Poetry Revision: Key Areas and Techniques for Revising Poems

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2. Revising the Poems The following learning mats should help you with revising key information linked to all of the poems. They have been organised under thematic links so all the poems appear once, but that isn’t to say there aren’t further links you could make or that lots of the poems couldn’t appear under several headings. You will be expected to know approximately half the poems really well and have a basic knowledge of the others. Your teacher may lead you into focussing on certain poems or ask you to choose certain ones yourself, so go into further depth with these. Everybody is likely to focus on: Remains, Ozymandias, Storm on the Island or Exposure and Bayonet Charge or Emigree as a starting point. The learning mats give you notes on the key areas of: meanings/ context. language devices and structure – the key areas you need to hit to get the marks. Practise comparing these areas between 2 poems, using connectives like: similarly, whereas, however, in contrast to – to establish similarities and differences. Aim to know openings and endings and 3 quotes demonstrating language devices/ structure for most poems. What else you could do to revise individual poems you wish to focus on: • Watch you tube presentations • Use Bitesize and add to your annotation in your Anthology • Complete the mind map making thematic links between all the poems, include quotations • Work in pairs and test each other on quotations/ share notes • Check you can say 3 things about a quotation • Use mnemonics: MITSL or MTITSLC if this works for you. Know features or language, devices and structure you can compare. • Learn key features linked to context (last end section of this booklet) • Use CGP guides and other revision booklets provided • Produce you own revision cards for focus poems: title, opening line, 3 or 4 quotes linked to language devices, 2 linked to structure, significance of ending, context, thematic links with other poems. • Look at A level/ undergraduate responses to some of the poems or do further research on your key poems if you are aiming at the grade 7/8 so you can say something original • Practise annotating unseen poems in 10 minute slots and planning a response.

3. Structure and Form Prelude: First person narrative. Opening ‘one summer evening’ sounds peaceful whereas ending, ‘a trouble to my dreams’ shows the metaphorical ‘journey’ he has gone on has left him aware everything has changed. Iambic pentameter and blank, continuous verse creates a sense of typical epic verse of the time and suggests the overwhelming effect of nature’s power. Enjambment adds to this overwhelming effect. Distinct change in mood and tone with ‘huge peak, black and huge…’ Storm on the Island: Blank verse, iambic pentameter, lack of rhyme gives conversational tone, use of asides ‘you know what I mean.’. Compactness of poem perhaps reflects the brevity and power of the storm. Opening: ‘We are prepared,’ pronoun creates sense of community and resilience. The ending, ‘it is a huge nothing we fear,’ following war imagery suggests a stoic presentation of human fragility and strength of spirit. Enjambment and caesura are both used to create a sense of disjointed movement, reflecting the storm and gusts of energy. Exposure: First person, personal experience, 8 stanzas with consistent use of half line to end .Ellipsis, caesura and repetition create on-going sense of sameness, waiting and boredom. Repetition, ;but nothing happens’ and questions posed in half lines create sense of hopelessness and endurance. Opening, ‘Our brains ache in the merciless iced east winds’ creates harsh sense of pain/ pathetic fallacy mirrored at end, ‘all their eyes are ice but nothing happens.’ Poetry Revision Mat: Nature theme Prelude – part of epic poem ‘The Recluse’, based on real incident at Ullswater, inspired by childhood in lakes. Essence of romanticism. Meaning – man’s pride humbled by nature, tone changes from pleasure/ pride in boat stealing adventure to dawning realisation of nature’s power, horizon/ mountain becomes something to fear. Storm on the island – Irish, autobiographical, possible link to politics/ stormont and troubles in Northern Ireland. Storm creates fear but is an empty threat, there is a tone of resilience with a focus on energy and movement (in contrast to endured suffering in Exposure) Exposure – WW1, autobiographical, reality of soldiers’ experience in the trenches, ambiguity in title: literal condition when exposed to weather and exposing truth. Irony of weather as enemy, poignant tone, loss of hope Language, Imagery and Devices Prelude: Personification: ‘led by her,’ established in opening line, personifies nature, female/ male genders established, boat – seductive/ charming/ supernatural beauty ‘unloosed her chain’, ‘upreared it’s head’ /’strode after me’ – ‘huge, black’ peak personified as male/ monstrous after shift in tone. Simile: ‘through the water like a swan’ emphasises grace, smooth movement of boat. ‘Elfin pinnace’ (compared to a fairy boat/ fantasy) near the start becomes a ‘Bark’ at the end (suggests ship and greater voyage of experience). Alliteration: repeated s sibilant sound conveys urgent movement of return to mooring (struck, stature, stars, still). Listing: ‘no pleasant images of trees, or sea or sky …but huge and mighty forms’ challenges normal peaceful imagery of nature at the end – conveys sense of loss in peace of mind. Repetition: ‘huge’ simplicity of language, left speechless, awestruck viewpoint of child, (link to romantic genre) ‘struck and struck again.’ Semantic fields move from peaceful, gentle to sinister and threatening to convey change in tone. Storm on Island: Personification: ‘Wizened earth’ conveys sparse landscape, ‘raise a tragic chorus’ sensory description, normal, familiar sound of wind. Simile: ‘Spits like a tame cat’ energy/ unpredictability of sea, normally a comfort, Metaphor: ‘space is a salvo’ war image, under attack. Oxymoron: ‘ exploding comfortably’ (sea) . Aliiteration – repeated s- (sink slate stacks stooks) emphasises strength and resilience. Exposure: Personification throughout of nature as the enemy and mirroring men’s suffering: ‘Merciless iced east winds that knife us’ ‘ Like twitching agonies of men’ ‘Poignant misery of dawn’ ‘Dawn massing in the east her melancholy army’ ‘Ranks on shivering ranks of grey’ ‘Air that shudders black with snow,’ threat created through oxymoron. Sibilance : ‘Sudden successive flights of bullets streak the silence’ conveys dramatic sound of gunfire/ contrast with ‘nothing happens’ Alliteration: ‘Flowing flakes that flock/ frost will fasten’ repeated f sound, slows pace. Contrast with home: ‘Drowse sun dozed’ metaphor for fire: ‘Crusted dark red jewels.’ Repetition to show plight/ poignancy/ loss of hope in religion – they will never return: ’All closed, on us the doors are closed’ ‘For love of god seems dying’ Ambiguity: ‘All their eyes are ice’ lack of emotion/ reality of death/ link with beginning ‘ice.’

