context for mock poems
The Destruction of Sennacherib
Sennacherib was the king of the Assyrian Empire and besieged Jeruslam in 701 BC
King Sennacherib failed to capture Jerusalem
The Bible has an account of this story and acknowledges the Assyrian defeat
The Assyrian account does not acknowledge the horrible defeat
Lord Byron was a Romantic poet and satirist
Lord Byron had a passion for history, the Bible, and the Orient
Lord Byron's father was in debt, so he was raised by an abusive nurse and schizophrenic mother
Extract from ‘The Prelude’
Wordsworth was an early Romantic poet
Wordsworth was an early supporter of the French revolution
Wordsworth's mother died when he was 7, so his family split up to live with other relatives
Wordsworth's mother's side of the family was abusive, so he contemplated suicide
Wordsworth didn’t see his siblings for 9 years, and many family members died
Wordsworth lived in the Lake District and spent time outside to escape his problems
The Man He Killed
The Man He Killed was written in 1902, during the Second Boer war
The British fought the Dutch Settlers in the Boer republics, now known as South Africa
Hardy was against the war since the Boers were just defending their homes
Hardy was interested in Napoleonic wars and interviewed war veterans
Hardy was raised a Christian but became agnostic growing up
The Man He Killed uses the idea that soldiers just follow orders in wars
War Photographer
Satyamurti is a British poet who worked abroad in North America, Singapore, and Uganda
Satyamurti is a sociologist and translator who is interested in people’s stories
Satyamurti’s poetry often deals with difficult subjects such as cancer and the fragility of life
War Photographer is not about a particular war but was republished during the Iraq war (2003-2011)
Some people say war photographers use the suffering of people to make money
What Were They Like?
The USA got involved in the Vietnam war and they ended up losing
The Vietnam war was between the 1960s and 1970s, and 3 million died
Napalm bombs were used during the Vietnam war
The developed freedom in the 1960s lead to the questioning of social authorities
Songs were made to protest against the American involvement in the Vietnam war
Levertov was born in England but moved to the US as a young adult
Levertov's writing voice became more American after moving
Levertov trained as a nurse during WW2
Levertov never had a formal education