poetry

kamikaze

"a flask of water, a samuri sword"

• sword won't be much use to him- going to die anyway

• dehuminises him again and reduces him to just a soldier - his life is unimportant

kamikaze

"yes grandfathers boat"

• shared memory of boat connects them, power of family connection, shared memory and legacy

• dashes for parenthesis- a memory within a memory

kamikaze

"he must have wondered which had been the better way to die"

• even though he came back for his family- hes isolated and alone

• internal conflict- would it of been better to have died and have thier memories of him happy or to have died as a ghost in his home

• either way he lost a part of himself

kamikaze

"figure of eight"

• symbolism of infinity

• foreshadowing- plane willloop around and return- inner conflict should he?

• pilots legacy will be remembered forever, passed on by his daughter -but as a failed soldier or as a father?

kamikaze

"he must have looked far down ..... on a green-blue translucent sea"

• conflicted between choosing government or himself

• shift in tone- powerful nature imagery

• "translucent" - was translucent and unclear like his decision

• proustian epiphany powerful enough to overide propaganda- power of nostalgia and memories

the emigree

"there once was a country"

• opening like a fairytale- establishes mood of nostalgia and childhood longing

• as a child she was blind to horrors of her country( wedon't see darkness in fairytales)

the emigree

"they accuse me of being dark in their free city"

• she haunts the country as much as it haunts her-has an attachemnt with the country that she refuses to let go

• she's like a ghost within her own memories

• contrast shows conflict between memory and reality

The emigree

"branded by and impression of sunlight"

• "branded" - image of slavery, will never escape memories or longing for country

• "sunlight -is a slave to her happy and naive memories

• "sunlight"- link "tastes of sunlight"-consuming everything`

The emigree

"sunlight clear"

"that november"

• beautiful and certain

• "november" contrasts with sunlight

• contrasts implies internal conflict between sense of self because of memories and truth

London

"in every infants cry of fear"

• children are supposedly born innocent and should'nt have to suffer

• incites sympathy in the reader and shows how every life is destined for misery

london

"and mark in every face"

• repetition of "marks" demonstrates that this is a permanent impact of a places power- suggestsimpact of suffering can't be moved and like branding of cattle, the citizens are branded by their experiences

• verb- speaker notices the suffering present in London, but he marks it which suggests he is not ignoring it but making a note and recognising it's importance, and the need for it to change

my last duchess

"notice neptune, though, taming a sea horse, thought a rarity"

• moves seamlessly to tslk sbout his new wife showing how disposable first one is

• metaphor of "neptune"- suggests he sees himself as God-like- men are gods that must control their wives

• extremely materialistic as he condemns her finding nature beautiful but places lots of value in a statue

• believes his status and wealth should be seen as more valuable than anything available to common man

london

"mind-forged manacles"

• oppression has resulted in them forging their own restrictions

• internal oppression, culmination of suffering

• "manacles" - associated with slavery and lack of freedom, people are enslaved by their own mindset and fear of aurthorities

• suggesting it is their fears and aversions that prevent change as they are physically free but enslaved by concepts. sending message that society can be reformed with strength

• m letter is laboured and forces speaker to slow down reflects his message and the impact of life on people

London

"black'ning church appalls"

• adjective literal acknowledgement of soot and smoke that polluted every part of london because of industrial revolution

• alternatively- negative connotations of immoral and evil. moral blackening of chuch, percieved as criticism if church and its failure to protect the disadvantaged

• "appalls"- connotes dismay/horror and reflects lack of action of the church, which should offer support and help to the poor but is instead focused on it's own wealth

My last duchess

"my last duchess"

• possesive pronouns to show that he has ownership of the duchess- she is a possession not an individual, no autonomy and is something he can buy, exists for his enjoyment.

