Power Poetry

“___ tell me / ___ tell me”

“Dem tell me / dem tell me”

“___ up me ___ with me own ___ / ___ me to me own ___”

“bandage up me eye with me own history / blind me to me own identity”

“___ tell me about de ___ who ___ de ___ / and de ___ who ___ over de ___”

“dem tell me about de man who discovered de balloon / and de cow who jump over de moon”

“But now i ___ out me own ___ / I ___ out me ___”

“But now i checking out me own history / I carving out me identity”

“Two —- and —— legs of stone / —- in the desert”

“Two vast and trunkless legs of stone / stand in the desert”

“Half —-, a —-’- visage ——”

“Half sunk, a shatter’d visage lies”

“whose —— / and —- — and sneer of —- ——-”

“whose frown / and wrinkled lip and sneer of cold command”

“My name is ——, king of ——: / look on my —-, ye ——, and ——!”

“My name is Ozymandias, king of kings: / look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!”

“—— beside ——. Round the —— / of that —— ——, boundless and ——”

“Nothing beside remains. Round the decay / of that collosal wreck , boundless and bare”

“The —- and —- sands —- far away”

“The lone and level lands stretch far away”

“—— that lets the —— ——- through”

“Paper that lets the light shine through”

“pages ——- and ——- and turned ——— with ———”

“pages smoothed and stroked and turned transparent with attention.”

“If ——- were ——-, I might ——- their ——-”

“If buildings were paper, I might feel their drift”

“what was ——— by ——- card might —— our lives like ——- ——-.”

“what was paid by credit card might fly our lives like paper kites.”

“paper ——- and ——- and thinned to be ———, ——- into your ——-.”

“paper smoothed and stroked and thinned to be transparent, turned into your skin.”

“— are ———”

“We are prepared”

“when it —- full ——: — know what i —-”

“when it blows full blast: you know what I mean”

“the — spray —- / the very windows, —- like a —- —- turned ——”

“the flung spray hits / the very windows, spits like a tame cat turned savage.”

“wind —- / and —- invisibly. Space is a ——, / We are —— by empty —-”

“wind dives / and strafes invisibly. Space is a salvo, / We are bombarded by the empty air”

“—— it is a —- —— that we —-”

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

Who wrote London?

William Blake

1794

what is the main theme of London?

Society (protest and social justice)

context for London

Blake was very spiritual but hated how the church took God's messages and ignored them. Theme of social justice. he distrusted technological progress. suspicious of industrialization.

“I wander thro each charter’d street, near where the charter’d Thames does flow” (4)

repetition

controlled by law or people

Blake was suspicious of control

He believed in the value of nature over human intervention (romantic poet)

“I —— thro each ——-’d street, near where the ——’- ——- does flow”

“I wander thro each charter’d street, near where the charter’d Thames does flow”

'marks of weakness, marks of woe' (4)

repetition

he sees sad and diseased people (they are weak)

suggests he blames industrialization for the decline in human health and happiness

the city has a feeling of melancholy

‘—— of weakness, —— of ——-”

‘marks of weakness, marks of woe’

'Infant's cry of fear' (2)

shows the state of London

Babies should be happy but they feel fear, despite not understanding anything within the society they live in

‘—— cry of ——’

‘infant’s cry of fear’

'mind-forg'd manacles' (3)

alliteration

the suffering people feel is all down to humans

people are chaining themselves in laws and bans instead of being free

‘mind - ——- ———’

‘mind - forged manacles’

'black'ning church' (3)

coal in London made buildings black

this symbolises how Blake saw the church as bad and hypocritical

they did not help people in desperate need and were not the 'white' centre of love and help they were shown to be

‘——-’——- church‘

‘black’ning church’

'hapless Soldier's sigh/ Runs in blood down palace walls' (3)

metaphor

the soldier is ordered by royalty/ government and has no power over his future

society has dictated what he will do with his life as he is desperately poor

‘——— soldier’s ——- / runs in ——- —— ——- walls’

‘hapless soldier’s sight / runs in blood down palace walls’

'marriage Hearse' (3)

oxymoron

what should be a happy celebration of love is tainted by disease and death

hearse - a vehicle for carrying dead bodies

‘marriage ——-’

‘marriage hearse

“Every ——- —— appals”

“Every black’ning church appals”

“That’s my ——- ——— painted on the ——-,/ —— as if she were ——”

“That’s my last duchess painted on the wall, / looking as if she were alive”

“Fra ——-”

“Fra Pandolf”

“Will’t —— you —— and —— at her?”

“Will’t please you sit and look at her?”

(since —— puts —— the —— i have —— for ——-, —- i)

(since not puts by the curtains i have drawn for you, but i)

“if —— ——”

“if they durst”

“Sir —- not / her —— ——- only, called that —— of —- into the ———- cheek”

“Sir, ‘twas not / her husband’s presence only, called that spot of joy into the Duchess’ cheek”

“—— - i know not how - as if she —— / my —— of a —-- - hundred - ——- - old name / with —— gift”

“Somehow - i know not how - as if she ranked / my gift of a nine-hundred-years-old name / with anybody’s gift”

“This —-; i gave ——-; then all —- ——- together”

“This grew; i gave commands: then all smiles stopped together”

“Of mine for ——”

“Of mine for dowry”

“Notice —-, though, —— a sea - ——”

“notice Neptune, though, taming a sea-horse”

“It may be ____ with _______…”

“It may be sick with tyrants…”

“It may be sick with tyrants…” (2)

Personification of city

Emphasises strength of her dislike for current controllers of her city

“The _____ streets”

”The white streets”

”The white streets” (2)

Light and colour imagery

Highlights how overwhelmingly positive the speaker’s memories are of her city

“I ____ no ________, there’s no ___ ____ at ___”

“I have no passport, there’s no way back at all”

“I have no passport, there’s no way back at all” (2)

Mysterious language

Suggests exile

“My ____”

“My city"

“My city" (2)

Possesive pronoun

Conveys deep admiration and pride for her city

“I ____ its ____ and love its _______ ____”

“I comb its hair and love its shining eyes”

“I comb its hair and love its shining eyes” (3)

Personification of city

Imagery of innocence and purity

Intesifies the speakers sense of love and affection towards the city

“The ______ filled ___________”

"The bright filled paperweight"

"The bright filled paperweight" (2)

Metaphor

Suggests the strength and solidity of the speakers positive memories

“___ summer ______ (led by ___)”

“One summer evening (led by her)”

“It ___ an act of ______/ And troubled ________”

“It was an act of stealth / And troubled pleasure”

“Small ______ __________ idly in the ____”

“Small circles glittering idly in the moon”

“The _______’_ bound, a huge ____, black and ____”

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

“As if with _______ power ______,/ _________ its head”

“As if with voluntary power instinct, / upreared its head”

“O’er my ______ / there ____ a _______”

“O’er my thoughts / there hung a darkness”

“but ____ and ____ forms (.) / moved ____ through the ____ / by day, and were a _____ to my _____”

“but huge and mighty forms (.) / moved slowly through the mind / by day, and were a trouble to my dreams”