Power and Conflict Quote Analysis

Question 1

London
‘Where the charter’d Thames does flow’, ‘Marks of weakness, marks of woe.’

Answer 1

The adjectives and repetition emphasise how everyone in London is controlled and looks as if they are weak. The nouns ‘marks’ and ‘chartered’ depict a map - streets being mapped - which shows how he is critiquing urbanisation which has destroyed nature. This also shows how many areas of London have been owned by the state, so there is less freedom.

Question 2

London
‘Mind-forged manacles I hear’

Answer 2

Alliteration and short sentences allows the poem to be memorable, so that it serves its purpose as a political poem critiquing society’s structure. Manacles are chains. The people of London are not being physically controlled, but are being controlled by their minds. The verb ‘hear’ implies that the writer can hear everyone else’s manacles, but perhaps he is possibly so delusional and brainwashed that he is under control as well, but he doesn’t realise it. Social hierarchy is just a construct that people have created in their minds, but if they rebel against the higher powers, then it allows them to break free from the class system that has been embedded into London’s society at the time.

Question 3

London
‘hapless soldier’s sigh // Runs in blood down palace walls’

Answer 3

Enjambment is used, symbolising the blood that is constantly running down (personification) the palace walls. He is attacking the monarchy, believing that the soldiers’ blood is in their hands. This is reflecting the French Revolution. Blake is implying that the society is so corrupt from the rich having so much power and wealth that the poor will rise up, kill them, and set up a new republic: a repeat of what happened in France will happen in England.

Question 4

London
‘blights with plagues the Marriage hearse’

Answer 4

The oxymoron (juxtaposing marriage with a vehicle for the dead) shows how he is critiquing patriarchal society through their abuse of women. This shows how Blake is possibly a feminist. The ‘plagues’ refers to sexually transmitted diseases that were killing off the mariages, which shows the damage that the men are doing to the woman in society. This is the volta of the poem, shifting from the critique of the government to the critique of the inequality between men and women.

Question 5

Storm on the Island
‘We are prepared’/ ‘It is a huge nothing that we fear’

Answer 5

This talks about propaganda, telling people to prepare for a war: Ireland vs Northern Ireland conflict. This starting line juxtaposes the ending line: ‘It is a huge nothing that we fear.’ His lesson is that they believe in the same God and Jesus, but they hate each other because of their history. Oxymoron ‘huge nothing’ suggests that its got a huge impact over them leading to terrorism and death, but if they realised that it was ultimately a huge war over nothing, they would be able to stop fighting.

Question 6

Storm on the Island
‘We just sit tight while wind dives’

Answer 6

This alliteration shows the idea of being helpless, when the war with nature begins, you just ‘sit tight’ and hope that you are safe. One possible message of the poem is you cannot fully prepare for war because there are elements that you cannot control.

Question 7

Storm on the Island
‘Listen to the thing you fear // Forgetting that it pummels your house too’

Answer 7

This uses direct address, and Heaney implies that the division between them is not real, it’s an illusion, their fear is what they have in common. If they are not fearful of each other, then they will be able to live in peace with each other. If you don’t fear the storm, the storm will have no power to destroy you.

Question 8

Storm on the Island
‘‘Forgetting that it pummels your house too’

Answer 8

This line is personifying and foreshadowing the person’s downfall. It is showing that the same people who you are listening to, telling you who to attack, there will be a time when they start to attack you as well, so nobody is safe from the attack. Violence committed against one side is the same as violence committed against yourself. Your own house is being destroyed by your actions, as your enemy will retaliate - ‘Forgetting that it pummels your house too’ Everybody’s homes and way of life are becoming destroyed in the violence. Heaney wants the audience to change from listening to their own fears to listening to his wisdom that they are all equal and they should not be at war with each other.

Question 9

Exposure
‘Our brains ache, in the merciless iced east winds that knive us . . . //’

Answer 9

‘Our brains ache’ This is ironic, the knives are from the wind - nature - and this has no mercy on the men due to the horror of the war that they have brought to the land. Assonance through the repeated ‘i’ showing the exposure that they are having to the terrible weather. His brain is possibly shutting down, nature is seducing him to fall asleep and die: ‘Is it that we are dying?’
Alternative interpretation: Personification, they’ve been thinking so much that their brains are hurting from all the thinking. They have been fed so much propaganda that they cannot think straight, and form their own opinions about the war.

Question 10

‘Wearied we keep awake because the night is silent . . . //’

Answer 10

In war, everything is turned upside down, they stay awake because the night is silent, l though the reader would believe that silence is the best conditions to sleep. However, they must stay awake in case there is an attack from the enemy.

Question 11

Exposure
‘The mad gusts tugging on the wire’

Answer 11

The use of the verb is personification. This implies that nature is angry and destroying people, tearing them apart.

Question 12

Exposure
‘Pause over half-known faces. Their eyes are ice’

Answer 12

Literal death through the war, they died within several weeks or months so they had no time to properly get to know them. An alternative interpretation is that the soldiers did not want to form any emotional attachment to the other soldiers, knowing that the pain of their deaths would be worse. ‘Their eyes are ice’ due to the attack and power of nature on their bodies. This metaphor could also represent the soldiers burying them, symbolising how they have become emotionally numb due to the horrors of war that they have experienced.