4. Structure and Form: Bayonet Charge: Blank verse, ‘In midias res’ technique, abrupt opening straight into mid action with adverb ‘Suddenly.’ Enjambment between stanzas (shot slashed furrows/ threw up a yellow hare) and caesura create change of pace, erratic/ mirrors his movement – running/ stumbling in opening stanza to hesitation in second, picks up pace again in last stanza – blind instinct. Last line, personifies terror, ‘terrors touchy dynamite.’ Focuses on confusion and intensity of battle/ fear. Light Brigade: Ballad form, narrative, rhythm reflects sense of horses galloping, military rhyme and repetition to show progression of battle. Punctuation (exclamations and questions: when can their glory fade? Used to create hyperbolic effect) . Repetition in opening stanza: ‘Half a league /rode the six hundred’ mirrored in last line: noble six hundred.’ Emphasises sense they shouldn’t be forgotten. Kamikaze:3rd person at start changes to daughter’s voice speaking to children, stanzas mirror journey, enjambment, lack of punctuation at start reflects sense of not allowed time for reflection, ‘but’ in second stanza signifies change in direction. Italics conveys change when he returns (living death, patriotism stronger than family). Opening ‘Her father embarked at sunrise (sounds like adventure) ending ‘which had been the better way to die’ suggests living death. Poetry Revision Mat: Conflict/ battle Bayonet Charge- 1st World War, Hughes inspired by poets such as Owen. Conveys immediacy of battle, bayonets hand to hand combat. Fear of individual soldier, but representing many. Links to rawness of natural instinct and challenges meaningfulness of patriotism for individual soldier. Kamikaze – 2nd World War, links to patriotism and effect on individuals: brainwashing, fear, instinct to survive as above. Inspired by observation, as above. Charge of the Light Brigade – Crimean war, challenges politics of war/ class, ideas of patriotism. Honours bravery of soldiers as victims of poor decision. Mismatch in weaponry: horses/ sabres v cannons. Language, Imagery, Devices Bayonet Charge: Verbs convey fear/ present tense, ‘running, stumbling, smacking, sweating.’ Personification, violent image, ‘bullets smacking the belly out of the air.’ Similes: ‘rifle numb as a smashed arm,’ ‘sweating like molten iron,’ ‘foot hung like statuary in mid stride,’ ‘hare that rolled like a flame.’ Alliteration: ‘cold clockwork,’ ‘shot slashed’ ‘terror’s touchy,’ emphasises harsh sounds. Rhetorical question: ’Was he the hand pointing that second?’ marks change of pace as he considers. Listing: ‘king, honour, human dignity, etcetera’ all patriotic reasons now meaningless. Kamikaze: Listing in opening stanza: ‘water, samurai sword, shaven head,’ ritualistic, patriotic. Imagery of simple fishing life: similes ‘like bunting’ ‘like a huge flag’ (warning?), colours: green blue, silver, pearl grey – peaceful/ spiritual. Irony of comparison to grandfather’s fishing boat, listing of fish. Sibilance ‘safe to the shore, salt sodden’ gives emphasis to sense of normality/ safety. Personification of ‘tuna- dark prince’ creates threat of violence/ hierarchy in natural world. Light Brigade: Personification: ‘valley of death/ jaws of death’ ’mouth of hell’, valley of death also linked to biblical imagery/ allusion (psalm 23). Violent verbs: ‘volleyed, thundered, stormed, flashed, plunged’ create sense of movement, noise and chaos of battle. Repetition used for impact, ‘half a league’ (1.5 miles) significant distance into battle (also ’half’ perhaps hints they are not up to it), ‘cannons’ trapped and out weaponed, numbers ‘six hundred’– emphasises loss of life. Rhetorical question, ‘when can their glory fade?’ suggests their sacrifice will be long remembered. Imperatives at end, ‘Honour the Light Brigade’ ordering people to show their respect.

