Time and Place Poetry analysis

Composed Upon Westminster Bridge rhyme, rhythm and meter

1. Sonnet writing (ABBA) with iambic pentameter
2. First 8 lines - Octave

Composed Upon Westminster Bridge personification, metaphors and simile

'this city doth like a garment wear'
'the river glideth at its own sweet will'
'Dear God! the very houses seem asleep' - elevated description + proclamation

Composed Upon Westminster Bridge perspective and description

Set from a bridge (from afar)
Expanded description

Composed Upon Westminster Bridge - promotion

'Earth has not anything to show more fair' - emphasis + bold statement

Composed Upon Westminster Bridge nature and architecture

Volta - 'smokeless air... valley, rock or hill' - focus on nature
'fair... majesty.. temples... splendour... mighty'
'dull would he be of soul who could flow by a sight so touching in its majesty'

Contrast between clutter and dispersed

Use of commas for appreciation - 'ships, towers, domes, theatres'
Expanded depiction of country - 'open unto the fields, and to the sky' - open

Composed Upon Westminster Bridge contrast and metonomy

'smokeless air' - rare moment
'and all that mighty heart is laying still' London is productive
'never did the sun more beautifully steep'

William Wordsworth context

Romantic poet, who liked to explore the relationship between humans and nature

London rhyme, meter and stanzas

1. Set in iambic tetrameter with ABAB rhyme scheme
2. 14 line stanzas
3. Rhyming couplets

London contrasts and contradictions

1. 'wander...charter'd' - chaotic but not in a literal sense
2.'black'ning church appalls' turns away people
3. 'hartlot's curse... infant's ear... marriage hearse' suggests that people are doomed

Use of marks in London

1. Repetition of 'marks' - irreversible
2. Physiognomy - 'marks of weakness, marks of woe'

London alliteration and anaphora

1. Alliteration - 'mind-forg'd manacles'
2. Anaphora - 'in every' generalises the suffering

London metaphors and symbolism

1. 'near where the charter'd Thames does flow'
2. 'runs in blood down palace walls' - poverty gap
3. 'black'ning' - church has become unsafe and evil

London colloquial language

1. 'charter'd... black'ning... thro'...'
2. 'thro'... hartlot's black'ning'

London despair

1. Lexical field of despair - 'cry... appals... sigh'
2. Bleak mood using morbid tone

William Blake context

1. Contributed to Romanticism
2. Spoke out against social injustice and Industrial revolution's negative impact.
3. Presents world as harmful, cynical and exploitative
4. Held perfect view of London - inhabitant
5. Poem written in aftermath of French Revolution - urging on a Revolt?

Where the Picnic was by Thomas hardy rhyme and meter

Trochaic
1st stanza: irregular + unusual
2nd stanza: Different - regular
3rd stanza: Very regular (rhyming couplets)

Meaning for Where the Picnic rhymesceme

Increase regularity of rhyme - the author's acceptance increases

Where the Picnic was - Symbolism of Sadness

1. 'A cold wind blows' - character has experienced a cold wind through his life
2. 'And the grass is grey' - dull + lifeless - ebbing away of colour
3. 'relic of the day' - remnant of enjoyable past times

Where the Picnic was - Symbolism of Lost Love

'where we made the fire... still shows... as a burnt circle' - fires of love have burnt out
'stick-ends, charred, still strew the sand' - reflects on past times which have long since discontinued
'and shut her eyes forevermore' - the one who's left behind

Where the Picnic was - Personification

'Where the sea breathes brine' - tears and crying + contrast between character's circumstances changing and nature not

Where the Picnic was - use of location

'where no picnics are' - symbol of community so lack of this is a lack of happiness + belonging
'from this grassy rise into urban roar' - change and friends leaving
'in the summer time... through winter mire' - revisiting
'Of branch and briar, on the hill to the sea' - remembers/beloved

Thomas Hardy context

eminent poet and novelist of the Victorian era
written as a direct response to the sudden death in November 1912 of his wife of 38 years, Emma Gifford
ghostly presence of his late wife haunting the places described

