1. Anthology Poems (in a nutshell)
Remains
Tissue
The Emigree
Bayonet Charge
War Photographer
Checking out me History
Exposure
Kamikaze
My Last Duchess
Storm on the Island
The Charge of the Light Brigade
Poppies
The Prelude
London
Ozymandias

2. Kamikaze GARLAND Context
Themes
Nature
Conflict
Loss/absence
Identity
Memory
Personal conflict
Context
Japanese Kamikaze pilots flew planes into US war ships in WW2.
It was a great honour to be a Kamikaze Pilot.
Form and Structure
Title gives us indication of the context.
Written from a dual perspective – italics signify granddaughter and normal text omniscient narrator.
Language
Natural imagery “shoals of fishes flashing silver” with sibilance represents softness of home.
Listing at start reflects orders given “flask of water, a samurai sword”
Symbolism “figure of eight” infinity.
“One-way journey into history”
“No longer the father we loved”

3. Poppies WEIR Context Writer was a textile designed – fabric imagery.
Themes
Nature
Conflict
Loss/absence
Memory
Identity
Fear
Personal conflict
Context
Writer was a textile designed – fabric imagery.
Writer is a mother herself.
Form and Structure
Use of time indicators “Three days before”
Regular stanza/ line length alongside use of enjambment and caesura shows she is trying to keep emotions together.
Language
Use of fabric imagery, texture to show the layers of her emotions “tucks, darts, pleats”
Symbolism of “songbird” to represent son. “Spasms of red” to represent violence of war.
“The dove pulled freely against the sky”

4. The Prelude WORDSWORTH
Themes
Nature
Conflict
Memory
Fear
Pride
Personal conflict
Context
Poet lived in the Lake District – concerned with nature.
Parents, wife and three children all died early in life.
Form and Structure
Part of a longer autobiographical ‘epic’ poem.
No stanzas make it seem like storytelling.
Starts peacefully but ends with a more tense atmosphere.
Language
Use of “and” makes it seem conversational.
Personification of nature “upreared its head”
Natural imagery changes from being peaceful to scary.
“a huge peak. Black and huge”
“a trouble to my dreams”

5. War Photographer DUFFY
Themes
Conflict
Memory
Anger
Guilt
Personal conflict
War Photographer DUFFY
Context
Developing old photographs involved using lots of chemicals in a dark room to slowly reveal the image.
Poet was friends with war photographers.
Form and Structure
Regular structure of stanzas and rhyming shows how photog. tries to put order into chaos of war.
3rd person narrative distances us from photographer.
Language
Emotive language used to show troubled memories “spools of suffering”
Plosive sounds “Beirut. Belfast” click of camera or explosions?
“blood stained into foreign dust”
“They do not care”

6. London BLAKE
Themes
Human power
Loss and absence
Fear
Anger
Pride
Context
Poet concerned with how the industrial revolution had made poor people’s lives worse – inequality in society.
Rejected organised religion.
Form and Structure
Strict ABAB rhyme scheme makes poem sound song like (from Songs of Experience book)
Four stanzas each show a snapshot of different people in the city.
Language
Repetition of “Chartered” (owned) “marks”
Negative words “woe” “fear” “cry”
Metaphor – “Mind-forged manacles”
Oxymoron – “marriage hearse”
Violent imagery “runs in blood” “blights with plagues”

7. My Last Duchess BROWNING
Themes
Human Power
Memory
Pride
Identity
Context
Based on a real life duke (Alfonso II) in Italy who was rumoured to have killed his wife.
Poem is set in 1564 (3 years after her death)
Form and Structure
Dramatic monologue – only one speaker shows Duke is in control.
Iambic pentameter and rhyming couplets make the speech seem prepared/rehearsed.
Language
Enjambment - he does not want to hear any other opinion.
Personal pronouns – he is only concerned with himself and his possessions “I” “My”
“too soon made glad”
“I gave commands”
“nine-hundred year old name”

8. Remains ARMITAGE Context
Themes
Conflict
Memory
Guilt
Personal Conflict
Context
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder – mental condition which effects many ex-service people.
About modern conflict (Iraq, Afghanistan)
Form and Structure
Conversational tone “end of story, not really”
Enjambment and caesura emphasise natural speaking patterns of speaker.
First person narrative – telling us an incident.
Language
Juxtaposition of the horror of war with the every day “Dream – and he’s torn apart”
Use of anecdote and prosaic (everyday language) “legs it up the road”
“His bloody life in my bloody hands”