5. Structure: Poppies: Free verse, different stanza length, enjambment and caesura reflects chaotic emotions and lack of control. Opening ‘Three days before Armistice Sunday’ significance of time, irony in marking end of WW1, adds poignancy, last stanza ambiguous – is son dead or left home? Links loss of first day at school and distance ‘your playground voice catching on the wind.’ Images linked to freedom, loss and hope at the end. War Photographer: Rhyming couplets interspersed with non rhyme represents order he has given to the chaos he has witnessed. Working through a mechanical process, distancing himself from the horror. Regular stanzas written as a narrative following act of processing, re-living past horror in present safety. Opening ‘In his dark room he is finally alone – ‘finally’ suggests he is haunted by experiences seeks escapism. In last line, ‘he earns his living and they don’t care,’ sense of numb acceptance, collective pronoun ‘they’ suggests resentment and bitter tone. Remains: Monologue, personal anecdote (typical of Armitage), enjambment and caesura used to emphasise natural speech patterns, last stanza 2 lines, repetition of ‘probably armed, possibly not.’ Opening, ‘On another occasion’ (sounds trivial) ends: ‘his bloody life in my bloody hands’ impact of 2 line stanza/ link to title no resolution/ reliving event and ambiguity in ‘bloody’ adjective and expletive creates bitter tone. Poetry Revision Mat: Voice and Identity Poppies – Weir wrote Poppies for Duffy’s collection ‘Exit Wounds’, gives a woman’s perspective on conflict,/war/loss through relationship with son. Explores personal conflict of mother: having to let go and wanting to protect. Title significant through symbolism – poppies link with remembrance and the end of WW1 yet contemporary conflicts continue. War photographer:- Duffy explores the personal conflict of an individual being in a war zone and not intervening. The photographer acts as an observer recording reality but feels bitter that people at home don’t care. Photography as something creative/ artistic but this is set against the reality of death, suffering and violence in the war zone. The ‘running children in a nightmare heat’ makes reference to the iconic from Vietnam. Remains –Ambiguity in title (human remains and mental aftermath). Contemporary conflict (Afghanistan/ Iraq), impact on individual, ptsd explored. Language, Imagery and Devices Poppies:Imagery linked to textiles (Weir textiles designer) and war, 2 semantic fields put dramatically in contrast to convey domestic and dangerous. Juxtaposition conveys conflict in emotions: ‘sellotape bandaged,’ ‘spasms of paper red,’ ‘blockade of yellow bias binding around your blazer’ alliteration here with plosive ‘b’ sound suggests difficulty in holding back emotions. Similes: ‘like a treasure chest,’ emphasises contrast with son’s desire for freedom, leaned ‘like a wishbone’ visual shape/ fragility/hope. Metaphor,‘gelled blackthorns of your hair’ suggests hardened image and dangerous weapon son has become, ‘released a song bird from its cage’ metaphor for her crying. Symbolism of dove is a repeated motif of peace but also mourning. Listing combined with enjambment: ‘All my words flattened, rolled. Turned into felt/ slowly melting’ suggests emotions are difficult to control. War Photographer: Contrast/ juxtaposition of imagery linked to home and war zone, semantic fields create patterns throughout the poem: ‘rural England,’ ‘Sunday’s supplement’, ‘pre lunch beers,’ set against: ‘with spools of suffering,’ ‘running children in a nightmare heat,’ ‘blood stained into foreign dust.’ Alliteration/ sibilance: ‘spools of suffering’ , ‘solutions slop,’ creates bitter tone (also onomatopoeia). Listing cities linked to past conflicts suggest how war is worldwide: ‘Belfast. Beirut. Phnom Penh. All flesh is grass’ – biblical reference in metaphor expressing fragility of life. Colour connotations: ‘only light is red and softly glows’ suggests blood and violence but also warmth and spiritual peace. ‘Black and white’ pun – newspaper but also lack of compromise - war is black and white as is life and death. Remains: Direct, colloquial style, starts with preposition/ casual tone ‘On another occasion.’ Simplicity of language contrasts with life and death situation ‘looters, legs it’ playing cards analogy ‘three of a kind all letting fly.’ Euphemisms ‘sort of inside out’ ‘flush him out’ lack of identity/ responsibility: ‘somebody else’ animalistic image ‘carted off in the back of a lorry.’ Sibilance ‘sun-stunned, sand smothered’ suggests harsh/ sinister/ remote desert environment contrasting with Britain. Verbs: ‘sleep’ ‘dream’ in infinitive forms suggest how incident repeatedly haunts him.

6. Structure and Form: My Last Duchess: Dramatic monologue, gives psychological insight into character, caesura and enjambment reflect natural flow of speech, captures tone of speaking to another. Use of rhyming couplets and iambic pentameter, typical of romantic poets gives sense of authority and desire for control but also sinister tone/ arrogance of the psychopath. Opening, ‘That’s my last Duchess, painted on the wall’ casual tone, admiration of a work of art. Ending, ‘Neptune ..taming a seahorse, thought a rarity, which Claus of Innsbruck cast in bronze for me!’ Focus on possessions/ works of art to be admired. Circular structure, dramatic ending as reader left to wonder fate of next Duchess. Ozymandias: Iambic pentameter, Sonnet form – nonce sonnet rhyme scheme (made up by poet) shows changing form, perhaps symbolic of broken statue itself. Use of speech/ different narrative perspectives. Opening, ‘I met a traveller from an antique land’ (poet distances himself from direct criticism) ending. ‘lone and level sands stretch far away’ ending focuses on infinity of nature beyond man’s control/ mortality. Poetry Revision Mat: Individual Power My Last Duchess :Pronoun ‘My’ establishes sense of ownership, ‘Last Duchess’ creates intrigue through suggestion of death and aristocratic status of speaker. Browning’s interest in the dark and sinister psyche, based on real Duke of Ferrara. Ozymandias: Name literally translates from Greek as ‘breathe to rule’ suggesting arrogance of ruler, based on Ramesses 11, statue unearthed at time of writing. Also thought to reflect Shelley’s criticism of George 111 and British Monarchy at the time. Links to romanticism and sense of nature’s power over man’s arrogance/ tyranny. Language, Imagery and Devices My Last Duchess: Euphemisms: ‘all smiles stopped together’ show Duke’s control and indicate a lack of remorse. Alliteration emphasises abrupt tone. Metaphor /symbolism: ‘Neptune taming a seahorse’ symbolic of the Duke himself who assumes a godlike power over others and sees this as a triumph not his own weakness. Also curtain as symbol of control. Personal pronouns:‘My gift of a nine hundred years old name’ arrogance of status, aristocracy, patriarchal control. ‘Ask me is they durst’ power and control. Use of names ‘Fra Pandolf,’ ‘Claus of Innsbruck’ indicates desire to impress. Repeated, ‘spot of joy’ pun on ‘spot’ showing her face had some joy in it but a small amount, suggests his jealousy. Sinister tone/ semantic links to death: ‘half flush that dies along her throat’ adds drama/ suggestion of her fate. Patterns of natural speech: e.g. use of questions/ imperatives to show control over guest, ‘wilt please you rise?’ Caesuras (dashes in particular show hesitancy, choosing words carefully) exclamations show rising anger. Ozymandias: Alliteration: ‘on the sand, half sunk, a shattered visage lies,’ sibilant sound creates harsh tone. ‘Sneer of cold command’ similar effect, repeated c. Direct speech to convey sense of arrogance in voice, ‘my name is Ozymandias, king of kings’ biblical reference to convey his extreme arrogance. Semantic field linked to size: ‘colossal wreck’ ‘mighty’, irony in statue being a ‘wreck’ while nature is ‘boundless.’ Juxtaposition: ‘boundless and bare’ ‘lone and level sands stretch far away’ juxtaposition of sands, iconic of time with the broken statue, man’s attempt to transform the natural landscape. Symbolism: Statue ironically comes to symbolise enduring nature of art over tyranny of individual rule.

