Poetry PPE revision Flashcards
THEME- war photographer and remains
War photographer- “A half formed ghost, he remembers the cried of this man’s wife, how he sought approval”
.Metaphor-photographs feel like half formed ghosts when they are forming
.semantic field of death- person in picture is dead or dying
.”ghosts” of victims still haunt him
Remains- “But near to the knuckle, here and now, his bloody life in my bloody hands”
.”blood” symbol for guilt- exploring psychological impact of killing someone- not natural for humans to kill others
.”bloody” expletives show anger- angry he is to carry guilt- shows how PTSD warps how someone views past events
FORM/STRUCTURE- war photographer and remains
War photographer- tight controlled 6 line stanzas, similar rhyme scheme- presents tight control-reflects photographers job to impose order on the chaos of war- tight structure contrasts the reality of war
.caesura “Rural. England”- separated from reality of war in England
Remains- 7 quatrains and one final couplet, no rhyme scheme- adds to disorientation and chaos- doesn’t know what to do with himself- PTSD taking over
.poem begins mid action- reader is at first unaware of what is happening- reflects chaos
LANGUAGE- war photographer and remains
War photographer- ”in his darkroom he is finally alone with spools of suffering set out in ordered rows”
Remains- “one of my mates goes by and tosses his guts back into his body”
THEME- London and kamikaze
London- “the mind forged manacles I hear”
Kamikaze- “The loose silver of whitebait and once a tuna, the dark prince, muscular, dangerous”
FORM/STRUCTURE- London and kamikaze
London- repetition of “chartered”- properties around the speaker were privately owned- forcing human power onto something natural
.”chartered Thames” juxtaposition between the power of nature and power of man- man seeks to control something as uncontrollable as the river Thames
Kamikaze- free verse + enjambment lack tight control, freedom in poem structure reflects the freedom the pilots wanted to have
.however six line stanzas does have a tight structure which reflects the tight control of the military and how much power they had
.juxtaposition between the lack of control in the free verse and tight control in the stanzas reflects reflects pilots inner conflict- he wants to honour his country however he also wants to enjoy his life with his family
LANGUAGE- London and kamikaze
London- “Every blackening church appalls”
Kamikaze- “her father embarked at sunrise with a flask of water, a samurai sword”
THEME- remains and exposure
Remains- “But near to the knuckle, here and now, his bloody life in my bloody hands”
Exposure- “our brains ache in the merciless iced east winds that knive us… wearied we keep awake because the night is silent”
FORM/STRUCTURE- remains and exposure
remains- 7 quatrains with one final couplet and no rhyme scheme adds to the disorientation and chaos, he does not know what to do with himself and his PTSD- PTSD taking over, we are made to feel sorry for him
.repetition of “somebody else” at the start minimises the speakers role, putting blame on others, however, when he returns “my” is repeated, he has begun to blame himself, the impact of war is personal
Exposure- anti climatic ending to each stanza- Owen wanted his readers to empathise with how the soldiers felt and how they had to sit in the cold for so long, while also emphasising how repetitive war was, waiting for something to happen, but nothing does
.similar to remains, and the repetition of “somebody else”, we see a repetitive ABBAC rhyme scheme is used in exposure to heighten to idea that war is repetitive, nothing changes
LANGUAGE- remains and exposure
“One of my mates goes by, and tosses his guts back into his body”
“So we drowse, sun-dozed, littered with blossoms, trickling where blackbird fusses- is it that we are dying?”