Question 13

Exposure
‘But nothing happens’

Answer 13

This is repetition, a refrain. The gradual death through the cold is possibly worse than being killed in battle. Owen could also be referring to waiting for a political solution to the war, so that the war ends sooner. Finally, Owen could be referring to waiting for death, and dying is better than the suffering that he is experiencing.

Question 14

Remains
‘I see every round as it rips through his life - //‘

Answer 14

Metaphor, he is starting to blame himself. The memory is in present tense, he cannot get rid of that memory, it is as if it is happening again at that moment. The use of the noun ‘round’ instead of ‘bullet’ illustrates how the memory keeps coming back to him, in a circular form.

Question 15

Remains
‘So we’ve hit this looter a dozen times’

Answer 15

Shows how they continuously shot him, and how vicious they were. It also juxtaposes human nature, showing how they are not behaving like human beings. They are behaving like men hunting an animal - like a predator.

Question 16

Remains
‘One of my mates goes by and tosses his guts back into his body’

Answer 16

The use of colloquial language and a casual action juxtaposes the horrors of what is being described.

Question 17

Remains
‘But near to the knuckle, here and now, his bloody life in my bloody hands.’
‘On another occasion, we got sent out’

Answer 17

PTSD. He had blood on his hands in the beginning, but it does not have the same effect. It shows how this crime cannot be washed away, and his mind cannot get over it. This line shows the soldier’s inner conflict. This is a cyclical structure. The last line ‘my bloody hands’ juxtaposes the first line ‘On another occasion, we got sent out’, though the use of the personal pronoun ‘my’ shows that the soldier is shifting from collective responsibility to taking personal responsibility for his actions.
The poem does not end with a rhyming couplet, showing discordance (the sounds do not fit), unlike the 2 lines before it, showing how the soldier has a lack of control over his own life. There is a literary allusion to suggest that the looter’s life is as precious as the King’s life in the Shakespeare play Macbeth, so the consequence of killing him is possibly going to be just as tragic as Macbeth’s.

Question 18

Ozymandias
‘I met a traveller from an antique land’

Answer 18

The speaker distances themselves from the description of Ozymandias, as he possibly does not want to appear unpatriotic towards his country. Shelly is writing against the political ruling class in Britain. Shelly shows how this thirst for power and the desire to be an absolute ruler is as old as history (through the adjective ‘antique’). He is contrasting the modern day, where we have the beginning of parliaments, and is trying to make a political point, saying that we can move away from this kind of society that welcomed dictators (in the form of kings) and maybe we should move towards a more democratic ruler.

Question 19

Ozymandias
“And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command”

Answer 19

‘Wrinkled’ is associated with age, so perhaps it was already visible when creating this statue that Ozymandias’ power is already growing old and slipping away. Therefore, Shelly is making a point that we cannot cling onto power, and you can lose it at any time. ‘Sneer’ shows how the rulers rule over their people with contempt - without sympathy. Therefore, a more democratic system is required. This is emphasised with the alliteration ‘cold command’.

Question 20

Ozymandias
‘The hand that mocked them, and the heart that fed’

Answer 20

The volta (turning point) not only describes Ozymandias, but also the sculptor. Ozymandias feels that the citizens are inferior. ‘The heart that fed’ is ironic, as the ruler has a shrivelled cold heart and did not offer his people anything. Shelly is possibly illustrating how art is more powerful than political power. The sculptor is mocking Ozymandias, creating a mirror image of his heart, so that people can see how cruel he really is. However, Oymandias is possibly oblivious to it.

Question 21

Ozymandias
‘Look on my works, ye mighty, and despair’

Answer 21

Irony, as all the work that he is telling people to look at is now gone. ‘Works’ is a noun used to reference the creations of an artist or writer. Although Ozymandias intended this to be a celebration of himself, it is now a celebration of the artist. The person who should be in ‘despair’ is no longer the person looking at the statue, but now Ozymandias, as he has lost his power.

Question 22

Ozymandias
‘Of that colossal Wreck’

Answer 22

The most mighty symbols of power get destroyed over time. This is an allusion to the Colossus - a massive Greek statue. The educated boys of that time would have known about it as they would have studied it in school while learning about Greek myths and studying the Greek language. The idea of the Colossus as a work of art is still known today, so once again Shelly is pointing to the power of Art. Even if the statue was a myth, it is still known about through the art of storytelling. Overall, this is ironic as it implies that Shelly wants the same thing as Ozymandias - for his poetry to last forever.

Question 23

What is the form and summary of Remains?

Answer 23

Form: a narrative
A poem about regret, doing something as a soldier, but realising later on that it may not have been the best decision.

Question 24

What is the form and summary of the poem Exposure?

