Study Notes on Poems of the Decade
AS and A Level English Literature: Poems of the Decade - Teacher Guide Commentaries
Preface
John Agard's Influence: John Agard discussed the impact of contemporary imagery in poetry compared to traditional themes. Traditional poetry focused on universal themes like Love, Art, and Life. Today’s poetry includes mundane items, exemplified by references like “chlamydia roulette” and “full-fat milk.”
Eclecticism in Poetry: Poets use a wide range of subjects, drawing from mundane to mythological, capturing modern life’s diversity. The eclectic nature raises questions about differentiating between high-quality poetry and lesser works.
Forward Arts Foundation: The Forward Prizes for Poetry celebrate excellence in poetry, aiming to broaden its audience and recognize enduring works. Judges, which include poets and artists, change yearly, bringing different perspectives to the selections.
Diversity in Judging: Judges report a variety in personal preferences, reflecting diversity in tastes and themes — from poems about specific subjects to those that are abstract and lyrical.
Acknowledgements
Esther Morgan's Contribution: Esther Morgan researched and wrote the commentaries on the poems within this guide, highlighting her background and accomplishments.
Introduction
Purpose of the Guide: This guide serves as a resource to aid teachers in understanding and teaching the poems within the anthology selected for AS and A level studies.
Biographical Context: Each poem’s commentary includes background about the poet to support further reading and contextual understanding, although this context is not necessary for students' assessments.
Teaching Strategy: Suggested curriculum methods include comparing poems, clustering related works, and developing unseen analysis skills for A level students.
Poem Commentaries
Patience Agbabi, ‘Eat Me’
Biography: Born in 1965 to Nigerian parents, Agbabi is known for blending performance and page poetry, blurring lines between genres.
Key Themes: The poem explores relationships through the lens of a 'feeder' and 'feedee,' examining gender dynamics and colonial power structures.
Imagery: Use of terms such as “forbidden fruit” reveals complexities of sexuality and power.
Structure and Form: The poem employs alliteration and assonance, heightening sensory experiences and claustrophobia, augmented by a shocking conclusion regarding consumption.
Simon Armitage, ‘Chainsaw Versus the Pampas Grass’
Biography: Renowned poet born in 1963, who transitioned from probation officer to award-winning poet. His works reflect deep engagement with social issues.
Key Themes: This poem features a confrontation between manmade objects and nature, with physical descriptions suggesting gender dynamics.
Dramatic Imagery: Armitage personifies both the chainsaw and pampas grass, implicating broader struggles between the natural and mechanical worlds.
Style and Tone: Conversational language with lyrical elements portray a dynamic narrative and emotional fluctuations throughout the poem.
Ros Barber, ‘Material’
Biography: An academic and poet, Barber is known for combining history and personal reflection in her works.
Key Themes: The poem utilizes a simple object, a lace hanky, to connect personal memories with historical context, encapsulating generational shifts in identity and motherhood.
Structure: Used structured rhyme to evoke the era of the hanky. The poem discusses conflicting feelings about nostalgia and personal expression.
Eavan Boland, ‘Inheritance’
Biography: A prominent Irish poet born in 1944, Boland explores identity and history in her work, particularly femininity within Irish culture.
Key Themes: Boland’s poem grapples with inheritance, both tangible (property) and intangible (emotional legacies). It reflects on maternal connections amidst historical context.
Structure: The poem’s breathy prose-like quality reveals personal ruminations on motherhood and past connections, culminating in an emotional but disheartened reflection on inheritance through love and anxiety.
John Burnside, ‘History’
Biography: A celebrated poet blending lyrical style with themes of nature and human consciousness, Burnside dives into personal and historical connections.
Key Themes: Set against the backdrop of post-9/11 America, Burnside’s poem contrasts everyday beauty with global violence. A celebration of present life amidst the backdrop of historical horror.
Structure: Utilizing fragmented sentences and varied structures, the poem evokes a sense of urgency and deterioration in contemporary human experiences.
Julia Copus, ‘An Easy Passage’
Biography: Poised with themes of family and identity, Copus examines the transitions in life through her poetry.
