poetry - contexts

the manhunt - simon armitage

• written in 2007 for a documentary about the effects of war on soldiers

• POV of laura beddoes, about eddie beddoes

• eddie served in bonian war

• key theme is PTSD

valentine - carol ann duffy

• victorian style monologue to pay homage to poets like robert browning to explore ideas that challenged tradition

• post-modernist that uses hyperrealities and irony to break apart stereotypes in literature

• openly LGBTQ poet

to autumn - john keats

• published 1820 as he was dying of TB after nursing his brother

• final, great lyrical ode to pay tribute to season of autumn

• romantic poet

• poem entrails beauty of life and death despite keats’ suffering

she walks in beauty - lord byron

• leading figure in romantic movement, adored by many

• notorious for his sexual relationships with both men and women

• written on returning home from party where he saw mourning cousin, lady wilmot horton

london - william blake

• romantic poet

• written in 1794 (18th century was industrial revolution) → unhygienic conditions, bad health, overcrowding, dangerous jobs, girls becoming harlots for money to survive

• criticised the church due to treatment of poor

• lost faith in organised religion but remained personally religious

a wife in london - thomas hardy

• written in 1899, start of boer war 2

• anti-war poem even though poet never fought himself

• often wrote about injustice, love, breakups, fate, unjust treatment of women

the soldier - rupert brooke

• written in 1914

• died after one day’s action

• no mention of suffering or negativity - patriarchal sentiments made it a great recruitment poem to encourage other young men to enlist for WW1

dulce decorum est - wilfred owen

• written in 1917

• crticising people like jesse pope e.g rupert brooke who glorify war

• rejecting horace’s maxim that it is sweet and right to die for your country

afternoons - philip larkin

• 20th century poet that wrote based on everyday life

• pessimistic view of family and love

• written in 1959, gender roles were very defined

death of a naturalist - seamus heaney

• written in 1966

• grew up on a farm, wrote naturalistic poems

• poem speaks about how violence of the IRA (civil war) affected his view of the world

mametz woods - owen sheers

• born in fiji in 1974, did not fight in WW1

• wrote about visiting battlefield for battle of somme

• found mass grave while filming documentary in france (20 soldiers in one grave)

as imperceptibly as grief - emily dickinson

• american poet writing during and after civil war (1865 = end of war)

• unknown trauma, depressed? stayed home most time

• raised protestant, but was a religious sceptic

• rebel - against domestic life

• poems explore death and immortality

cozy apologia - rita dove

• autobiographical poem to express her love for fred viebahn, another poet (he’s white, she’s black = adversity but were happily married for 20 years when written)

• set against backdrop of 1999 hurricane big bad floyd that trapped couple together in apartment

gay

leo

hawk roosting - ted hughes

• 20th century poet

• poem about power of nature but can be interpreted as human power

• written after cold war; hawk could represent tyrants e.g hitler

living space - imtiaz dharker

• wrote about difficulties of living in slums of mumbai

• from pakistan, is an artist

sonnet 43 - elizabeth barett browning

• written for robert browning, the sonnets being declarations of love for him

• “in my old griefs” refers to her turbulent relationship with her parents, who eventually disowned her, or her illness

ozymandias - percy shelley

• romantic poet - fascinated by overwhelming power of nature

• written to criticise ramses II, a powerful egyptian pharaoh who ordered slaves to build memorial statues that he thought would last forever

the prelude - william wordsworth

• romantic poet

• spent most of his childhood in the lake district

• parents died when he was young