Answer 24

Half rhymes unsettle the reader, showing how the poet wants a full conclusion to the war, but it never happens during his lifetime.
The refrain ‘but nothing happens’ conveys the poet’s purpose through an anti war poem. He wants the reader to be appalled at the conditions that the soldier is fighting in, and also wants to campaign for the end of that war.
Form: a narrative poem, telling a story.
The poem is about a group of men waiting for a battle to begin. However, they are fighting a war with nature.

Question 25

What is the form and summary of the poem Storm On The Island?

Answer 25

Summary: Storm On The Island is written by Seamus Heaney, a Northern Irish poet. The poem is an extended metaphor of the conflict in Northern Ireland between the catholics and protestants. The title alludes to how it’s an issue that seems big, but it’s only happening on an island, so it’s not actually big so they can overcome the problem. ‘Island’ and ‘Ireland’ are also close homophones, and Seamus Heaney is alluding to how both sides must come together to have a political solution. Storm On The Island refers to Stormont, the parliament building in Northern Ireland.
Themes: the power of humans, nature, politics and religion.
Form: an epic, about the events in Northern Ireland. It is in free verse, and a dramatic monologue with a conversational tone.

Question 26

What is the form and summary of the poem London?

Answer 26

Summary: The poem London was written by the Romantic poet William Blake in the 1790s. London is a symbol of the British Empire - a symbol of power and progress. The poet juxtaposes what people believe London is like, and what London is actually like.
Themes: the power of humans (nature is being controlled by man), conflict and grief.
Structure:
Form: London is a narrative poem. It is telling a story about the realistic aspects of London.
The poem is in quatrains with a regular pattern, which allows the poem to be accessible to all members of society. The ABAB rhyming pattern makes the poem memorable, which was especially important in a time period where there was a much lower literacy rate.
The poem is written in first person and autobiographical, showing that Blake has seen and experienced what he is writing about.
Cyclical structure: the first and second stanzas focus on the impact on people. The third explores the source of suffering, and the fourth goes back to the impact on people again. Therefore, Blake is suggesting that suffering is never-ending.

Question 27

What is the summary of ‘The Emigrée’?

Answer 27

An emigrée is a female immigrant, who left her child of time due to war. She cannot accept that her country has changed so much. It is about the effects of war through people being displaced and losing their home, and being strangers to their own country.

Question 28

What is the form and structure of the Emigrée?

Answer 28

Form: an epic, about the effects of war.
The poem has 3 stanzas, the first 2 with 8 lines and the last with 9. The last stanza could symbolise the poet not wanting to end on negativity, as the 8th line ends with the noun death, but instead extending the poem to show positivity, as the 9th line ends with the noun ‘sunlight’.

Question 29

The Emigrée
‘I left it as a child… but my memory of it is sunlight clear’

Answer 29

She was a child then, all her memories of the country appear like ‘sunlight’, permanently happy. The ‘sunlight’ is a motif, a symbol of hope.

Question 30

The Emigrée
‘The worst news I receive of it cannot break // my original view.’

Answer 30

No matter what they say to the woman, she will deny it and believe that her city is perfect. The poet is juxtaposing the narrator’s view of the city and reality. The city symbolised a home for her.

Question 31

‘It may be at war, it may be sick with tyrants, // but I am branded by an impression of sunlight.’

Answer 31

By leaving this country, she is presumably in a better place, with no tyrants and no war. The writer is possibly posing the question: are we all branded and permanently changed by the experiences that we have had as children. Because she is marked by her childhood, where her experience in the other country was positive, it means that she carries hope with her all the time, despite the terrible things that are happening to her original country.

Question 32

‘That child’s vocabulary I carried here // like a hollow doll’

Answer 32

The child’s vocabulary is a metaphor symbolising a child’s way of looking at the world. Calling the memories a ‘doll’ suggests that the memories perhaps were not real, suggested by the ‘impression of sunlight’. Or the adjective ‘hollow’ could suggest that now as an adult she realises that she did not have a full perspective of the world.

Question 33

‘I comb its hair and love its shining eyes.’

Answer 33

She personifies the city. Poetry is a way for her to bring back the memories of the city. The ‘shining eyes’ of a doll are not actually real, as a doll cannot see, implying how she has a false representation of the city in her mind. The doll is an extended metaphor showing how she is only able to recreate versions of her past that she can recall, but they are not real. However, the action of ‘combing its hair’ shows how she is trying to take control of the memories, and not lose them, or allow them to be changed by reality.

Question 34

The Emigrée
‘My city hides behind me. They mutter death, // and my shadow falls as evidence of sunlight.’

Answer 34

‘They’ that the poet is referring to could be the tyrants in the old city still reaching out to her and threatening her because she has left, wanting her to return. ‘They’ could be the people in the new country, rejecting the migrants from settling there. She feels that she is saving her city by holding on to the language and memory. The fact that she is still casting a ‘shadow’ as ‘evidence of sunlight’ is proof that her original upbringing was a positive thing. Despite the fact that she is different from other people in her new country, her experiences should be valued as she still brings something positive to the world.

Question 35

The Emigrée
‘They accuse me of absence, they circle me.’

Answer 35

The volta of the poem, foreshadowing the downfall of her memory. This is like a wake up call as she realises that her memory must fall or die to the memory of the city that she once had.