Power and Conflict Poetry Quotations Flashcards

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1
Q

“My name is Ozymandias, king of kings”

A

Ozymandias - we hear this phrase from Ozymandias himself, there is a superlative quality to it and he sees himself as being more important than others

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2
Q

“Look upon my works ye mighty and despair”

A

Ozymandias - imperative command giving a sense that he is powerful, there is irony here as “nothing beside remains” as the poetic voice shifts back to the narrator

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3
Q

“A shattered visage lies”

A

Ozymandias - symbolism exploring how the facade that Ozymandias had as a ruler has crumbled away over time reinforcing the temporal nature of power

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4
Q

“Sneer of cold command”

A

Ozymandias - plosive sounds suggest a tone that is cruel and cutting - this quote tells us he was not a nice ruler

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5
Q

“The hand that mocked, the heart that fed”

A

Ozymandias - on the surface he is a cruel leader who abuses his power but internally there is a sense of love for his people that he wants to look after

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6
Q

“Round the decay of that colossal wreck”

A

Ozymandias - juxtaposition between the size of the statue and its current situation having eroded over time

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7
Q

“Near where the chartered Thames does flow”

A

London - the verb “chartered” means controlled - Blake could be criticising how mankind control nature and abuse their power

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8
Q

“Marks of weakness, marks of woe”

A

London - there is a rhythm established within this poem shown in this line - could represent the continual suffering or the footsteps of the poet. “Weakness” and “woe” are both creating a sense of pain and misery

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9
Q

“The mind-forged manacles I hear”

A

London - “mind-forged manacles” suggests that people are trapped in their thoughts and minds in London - they cannot escape their suffering

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10
Q

“Runs in blood down palace walls”

A

London - very graphic imagery and metaphor which could have a connection to the French Revolution - perhaps Blake is calling for a similar revolution in London

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11
Q

“Blights with plagues the marriage hearse”

A

London - oxymoron at the end of this quote which could suggest how short life is - blights and plagues gives a sense of disease and death

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12
Q

“One summer evening (led by her)”

A

The Prelude - Nature is personified as a temptress - it causes Wordsworth to want to sail across the lake

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13
Q

“Straight I unloosed her chain”

A

The Prelude - there is a confident tone established at the start - the poet feels secure in his ability

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14
Q

“With an unswerving line”

A

The Prelude - again the poet shows his confidence in his rowing ability

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15
Q

“Lustily, I dipped my oars into the silent lake”

A

The Prelude - calming tone, shows that he is being at one with nature - there is almost a sexualised undertone, as a romantic poet this could be showing how nature has had an impact on him

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16
Q

“The horizon bound a huge peak, black and huge”

A

The Prelude - there is a Volta here where nature becomes more dangerous and deadly - it is seen as being more visibly powerful and threatening

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17
Q

“I struck and struck again”

A

The Prelude - we see how there is a shift in the way that he rows as a consequence of his changing perspective of nature

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18
Q

“With trembling oars I turned”

A

The Prelude - a final Volta where the poetic voice now becomes afraid and fearful - this causes him to reflect on how he now sees nature

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19
Q

“O’er my thoughts, there hung a darkness, some call it solitude”

A

The Prelude - The poetic voice now cannot escape his thoughts on the layers to nature and how threatening it can be

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20
Q

“That’s my Last Duchess painted on the wall, looking as if she were alive”

A

My Last Duchess - the poem opens with a threatening tone - the simile “as if she were alive” creates a haunting tone

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21
Q

“(Since none puts by the curtain I have drawn for you but I)”

A

My Last Duchess - The duke controls who gets to look at his last duchess and also who she gets to look at by drawing the curtain - shows his power and control

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22
Q

“Must never hope to reproduce the half flush that dies along her throat”

A

My Last Duchess - a reference that could suggest that the Duke had her killed due to the fact that she was flirting with other individuals rather than focusing on him

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23
Q

“Her looks went everywhere”

A

My Last Duchess - a subtle criticism that the duke is stating to be able to criticise her flirtatious behaviour - we do only see this poem through his perspective though!

