Power And Conflict Poetry Flashcards
War photographer quote about suffering
“Spools of suffering”
War photographer quote about countries
“Belfast, Beirut, Phnom Penh. All flesh is grass”
War photographer quote about the famous photo of a napalm attack in the Vietnam war
“Running children in a nightmare heat”
War photographer quote about ghosts
“A half formed ghost”
War photographer quote about blood
“Blood stained into foreign dust”
War photographer quote about agonies
“A hundred agonies in black - and - white”
War photographer quote about earning
“He earns his living and they do not care”
Who was war photographer written by
Carol Ann Duffy
What do you link war photographer to
Exposure - nihilism
Form and structure of war photographer
Ordered sextets (ordering photos and soldiers)
Rhyme (predictability of war)
Context of war photographer
The writer was friends with 2 famous war photographers
Published in 1985 (10 years after Vietnam war)
Campaigns and protests against the war
Author’s intention of war photographer
Difficulties and responsibility of a war photographer (duty)
Exposure quote about wind
“Merciless iced east winds”
Exposure quote about nothing
“But nothing happens”
Exposure quote about watching
“Watching, we hear mad gusts”
Exposure quote about agonies
“Twitching agonies of men”
Exposure quote about war
“We only know war lasts”
Exposure quote about snow
“Flowing flakes that flock, pause and renew”
Exposure quote about dreams
“Back on forgotten dreams”
Exposure quote about ghosts
“Our ghosts drag home”
Exposure quote about dying
“We turn back to our dying”
Who was exposure written by
Wilfred owen
What do you link exposure to
War photographer on nihilism
Form and structure of exposure
Half rhyme - shows confusion
Starts as it begins - envelope/trapped
Quintains - predictable/commanded
Context of exposure
Written 1917 3 years into WW1 in the coldest winter
Cynical first hand view of war
Died just before war ended
Authors intentions of exposure
To show powerlessness of soldiers against nature and war
Bayonet charge quote about tears
“Patriotic tear that had brimmed in his eye”
Bayonet charge quote about jumping
“Running like a man who has jumped up in the dark “
Bayonet charge quote about a hare
“Threw up a yellow hare that rolled like a flame”
Bayonet charge quote about a mouth
“It’s mouth wide”
Bayonet charge quote about honour
“King, honour, human dignity, etcetera”
Bayonet charge quote about dynamite
“His terrors touchy dynamite”
Bayonet charge quote about a rifle
“A rifle numb as a smashed arm”
Who wrote bayonet charge
Ted Hughes
What do you link bayonet charge to
London - over controlled
Form and structure of bayonet charge
No rhyme - chaotic/panic/unpredictable/uncertainty of war
Enjambement - no rest
Context of bayonet charge
Writer was a child in WW2 - saw post war effects
Grew up in countryside - natural imagery
Tribute to fathers suffering
Inspired by Wilfred Owen
Authors intention in bayonet charge
To show the brutal reality of war, and as a tribute to his father
The émigré quote about tyrants
“It may be at war, it may be sick with tyrants”
The émigré quote about sunlight
“I an branded by an impression of sunlight”
The émigré quote about vocabulary
“That child’s vocabulary I carried here”
The émigré quote about tongue
“I can’t get it off my tongue”
The émigré quote about passport
“I have no passport, there’s no way back at all”
The émigré quote about paper
“Lies down in front of me, docile as paper”
The émigré quote about absence
“They accuse me of absence “
Who wrote the émigrée
Carol rumens
What do you link the émigrée to
The prelude - not belonging/nature
Form and structure of the émigrée
Free verse, enjambement- lack of power or control
Regular stanza - corruption/control
Context of the émigrée
Writer born in London but lived in Belfast and wales
Traveled wildly
Focuses on identity and culture
Emigrant - someone who leaves a country
Authors intention of émigrée
To show a migrants personal view of displacement and connection to identity
Kamikaze quote about history
“A one-way journey through history”
Kamikaze quote about the sea
“A green-blue translucent sea”
Kamikaze quote about fishes
“Dark shoals of fishes flashing silver”
Kamikaze quote about returning
“Though he came back”
Kamikaze quote about existing
“They treated him as though he no longer existed”
Kamikaze quote about not returning
“To live as though he has never returned “
Kamikaze quote about death
“He must have wondered which had been the better way to die”
Who wrote kamikaze
Beatrice Garland
What do you link kamikaze to
Prelude - power of nature
Form and structure of kamikaze
Narrative
6 sextets - regular/predictable war, lack of control over political power
Starts in 3rd person and moves to 1st
Non-liner
Context of kamikaze
Kamikaze pilots were chosen by the government for suicide missions, shunned if refused
Culture based on family honour
The writer was inspired to look into why people died for their country
Author intention of kamikaze
To show the effects of war and consequences of decisions
The prelude quote about ripples in the moon
“Small circles glittering idly in the moon, until they melted all into one track”
The prelude quote about the boat
“My boat went heaving though the water like a swan”
The prelude quote about the mountain