• refers to her as my duchess noy my wife showing a lack of affection or emotion - she is an accessory not a partner, shows his complete power over her

my last duchess

"bough of cherries some offcious fool"

• wants his wealth and status to be more important - shows his materialism, doesnt value natural beauty and natural pleasures of the earth

• sees her liking other things as a criticism of himself-presents himeself as insecure, expects her to reserve her joy and smiles for him alone. hurts his pride if he is not unique

• reliant on controlling women to make himself feel powerful

ozymandius

“two vast and trunkless legs of stone”

sibilance across poem echoes:

1. sinister power and cruelty of phararoe

2. quiet of desert now that empire is gone

3. time/nature is stronger than man

4. sounds reflect wearing away of statues

ozymandius

“the lone and level sands stretch far”

• “lone”- isolated, statue is all that remains, only remembered by cruelty

• “level”-featureless,no sign of his legacy

• “sands”- sands has covered statue: “sands of time” have covered his memory. sands outlastyed statue juxtaposed to ego and power

• power and glory isn’t permanent so not worth it

• insignifigant and unrecognised

ozymandius

“wrinkled lip and sneer of cold command”

• “sneer”-mocking smile, malicious,cruel, heartless mocking his subjects- views as inferiour

• presents kings arrognance, and superioirity

• shelley does this to show dangee of a single individual wielding unlimitted paper

• enables them to see other people as inferior and derive an ability to hate them

Ozymandius

“of that collosal wreck”

• oxymoron

• highlights impossibility of what ozymandius wanted/ believed he wanted:

• he wanted immortality/ to be a god - impossible for a mortal who must decay

the prelude

“to reach a chosen point”

• thinks he controls where hes going despite being led by nature

• decieved into a sense of control, but nature chose the point as a destination where he would be humbled

the prelude

“melted all into one track”

“heaving through the water”

• shows how easy is able to move in “unswerving line”

• active verb connotes sustained, intense physical effort

• illusion of control broken as mountain rises from water and natures supremecy becomes apparent

the prelude

“(led by her)”

• can be considered an allusion to idea of mother nature, seen as female for feminine task of creating, sustaining and nurturing life

• by using personification, Woodsworth is able to contrast role of nature to role of a women - women nurture a child ; nature nurtures an entire planet thus demonstrating its superior power

the prelude

single stanza

iambic pentameter

• reflect how woodthworth overwhelmed by mountain

• emphasising overwhelming power of nature

• enjambment makes poem feel endless

• to keep a constant rhythm which to is to contrast revolutionary events whihc occur to man

the prelude

“like a living thing, strode after me”

• very bold implies a lot of strength, demonstrating power

• simile implies speaker is choosing to personify nature but to above his level; but as something other wordly

the prelude

“a huge peak black and huge”

• revelation of natures true power becomes overwhelming and renders him speechless and description becomes more simple and clumsy

• repeats adjective to compensate for devolved vocabulary

• couldnt think of a comparrison because nothing compares

• emphasises sheer size of mountain

• sounds like stuttering- nervous and intimidated by raw power

the prelude

“trouble to my dreams”

• nature transcends mankind and it is not bound by time or restrictions of life

• nature takes many forms to demsonstrate its power and this shows long term impact nature has on him

• transformative effect could be considered humbling but haunting

the prelude

“but huge and mighty forms, that do not live like living men”

• speakee things he is in control, but reallyhe is just followig nature- controlled by greater force

• woodsworth is suggesting how man kind always thinks it is in control but it is always subject to nature

charge of light brigade

“valley of death”

• biblical allusion from bible which refers to protection from god which is ironic

• criticism by tennyson of how members of high ranks should of protected the lower class soldiers but they were instead forced to engage in dangerous conflict because of low status

• symbolises inevetibility of the tragedy; image of valley implies they are trapped

charge of light brigade

“flash’d all their sabres bare”

“flash’d as they turn’d in air”

• fricatatives and siblilance used in repetition to emphasise brutality of situations

charge if the light brigade

“jaws of death”

“mouth of hell”

• metaphors create negative connatations

• claustrophobic connatations which imply soldiers will be “eaten up” by or shredded by bullets

• impression that there is no escape from valley once entered, alludes to story of Roman soldier, who rode his horse into mouth of hell and was killed saving rome

charge of light brigade

“horse and hero fell”

• uses euphamism to soften impact of brutal battle

• doesnt explicitly refer to death

• his job is to present them as heros

charge of light brigade

“theirs not to make reply”

“theirs but to do or die”

• anophora reiterates phrase and soldiers obdience (desirable trate)

• repetition also highlights soldiers lack of individualism

charge of light brigade

“dactylic diameter”

“rhyme scheme”

“media red”

• unrelenting rhytm implies soldiers have no choice and are blindly obeying

• mirror sound of horses running into battle

• symbolises chaos

• irregular and rhyming couplets between indented lines

• establishes tense atmoshphere