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24
Q

“My gift of a nine-hundred year old name”

A

My Last Duchess - The Duke believes he gave he some of his power by passing on his title to her - therefore expected her to respect him and the title

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25
Q

“I choose never to stoop”

A

My Last Duchess - the Duke reminds us of his power and states that he is higher status and will not lose that status

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26
Q

“I gave commands then all smiles stopped together”

A

My Last Duchess - there is an imperative power within this quotation but also an allusion to him having ordered her to be killed

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27
Q

“Our brains ache in the merciless iced-east winds that knive us”

A

Exposure - Nature is personified as a deadly force - the use of the words “ache” and “knive” and “merciless” creates a sense of inescapable and unrelenting suffering

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28
Q

“But nothing happens”

A

Exposure - repeated throughout the poem to show a frustrating reality of the soldiers situation - it never improves

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29
Q

“Like twitching agonies of men among its brambles”

A

Exposure - there is a mixed metaphor here - brambles may be a natural reference again showing natures power - it could also be a reference to the barbed wire which presents a very graphic image of death

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30
Q

“Dawn massing in the east her melancholy army”

A

Exposure - Dawn is personified - it should bring warmth and comfort but instead brings further misery for the soldiers - showing how bad their situation is

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31
Q

“Sudden successive flights of bullets streak the silence”

A

Exposure - shows the unpredictability of the war and nature - the sibilant sounds make it seem more realistic and deadly

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32
Q

“Pale flakes with fingering stealth come feeling for our faces”

A

Exposure - Alliteration creates a sluggish tone making their suffering heard - snowflakes are personified almost making them seem like they’re the enemy they’re having to fight

33
Q

“Slowly our ghosts drag home”

A

Exposure - a Volta where the soldiers minds turn to home, where it is warm and safe. The metaphor “ghosts” may suggest that they already view themselves as being dead

34
Q

“We turn back to our dying”

A

Exposure - there is another Volta at the end of that stanza that refocuses our attention back on to war and their suffering

35
Q

“All their eyes are ice”

A

Exposure - this very visual metaphor creates a stark reality of war - the death of soldiers from nature is frozen so you can see the moment they died

36
Q

“We are prepared. We build our houses squat”

A

Storm on the Island - the islanders build the houses to defend themselves against the oncoming storm - shows nature in a powerful way

37
Q

“Blast: you know what I mean”

A

Storm on the Island - Volta - the onomatopoeia ‘blast’ is a sudden explosion, connects to war and also shows the power of nature. The colloquial nature of ‘you know what I mean’ suggests normality and repetitive destruction of nature

38
Q

“leaves and branches
Can raise a chorus in a gale”

A

Storm on the Island - Personification of nature - the metaphor ‘chorus’ makes it sound like a song - could connect to a battle hymn

39
Q

“Exploding comfortably down on the cliffs”

A

Storm on the island - Oxymoron ‘exploding comfortably’ gives nature a sense of normality and ease by which it causes destruction

40
Q

“spits like a tame cat
Turned savage”

A

Storm on the Island - simile - shows the way that the storm can change suddenly and cause destruction when needed. Can look calm but acts violently

41
Q

“Strange, it is a huge nothing that we fear”

A

Storm on the Island - Ending is presented as a conflict - the oxymoron ‘huge nothing’ gives a powerlessness against nature but also a confusion

42
Q

“Suddenly he awoke and was running – raw”

A

Bayonet Charge - Starts in media res, establising a very quick pace. The idea of the soldier ‘running - raw’ suggest an inexperience and innocence

43
Q

“Bullets smacking the belly out of the air”

A

Bayonet Charge - the bullets are personified - this makes the environment seem deadly but also makes it seem real through the verb ‘smacking’ creating aural imagery

44
Q

“The patriotic tear that had brimmed in his eye”

A

Bayonet Charge - A potential criticism of war, this metaphor could be alluding to individuals who went to war to fight for their country without realising the reality of war

45
Q

“In bewilderment then he almost stopped –”

A

Bayonet Charge - Volta - the pace slows to focus in on the hare. The caesura (-) causes the poem to stop

46
Q

“Threw up a yellow hare that rolled like a flame”

A

Bayonet Charge - the hare is a symbol of an imminent tempest in British folklore - a sign that you are doomed. Could be symbolic for the solider and nature being destroyed by war

47
Q

“His terror’s touchy dynamite”

A

Bayonet Charge - ends with the fear of the soldier about to overwhelm him.