“A huge peak, black and huge”
The prelude quote about the shape
“The grim shape towered up between me and the stars”
The prelude quote about purpose
“With purpose of its own…like a living thing, strode after me”
The prelude quote about living men
“Huge and mighty forms, that do not live like living men”
Who wrote the prelude
William Wordsworth
What do you link the prelude to
Kamikaze - power of nature
Form and structure of the prelude
No rhyme
Rhythmic like rowing
1 long stanza - like the mountain
Enjambement - heavy breathing
Context of the prelude
Romantic poet - natural imagery
Story of how the writer stole a boat
Authors intention of the prelude
To convey that every man is powerless to nature
London quote about streets
“I wander through each chartered street “
London quote about marks
“Marks of weakness, marks of woe”
London quote about voice
“In every voice, in every ban”
London quote about soldiers
“The hapless soldiers sigh”
London quote about palace
“Runs in blood down palace walls”
London quote about marriage
“Plagues the marriage hearse”
Who wrote London
William Blake
What do you link London to
Bayonet charge - control
Form and structure of London
Regular rhyme
Quatrains
Regular meter - control/order/containment
Lugubrious tone
End stopped lines
Context of London
Writer was anti- urbanisation
3 evils - church/monarchy/government
Time of king George III - French Revolution
Child labour / prostitution
Loss of nature
Authors intention of London
To convey the corruption and loss of natural world
Who wrote ozymandias
Percy Bysshe Shelley
What do you link ozymandias to
Exposure - powerless to nature
Form and structure of ozymandias
Irregular, slow rhythm - death
Sonnet 14 lines
Changes in focus
Rhyme - order and control
Context of ozymandias
Based on Ramasses II the great
Writer inspired by a statue
Authors intention of ozymandias
To convey the insignificance of human life against nature
Who wrote my last duchess
Robert Browning
What do you link my last duchess to
London - control and oppression
Form and structure of my last duchess
Dramatic monologue
1 sided conversation - control
Rhyming couplets - control
Context of my last duchess
Based on the duke of Fernando, whose wife died suspiciously
Writer takes on a poetic persona
Authors intention of my last duchess
Desire of complete control over another - criticism of patriarchy
Who wrote the charge of the light brigade
Alfred Lord Tennyson
What do you link the charge of the light brigade to
Bayonet charge - control over easily replicable troops
Form and structure of the charge of the light brigade
Rhythm of horses
Ballad
Irregular structure - fell apart
6 stanzas for the 600 men
Context of the charge of the light brigade
1834 - lord Cardigan led 670 to charge the enemy when they were meant to retreat
Crimean war - first war with modern technology
Authors intention of the charge of the light brigade
To immortalise the light brigade - died fruitfully and in vain
Who wrote storm on the island
Shamus Heaney
What do you link storm on the island to
Exposure - powerless to nature
London - powerless to oppression
Form and structure of storm on the island
Fast paced
Little punctuation - panic
Context of storm on the island
Metaphor for political arguments in Stormant in Ireland
Vulnerability on the island
Authors intention of storm on the island
To shows the vulnerability of people to nature and government
Who wrote remains
Simon Armitage
What do you link remains to
Bayonet charge - PTSD and effects on all
Form and structure of remains
Cathartic - release of emotion
Stream of consciousness
Quatrains + closing couplet - ordered army
Enjambement - fluid/conversational
Context of remains
Writer was interviewing soldiers with PTSD for a documentary “the not dead”
Guardsman Tromans story in Iraq
Authors intention of remains
Awareness of PTSD and effects of war
Who wrote poppies
Jane Weir
What do you link poppies to
Bayonet charge - tribute to those left behind
Form and structure of poppies
Free verse, no rhyme - overwhelm of loss
Enjambement - emotions spilling out
Dramatic monologue
Context of poppies
Poetic persona of a mother
Writer had 2 sons and was a textile designer
Authors intention of poppies
To show a Mothers perspective of war and loss
Who wrote tissue
Imtiaz Dharker
What do you link tissue to
Émigrée - paper and identity
Form and structure of tissue
Stream of consciousness/freedom of the mind
Quatrains - predictability of life/seasons
Cyclical - no ending
Context of tissue
Tissue as a metaphor for human life - fragile, transient, disposable
Conflicting identity - Pakistan/Glasgow
Husband had cancer for 11 years before dying
Authors intention of tissue
To show human life breaking free from non-spirituality
Who wrote checking out me history
John Agard
What do you link checking out me history to
Émigrée - embracing culture
Form and structure of checking out me history
Dual structure (italics) - separation of history
Phonetic rendition - authenticity and accent
Dem to I - ownership of identity
Context of checking out me history
Toussaint L’overture - led révolution in Haiti, bécane the First Nation free from slavery
Learning about culture
Writer saw Guyana gain independence in 1966
Authors intention of checking out me history
To show that education is corrupt/racist/patriarchal - carve out own identity
