Poetry summed Flashcards
State the quotes and main contextual points of ‘a Poison Tree’ and the poet, as well as the narrative and structure comments.
William Blake was a writer and artist within the romanticism era, he lived in London and used poetry as a way to instigate change
First person subjective narrative
Parallel structure at end of each pair of verses
AABB rhyme scheme.
Nursery rhyme.
‘ I was angry with my friend; I told
my wrath, my wrath did end. I was angry with my foe; I told it not, my wrath did grow. ‘
‘Night and morning with my tears’
and i sunned it with smiles nd with soft deceitful wiles
‘And it grew both day and night, till it bore an apple bright, and my foe behold it shine’
‘My foe outstretched beneath the tree’
State the quotes and main contextual points of ‘Belfast Confetti’ and the poet as well as the narrative and structure comments.
Ciaran Carson was an Irish poet and musician. He was very political regarding the troubles between the divide of Irish catholics and Protestant unionists.
First person objective narrative
1st stanza in past tense, 2nd in present.
‘Suddenly, as the riot squad moved in, it was raining exclamation marks’
‘Nuts, bolts, nails, Car-keys. A fount of broken type. And the explosion
My name? Where am I coming from? Where am I going? A fusillade of question-marks.
State the quotes and main contextual points of ‘catrin’ and the poet as well as the narrative and structure comments.
Clarke is a welsh poet and has 1daughter and 2 sons, therefore the theme of maternity is seen throughout the poem. She uses natural imagery throughout her work. Eponymous title.
Perspective of a mother.
1st stanza past tense, 2nd present. Bipartite
‘I can remember you, child, as I stood in a hot, white room at the window watching.’
I can remember you, our first fierce confrontation, the tight red rope of love which we both fought over
Neither won nor lost the struggle
‘From the hearts pool that old rope, tightening about my life, trailing love and conflict
State the quotes and main contextual points of ‘cousin kate’ and the poet as well as the narrative and structure comments.
Christina Rossetti, a very known British poet who wrote in the Victorian era who has depressive periods within her life. She wrote about lack of women’s rights and their placement regarding men.
Eponymous title
Perspective of a female speaker in monologue form to intensify emotion
Iambic meter between tetra meter and trimeter
‘I was a cottage-maiden, hardened by sun and air, contented with my cottage-mates not mindful I was fair’
Why did a great lord find me out? X2
He lured me to his palace-home
To lead a shameless shameful life, his plaything and his love
Your love was writ in sand
My fair-haired son, my shame, my pride.
To wear his coronet
State the quotes and main contextual points of ‘exposure’ and the poet as well as the narrative and structure comments.
Wilfred Owen originally pursued a job in the church but was forced to enrol in the First World War. The poem highlights the futility of war and the pointlessness of prolonged waiting.
First person subjective narrative
Fifth line stands out, repetition of ‘but nothing happens’ and in 2nd stanza ends with, ‘what are we doing here?’
Monotony of war and anticlimax feeling, mirroring soldiers hyper vigilance but also disillusionment
Our brains ache, in the merciless iced east winds that knife us, wearied we keep awake because the night is silent.
Sudden successive flights of bullets streak the silence, less deadly than the air that shudders black with snow.
For love of god seems dying
Tonight, his frost will fasten on this mud and us, shivering many hands, puckering foreheads crisp.
State the quotes and main contextual points of ‘Half caste’ and the poet as well as the narrative and structure comments.
John Agard is both Portuguese and Guyanese. Explores multiple race issues by blacks and mixed race people living in the UK.
First person subjective narrative
Begins and ends with a three line stanza to create a sense of cyclical events. Middle stanzas much longer.
Excuse me, standing on one leg, I’m half caste.
Yu mean when light an shadow, mix in de sky is a half-caste weather.
I’m sure you’ll understand why I offer yu half-a-hand, an when I sleep at night I close half-a-eye
But yu come back tomorrow, wid de whole of yu eye, an de whole of yu ear, and de whole of you mind, an i will tell you de other half of my story.
State the quotes and main contextual points of ‘no problem’ and the poet as well as the narrative and structure comments.
Benjamin Zephaniah explores the racial abuse he’s experienced throughout his life. He was raised in Jamaica and Birmingham. His work is often described as lyrical and rhythmic, which underpins political issues.
ABCB rhyming scheme, naturalistic and overly poetic. First person subjective narrative.
I am not de problem, but I bare de brunt, of silly playground taunts
Yu put me in a pigeon hole, but i a versatile
These conditions may affect me, as I get older.
Black is not de problem, mother country get it right, an just for de record, sum of me best friends are white.