9. The Emigree RUMENS Context
Themes
Loss /Absence
Identity
Memory
Personal Conflict
Context
Poet born and brought up in London (a multi-cultural environment)
About modern conflict and immigration from countries involved in conflict or tyranny.
Form and Structure
3 stanzas each of which end with the repeated image of “sunlight”
No consistent structure or rhyme to show her uncertainty. Enjambment.
First person narrative – she is telling a story.
Language
Childish images “a hollow doll” contrasted with dark imagery “mutter death”
Anecdotal “There once was”
Personification of the city “sick with tyrants”
Innocent symbolism “white”
“Time rolls its tanks”

10. The Charge of the Light Brigade TENNYSON
Themes
Human Power
Conflict
Loss
Anger
Context
Battle of Balaclava was a real battle in the Crimean War where there was a great loss of life due to poorly considered orders.
Poet was the poet laureate.
Form and Structure
Strong rhythm reflects the sound of galloping horses.
Repetition of “six hundred” “cannons”
Six stanzas reflect 600 men who died.
Structure breaks down towards poem end.
Language
Military imagery “cannons” “guns” “sabres”
Biblical allusion “Valley of death”
Alliteration used to reflect sound of shots “shot and shell”
“When can their glory fade?”
“mouth of hell”

11. Ozymandias SHELLEY Context Ozymandias refers to Pharaoh Rameses II
Themes
Power of Nature
Human Power
Pride
Context
Ozymandias refers to Pharaoh Rameses II
Shelley was anti-monarchy and against governments which thought they were invincible.
Form and Structure
Sonnet form – but without simple rhyme scheme and not about love.
Two speakers (omniscient narrator and traveller)
One long stanza – reflects storytelling.
Language
Alliteration reflects nothingness of the desert “lone and level” “boundless and bare”
Repetition used to show Ozymandias’ arrogance “King of kings”
“Sneer of cold command”
“Colossal wreck”

12. Exposure OWEN Themes Power of Nature Conflict Loss and absence
Context
Poet was a soldier in WW1 and died in battle.
He was very critical of those in charge during war and felt war was pointless.
Form and Structure
Repetition of hopeless statements (“But nothing happens”) as half lines at the end of each stanza.
Present tense makes us feel their hopelessness.
Para-rhymes give an uncomfortable feel. “faces” and “fusses”
Language
Personification of weather to make it seem like the enemy “winds that knife us”
Sibilance to reflect the sounds of war “sudden successive flights of bullets”
Pathetic fallacy – “clouds sag stormy”
“Our brains ache”

13. Storm on the Island HEANEY
Themes
Power of Nature
Human Power
Fear
Context
Poet grew up in rural island.
References the “troubles” in Ireland – Stormont is the Northern Ireland Government building
Form and Structure
Conversational tone using blank verse with no rhyme and one long stanza.
Present tense makes us feel within the storm.
End – “It is a huge nothing that we fear” – suggests more to be feared than just the storm.
Language
War imagery “salvo” “bombarded” makes the weather sound attacking.
Simile – “like a tame cat turned savage”
Sibilance creates the sound of the wind “dives and strafes invisibly”
“exploding comfortably”

14. Bayonet Charge HUGHES Themes Conflict Fear Personal conflict
Context
Poet briefly served in the RAF before going to Cambridge University.
About trench warfare – going “over the top”
Form and Structure
Begins ‘in media res’ (“suddenly he awoke”) with soldier following orders.
As the poem progresses the soldier begins to question why he is fighting.
Line lengths vary to make the poem begin quickly and then slow down.
Language
Natural imagery contrasts war “green hedge that dazzled with rifle fire”
Hare represents what will happen to the soldier “its mouth wide open silent”
Listing gives patriotism less meaning “king, honour, human dignity, etc”

15. Checking Out Me History AGARD
Themes
Human Power
Anger
Personal conflict
Context
Poet born in the Caribbean and moved to the UK in the 1970s.
Writes to reflect his real speech “Dem tell me”
Form and Structure
First person voice of the poet speaking directly to the reader.
Two structures with different fonts and rhyme schemes – what he is told Vs. his own history.
Repeated phrases reflect repetition of what he is told.
Language
Nursery rhyme references show what English history means to him “Old King Cole”
Light imagery linked to black heroes “beacon” “star” “fire-woman”
Natural imagery linked to black heroes “freedom river”
“I carving out me identity”

16. Tissue DHARKER Themes Power of Nature Human Power Pride Identity
Context
Poet has Pakistani origins but born in Glasgow.
She is interested in global issues, terrorism, religion and identity.
Form and Structure
Written as an ongoing monologue.
No real rhyme, rhythm, structure reflects the transience and movement of tissue, as well as how she would like the world to be.
Language
Extended metaphor of paper represents the fragility of the modern world.
References to everyday objects “koran” “grocery slips” – symbols of wider issues in the world
Natural imagery “sun shines through”