Poetry: context Flashcards
What is a Romantic ?
someone who believes that:
- society is bad and humans are inherently good
- humans should return to nature
- science/industrialism is bad
- individualism is good
- people should express and be in tune with their emotions
Why was Ozymandias written ?
- critiques the autocracy of George III
- champions Romantic ideas such as that society is short-lived in deference to nature
Who wrote Ozymandias ?
Percy Bysshe Shelley
Why did Percy Shelley indirectly critique George III’s autocracy instead of directly ?
strict punishments for treason at the time
What is the etymology of the name Ozymandias and how does it link to the theme of the poem ?
Ozy = comes from greek word meaning “to breathe”
Mandias = mandate, “to rule”
- together implies that he lived/breathed to rule
- irony, as his rule breaks down relatively quickly; illustrates how a return to nature and individualism should be considered in favour of industrialism and society
What is significant about the structure of Ozymandias ?
- sonnet (ABABCDCDEFEFGG rhyme scheme)
- rhyme scheme breaks down as the poem goes on
- symbolic of the decay of (Ozymandias’) influence/rule and society over time
Who was Ozymandias historically ?
Ramses II of Egypt
What is the opposite of Romanticism ?
Enlightenment
Who was Jean-Jaques Rousseau ?
Romantic philosopher who first put forward the idea of inherent goodness being corrupted by society.
What was Rousseau’s idea of the ‘noble savage’ ?
- man of culture
- isolates self from society
Why was London written ?
- criticism of industrialisation + institutions (church + monarchy)
- criticism of the class system
- criticism of society
Who wrote London ?
William Blake
What is significant about the structure of London by William Blake ?
- quatrain (four line) stanzas all the way through the poem
- four quatrain stanzas
- rhyme scheme (alternate) remains the same throughout
- monotony and consistency echoes tone of pessimism in the poem that the bad things about London will never change/no escape from misery DUE TO SOCIETY’S STRICT RULES, LIKE THE STRUCTURAL RULES EMPLOYED
- condemns Enlightenment and puts forward Romantic idea of individualism/back to nature
Who wrote the Prelude ?
William Wordsworth
What is pantheism and why is it relevant ?
- the religious belief that God exists in everything and that everything is God
- William Wordsworth was a pantheist
Which Romantic poet pioneered the back to nature movement ?
William Wordsworth
How is the Prelude structured in terms of its theme and why is it important ?
- discussion of New Testament God (loving, benevolent etc.) in first half
- discussion of Old Testament God (powerful, vengeful etc.) in second half
- reminds Christians of the existence of the Old Testament presentation of God and criticises the fear of churches to discuss OT God as scared will scare people away instead of appreciating the duality of God and the lessons taught by the OT presentation
Why was the Prelude written ?
- criticism of the church
- promote back to nature movement
What (is perhaps) significant about the rhyme scheme in the Prelude ?
- no rhyme scheme
- mirrors Romantic ideas of freedom/individualism/lack of societal rules
- also mirrors back to nature movement pioneered by Wordsworth (nature has no apparent strict order)
Who wrote My Last Duchess ?
Robert Browning
Why did Browning write My Last Duchess ?
- to illustrate the evils that derive from (unequal distribution of) power in society
- believed poets had moral responsibility to address such evils of the world
In what style is My Last Duchess written in and why is it significant ?
- dramatic monologue
- echoes main talking point of poem (unequal distribution of power) as only Duke of Ferrara speaks; all power with him, controls narrative + reader’s view
What is My Last Duchess literally about ?
Duke of Ferrara’s marriage negotiations to marry the Count of Tyrol’s daughter to replace the Duchess that he had killed prior out of jealousy - conversation with Count of Tyrol’s servant
What is the significance of the way My Last Duchess is structured ?
- written in iambic pentameter (Shakespeare’s nobility and regal characters only speak in iambic pentameter - shows power)
- very strict and tight rhyme scheme (AABBCC etc.) with some rhymes being forced; echoes unnatural power of the Duke
- line breaks in awkward places to emphasise unnatural nature of Duke’s societal power or the evil that comes from it thus breaking the natural order
Which areas of context apply to an analysis of My Last Duchess by Robert Browning ?
- sexism/the patriarchy
- the class system
- psychoanalytic theory
- Romanticism
- the power of humans
Which areas of context apply to an analysis of Ozymandias ?
- Romanticism
- the power of humans
- the class system
- the power of nature
Which areas of context apply to an analysis of London ?
- the class system
- Marxism
- the power of humans
- Romanticism
Which areas of context apply to an analysis of the Prelude ?
- christianity
- Romanticism
- power of nature
- sexism
Which areas of context apply to an analysis of the Charge of the Light Brigade ?