48
Q

“Into the valley of Death”

A

The Charge of the Light Brigade - The metaphor has a biblical undertone to it - also suggests that the soldiers are charging to their death

49
Q

“Their’s not to make reply,
Their’s not to reason why,
Their’s but to do and die”

A

The Charge of the Light Brigade - Rhythm and Rhyme in these three lines represents that horses hooves and rhythm of the soliders - shows their powerlessness and innocence in war

50
Q

“Into the jaws of Death,
Into the mouth of Hell”

A

The Charge of the Light Brigade - The metaphors make it seem as though the soldiers are going to be trapped within their own fates and deaths

51
Q

“Honour the charge they made!
Honour the Light Brigade”

A

The Charge of the Light Brigade - The poet shifts the tone of the poem to become more imperative - instructing the reader to remember the sacrifice of the soldiers

52
Q

“disrupting a blockade
of yellow bias binding around your blazer”

A

Poppies - A juxtaposition of language between domestic role of a mother smoothing the sides of her son’s blazer with language associated with war suggesting her inner conflict

53
Q

“Sellotape bandaged around my hand

A

Poppies - Metaphor - the verb ‘bandaged’ suggests she feels wounded, potentially by letting her son leave

54
Q

“All my words
flattened, rolled, turned into felt”

A

Poppies - Language associated with textiles and domesticity - her emotions have crumbled following her son leaving

55
Q

“A split second
and you were away, intoxicated.”

A

Poppies - The verb ‘intoxicated’ connects to propoganda and may be used to suggest that her son was blinded by what he needed to do in war

56
Q

“released a song bird from its cage”

A

Poppies - Symbolism - her son is innocent and she allowed him to leave, exposing him to dangers

57
Q

“without a winter coat or reinforcements of scarf, gloves”

A

Poppies - Metaphor - She once could protect her son from the wind and cold but can no longer protect him from war

58
Q

“leaned against it like a wishbone”

A

Poppies - Simile - The poetic voice is wanting to simply find out whether her son lives or has died - the unknown is consuming her

59
Q

“Probably armed, possibly not”

A

Remains - Juxtaposition - expresses doubt and uncertainty alluding to his guilt and worry for his actions

60
Q

“I see every round as it rips through his life”

A

Remains - Metaphor - Violent imagery - makes a really disgusting picture of this man’s death - contextually, the soldier states that he could see this in the bank robber

61
Q

“End of story, except not really”

A

Remains - Volta - Creates a shift and change, even though he has returned home, the soldier cannot escape his thoughts and fears of his actions

62
Q

“his blood-shadow stays on the street”

A

Remains - Metaphor - He is haunted by the killing of the robber and the shadow has a double meaning, following him but also the dried blood on the street

63
Q

“But I blink”

A

Remains - Volta - Reminded of his actions

64
Q

“His bloody life in my bloody hands”

A

Remains - Connects to the idiom ‘blood on my hands’ - he feels responsible for the death of the robber and cannot get rid of the guilt from his hands

65
Q

“Spools of suffering set out in ordered rows”

A

War Photographer - Metaphor - Order within chaos, trying to select which photos to develop and show to others

66
Q

“He has a job to do”

A

War Photographer - Monosyllabic utterance - a blunt reminder of the role of the photographer and what they must do - not to get involved in war

67
Q

“his hands which did not tremble then though seem to now”

A

War Photographer - could be suggesting that the photographer is struggling to regain control over what he has seen in war

68
Q

“A Half-formed ghost”

A

War Photographer - Metaphor - Looking at the photo serves as a physical reminder of the death of the robber

69
Q

“blood stained into foreign dust”

A

War Photographer - Connects to Remains and the blood shadow - the memory of their death is stained in his memory”

70
Q

“A hundred agonies in black and white”

A

War Photographer - Metaphor - A physical representations of the fear and struggle that the photographer witnessed in war

71
Q

“I am branded by an impression of sunlight”

A

The Emigree - Metaphor - Juxtaposition between branded and sunlight - their identity is not from the environment they are within

72
Q

“like a hollow doll opens and spills a grammar”

A

The Emigree - simile - shows the fragility of the speaker and how they view themselves as being childlike

73
Q

“It tastes of sunlight”

A

The Emigree - A pattern of sunlight - they feel like they can’t touch or be in their old environment but they can remember how it felt

74
Q

“They accuse me of being dark in their free city”

A

The Emigree - Shows their feelings of isolation and unfair treatment. Highlight themselves as being a social outcast

75
Q

“A shaven head full of powerful incantations”

A

Kamikaze - Metaphor - Suggests that he is full of propoganda and indoctrinated

76
Q

“little fishing boats strung out like bunting”

A

Kamikaze - Natural imagery through the simile - shows tranquility and helps to build a reflective quality through nature

77
Q

“A tuna, the dark prince, muscular, dangerous”

A

Kamikaze - could be symbolic for himself, not following the crowd and being decisive in viewing his life a different way

78
Q

“And sometimes, she said, he must have wondered which had been the better way to die”

A

Kamikaze - Dramatic ending that makes it seem uncertain as to the future of the soldier.