Key Themes: The poem captures the moment between girlhood and womanhood, a delicate survey of innocence and the encroaching adult world.
Structure: By lending itself to light and color imagery, the poem reflects a transient balance between innocence and looming adult realities.
Tishani Doshi, ‘The Deliverer’
Biography: Doshi, combining cultural identities, explores the impact of contemporary issues through poetry and prose.
Key Themes: The harsh reality of gender selection in India unfolds in stark language depicting infanticide. The use of terse language and emotional depth reveals societal pressures and moral dilemmas.
Carol Ann Duffy, ‘The Map Woman’
Biography: Duffy became the first female Poet Laureate of the UK, noted for her social themes and mastery of various poetic forms.
Key Themes: The poem explores identity mapping through various layers of heritage, depicting the protagonist's sense of self as shaped by her environment.
Style and Form: Duffy's conversational style contrasts with heightened imagery, echoing the evolution of self amid external influence.
Ian Duhig, ‘The Lammas Hireling’
Biography: Duhig’s work, notable for its layered narratives, blends folklore with modern concerns.
Key Themes: This dramatic monologue delves into themes of transgression and transformation in a rural setting, addressing love, guilt, and supernatural elements.
Helen Dunmore, ‘To My Nine-Year-Old Self’
Biography: Acclaimed for her blend of prose and poetry, Dunmore reflects deeply on life and natural themes.
Key Themes: The poem juxtaposes innocence of youth against adult constraints and perceptions, capturing spontaneity and the inevitable loss thereof.
U.A. Fanthorpe, ‘A Minor Role’
Biography: Fanthorpe's work revolves around human experience, reflecting on societal norms and personal truths.
Key Themes: The narrative paints a portrait of coping with illness and the struggle of living authentically amidst societal pressures.
Vicki Feaver, ‘The Gun’
Biography: Feaver explores themes of femininity within violent contexts and folklore.
Key Themes: The poem's exploration of hunting conveys life and death’s interconnections while juxtaposing traditional female roles with violence.
Leontia Flynn, ‘The Furthest Distances I’ve Travelled’
Biography: Flynn's work taps into personal and cultural narratives, often infused with a sharp wit.
Key Themes: The poem examines emotional distances traveled within personal growth, while contrasting youthful freedom with adult realities.
Roderick Ford, ‘Giuseppe’
Biography: Ford’s global experiences shape his nuanced poems that intertwine realism with mythos.
Key Themes: The poem challenges the reader’s understanding of humanity, using the symbol of a mermaid to explore themes of transformation, violence, and moral ambiguity.
Seamus Heaney, ‘Out of the Bag’
Biography: Heaney received the Nobel Prize for Literature and is celebrated for his grounded yet profound explorations of culture and myth.
Key Themes: The poem intertwines personal memory with classical myth, painting a portrait of origins and the human experience.
Alan Jenkins, ‘Effects’
Biography: Jenkins’ work revolves around themes of loss and belonging intertwined with personal reflections.
Key Themes: The poem excavates memories through a simple gesture — holding his mother’s hand — to accumulate a tapestry of familial connections.
Robert Minhinnick, ‘The Fox in the National Museum of Wales’
Biography: Minhinnick’s poetry marries environmental themes with cultural storytelling.
Key Themes: The fox becomes a metaphor for cultural narratives in the museum, revealing the interconnectedness of history and contemporary issues.
Sinéad Morrissey, ‘Genetics’
Biography: A prominent poet whose works reflect on identity shaped by heritage.
Key Themes: The poem examines the interplay of genetic inheritance and individual identity, structured in a villanelle form, echoing cyclical relationships.
Andrew Motion, ‘From the Journal of a Disappointed Man’
Biography: Motion’s works explore personal narratives interlaced with broader historical contexts.
Key Themes: The poem reflects on masculine identity through observation, contrasting personal detachment with active laborers' lives.
Daljit Nagra, ‘Look We Have Coming to Dover!’
Biography: Nagra’s poetry addresses cultural identity and the immigrant experience in modern Britain.
Key Themes: The poem’s playful language contrasts deep themes of identity, belonging and the immigrant experience in the UK.