7. Revision Mat: Power in Society, Past, Identity Structure and Form Tissue: On going monologue, opening, ‘Paper that lets the light shine through’ sounds potentially positive/ transparency leading to the truth. Repeated at end of poem ‘thinned to be transparent’ importance of word/ link to truth. Single line at end ‘turned into your skin’ suggesting our physical bodies are as fragile as paper. Direct address creates sense of shared identity and a humbling image of humanity, mocking man’s pride similar to Ozymandias/ Prelude. Enjambment – defies restriction, the order and control expected by humans. Nature and life/ death beyond human control and things are meant to be passed down – bigger than the individual. Checking Out Me History Irregularity in line length/ stanzas and rhyme with enjambment challenges conventions and creates angry tone but also reflects rhythm of Caribbean story. Sounds song like/ strong sense of voice. Repetition key feature of poem – to emphasise message and mirror idea of rote learning. Opening, ‘Dem tell me,’ dismissing authority/ education system. Ending, ‘I carving out me identity.’ Personal pronoun, responsible for his own sense of self and taking control. Metaphorical ‘carving’ makes this sound positive/ creative/ artistic. Tissue, comes from collection ‘Terrorist at my table, links to causes of terrorism/ fundamentalism. Explores idea that man is fragile but powerful at the same time. Ambiguity throughout makes it challenging. Title is metaphorical – skin as tissue or paper – both can be powerful but fragile and easily destroyed. Nothing meant to last, need to ‘let go’ of power in favour of growth and acceptance. Pass on ownership and let things pass. Checking Out Me History – Agard is known for performance poems and dealing with cultural identity. The title of the poem immediately breaks with grammatical conventions so a strong individual voice is established. Language, Imagery and Devices Tissue: Listing / group of three verbs: pages smoothed,and stroked and turned transparent with attention’ choice of verbs suggest reverence and respect. Metaphor of light –linked to religion used repeatedly (let the light shine through,’ ‘luminous script,’ ‘daylight break.’). Listing/ alliteration ‘marks that rivers make, roads, railtracks, mountainfolds’ combines manmade and natural marks on the landscape.Extended metaphor – moves through different forms/ symbols of power paper takes: religious text such as the koran: altered through ageing and religious significance; buildings - designed on paper and destroyed by politics; paper has power to segregate through maps – man seeking to control nature; power through commerce, ‘fine slips from grocery shops.’ Simile’ fly our lives like paper kites ‘ power is an illusion and fragile. Ending image focuses on human skin – life’s fragility. Checking out Me History Deliberately breaks with conventions of poetry/ language. Dialect captures Caribbean ethnicity. Repetition: ‘Dem tell me’ sounds dismissive and detached from who ‘they’ are, dislike of authority. Restrictive verbs: ‘bandage up,’ ‘blind me,’ suggests negative impact/ injury to the individual. Juxtaposition: Of western history and figures who are nothing to do with his identity with ethnic contemporaries who are part of his history. Comment on education system. Also juxtaposes reality and myth in western culture, ‘de man who discover the balloon/ and de cow who jump over the moon,’ to suggest neither have any relevance to him.Proper nouns: names linked to historical/ cultural context. Natural imagery: ‘fire woman’ ‘freedom river’ ‘healing star’ ‘yellow sunrise’ metaphorical links of cultural figures to elements in nature make them sound heroic compared to western contemporaries.

8. Poetry Revision Mat: Places Structure and Form London First person narration. Quadrains with alternate rhymecreates a regular rhythm and mirrors the sense of the narrator walking. Each stanza focuses on a different issue in society: 1: Misery, 2: Fear and lack of self belief 3: Sacrifice for the rich and powerful 4: How poverty corrupts family life. Opening line: ‘I wander through each chartered street’ Last line ‘blights with plagues the marriage hearse’ disease, death and corruption linked to wedding in powerful oxymoron stating message of how power corrupts. Emigree: First person narration 3 stanza structure, some repetitive elements such as idea of sunlight. Stanza 1: capturing the memory, stanza 2: builds details linked to the city stanza 3: facing up to the dark place her city of memory has become. Opens with ‘There once was a country …’ellipsis creates sense of flashback, ending ‘my shadow falls as evidence of sunlight’ contrast of light and dark used to show the speaker coming to terms with 2 separate identities. • London: London of Victorian England was one of the greatest cites in the world. Blake challenges this view in presenting the darker side of the city .Power was held through institutions and the church while ordinary people suffered poverty and hardship. • Emigree: The speaker struggles to reconcile the 2 identities of her childhood city. On the one hand she sees it as a place of ‘sunlight’ but on the other hand she must come to terms with the reality of what she knows as an adult, it has become an unfamiliar warzone. The poem is inspired by the poet’s interest in mass emigration from countries such as Russia and the Middle East. Language, Imagery and Devices London: Repetition of word ‘chartered’ significant, meaning control/ regulation.Repetition of ‘every’ to show extent of suffering. Alliteration/ metaphor: ‘mind forged manacles’ suggests belief in their own weakness holds them back. Juxtaposition and oxymoron to convey dramatic contrast in the city ‘blackening churchappalls’ ‘runs in blood down palace walls’ ‘marriage hearse’ conveys criticism of institutionsand symbols of power in society, sacrifice of the ordinary people in such a society. Emigree: Personification of city in last stanza: ‘my city comes to me’ I comb its hair’ ‘my city takes me dancing’ ‘my city hides behind me’ as a friend with shared memories who now needs protecting. Also ‘as time rolls its tanks’ suggests change over time conflict has brought, time as the enemy.. Juxtaposition of natural imagery ‘graceful slopes’, sunlight (repeated), with war and conflict, ‘frontiers rise between us, close like waves’ Metaphor: ‘the bright filled paperweight’ suggests distance of her childhood memories of the city, now seems like a souvenir, shiny and unrealistic.