John Keats context

Romantic poet
Popular and beautiful poems
'To Autumn' marked his pinnacle and end of his career
Died of TB
Written 19/09/18 (19th century)

To Autumn rhyme scheme/type of poem

Ode
Iambic pentameter - mellifluous + eloquent

To Autumn Lexical fields

'sun...fruit...thatch-eaves...hazel shells' - nature
'ripeness...swell...plump...sweet...o'erbrimm'd' - content

To Autumn Religious and omnipotent connotations

'conspiring with him to load and bless' - sacred/confession
'warm days will never cease' - power

To Autumn relaxed aesthetic

'mellow fruitfulness' - like describing a wine

The Autumn reference to a Goddess

'close bosom-friend of the autumn sun' - celestial
'drows'd with the fume of poppies' - fragrance of drugs - entranced by her
'thy haird soft-lifted by the winnowing wind' - ethereal presence
'lay thy laden head' - burdened greatly

To Autumn activities

'gleaner... cider-press... hook'
Harvest: 'granary... winnowing... half-reap'd furrow... swath'
'like a gleaner thou dost steady thy laden head'

To Autumn - vowel

'oozings, hours by hours' - assonance drags out time

To Autumn - Spring

'Bloom... stubble-plains... lambs... barred clouds'

To Autumn - Autumn conducting a choir

'songs of Spring... wailful choir... mourn... bleat... sing... treble soft... twitter in the skies'

To Autumn - ecology

'And gathering swallows twitter in the sky' - this is done before evening

To Autumn - sensory imagery (feast of sight and sounds)

'who hath not seen thee oft amid thy store' - seeing Goddess
'Drows'd with the fume of poppies' - smell
'ripeness... fruit' - feel and taste
'wailful... mourn'

To Autumn - what each stanza means

1st - touch + taste
2nd - Activities + goddess
3rd - Sounds

Stewart Island context

1. Adcock was born in New Zealand (1934) then moved to England and spent WWII there.
2. Moved back to native country at 13 then back to England in 20s
3. Nomadic existence - major part in poetry which caused a struggle with identity
4. Viewpoint of an outsider
5. Resents New Zealand although revered as national poet (OBE)
6. Stewart Island is third largest of NZ with one town in its bay
Also known as Rakiura (Glowing sky)

Stewart Island tone/humour

Cynical + resentful: 'bear to live there... too cold... bitten... mad seagull... to leave'
Contradiction: 'Maori fisherman with Scottish names' - is peculiar to suggest the situation is fascicle
Plosive: 'jetted down...bitten by... bush down' - harsh
'mad seagull '

Stewart Island rhythm and rhyme sceme

Free verse - enhances resentment - refusal to portray with a meter that would suggest content and amazement
'edge; oyster-boats, too, and Maori fisherman' - abrupt + staccato

Stewart Island perspective

Captivated: ''but look at all this beauty'' - amazed
'she ran off with him that summer' - even the wife gives in and reflects callous tone

Stewart Island nature

'fine bay, all hills and atmosphere; white sand, and bush down to the sea's edge' - lists for emphasis on beauty

Stewart Island punctuation

Lines 15-19 is a long sentence - mirrors chaotic situation
'I had already decided to leave the country' - blunt

Stewart Island pathos

'mad seagull' has demonic connotations
'seven-year-old bitten by sandflies... four-year-old paddled' - evokes pity

Postcard from a Travel Snob - Sophie Hannah rhyme and meter

ABAB rhyme scheme
Iambic pentameter

Postcard from a travel snob - opposing holiday types

'holiday resort... karaoke nights... seaside-town-consumer-hell... hotel... small-minded-package... drunks'

'local farmer's man... no-one speaks english... multi-cultural... wine connoisseurs... anthropoligist'

Postcard from a travel snob - alliteration

'This is a peaceful place... untouched by man' correlates with 'I do not wish that anyone were here'

Postcard from a travel snob - references to alcohol

'pints of beer... sun-and-sangria... drunks'

'wine coinoisseurs'

Postcard from a travel snob - views on culture

'philistine' - not caring
'anthropologist' - wide understanding of different cultures

