POWER AND CONFLICT POEMS

SUMMARY

OZYMANDIAS

a mans power only lasts a certain period of time and nature will outlast ALWAYS.

poem is about an arrogant king who tries to immortalise power in a statue.

nature destroys his achievements

LONDON

• The speaker describes his experience of walking through the streets of London.

• He is struck by the poverty, disease and misery he sees and expresses anger that those in power do nothing to help.

WAR PHOTOGRAPHER

• The speaker describes a war photographer developing photos in his dark room.

• he explores the complex and potentially controversial role of a war photographer, who is so close to horrific events but can do nothing to help.

STORM ON THE ISLAND

Storm on the Island describes a community's response to a storm.

• The speaker describes a storm attacking the island he lives on.

• The community thought they were prepared. But as the poem goes on, it becomes clear that the storm was powerful and frightening.

• Their feelings of security turn to fear.

• The poem has also been interpreted as a metaphor for the conflict in Northern Ireland.

EXPOSURE

written from the point of view of a WW1 soldier describing living through the misery, boredom and icy weather conditions during a night in the trenches.

The weather is presented as the real enemy of the soldiers.

• The speaker hints at the fact that war changes the soldiers irreversibly as they no longer fit in when they return home.

• The negative consequences of war are lasting.

MY LAST DUCHESS

• The Duke boasts about his art and a portrait of his former wife (covered up by a curtain).

• the Duke was controlling and possessive.

• It is strongly hinted that he arranged for his ‘last Duchess’ to be killed.

THE PRELUDE

• In this extract, Wordsworth describes a Summer’s evening taking a boat out across a lake.

• At first, nature appears wondrous and enchanting. But when the speaker sees a large peak emerge, the speaker is frightened and turns back.

• Wordsworth explores the power of nature, presenting it as untameable and awe-inspiring.

  • Mankind’s inability to understand nature is also explored.

CHARGE OF THE LIGHT BRIGADE

Alfred Tennyson wrote Charge of the Light Brigade to commemorate those who died in the Battle of Balaclava (1854) in the Crimean War.

• The poem describes a brigade that's instructed to charge forward into a valley surrounded by enemy soldiers.

• The soldiers were armed with cannons and guns.

• Most soldiers were killed.

BAYONET CHARGE

• The poem describes the thoughts and actions of a WW1 soldier as he charges towards the enemy in battle.

• He is “going over the top” (emerging from the trenches onto the battlefield) armed with a bayonet (a long knife attached to the end of a rifle)

• The poem depicts his transformation into more of a machine than a human.

POPPIES

Jane Weir wrote Poppies as a dramatic monologue, which is a form of poetry where an imagined speaker addresses a silent audience

In Poppies, a mother speaks to her son who is presumably going off to war.

Weir herself describes the poem as a “contemporary war poem”.

• The mother reminisces about the day he left and the way her memories are brought back on Armistice Sunday.

TISSUE

Tissue is an impressionistic poem by Imtiaz Dharker that comments on the conflicts and troubles of the modern world.

she writes about issues such as terrorism ,identity, freedom and religion

THE EMIGREE

the speaker describes her positive childhood memories of a city that she left as a child.

• There is a strong sense of nostalgia in the poem.

KAMIKAZE

he speaker describes her father, a Kamikaze pilot, heading out one day on a suicide mission but then turning back.

• Through the description of the fish, sea, shore and pebbles, the poet explores ideas about the beauty of nature and its effects on humans.

• The poem explores the pilot’s ostracisation (isolation) from his community because of failing to do what was seen as his duty.

CHECKING OUT ME HISTORY

• The poem challenges the way British history teaching is so heavily focused on European history.

• It advocates for the inclusion of influential black figures in history teaching.

• The poem explores the idea of humans’ power to shape and define history according to their own agendas.

  • Agard challenges the acceptance that those with power shape the way history is presented.

  • There are hints of rebellion against authority and challenging accepted norms of society – particularly in the final line with the phrase “carving out me identity”.

REMAINS

the speaker describes an occasion during war when he shot a looter.

He is unable to get the memory out of his mind and is traumatised

• He is suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD – anxiety caused by very distressing or traumatising events) even when he is home.