1. Conscientious Objector
Ozymandias by Percy Bysshe Shelley
Power of humans, power of nature, pride, (romanticism): Narrator meets a traveller who tells him of a statue of a previous king in the desert. The king was proud, arrogant and demanding. Because of this ,the statue has been left in ruins.
London by William Blake
Individual experiences, anger, loss, absence: The people of London are affected by misery and despair. Nobody can escape it. People in power create the problem but do nothing to help.
The Prelude by William Wordsworth
Power of nature, fear and individual experiences: An autobiographical poem which explores key moments in Wordsworth’s life. Explores the concept of Romanticism and the idea that nature is powerful. Includes a range of fearful, dramatic and beautiful imagery and is told from a first person perspective.
My Last Duchess by Robert Browning
Pride, jealousy, power of humans (Italian Renaissance): The Duke discusses a portrait of a Duchess (his former wife). He initially seems really proud of her but it becomes clear that he was very angered by her flirtatious behaviour and try to stop it.
The Charge of the Light Brigade by Alfred Lord Tennyson
Effects of conflict and realities of war: A tribute to the men who died in battle. Description of a battle between Russian forces and British cavalry. Based on a misunderstanding – British only had swords whereas the Russian soldiers had guns. The Light Brigade were defenceless.
Exposure by Wilfred Owen
Reality of war, power of nature, loss and absence: This was written by Wilfred Owen whilst he was in the trenches during World War One, not long before he was killed in battle. The poem reveals his anger at the horrific conditions of war and explores feelings and attitudes of suffering, boredom, hopelessness .
Storm on the Island by Seamus Heaney
Power of nature, fear, individual experiences of place: Explores a community that believes it is ready for a storm but as the storm develops, their confidence disappears. Uses violent imagery to describe the power and sounds of the storm. By the end of the poem, it describes the fear as the storm hits.
Bayonet charge by Ted Hughes
Effects of conflict, reality of war, fear: A focus on one soldier’s experience of a charge towards enemy lines. Includes a combination of violent and natural imagery to describe his thoughts and actions as he tries to stay alive. His patriotism is replaced by fear.
Remains by Simon Armitage
Memory, effects of conflict and individual experiences: Poem told from the point of view of a soldier who survived was but is suffering from PTSD. A group of soldiers shoot a man who is trying toe escape a bank raid and graphic imagery is used to describe the brutality of his death. He is haunted by the death of the man when he returns from war.
Poppies by Jane Weir
Effects of conflict, loss, absence and identity: A mother describes her son leaving home. The poet uses a combination of war and domestic imagery to describe her feelings and emotions about him leaving which are sadness, loneliness and fear. After he leaves, she goes to places that remind her of him to try and find any trace of him.
War Photographer by Carol Ann Duffy
Memory, individual experiences ad effects of conflict: A war photographer is developing pictures that he has taken from across the world. He contrasts being safe in England with where he has been. The photographer remembers the death of a man and the cries of his wife using emotive language and religious imagery. The end of the poem focuses on the fact that the people back in England do not care about the people and places affected by war.
Tissue by Imtiaz Dharker
Power of nature, power of humans, identity: The first three stanzas discuss the importance of paper as a means of recording our history. Stanzas 4-6 focus on the paradox that paper is fragile yet controls our lives. The poem explores the idea of creation in particular human life and discusses the idea that life is more complex than other things that we create but also temporary.
The Emigrée
Carol Rumens
Memory, loss, individual experiences: The speaker discusses her very positive view of a city in a country that she left as a child. The city seems to be under attack and unreachable; however, the poet uses personification to make it seem as if the city comes to her. Despite being threatened by an unknown ‘they’ she still sees the city in a positive way. The city may not be a real place. It may represent a time, person or emotion.
Kamikaze
Beatrice Garland
Identity, memory, power of nature: The poem opens with a Kamikaze pilot setting off on a mission (Japanese pilot used towards the end of WW2 to fly at enemy ships on suicide missions – this was seen as a great honour). As the poem develops we learn that the pilot turns around and does not complete his mission. The poet uses natural imagery to emphasise the idea that he realised the beauty of nature and remembered his childhood. When the pilot got home he was shamed and they acted as though he didn’t exist.
Checking out me history
John Agard
Identity, anger, power of humans: The narrator is talking about his identity and how it links to his knowledge of history. He remembers being taught about British history but not his Caribbean routes. He comments on the fact that he doesn’t know about famous figures from other cultures. He mentions how he believes that men and women from diverse backgrounds should be celebrated. At the end of the poem, he says that he will create his own identity based on his heritage.
Poetry Vocabulary
Sonnet
Elegy
Caesura
Metaphor
Euphemism
Personification
Enjambment
Alliteration
Oxymoron
Juxtaposition
Consonance
Assonance
Figurative vs. Literal
Quatrain
Volta
Desertion
Emphasises
Exaggerates
Accentuates
Implies
Connotes
Depicts
Evokes / evocative
Subject vocabulary
Bleak
Patriotic
Nostalgic
Blunt
Melancholy
Contemptuousness
Bewilderment
Exasperation
Polemic
Naivety
Remembrance
Futile
Conscription
Mourning
Jingoism
Draft
Conscientious Objector
Accusative
Subordination
Desertion
Condemnation
Denounces
Defiance