosophy?

Answer 22

• short and simple to reflect the simple truth
• regular ababa rhyme scheme but two lines in each stanza don’t fully rhyme - reflects the way that all of nature is in harmony except for the narrator and his loved one
• tightly structured to be persuasive lots of evidence using nature, ends both stanzas in rhetorical question - this line stands out to emphasise the contrast between nature and the narrator situation
• some half rhymes ‘river, ever’ ‘heaven, forgiven’ to show discord

Question 23

how is language significant in love’s philosophy?

Answer 23

• nature - personification to show the natural world giving, receiving and benefitting from love - love is natural and a necessity ‘fountains mingle’ ‘ocean’
• religious language love isn’t just natural it’s also godly

Question 24

what can you say about context in love’s philosophy

Answer 24

religious language is ironic since he was an atheist

romantic poet - poems focused on the power of human emotion and the natural world

Question 25

how is structure and form significant in porphyria’s lover?

Answer 25

ABABB rhyme scheme enjambment create a

unreliable narrator - insanity - only one side

contrast of love and violence

dramatic monologue
the ABABB and enjambment suggest that the speaker in unstable, however the regular rhythm reflects his calmness
porphyria has no voice and the persona projects his own thoughts and feelings onto her in life and in death

the poem is in two parts
in the first Porphyria is active and dominant but the second she is passive
first ‘his head’ is on ‘her shoulder’ but after he kills her he puts her head on his shoulder

Question 26

how is language significant in porphyria’s lover?

Answer 26

she portrays Porphyria as a fallen woman
‘soiled’ ‘let the damp hair fall’

possession - the persona want porphyria to belong to him ‘for ever’ he is desperate to posed her, and in death she becomes his objects - repetition of ‘mine’ ‘Porphyria worshipped me’

love and violence - the persona combines love and violence to reflect the troubled and destructive nature of his love ‘heart fit to break’ ‘burning kiss’

Question 27

what can you say about context in porphyria’s lover?

Answer 27

porphyria is a disease linked to insanity
comparing being in love with insanity

porphyria is portrayed as sexual and and seductive, she would have been disproved of by Victorian society also this could be the persona strange way of justifying the killing

romantic era - draws on imagery of nature and strong emotion

Question 28

how is form and structure significant in Sonnet 29 - i think of thee?

Answer 28

loosely a petrarchan sonnet, usually with eight lines presenting a problem and six lines presenting a solution but the volta comes early showing that she is impatient and wants to be with him

the transition from problem to the solution reflects the difference between thinking about her lover and being with him
‘i think of thee’ ‘near thee’

Question 29

how is language significant in Sonnet 29 - i think of thee?

Answer 29

extended metaphor by presenting the lover as a tree, which are strong and reliable, and she is the wild vines that cover him - constantly growing and unrestricted

excited language - exclamation marks shows that the lover takes joy in thinking about her lover - also evident in th plosive sounds and dynamic verbs ‘burst’ ‘shattered’

Question 30

what can i say about context in Sonnet 29 - i think of thee?

Answer 30

• browning was an invalid and was often distances away from his lover and maybe could have written his to prove her love for him
• women of that time were meant to be reserved but she defies that emphasising the longing she feels

Question 31

how is structure and form significant in neutral tones?

Answer 31

• the first three stanzas are focused around a memory and then there’s a time jump to the final stanza where the narrator reflects on love general
• cyclical structure - ends and starts with the lake - he is repeatedly hurt by love an
• from the viewpoint of a man addressing a past lover ABBA to reflect how the memory affects him in the present
• the indented final line of each stanza creates a pause to reflect and hint at his sadness

Question 32

how is language important in neutral tones?

Answer 32

suffering - language of pain death and punishment
‘chidden’ ‘starving sod’ ‘god curst’

lifelessness - neutral tone shows lack of love and the pessimistic way the narrator now feels about love in general
the death of the love is reflected in the lack of hope in the landscape - bleak decaying and cold