9. Draw lines to make the connections, colour code Fear Ideas to link poems under POWER and CONFLICT Chaos and panic in warzone Patriotism – power of propaganda Mental conflict Bayonet Charge Power or vulnerability in nature Remains Bravery Lasting impact – back home Power in numbers/ weaponry Endurance Charge of the Light Brigade Kamikazie Exposure What remains Helplessness Poppies Others’ perspectives Criticism – political or social War Photographer Needless loss of life or personal loss Contrast Religion

10. Draw lines to make the connections, colour code Ideas to link poems under POWER and CONFLICT Fear of losing identity Power as transient Nature as powerful over mankind Tyranny, exploitation of power Ozymandias Checking out History Power linked to status Inequality Humans imposing power through ideas Personal perspectives Last Duchess Man’s arrogance Tissue Power in society Prelude Conflict in places Emigree Memories Criticism – political or social London Contrast in places Storm on the Island

11. Poetry Timeline and Contextual Links - The Literary Heritage Enlightenment Poetry The period known as the Enlightenment runs from somewhere around 1660 until the beginning of the 19th century. This chunk of time is sometimes referred to as the Age of Reason because of its emphasis on a rational, secular worldview. Enlightenment thinkers wrote on subjects ranging from political philosophyto the nature of humankind. Many scholars argue that, given all this revolutionary thinking, the Enlightenment is the beginning of modern society. The period saw lots of revolutionary activity, such as the French Revolution and the American Revolution. The Romantic poets like William Wordsworth, Shelley and Blake wrote to challenge the Enlightenment's emphasis on reason. Romanticism – Shelley, Wordsworth, Blake Blake's early childhood was dominated by spiritual visions which influenced his personal and working life. A passionate believer in liberty and freedom for all, especially for women, his views were considered controversial at the time. In ‘London’ we see his criticism of state institutions and the church. Both Wordsworth and Shelley wrote in an age that felt a new appreciation for the sublime in the natural world. People had become fascinated by nature's power. Wordsworth’s most famous work, The Prelude (1850), is considered by many to be the crowning achievement of English romanticism. The poem chronicles the spiritual life of the poet and marks the birth of a new genre of poetry. Although Wordsworth worked on The Prelude throughout his life, the poem was published posthumously. Shelley was well known as a 'radical' during his lifetime and some people think Ozymandias reflects this side of his character. Although it is about the remains of a statue of Ozymandias (another name for the Egyptian pharaoh Ramesses II) it can be read as a criticism of tyranny; people or systems that become huge and believe themselves to be invincible. Features of Romanticism include: An emphasis on emotional and imaginative spontaneity The importance of self-expression and individual feeling. Romantic poetry is one of the heart and the emotions, exploring the ‘truth of the imagination' rather than scientific truth. An almost religious response to nature. They were concerned that Nature should not just be seen scientifically but as a living force, either made by a Creator, or as in some way divine, to be neglected at humankind's peril. Some of them were no longer Christian in their beliefs. Shelley was an atheist, and for a while Wordsworth was a pantheist (the belief that god is in everything). Much of their poetry celebrated the beauty of nature, or protested the ugliness of the growing industrialization of the century: the machines, factories, slum conditions, pollution and so on. A capacity for wonder and consequently a reverence for the freshness and innocence of the vision of childhood.  Emphasis on the imagination as a positive and creative faculty. An interest in ‘primitive' forms of art – for instance in the work of early poets (bards), in ancient ballads and folksongs. Some of the Romantics turned back to past times to find inspiration, either to the medieval period, or to Greek and Roman mythology. An interest in and concern for the outcasts of society: tramps, beggars, obsessive characters and the poor and disregarded are especially evident in Romantic poetry How/ where can you apply these principles to the poems of London, The Prelude and Ozymandias? Make a note of them on the poems themselves and the relevant lines. Gothic fiction is a subset of Romanticism. Essentially, Romanticism was a movement that arose in the late eighteenth century that focused on strong and impassioned emotions. This was characterised by people feeling their emotions incredibly intensely; being incredibly moved by their beliefs, to the point of perceived madness.Gothic fiction was an extension of Romanticism insofar as it tended to have horror as its focus. It might include ghosts, the supernatural and a focus on fear. Gothic really falls under Romanticism and that is pretty much the only difference - Gothic is a horror-centric flavour of Romantic.

12. The Poems London (1794) Blake was born in London. This poem was one from the Innocence and Experience collection but had no counterpart in innocence. Bitter and cynical, it is set during a time of poverty, child labour and horrific war with France, when women had no rights, death rates were high and the industrial revolution had resulted in large oppressive factories. London at the time was arguably the greatest city in the world but here Blake looks at lack of power and abuse of power for ordinary people. Blake’s views are revolutionary for the time, challenging the establishment (palaces and churches are symbols of this) and conveying the message that man is worth more than slavery. The Prelude (1805) Is the epitome of the romantic era in poetry, written to challenge current thinking. Epic poems were common at the time, as were poems which looked at the world and man’s place within it. Ozymandias (1818) Was inspired by the recent unearthing of part of a large statue of an Egyptian Pharoah, Ramesses 11. On the base of the statue was written, ‘King of kings am I Ozymandias…’ Pharoahs believed themselves to be gods in mortal form. It is also thought Shelley was directing the criticism of arrogance and tyrannical rue at the current monarch, King George 111. It reflects the key theme of the romantics that nature is greater than mankind. My Last Duchess (1842) Browning’s mastery of the dramatic monologue made him one of the foremost Victorian poets. His poems are known for their irony, characterization, dark humour, social commentary and historical settings. They contain certain elements from the romantic era, such as being written in iambic pentameter but tend to be sinister and dark, containing some features which are clearly gothic. The poem is based on a real Duke of Ferrara from Italy. The Charge if the Light Brigade (1854) Tennyson was recognised as a great literary figure of his age, both to his contemporaries and to modern readers. In his own day he was said to be—with Queen Victoria and Gladstone—one of the three most famous living persons, a reputation no other poet writing in English has ever had. Tennyson was asked to write about the sacrifice of the Light Brigade during the Crimean war, which saw British troops fighting in Russia. At this time guns and cannons were becoming more prevalent on the battlefield but horses were still used for speed, scouting and attacking from the back. The poem focuses on the catastrophe that occurred from a miscommunication and poorly judged order to attack. The men were respected for following orders and their bravery, despite this. There are clearly close religious links with the line ‘though I may walk through the valley of death’ featuring in psalm 23 of the bible. Exposure (1917) Wilfred Owen has become known as one of the greats from WW1, who exposed the reality of life for men in the trenches at a time when recruitment propaganda gave a very different picture to those back at home. He saw the full horror of conditions in the trenches and on the front line. The winter of 1916/1917 was particularly hard on the soldiers with significant snowfall in the trenches. Tragically, he died before the end of the war. Storm on the Island (1966) Seamus Heaney was born in Northern Ireland in 1939. His father was a farmer in rural County Derry and much of Heaney's poetry is about the countryside and farm life of his childhood. The title Storm on the Island is blunt and explicit. Yet because there is no definite or indefinite article (‘'the’ or ‘a’) before the title, there is a sense that Heaney is not writing about one storm in particular, but about many similar storms. Also, we are not told which ‘Island’ it is or where it is. However, it is thought to refer directly to an island off the north coast of Ireland. The first 8 letters of the poem also spell out ‘Stormont’ the seat of political Irish rule, which hints at wider political implications. There is further significance to this storm, which could also be a metaphor for the conflict in Northern Ireland. Bayonet Charge (1957) Hughes father was a veteran of WW1, which may have inspired him for this poem. He was also influenced by the poetry of Wilfred Owen. Hughes writes about the elements and aspects of the natural world in much of his poetry. The poet Simon Armitage said that for Hughes, poetry was ‘a connecting rod between nature and humanity’. The unnamed soldier in Hughes’ poem acts in a raw, primal way, much like an animal’s primal fear and instinct. The inclusion of the yellow hare is a powerful brief moment of the connection between man and nature.

