18 Poems context - Eduquas

The Manhunt - Simon Armitage

The Manhunt - Simon Armitage

poem was written for a documentary called 'Forgotten Heroes' about soldiers affected by war and injury
poem becomes increasingly broken and disorganised as poem progresses
read by Laura Beddoes, whose husband Eddie Beddoes was one of the peacekeeping task force in Bosnia in 1990s. discharged due to injury and suffered from PTSD

Sonnet 43 - Elizabeth Barrett Browning

English poet from the Victorian era
suffered from lifelong illness from age of 15
married poet Robert Browning, to whom she writes the poem but doesn't directly address
interested in women's roles in society and may challenge the stereotypes of women in the poem
she was disinherited by her parents and eloped/travelled to Italy with her husband ('old griefs' suggest sour relationship with family)
lost her faith in God during her life
Church had a significant role in society - 40% went to Church
poem expresses 'intense love'
sonnet form, iambic pentameter, regular rhyme scheme

London - William Blake

part of Romantic movement - radical ideas and focussed on intense emotion and often criticised power
lived in London in 18th century
lost faith in the Church as he believed that they were refusing to help poverty and the suffering
poem was written just after the French Revolution-French citizens with low social status rising up against powerful aristocracy, so he could've been encouraging an uprising
strict rhythm, iambic tetrameter

The Soldier - Rupert Brooke

wrote the poem before WWI began so shows an idealism and optimism about war that contrasts strongly with his poetry from later in the conflict
used to persuade young men to fight - originally called 'The Recruit'
very jingoistic and talks about the countryside as a part of his identity
poets criticised the fact that he was naïve
died in 1915 from blood poisoning whilst serving in Navy and buried in Greece - ironic
sonnet form

poem is very patriartistic - love for your country

She Walks in Beauty - Lord Byron

Romantic poet - praises love and goodness and makes reference to nature, to represent innocence and purity
Byron had many love affairs
writes about way heart often rules head
may have shocked people at the time as he idealises the woman
iambic tetrameter

Living Space - Imtiaz Dharker

Dharker raised in Scotland by Pakistani parents and attended a Calvinist school as a Muslim
now lives between UK and Mumbai - international outlook
poems are brave, political, current, relevant
often explores cultural differences and identity
set in Mumbai - shanty towns, slums, but doesn't mention this - poverty is everywhere. 70% live in slums. people migrate in hope of opportunities as parts are rich and high-tech
Indians may read with a different response
free verse

As Imperceptibly as Grief - Emily Dickinson

from Massachussets 1830
was a recluse and didn't leave the family home for over 30 years and had agoraphobia
private person so poems were not published until after her death. later 20th century readers were intrigued by her eccentricity
not a Romantic poet but shows of Romanticism - spiritual and nature
her window faced a cemetery
5 of childhood friends died of tuberculosis and were buried there

Cozy Apologia - Rita Dove

African-American poet married to her German husband, Fred
about modern day life busyness taking priority in relationships
colloquial language and 1st and 2nd person
1990s - faxes, compact discs
'Big Bad Floyd' hurricane that occurred on Atlantic coast of USA in 1999

Valentine - Carol Ann Duffy

Scottish, modern poet that explores everyday experiences like love and childhood
second person 'you' conversational and informal tone
irregular/free verse and enjambment
contemporary images - often criticised for its tacky commercialism
written after radio producer asked her to write a poem for Valentine's Day
exploration of realistic love
Queen's poet
bisexual

A Wife in London - Thomas Hardy

born in Dorset but moved to London to be an architect, but later returned to Dorset to become a novelist and poet
set in Victorian London - smog and telegrams
poem alludes to the Boer War - British and Dutch settlers in South Africa. audience relate to the grief. 20,000 British and 25,000 Boer civilians died
split into two parts, the first about a telegram, the second about a letter

Death of a Naturalist - Seamus Heaney

grew up on a farm in Northern Ireland - autobiographical and reflects on childhood in rural Ireland in 20th century
discusses loss and innocence - brother died
nostalgia and memories
iambic pentameter, enjambment, volta, caesuras and colloquial language

Hawk Roosting - Ted Hughes

brought up in rural Pennine moors but didn't enjoy countryside - often wrote about the dark side of nature (not cruel, just nature)
first person perspective of hawk - themes of power, pride and a post WWII audience may recognise characteristics of a dictator, like Adolf Hitler
regular stanzas
may reflect the cruelty of humanity and a metaphor for survival of the fittest - humans striving for success
hawks very intelligent, sharp, able hunters

To Autumn - John Keats

Romantic poet - celebrates life and nature, intense emotion and spiritual, written as a reaction to scientific advancement and Industrial Revolution, 1800-50
written in 1819, at the end of his life as he had TB and died at 25 - ill for a while
last of the odes - addressed to something not a person - 3 stanzas
iambi pentameter - conversational

Afternoons - Philip Larkin

worked as a librarian in Hull for 30 years
never married or had children, known for being grumpy, negative and miserable
some audiences find him quite parochial
wrote about observations of everyday life and relationships
offered Poet Laureate in 1984 - declined as disliked fame
late 1950s and set in working-class area - most mothers would have been housewives
regular, structured stanzas

Dulce et Decorum Est - Wilfred Owen

died in WW1 in 1918 aged 25, mother informed by telegraph on day of armistice
wrote about heroism and pity of war, talks about horrors of war and criticises those who glorified it, and audience can relate
used Christian imagery, despite turning from faith
1917 diagnosed with shell-shock and trench fever
rhyming quatrains but lines are broken up
eye witness account

Ozymandias - Percy Bysshe Shelley

Romantic poetry - criticising power, power of nature, art and literature outlives
inspired by statue of Rameses II (Ozymandias - pharaoh who ordered statue made, thought himself god-like, indestructible), which was being transported from Egypt to British Museum in London
power does not last over time, pride comes before a fall
shows interest in exotic settings
sonnet - octet and sestet
destruction of Sadam Hussein's statue in Baghdad was compared to the poem

Mametz Wood - Owen Sheers

motive images that make people consider the past influencing the present
3 lined stanzas like layers
written after visiting a WWI battlefield on the Somme, where 4000 soldiers from 38th Welsh Division were killed or injured
gone to make a short film about 2 Welsh writers who'd written about fighting in Mametz
sent forward towards German guns, innocent went to deaths, accused of cowardice
photo in newspaper - grave found under car factory - disturbing

Excerpt from The Prelude - William Wordsworth

born and lived in the Lake District
autobiographical
one of the first Romantic poets
first collection of poems changed the way people thought about nature and was considered quite radical but became on of England's most famous poets (Poet Laureate 1843)
written in blank verse
kept redrafting until finally published after his death, when people began to appreciate nature due to Industrial Revolution
orphaned - mother died at 8 and lost father at school