Postcard from a travel snob - language

'drunken... consumer-hell... perish the thought' - disdainful/cynical

'peaceful place, untouched by man - connoisseurs' - positive/sophisticated

Postcard from a travel snob - mocking

'anthropologist in shorts' - fascicle

Postcard from a travel snob - enjambment

'no house or hotel within a hundred miles' - content and fluidity

Hurricane Hits England by Grace Nichols context

Michael Fish famously dismissed the prospect of a storm
Killed 14 people and damaged property + natural landscape
Happened in 1987
Largest storm since 1708
Strongest gusts of wind exceeded 100 knots

Grace Nichols context

Born in Guyana in 1950
Moved to England in 1977 with husband John Agard
Guyana is on coast of Atlantic - imagery used since accustomed to hurricanes
Caribbean heritage is a strong theme

Hurricane Hits England by Grace Nichols - rhythm and rhyme

Free verse - no rhythm or rhyme
Represents chaotic hurricane

Hurricane Hits England by Grace Nichols - 1st stanza

'to bring her closer to the landscape' - intial lack of clarity (feels more like home) + 3rd person
'howling ship... gathering rage' - personification
'like some dark ancestral sceptre' - power of nature + tension
Oxymoron - 'fearful and reassuring'

Hurricane Hits England by Grace Nichols - 2nd Stanza

'Huracan...Oya...Shango...Hattie' - gods and goddesses of storms (ancestral connotations) + familiarity
'My sweeping, back-home cousin' - relation to Caribbean
Anaphora - 3x 'talk to me' heightens desperation + intrigue

Hurricane Hits England by Grace Nichols - 3rd stanza

Emphasis - 'old tongues reaping havoc in new places' - shows how England was affected and stresses belonging of storms to her native country
1st person - 'tell me why you visit an English coast' - relationship + imploring

Hurricane Hits England by Grace Nichols - 4th stanza

Juxtaposition - 'blinding illumination' - reminiscing on her background
'short-circuit us' - power outage
Contrast between llight and dark - memories and literal

Hurricane Hits England by Grace Nichols - 5th stanza

Simile - 'heavy as whales' - powerful imagery
Explicit - 'crusted roots... cratered graves' - detailed illustration

Hurricane Hits England by Grace Nichols - 6th stanza

'O why is my heart unchained' - contradictory effect
Anaphora - 3x 'I am' suggests devotion
'movement of your winds...mystery of your storm' - unpredictable

Hurricane Hits England by Grace Nichols - 7th stanza

'come to break the frozen lake in me' - hints at alienation due to emigration
'shaking the foundations of the very trees' - uprooted negative emotions like trees
'the earth is the earth is the earth' - commonality

Hurricane hits by Grace Nichols - positive and negative language

'reassuring. . . cousin. . . sweet mystery. . .talk to me'
'rage . . . havoc . . .trees falling. . . shaking the foundations . . .'

U.A. Fanthorpe context

First published poetry in 1978 - 50 years old
Taught English before becoming head at Cheltenham
Took up post as psychiatrist - patient observtion provoked book
Poems range from light verse to dealing with historical context
Loved nature

First Flight by U.A. Fanthorpe context

Her poetry is humane, understated and proverbial (wise)
Juxtaposes perspectives
Witnessed development of international flights
Poem focuses on novice passenger and impact of flying for first time

First Flight by U.A. Fanthorpe - rhyme scheme/meter

Blank verse - no rhyme or rhythm

First Flight by U.A. Fanthorpe - register and amibiguity

'In a car I'd suspect low tyre pressure... this is rather a short hop for me' - varying formality/informality

'I'm doing it to say I've done it... my last trip was Beijing' - multiple interludes - variety and confusion

First Flight by U.A. Fanthorpe - imagery

'porthole... meringue kingdom of cumulus... crinkled tangerine stain' - other realm + strong visual effect

'confounds the forecasters, dismisses clocks' - experience many can relate to

First Flight by U.A. Fanthorpe - space

'mackerel wigs dispense the justice of air' - precarious (holding up?)
'too high for History' - advancements
'I'd suspect low tyre pressure' - worry