State the quotes and main contextual points of ‘poppies’ and the poet as well as the narrative and structure comments.
Jane weir writes about a mother recalling caring for her son and reminisces about his childhood. Jane weir born In 1963 lived in Northern Ireland during in troubled in 1980s. She has two sons so has first hand experience of motherhood.
Second person objective narrative
Free verse ( no rhyming )
I pinned one onto your lapel, crimped petals, spasms of paper red, disrupting a blockade of yellow bias binding around your blazer.
Skirting the church yard walls, my stomach busy making tucks, darts, pleats, hat-less, without a winter coat or reinforcements of scarf, gloves.
The dove pulled freely against the sky, an ornamental stitch. I listened, hoping to hear your playground voice catching the wind
State the quotes and main contextual points of ‘the class game ’ and the poet as well as the narrative and structure comments.
Mary Casey highlights her experiences of being a working class citizen. She was from Liverpool and contributed many poems throughout her life.
First person subjective narrative.
How can you tell what class I’m from? With an ‘olly in me mouth’
Have I a label on me head, and another on me bum?
Why do you care what class I’m from?
And I’m proud of the class that I come from.
Repeats ‘how can you tell what class I’m from? ‘ cyclical nature of the theme of class
State the quotes and main contextual points of ‘the charge of the light brigade’ and the poet as well as the narrative and structure comments.
The poem centres around soldiers marching to their deaths. Tennyson had an unhappy childhood but received a good education through his middle class.
Third person objective narrative
Half a league, half a league, half a league onward, all in the valley of death.
Cannon to right of them, cannon to left of them, cannon in front of them
Flash’d all their sabres bare, Flash’d as they turn’d in air, Sabrina the gunners there. Charging an army, while.
State the quotes and main contextual points of ‘the man he killed ’ and the poet as well as the narrative and structure comments.
Poem centres around a speakers confusion in having to kill a man as he is the enemy but if circumstances were different they would sit and drink together. Hardy was from Dorset and was against the boer war.
First person objective narrative
Cyclical structure of referral to pub
Had he an I but me, By some old ancient inn, we should have sat us down to wet, right many a nipperkin!
I shot him dead, because — because he was my foe, Just so: my foe of course he was; Thats clear enough, although.
You’d treat if mer where any bar is, or help to half-a-crown.
State the quotes and main contextual points of ‘the prelude’ and the poet as well as the narrative and structure comments.
Blake was a romantic poet who was born in Cumberland. He had a difficult childhood and often spent time at the Lake District as a source of escapism.
First person subjective narrative,
One single stanza, no breaks or pauses. Frequent enjambment.
One summer evening, (led by her), i found a little boat tied to a willow tree within a rocky cove, its usual home.
She was an elfin pinnace; lustily I dipped my oars into the silent lake, and, as I rose upon the stroke, my boat, went heaving through the water like a swan.
For so it seemed, with purpose of its own, measured motion like a living thing, strode after me.
But huge and mighty forms, that do not life like living men, moved slowly through the line By day, and were a trouble to my dreams.
State the quotes and main contextual points of ‘ what were they like’ and the poet as well as the narrative and structure comments.
Levertov explores the devastating affects of the Vietnam war on the Vietnamese people throughout 1955 - 1975. She was an English / American poet whose poetry often had very political ideas within the 60s; she never had a proper education however.
Third person objective narrative.
Free verse
2 stanzas
Repetition used throughout
Did the people of Vietnam use lanterns of stone? Did they hold ceremonies to reference the opening of buds?
Sir, their light hearts turned to stone, it is not remembered whether in gardens, stone lanterns Illumined pleasant ways.
When bombs smashed those mirrors there was time only to scream. There is an echo her of their speech which was like a song.
Their singing resembled the flights of moths in moonlight. Who can say? It is silent now.
State the quotes and main contextual points of ‘the destruction of Sennacherib’ and the poet as well as the narrative and structure comments.
Byron was a notorious romantic poet who was frequently involved in public scandals. He often rejected societal conventions throughout his life. The poem depicts the biblical story of Sennacherib, The king of the Assyria who attempts a siege on the people of Jerusalem.
Third person objective narrative
Rhyme scheme AABB
Anaphora of conjunction ‘and’ throughout,
Volta occurs after first six verses.
The Assyrian came down like the wolf on the fold […], and the sheer of their spears was like stars on the sea.
For the angel of death spread his wings on the blast and breathed in the face of the foe as he passed.
And the tents were all silent, the banners alone. The lances uplifted, the trumpet unblown.