- propaganda
- patriotism
- Romantics as critics of the poem
- christianity
Which areas of context apply to an analysis of Exposure ?
- christianity
- anti-war
- the effects of war
- power of nature
Which areas of context apply to an analysis of Storm on the Island ?
- power of nature
- anti-war
- effects of war/violence on communities
Which areas of context apply to an analysis of Bayonet Charge ?
- patriotism
- individual effects of war (Hughes grew up post-war and researched as a way to make sense of the impacts)
- anti-war
- power of humans
Which areas of context apply to an analysis of Remains ?
- individual impact of war
- futility of war/violence
- anti-war
- power of humans
Which areas of context apply to an analysis of Poppies ?
- personal effects of war
- anti-war/anti-propaganda
- power of humans
- grief
- power of nature
Which areas of context apply to an analysis of War Photographer ?
- anti-war
- impacts of war on communities
- references how society creates an unwillingness to take action in favour of luxury
- power of
Which areas of context apply to an analysis of Tissue ?
- identity
- power of humans to shape nature
- power of society
- instability
- human fragility
Which areas of context apply to an analysis of The Emigree ?
- psychoanalytic theory
- impact of war on individuals
- identity
- power of humans
- patriotism
Which areas of context apply to an analysis of Checking Out Me History ?
- identity
- power of society
- institutionalised racism
- patriotism/cultural pride
Which areas of context apply to an analysis of Kamikaze ?
Who wrote the Charge of the Light Brigade ?
Alfred Lord Tennyson
Why did Tennyson write the Charge of the Light Brigade ?
- propaganda for the British military after military blunder in the Battle of Balaclava in the Crimean War
- paid by monarchy as Poet Laureate to write poems
What is significant about the structure of the Charge of the Light Brigade ?
- written in dactylic dimeter (mimics sound of galloping horses)
- 6 stanzas to remind of the 600 as is propaganda poem meant to glorify the military blunder
What was the Valley of Death in Biblical terms (quote) ?
Psalms 23: “even though you walk through the valley of death, you shall fear no evil”
Who wrote Exposure ?
Wilfred Owen
Who was Wilfred Owen ?
- former Bible class teacher then soldier in WW1 due to propaganda
- badly concussed in battle of the somme then had to stay in a pit with corpses
- PTSD
- met Sassoon (anti-war poet) in hospital and began writing poetry inspired by his work
Why did Owen write Exposure ?
- to reveal/expose the horrors of war masked by propaganda
- to work through his own experiences
- to highlight the futility of war
What is significant about the structure of Exposure ?
- eight stanzas each with five lines
- first four lines of each stanza follow ABBA rhyme scheme to emphasise unchanging nature of daily trench life
- uses half/forced rhymes like “wire/war”, “brambles/rumbles” etc. to emphasise unnatural nature of war and unsettle the reader
Who wrote Storm on the Island ?
Seamus Heaney
What is significant about the structure of Storm on the Island ?
- is just one long stanza
[] gives the illusion of the text being like an island surrounded by the sea of the page
[] lack of space between lines of poem suggest constant tension (no break) OR people huddled together - tight community - written in iambic pentameter (implying an attempt to control the situation due to its regularity) at first then switches suddenly to trochaic tetrameter, which has the stressed syllable first and contributes to an air of tension and wildness like a storm
Why did Heaney write Storm on the Island ?
- to bring to light the Troubles in Northern Ireland during his childhood
- to show the violent side of nature, which is often ignored in poetry
What were the Troubles ?
- irish protestants/unionists vs irish catholics/loyalists
- terrorism
- low-level war; weapons were homemade, fighting in the streets and no one knew who was on what side out of fear
Who wrote Bayonet Charge ?
Ted Hughes
Who Was Ted Hughes ?
- poet laureate
- anti-war poet inspired by Wilfred Owen
- never was a soldier but fascinated by father and uncle’s experiences
- interested in natural world + violence required to survive in harsh environments
Why did Hughes write Bayonet Charge ?
- anti-propaganda (shows realities of war)
- to illustrate the futility of war and violence
What is significant about the structure of Bayonet Charge ?
- no rhyme scheme to reflect chaos of war
- opens in media res to confuse and startle the reader (reflects feelings during war)
- stanzas lead into one another creating confusion as things seem to blur together during war
- first and last stanzas quick, lots of enjambment to quicken pace, middle stanza has lots of caesura to slow pace and punctuate moment of realisation that war is futile
- written in third person to isolate person and emphasise the effects of war on one person
Who wrote Remains ?
Simon Armitage
Why did Armitage write Remains ?
- poem is about PTSD and based on the experiences of soldiers he interviewed
- discusses Battle of Basra in the Second Gulf War
- to highlight the personal effects of war and violence
- to highlight the futility of war
What is significant about the structure of Remains ?