13. Contemporary Poems Remains Simon Armitage is a popular contemporary poet known for his down to earth, direct style and colloquial language. His recent poems have looked at the experiences of war and soldiers. The poem is written from the perspective of a soldier stationed in Iraq or Afghanistan in recent years and the impact of post traumatic stress disorder on his return to civilian life. The language Armitage uses and the and issues he explores makes his poetry very accessible and relevant to the modern reader. Remains is based on a real account of a soldier’s experiences taken from the documentary … Poppies Weir’s poem ‘Poppies’ was commissioned by Duffy as part of a collection of ten contemporary war poems which were published in the Guardian in 2009, as part of a response to the escalating conflict in Afghanistan and the Iraq inquiry.Weir has acknowledged that ‘A lot of my poems are narrative driven or scenarios’, and in ‘Poppies’ she tells the ‘story’ of a mother’s experience of pain and loss as her son leaves home to go to war. She has indicated that: ‘I was subliminally thinking of Susan Owen [mother of Wilfred]… and families of soldiers killed in any war when I wrote this poem. This poem attempts on one level to address female experience and is consciously a political act.’  Her poems have been described as ‘multi-sensory explosions’. War Photographer Carol Ann Duffy, the Scottish poet, was inspired to write this poem by her friendship with a war photographer. She was especially intrigued by the peculiar challenge faced by these people whose job requires them to record terrible, horrific events without being able to directly help their subjects. Duffy perhaps shares an affinity with these photojournalists - while they use the medium of photography to convey certain truths about the human condition, she uses words and language to do the same job. Throughout the poem, Duffy provokes us to consider our own response when confronted with the photographs that we regularly see in our newspaper supplements, and why so many of us have become desensitised to these images.By viewing this issue from the perspective of the photographer, she also reveals the difficulties of such an occupation. By the end of the poem, it is clear her subject straddles two vastly different worlds yet increasingly feels he belongs to neither. Tissue Imtiaz Dharker describes herself as a Scottish Muslim Calvinist, and it is this combination of seemingly irreconcilable differences that characterises both her poetry and her pencil work. (Imtiaz is also an accomplished visual artist) In her earliest books, Purdah and other poems (1988) and Postcards from god (1997) Dharker explores what she calls her ‘real country’: ‘movement, transition, crossing over’, as well as the tensions between secular and religious cultures in a world of fear and emergent fundamentalisms. Tissue comes from a collection called, ‘The Terrorist at My Table.’ Emigree Carol Rumens was born in South London and grew up there. In addition to her own verse, she has published a number of translations of Russian poems and has, according to the critic Ben Wilkinson, a ‘fascination with elsewhere’. This fascination is clear in The Émigrée, which deals with a land and a city which for the speaker is permanently ‘elsewhere’. The poem bases many of the ideas on modern examples of emigration from countries like Russia or the Middle East where people are fleeing corruption or tyranny. Checking Out Me History John Agard started writing poems when he was about sixteen and his first collection of poetry was published in Guyana in 1974. He is not only a popular literary poet, but a powerful performance poet who has a strong sense of his audience. His poems cover a wide range of subjects. As might be expected from his ethnic and cultural roots, race, ethnicity and culture are very important, but Agard’s work also draws on such diverse subjects as ancient mythology, academia, Caribbean folk tales, environmental issues, politics and patriotism. He is most closely identified with a free verse form that uses the rhythms and dialect of Caribbean Creole to make a serious point in a witty way. ‘Checking Out Me History' was published in a collection entitled Half-Caste and Other Poems (2007), a mixture of old and new poems concerned with the theme of race and cultural identity. Kamikaze Beatrice Garland works as a national health service clinician and teacher as well as writing poetry. Kamikaze, a narrative poem, explores a kamikaze pilot’s journey towards battle, his decision to return, and how he is shunned when he returns home.Beatrice Garland once said: “I spend a lot of the day listening to other people’s worlds”. Kamikaze is an example of her imaginative writing where she writes about a subject of which she has no direct experience ‘I spend a lot of the day listening to other people’s worlds. Writing poems offsets that: poetry is a way of talking about how each of us sees, is touched by, grasps, and responds to our own different worlds and the people in them.’