First Flight by U.A. Fanthorpe - personification

'earth slithers off at an angle'

'a sun runs up the porthole and vanishes'

First Flight by U.A. Fanthorpe - metaphors

'mackerel wigs dispense the justice of air'

'too cold. too near the Sun'

First Flight by U.A. Fanthorpe - luxury

'read Guardians, discuss secretaries, business lunches'

In Romney Marsh by John Davidson - context

The area is entirely wetland
Victorian era
Integration of industrial elements into the countryside
Davidson showed a strong opposition to this - preservation of natural beauty

In Romney Marsh by John Davidson - meter and rhyme

Ballad form (ABAB)
Tercet stanzas
Iambic tetrameter
First person narrative - deep and meaningful to the person

In Romney Marsh by John Davidson - 1st stanza

'down to Dymchurch Wall' - begins descending journey

'sing' - choir connotations for proclaiming beauty

'Yellow sunlight fall' - use of colour and strong + powerful daylight

Historical context - 'on knolls where Norman churches stand' - 11th century time reference

In Romney Marsh by John Davidson - 2nd stanza

'ringing' - church connotations

'shrilly' - harsh sound to mirror threat to natural beauty

'within the wind' - onomatopoeic sound of wind

'the wire from Romney town to Hythe' - context of Telegraph poles and pylons/change in landscape

'along its airy journey wound' - assonance of 'a'/appreciation of nature and sparsely-populated region

In Romney Marsh by John Davidson - 3rd stanza

'Purple vapour' - mystical sunset

'like sapphire glowed' - precious gem/nature is precious and thus must be protected from nature

'roses' - delicate and a requirement to be preserved

'Heaven's central gates' - divine metaphorical imagery

In Romney Marsh by John Davidson - 4th stanza

'Masts in the offing wagged their tops' - boats in distance

'swinging waves peeled' - metaphor of church bells - celebration

'saffron beach, all diamond drops' - darker red/expensive minerals

'surge, prolonged the roar' - sunlight on water/primal or animalistic - change in time

In Romney Marsh by John Davidson - 5th stanza

'I came up' - physical and spiritual lifting

'Crimson bands' - south coast + sunset

'flicker and fade from out the west' - soothing alliteration

In Romney Marsh by John Davidson - 6th stanza

'like flakes of silver fire' - beautiful simile

'the stars in one great shower came down' - stellar qualities

'Shrill blew the wind' - repetition of wind motif + threat

'Rang out from Hythe to Romney town' - like church bells across South landscape

In Romney Marsh by John Davidson - 7th stanza

'darkly shining salt sea drops' - oxymoron

'Streamed as the waves clashed on the shore' - sibilance + onomatopoeic for greater force

'beach, with all its organ stops' - religious trope

'pealing again' - hymn to nature

Absence rhyme and meter

ABAB rhyme scheme - stichomythia?

Absence- Elizabeth Jennings context

1926-2001
Sensitivity, vulnerability and spiritual aspects in relationships
1960s - Joined 'the movement' - against pretentious and obscure of expression
Popular (comparable to Philip Larkin) and poem is example of her clarity and directness
Emotions of loss, sorrow and yearning beneath seren surface lyric

Absence - 1st stanza

Interludes/conversation: 'I visited the place... nothing was changed' - conversational setting

Negative language: 'nothing was changed... no sign... nothing to instruct me to forget' - emphasis on loss (no empathy)

Onomatopoeic: 'fountains sprayed' - accentuates atmosphere (senses)

Monotonous: 'usual steady jet' - lack of change

'the place where we last met' - importance of first line

Absence - 2nd stanza

Personification - 'thoughtless birds... singing an ecstasy' - no shared grief

Repetition - 'shook out... shake' - jolts the memory of loss

Contrast: 'Pleasures there could not be a pain to bear' - reminisce on inner pain

'Singing an ecstasy I could not share' - highlights unshared grief

'the level breeze' - lack of change

Absence - 3rd stanza

Contrast - 'under all the gentleness there came an earthquake'