- no rhyme scheme to reflect that there is nothing beautiful about war or PTSD and that war is chaos
- 6 stanzas with 4 lines each and end stanza is 2 lines; difference implies the soldier noting/realising that it is just a flashback that still affects him despite it being in the past
- conversational tone/informality humanises the soldier and allows reader to empathise more; also points to that some of the words in the poem directly taken from a soldier’s interview
Who wrote Poppies ?
Jane Weir
Why did Weir write Poppies ?
- poem written during Iraq enquiry (conducted to find out why war went ahead though USA knew no chemical or nuclear weapons were possessed by Sadam Hussein)
- discusses the pain and grief felt by mothers of soldiers who die in war
- poppies = symbol of remembrance for those who have died in war
- illustrate effects of war on individuals but also extrapolate to a wider community (those mothers)
What is the significance of the structure of Poppies ?
- no consistency in stanza length
- no rhyme scheme
- echoes emotional turmoil and unpredictability of war and loss
Who wrote War Photographer ?
Carol Ann Duffy
Why did Duffy write War Photographer ?
- inspired by her friendship with a war photographer
- highlights powerlessness of war photographers in war generally
- references photo of Kim Phuc during the Vietnam War which massively inspired anti-war resistance
What is significant about the structure of War Photographer ?
- four six-line stanzas
- strict order in juxtaposition to the chaos of war described reflects the photographer attempting to re-establish order through the photos
- reflects also the detachment he must feel to do his job
Who wrote Tissue ?
Imtiaz Dharker
Why did Dharker write Tissue ?
- to discuss the power of identity
- to discuss the instability in Pakistan (where she was born in 1954) in the 1950s due to it being a new nation
- to discuss how humans shape the world around them and their own nature
What is significant about the structure of Tissue ?
- irregular quatrains reflect irregularity of life and the flimsiness of the paper which controls life
- lack of regular rhyme and steady rhythm, again echoing flimsiness of paper
- enjambment to show flow and delicacy of tissue and human life
Who wrote The Emigree ?
Carol Rumens
Why did Rumens write The Emigree ?
- to discuss how one’s home country shapes a lot of their identity
- to discuss the impacts of leaving one’s home country forcefully
What is significant about the structure of The Emigree ?
- three stanzas
- two have 8 lines
- last has 9
- extra line may suggest speaker wanting poem to last longer like their delusion of their country’s greatness
- rhythm is not regular or obvious, perhaps pointing to speaker’s mental state regarding leaving home country (flips between positive and negative, speaker represses any notion that their home country may be bad in any way, etc.)
Who wrote Checking Out Me History ?
John Agard
Why did Agard write Checking Out Me History ?
- criticism of educational institution for systematic racism
- to discuss and educate about black history and identity
- to critique the colonial attitudes to teaching black history in eurocentric educational systems
- to critique the erasure of black history in the education system
- the power of identity and information
What is significant about the structure of Checking Out Me History ?
- written in style of dramatic monologue to symbolise speaker taking control of their own identity and learning their own culture’s history
- eurocentric views in poem written in nursery rhyme and simplistic voice (ABAB rhyme scheme); reflects how the erasure of black culture begins from schooling at a young age - also mocks the eurocentric education system
- use of rhyme scheme in eurocentric parts reflects the rules and boxes placed upon black people in the white-centric education system
- black history in free verse to reflect that people have to do their OWN research outside of education to learn about black history
- in free verse also to celebrate black history and discuss it more in depth
- no punctuation to reflect letting go of rules forced upon people
Who wrote Kamikaze ?
Beatrice Garland
Why did Garland write Kamikaze ?
- discuss harm of propaganda
- harm caused by patriotism in war
- to discuss the effect of war on society even years after it has ended
What is significant about the structure of Kamikaze ?
- seven six-line stanzas with no rhyme scheme and no regular rhythmic pattern
- allows reader to focus on the emotion of the text rather than any complex structural features
- entire poem is only 3 sentences with little punctuation to reflect the idea of a story being told orally
- first sentence stretches 5 stanzas and encompasses mainly details of the story
- second sentence marks a shift in speaker (daughter’s friend -> daughter), time, person and tone
- last sentence reverts back to third person
- the shifts create a jarring and unsettling effect on the reader, as each new sentence brings new information and may express the turbulent feelings of the daughter
- most of poem is in third person, emphasising the shame and distance created between the pilot and his own daughter by the societal shaming of his decision to live for her instead of dying for an institution
What was a kamikaze pilot ?
- Japanese suicide bombers during WW2
- considered it to be a great honour to die in the name of the Japanese emperor (viewed as a living god) and the empire
- committed hari kari with samurai swords if unable to hit their target to be honourable again