14. How do poets present a sense of place in ‘London’ and ‘The Prelude?’ Both poems ‘London’ and ‘The Prelude’ use form to create a sense of place. London uses an unbroken ABAB rhyme scheme which echoes the relentless misery of the city and contributes to the sense that London is a place of pain and sorrow. In contrast the Prelude uses blank verse and regular, unrhymed iambic pentameter which makes it sound serious and important, emphasising the power of the mountain. The form for each poem also reflects their context in the literary heritage, along with other ‘songs of Experience’ Blake uses this rhyme scheme for simplicity and clear communication to his audience while the Prelude reflects the epic form of poetry which epitomises the romantic era. In London the city is presented as being overcrowded. Blake repeats the phase, ‘I hear’ which emphasises the noise of the city and he refers to numerous people such as ‘soldier’ and ‘harlot’ to create the impression London is a crowded place. In contrast Wordsworth notes that there is, ‘nothing but the starts and the grey sky’ above the narrator, which emphasise the vastness and emptiness of the place she is in. Both places are described as confining and inescapable, in London Blake repeated the word ‘chartered’, meaning legally confined, even linked to the river Thames. This makes it sound like even natural features are controlled by human rules, which emphasises the power the authorities have over the physical place and make the city sound oppressive. In contrast, Wordsworth uses repetition to make nature seem powerful and uncontrollable in the phase, ‘a huge peak. Black and huge.’ The word ‘huge’ is repeated which emphasises the sheer size of the mountain. This highlights that it dominates the narrator’s view and makes it seem that he can’t escape it. The simplicity of the language reminds us of the child’s perspective in the poem, the narrator feels a sense of fear and awe of their natural surroundings, whilst the adult who walks the streets of London presents us with a bleak social criticism of his surroundings. Blake uses sensory imagery to present London as a place that is full of sadness and pain. For example the ‘chimney sweeper’s cry’ appeals to the reader’s sense of hearing, which helps them imagine the sweeper's misery at the dangerous work he has to do. Wordsworth also uses sensory imagery to appeal to the reader’s hearing. He twice uses the word ‘silent’ to describe the waters of the lake, which helps the reader imagine the sense of quiet in the narrator’s surroundings. The sense of place that Blake creates in London is very personal : he uses a first person narrative and the poem follows the narrator’s journey as he walks through London. This suggests that his view is linked closely to his own emotions and feelings but at the same time he is making a strong political and social comment – that the reality of London is that it is not the great capital of the world it was seen to be. The extract from The Prelude is also written in the first person. This allows the reader to see the changing perspective of the place he describes. At the start diction such as ‘sparkling’ and ‘glittering’ create a beautiful, magical image of the lake. However, after seeing the scene in it’s entirety he feels vulnerable under the threat of nature and describes it with negative adjectives such as ‘grim.’ This emphasises how much a person’s sense of place can change. • Annotate for: structure and form, language, context, linking to q, comparison/ connectives. What else would you have added?

15. How is a situation of conflict created in ‘Bayonet Charge’ and ‘Charge of the Light Brigade?’ The Charge of the Light Brigade and Bayonet Charge are both about situations of battle and the experiences of a soldier or soldiers who fought in it. Tennyson wrote COTLB about the unnecessary deaths of the Light Brigade in the Crimean war, while Ted Hughes wrote about a nameless soldier in a battle in World War 1. Tennyson was commissioned to write the poem to honour the lost men whereas Hughes poem focuses on the rawness of instinctual fear in his poem. Both poets use the rhythm and structure of their poems to reflect the attitude of soldiers who fight in it. The COTLB has a regular rhythm which mirrors the steady advance of the cavalry and highlights their willingness to do their duty, even when they know it may lead to their deaths. However, the irregular rhyme scheme disrupts this order, possibly hinting at the doubts and fears of the soldiers. Similarly Bayonet Charge has no rhyme scheme and no regular metre, Hughes emphasises the fear and confusion of the individual and the idea that war is tumultuous and cannot be viewed in an ordered way. The combined use if caesura and enjambment creates a sense of the changing sense of pace and the doubt which makes the soldier question and hesitate in the second stanza. . Bayonet Charge is a more personal narrative than COTLB. In COTLB the poet focuses on the fate of a whole brigade of men, referred to a' the six hundred.’ They act as a unit who are not supposed to ‘reason why’ but to act as commanded. This emphasises the view that war is tragic and personal sacrifice is high as they are no longer ‘the six hundred.’ In contrast Bayonet Charge focuses on the individual and the experience of a single soldier. This allows Hughes to convey the emotions of ‘alarm’ and ‘terror’ presenting war as a personal and emotional experience. It also emphasises the loneliness of war and how isolated soldiers felt making such a ‘charge.’ Both poets refer to weapons to highlight the attitude that warfare can be unfair. Tennyson contrasts sabres with the cannons and battery smoke around them. In Bayonet Charge the rifle is compared to being a ‘smashed arm’ this simile suggests how useless the weapon is. Both poems use personification to convey the violence of the environment. The Light Brigade know they are going into ‘ the valley of death,’ which has biblical connotations. The valley is compared to a monster which will swallow them up, ‘into the mouth of hell.’ In Bayonet Charge personification is used to convey the sense of violence and fear in the noise of gunfire, ‘bullets smacking the belly out of the air,’ This creates a very physical image of sound. The verb ‘smacking’ is also onomatopoeic in effect. Both poems hint at a criticism of politics and the emptiness of patriotism in the face of conflict. In COTLB ‘theirs not to reason why’ suggests the helplessness of the soldiers and their obedience at following an order they know is misjudged and will cost them their lives, ‘while all the world wondered.’ suggests the scale of the political response to this. In Bayonet Charge the listing of thoughts from the soldier, ‘king, country..etc’ which ‘drop like luxuries' suggests all reasons for signing up become meaningless in the face of death. This can be linked to the harsh alliteration in ‘cold clockwork’ which again suggests it is beyond the soldier’s individual control. The poems present different attitudes regarding heroism and nobility. Tennyson’s poem has a solemn tone which emphasises heroism and suggests their actions were momentous. The poem ends with ‘honour the Light Brigade’, the imperative conveying the strength of the poet’s attitude and the nobility of the soldiers. Bayonet Charge ends with the intense image ‘terror’s touchy dynamite’ which evokes the fear and raw instinct of mankind when in such a situation. Alliteration adds an edge to the personified image and the word ‘dynamite’ reminds us of how explosive both literally and emotionally a situation of conflict can be for the soldier. • Annotate for: structure and form, language, contextual links, links to question, comparison/ connectives

