Power and Conflict Poetry

Ozymandias by ...

Percy Bysshe Shelley

The narrator meets a traveller...

tells him about a statue in the desert

Statue is of a King and ...

His face is proud and arrogantly boasts about how powerful he is.

However the statue has fallen down ...

and crumbled away so that now only ruins remain

Ozymandias - Pride

Theme - The ruler was proud of what he'd achieved. He called for other rulers to admire him.

Ozymandias - Arrogance

The ruler believed he was the powerful ruler - nobody could compete with him. He was better

Ozymandias - Time

Human civilisations and achievements are insignificant compared to the passing of time.

Ozymandias - Pride quote

"look on my works, ye mighty..."

Ozymandias - Arrogance quote

"King of Kings"

Ozymandias - Time quote

"Nothing beside remains. Round the decay of that colossal wreck"

London by ...

William Blake

The narrator is describing....

a walk around London

He says everywhere he goes...

... the people are affected by misery and despair

This misery is relentless and ...

no can escape it - not even the young and the innocent

People in power (like the Church, the monarchy and wealthy landowners) seem to be...

behind the problems, and do nothing to help the people in need.

London - Anger

Emotive language and repetition show the anger at the situation

London - Hopelessness

They appear hopeless because they are trapped in their own attitudes and not able to help themselves

London - Anger quote

"In every cry of every man, In every infant's cry of fear..."

London - Hopelessness quote

"The mind-forged manacles I hear"

My Last Duchess

by Robert Browning

The Duke proudly points out a portrait of...

His former wife (The duchess) to a visitor

The Duke was angered by...

the Duchess's behaviour - she was friendly towards everyone, and treated him like everyone else.

The Duke stopped...

the Duchess's flirtatious behaviour, strongly hinting that he had her murdered.

At the end the Duke is arranging...

his next marriage

My Last Duchess - Pride

(Theme) The Duke is very proud of his possessions and status.

My Last Duchess - Jealously

(Theme) The Duke couldn't stand the way the Duchess treated him the same as everyone else.

My Last Duchess - Power

The Duke enjoys the control he has over the painting, however he didn't have the same control over his ex-wife.

My Last Duchess - Pride Quote

"My gift of a nine-hundred-years-old name"

My Last Duchess - Jealously Quote

"She looked on, and her looks went everywhere."

My Last Duchess - Power Quote

"I gave commands ; Then all smiles stopped together."

Storm on the Island by

Seamus Heaney

The narrator describes how a community thinks...

it's well prepared for a coming storm

As the poem goes on, their confidence starts to disappear as...

the storm develops.

The ending of the poem describes...

the fear as the storm hits the island.

Storm on the island - Safety

(Theme) The first part of the poem shows that the community feel safe, and prepared for the storm

Storm on the Island - Fear

(Theme) This sense of security soon changes to fear, as familiar things change and become frightening.

Storm on the Island - Helplessness

The people can't do anything about their fear except wait for the storm to finish. Nature is presented as a powerful, relentless force.

Storm on the Island - Safety Quote

"We are prepared: we build our houses squat,"

Storm on the Island -Fear Quote

"It is a huge nothing that we fear."

Storm on the Island - Helplessness Quote

"strafes invisibly...we are bombarded by the empty air."

The Prelude: Stealing the Boat

by William Wordsworth

The narrator finds a boat...

... and steals it.

Initially the narrator seems happy and confident...

... however a mountain appears on the horizon and the narrator is afraid of its size and power

He turns the boat around and goes home, but ...

... his view of nature has changed forever.

The Prelude: Stealing the Boat - Confidence

(Theme) The narrator feels comfortable and in control to start with, but confidence in himself and world around him is shaken by one event.

The Prelude: Stealing the Boat - Fear

(Theme) Nature is shown to be more powerful than a human being.

The Prelude: Stealing the Boat - Reflection

(Theme) The poem ends with the narrator reflecting on how he's been changed by the event.

The Prelude: Stealing the Boat - Confidence Quote

"Within a rocky cave, its usual home / Straight I unloosed her chain..."

The Prelude: Stealing the Boat - Fear Quote

"And growing in still in stature the grim shape / Towered up between me and the stars..."

The Prelude: Stealing the Boat - Reflection Quote

"...moved slowly through my mind/ By day, and were a trouble to my dreams."

Bayonet Charge by...

