poetry distillations Flashcards
From Long Distance
Tony Harrison’s “From Long Distance” is a poem about loss of loved ones and the rituals we keep to remind ourselves of them. The first three stanzas describe the devotion of the speaker’s father to his wife and the trivial but endearing habits he has to remember his wife. The final stanza shifts the focus to the speaker who is less superstitious about death, but still calls his now deceased father’s phone number
He Never Expected Much
Thomas Hardy’s “He Never Expected Much” explains his neutral, unassuming world view. Hardy reminisces on his childhood, laying in the “leaze” and constructing his world view through conversation with the voice of the world. The speaker, in his old age reflects on his current condition and how his world view protects him from the pains of the world.
Night Sweat
“Night Sweat” by Robert Lowell expresses the toll of creative anxiety and writer’s block on the human condition. The poem uses imagery of water and drowning to convey a sense of urgency and pressure for the speaker who cannot do what he believe’s he was born to do. “Night Sweat” also reflects on the strain such a psychological condition can have on loved ones.
Ozymandias
Percy Bysshe Shelley’s poem, “Ozymandias”, implicitly critiques tyranny through explaining the ultimate transience of political power that ultimately fall to the sands of time. Shelley employs irony to suggest the power of art and the passion that is used to create it.