16. ‘Ozymandias’ and ‘My Last Duchess’, Theme of Power (following the MTITSLC structure) In ‘Ozymandias,’ Shelley gives a powerful presentation of how mankind’s vanity and egotism is ultimately superseded by nature. An individual ruler may think themselves invincible in their lifetime but the passage of time will ultimately transform them literally to dust. No matter how despotic and feared they may be in life, their power will pass and die. Browning in ‘My Last Duchess’ presents a similarly egocentric individual through his dramatic monologue. The fact that Shelley took a real pharaoh from history, Rameses 11, for his subject is significant. Pharaohs have always been associated with a desire for immortality. The poem is also likely to have been a veiled attack on the present in monarchy England, George 111, with whom Shelley was not impressed. Shelley opens the sonnet with, ‘I met a traveller’ cleverly distancing himself from his subject in the first line of the poem. Similarly, Browning uses a link with a historical figure, an Italian Duke, whose young wife died under suspicious circumstances, for his subject. His attack is on the arrogance of the aristocracy and the power of men over women in Victorian society. The title of ‘Ozymandias’ literally translates from ancient Greek as ‘breathes to rule.’ This is immediately ironic as the life breath and rule of Ozymandias has long since gone and all is left is the broken statue symbolising his status and arrogance. The title in Browning’s poem starts with a possessive pronoun ‘my’ which immediately suggests his possessiveness. The title also reveals the aristocratic status and gives the reader the hint that the Duchess is dead, so creates intrigue. Both poems use symbolism of objects to suggest the immortality of art. The statue, although broken, remains as a symbol and is ironically more powerful because it is broken yet the ‘cold sneer’ of the expression remains. In ‘My Last Duchess’ there is also irony in the portrait of the Duchess looking, ‘as if she were alive.’ It is also symbolic that the portrait is kept behind a curtain, demonstrating the desire for control and power felt by the Duke. He controls who views her perfect smile. Symbolism is also seen in the statue referred to at the end of the poem which can be seen as a metaphor for the Duke and Duchess. He, like Ozymandias, sees himself as godlike ‘Neptune’ who can ‘tame a seahorse’ controlling the vulnerable woman. This can be linked to Victorian society and the power imbalance in society at the time. Men felt a need and expectation to control women. They felt they were defined by their wives behaviour and therefore any impropriety from their wives was perceived as weakness in them. The tone of both poems could be described as ironic to some degree as the characters are actually revealed to be weak in some ways rather than strong by the writers. Both poems use the first person, to some extent, to suggest the arrogance of the ruler. ‘I am Ozymandias, king of kings.’ This phrase has biblical connotations, Ozymandias sees himself above humanity. However, it is written in the present tense, Ozymandias has not considered the passage of time which will reduce him to dust not immortality. The Duke gives a similarly direct statement, ‘I gave commands, than all smiles stopped altogether.’ We are aware of the political and domestic power of the Duke. His use of euphemism ‘all smiles stopped’ suggests he is beyond reproach and clearly he feels no remorse. The language reveals both as despots and tyrants. The statue in Ozymandias captures the ‘sneer of cold command’ the hard c alliterative sound conveys the ruthlessness of the leader. The sibilant alliteration in ‘smiles stopped’ again suggests a hardness in tone. Alliteration is used at the end of Ozymandias to suggest the infinity of nature, ‘lone and level’ suggesting ultimately humans come and go but the landscape remains unchanging and the same.

17. Both poems have a controlled sense of form and structure, though cracks in this structure cleverly reveals weaknesses in the figures themselves. Ozymandias is written as a sonnet, a controlled and sophisticated form of poetry adhering to a rigid structural formula. However, the form of the poem indicates a sense of changing structure, it is a mixture of different sonnet forms, which in itself reinforces the poet’s message that nothing remains the same. Similarly, the dramatic monologue of the Duke is written in iambic pentameter which creates a regularity in rhythm, fitting for the Duke’s desire for power and control. However, the enjambment reveals a loss of this regularity in places. As does the punctuation, particularly the use of dashes and questions which suggest faltering and hesitation, hinting at perhaps a sense of inadequacy and weakness at the heart of the Duke. ’She thanked men, - good! But thanked Somehow – I know not how- as if she ranked’ This gives a disjointed effect, the Duke is struggling for the words to express himself and this gives the impression of natural speech, as he is indeed having a conversation. Speech is also used in ‘Ozymandias,’ but this is one perspective from several we see in the poem. For Browning, the intrigue for the reader comes from the psychological revelation of the Duke via the words he says. This is presented in the line’ My gift of a nine hundred year old name’ which conveys the idea that the Duke sees himself above judgement due to his high born status. Both poets used repetition to convey the arrogance and desire for power together with a certain simplicity in language. In ‘Ozymandias’ Shelley repeats the words ‘king’ and ‘sand’ to convey the truth that nature outlives human beings. The Duke repeats the words ‘stoop’ and ‘smile’ suggesting the trivial nature of the Duchess’s ‘crimes’ and his inability to see himself as human and on the same level. The poets chose to end their poems very differently, Shelley leaves the reader with a strong message of man’s mortality, no matter how important they see themselves to be. Whereas Browning leaves the reader with a dramatic cliff-hanger, wondering whether the next Duchess will receive the same fate and the Duke will continue unpunished.

18. Possible Exam Questions: • How does ‘Remains’ and one other poem create a sense of suffering linked to conflict and war? • How does ‘War Photographer’ and one other poem create a sense of an individual’s perspective on conflict? • How is nature presented as powerful in ‘The Prelude’ and one other poem? • How is the idea of power presented in ‘Ozymandias’ and one other poem?