Ted Hughes

The poems focuses on a single soldier's experience...

of a charge towards enemy lines

The soldier's overriding emotion and motivation is...

fear not patriotic ideals

Bayonet Charge - Terror

(Theme) The poem challenges patriotism and shows how desperate terror becomes the overriding emotion in battle

Bayonet Charge - Confusion

(Theme) The soldier is physically disorientated by the gunfire, but he's also questioning what's he's doing there at all

Bayonet Charge - Terror Quote

"Sweating like molten iron from the centre of his chest,-"

Bayonet Charge -Confusion Quote

"Like a man who has jumped up in the dark and runs listening between his footfalls..."

Tissue by ...

Imtiaz Dharker

The first three stanzas talk about the importance of paper ...

... as a means of recording our history

Stanzas four to six focus on the paradox...

... that paper if fragile, yet still controls our lives.

The final 13 lines explores the ideas that life is more complex ...

... and precious than other things we create. It's also temporary, but forms part of a bigger and ongoing story.

Tissue - Control

(Theme) The poem mentions different things than control human life - there are references to money, religion, nature, pride and governments ("capitals")

Tissue - Freedom

(Theme) The speaker imagines a world that breaks free of restrictions, where humans constructions are less permanent and important.

Tissue - Control Quote

"might fly our lives like paper kites"

Tissue - Freedom Quote

"Maps too. The sun shines through their borderlines..."

The Emigree by ...

Carol Rumens

The speaker talks about a country she left as child and ...

... she has a purely positive view of it.

The city seems under attack and unreachable...

... but she still sees the old city in a positive way.

The Emigree - Nostalgia

(Theme) The speaker's positive memories of the city are unwavering - nothing she hears will change her view of it

The Emigree - Threat

(Theme) The city appears to have been invaded or taken over by a tyrant but the speaker chooses to ignore these things.

The Emigree - Nostalgia Quote

"The white streets of that city, the graceful slopes glow even clearer"

The Emigree - Threat Quote

"It may be at war, it may be sick with tyrants,"

The Charge of the Light Brigade by ...

... Alfred Lord Tennyson

The poem describes a disastrous battle between...

...British Cavalry (soldiers on horseback) and Russian Soldiers during the Crimean War (1853-1856)

A Misunderstanding meant that the light brigade...

... were ordered to advance into a valley surrounded by enemies

The cavalry were only armed with swords...

...whereas the Russians soldiers had guns and cannons.

The Charge of the Light Brigade - Admiration

(Theme) The narrator admires the bravery and sacrifice of the men because they obeyed orders even though they knew death was likely.

The Charge of the Light Brigade - Patriotism

(Theme) The men followed the orders because of their duty to their country, and the speaker portrays them as heroes for the doing this.

The Charge of the Light Brigade - Horror

(Theme) There's a suggestion that the narrator is horrified by the violence of the battle.

The Charge of the Light Brigade - Admiration Quote

"When can their glory fade? / O the wild charge they made!"

The Charge of the Light Brigade - Patriotism Quote

"All the world wonder'd:"

The Charge of the Light Brigade - Horror Quote

"Into the jaws of Death,/ Into the mouth of Hell"

Exposure by ...

... Wilfred Owen

Soldiers in the trenches of World War One are...

...awake at night, afraid of an enemy attack.

However nature seems to be their main enemy...

... it's freezing cold, windy and snowing

The men imagine returning home and ...

... they believe that sacrificing themselves in the war is the only way of keeping their loved ones at home safe.

They return to thinking...

... about their deaths in the icy, bleak trenches.

Exposure - Suffering

(Theme) There are reminders of the real, physical pain that the soldiers experience, as well as their exhaustion and fatigue.

Exposure - Boredom

(Theme) There's a sense of frustration at their situation.

Exposure - Hopelessness

(Theme) The soldiers are helpless against the power of nature.

Exposure - Suffering Quote

"Our brains ache, in the merciless iced east winds that knive us..."

Exposure - Boredom Quote

"But nothing happens."

Exposure - Hopelessness Quote

"All their eyes are ice."

Remains by ...

Simon Armitage

A group of soldiers shoot a man ...

... who is running away from a bank raid he's been involved in.

The soldier telling the story isn't sure whether the man...

... was armed or not - this plays on his mind.

He can't get the man's death...

... out of his head - he's haunted by it.

Remains - Nonchalance

(Theme) Initially, there's a very casual attitude towards the death of the man.

Remains - Guilt

(Theme) The speaker can't get the memory of the killing out of his mind. He is tormented by it.

Remains - Nonchalance Quote

"On another occasion..."