Powerful noun - 'absence seem a savage force' - stress on the loss

Comment on situation - 'it was because the place was just the same' reminisce on the last event of unity

List of serene environment: 'fountain, birds and grass'

Recognition of futile efforts: 'your name' - knows it won't matter

I started Early - Took my Dog by Emily Dickinson context

1. Became famous after her death
2. Lived in a virtual recluse (decided to dedicate herself to writing)
3. Poems embrace a wide range of themes (nature, love, marriage, religion and death)
4. Lesbian for a time with multiple flings (passion and love more than sexual encounters)
5. Father gave her the same education as her brother (unusual)
6. Lived inland + never visited the Ocean but included in poems

I started Early - Took my Dog by Emily Dickinson rhythm and rhyme

1. Quatrain - four line stanzas
2. Ballad - traditional verse form of storytelling, usually accompanied by music
Rhyming couplets (not in )

I started Early - Took my Dog by Emily Dickinson basic devices used

Allegory - story/poem that can be interpreted to reveal a hidden meaning (moral message)
Metaphor
Symbolism

I started Early - Took my Dog by Emily Dickinson use of space

'mermaids in the Basement'
'Frigates - in the Upper Floor'

Uses domestic environment to imagine the sea

I started Early - Took my Dog by Emily Dickinson imagery

'extended hempen hands' - personification + makes the image more vivid
'Presuming me to be a mouse' - minimizes author in face of the giant sea
'simple shoe... apron... Bodice'

I started Early - Took my Dog by Emily Dickinson sea and sexual connotations

'no man moved me - till the Tide' - symbolic for a male presence
Repetition of 'past' -

I started Early - Took my Dog by Emily Dickinson fear

'he would eat me up' - force of desire/passion
'a dew upon a Dandelion's sleeve' - minimizing herself to stress fragility
Caesura: 'And then - I started - too -' is broken and initiates fragmenting against the force

I started Early - Took my Dog by Emily Dickinson embodiment of the sea

Personification - 'I felt his silver heel' - surging up
'Upon my ankle - then my shoes would overflow with pearl' is mounting up

I started Early - Took my Dog by Emily Dickinson liquid and solid contrast and symbolism

'overflow... met the solid town' - abrupt
'Took my dog' is only mention - representation of the power of desire and how it can make you forget

Nothing's changed by Tatamkhulu Afrika- author background story

1. Lived in Cape Town's District Six - flourishing community of mixed race and felt at home
2. 1948 - introduction of apartheid system - 'coloured' people lost citizenship and right to vote - poorest way of life
3. Afrika found himself to be of mixed-race then joined ANC
4. ANC was political/terrorist group that campaigned against injustice
5. Afrika joined group and was banned from writing
6. Poem was written in light of political change - reflects on pessimism for the divide between races

Nothing's changed by Tatamkhulu Afrika- context of the poem

1. Autobiographical experience post-Apartheid
2. Poet returns to District Six in Cape Town

Nothing's changed by Tatamkhulu Afrika- events in each stanza

One - pet walks on District Six + notes it is derelict and uncared for
Two - No sign saying 'District Six' but character recongises it since he lived there for so long
Three - Source of anger resides over the opening of a restaurant - description of interior
Four - Triggers feelings of separation and reinforced knowledge of location
Five - Contrasted restaurant for excluded blacks
Six - Poet backs away from glass - moved with anger

Nothing's changed by Tatamkhulu Afrika- rhythm/rhyme scheme

Free verse
1st person present tense
Lack of conjunctions - no cohesion in thought
Exaggerated use of punctuation, obstruction and exclusion by whites

Nothing's changed by Tatamkhulu Afrika- 1st stanza

Onomatopeia: 'click,harsh, crunch' utilises harsh sensory language

Alliteration: 'trouser cuffs, cans, trodden on, crunch' - derelict

Nothing's changed by Tatamkhulu Afrika- 2nd stanza

Repetition of 'and' builds on remembering

'soft labouring of my lungs' - anger is resurfacing

Abstract noun: 'anger' references the injustice