1. Quick recap 15 poems in 60 minutes!
CONFLICT POETRY
Quick recap
15 poems in 60 minutes!

2. FLAG Meaning Pride in your country versus dangers of patriotism Tone
Sarcastic, positive ideas but with negative consequences
Language
Just a piece of cloth – mocking and undermining its power
Negative war imagery to convey danger of patriotism
Structure
Well-structured - links to military and how organised conflict can be
Stanza structure changes at end – emphasises the final line as summing up poem

3. OUT OF THE BLUE
Meaning
Fear, hope, life and death, hopelessness, desperation, terrorism, 9/11
Tone
Hopeful changes to hopeless, panicky tone
Language
Repetition of ‘waving’ to show desperate to be saved
You – direct address used to make poem personal as it could have happened to anyone
Structure
Short stanzas and short lines – man gasping for breath
Enjambment to show he has no time to stop and think

4. MAMETZ WOOD
Meaning
Death of soldiers, time/memory, waste of war, friendship
Tone
Impersonal – shows that people become faceless in war, melancholy tone
Language
Men told to ‘walk not run’ – shows how innocent and childlike (and young) they were
‘China plate’, ‘bird’s egg’ – all fragile – shows fragility of life
Structure
Narrative – like a story (memory)

5. THE YELLOW PALM Meaning Tradition, poverty, victims, hope, culture
Tone
Positive tone even though it is about war deaths – shows that life goes on
Language
Images of modern life juxtaposed with images of warfare
Palm – symbol of hope and peace – they remain hopeful
Links between religion and violence – religion starts war
Structure
Ballad form – tells a story
Every second line rhymes – creates a sense of a funeral song – melancholy dirge

6. THE RIGHT WORD Meaning Innocence, perception, fear, hope, stereotyping
Tone
Fear, negativity and isolation changes to acceptance and forgiveness
Language
Repetition ‘outside the door’ and ‘shadows’ emphasises fear
Questions – draw reader in to think about how they might judge people themselves
Simple words to describe the boy at the end – imply innocence
Structure
Short stanzas show narrator changing mind quickly about how to judge the boy

7. AT THE BORDER, 1979 Theme / meaning
There is a world greater than individual countries
Contrast between expectations and reality
National boundaries/restrictions are perceived as negative
Tone
Nostalgic. Child’s excitement changes to disappointment
Language
Simple language conveys childlike innocence and hopeful expectations
‘Chain’ symbolises division between people – borders
Contrasts with ‘chain’ in last line, which symbolises how all people are connected and all are on the same earth
Structure
Narrative from child’s perspective
Caesura in stanza 5 symbolises them crossing the border and the tone change from excited to disappointed

8. BELFAST CONFETTI Meaning Violence, fear, home, war causes confusion
Tone
Negative, harsh, confusion
Language
‘Confetti’ links to celebration but is ironic as it’s actually describing debris
Punctuation marks used for various reasons – ‘fusillade of question marks’ shows he is questioning why and can’t understand – is confused
Structure
Present tense – causes sense of panic as happening now
Unfinished lines – narrator can’t finish sentences as he is panicking and is confused as to why it has happened

9. POPPIES
Meaning
Mothers and sons, memories, young soldiers, death, individual people
Tone
Sad but hopeful
Language
‘Poppy’ represents sacrifice and ‘dove’ represents peace – implies that he is dead and is now at peace
‘Songbird’ represents letting her son go
‘Wishbone’ – metaphor to symbolise she wishes he would return
Sewing references to show her role as mother and relating situation to something she is familiar with
Structure
Past tense – narrative style with no end – we are left unsure as to where the son is now

10. FUTILITY Meaning Pointlessness, hopelessness, death, comradeship Tone
Hope in stanza 1 changes to hopelessness in stanza 2
Language
Personification of the sun – symbol of hope and positivity contrasts with ‘cold star’ – negative image
Questions – war makes us question everything
Structure
Stanza 1 – gentle and flowing symbolising the hope
Stanza 2 – broken up with question marks and dashes – questioning the futility of war – pointless death - unsettling

11. THE CHARGE OF THE LIGHT BRIGADE
Meaning
Patriotism, bravery, leaders, death
Tone
Positivity for the brave men (even though they don’t come back, they are to be honoured)
Language
Repetition symbolises the relentless attack
‘Rode the six hundred’ changes to ‘not the six hundred’ because they have died
Structure
Irregular rhyme scheme shows uncertainty – will they return or not?
Two sides to poem showing before the attack and after the attack

12. BAYONET CHARGE Meaning Horror of war, patriotism, humanity Tone
Negative, horrific, panic
Language
Similes to show physical and mental pain of soldier – ‘sweating like molten iron from the centre of his chest’ – could symbolise his heart
Image of the yellow hare being shot – shocking – effects of war on everyone and everything
Full of negative war imagery to do with injury
Structure
Enjambment to show the speed of the man who is running – panicking and doesn’t have time to stop
No other people mentioned – shows the inhumanity of war
Imagery makes it seem like a dream - unreal

13. THE FALLING LEAVES Meaning Waste of war, mourning, casualties, death
Tone
Mood of reflection, positive images convey negative overall message
Language
Positive nature imagery contrasts with the reality of war
Alliteration makes it dreamy and a bit eerie
Positive images of soldiers as ‘falling leaves’ shows that they are being mourned and remembered fondly
Structure
No stanzas to give it a narrative feel, a story in the past tense

14. ‘COME ON, COME BACK’ Meaning
Memory, identity, death, nuclear war effects
Tone
Negative at the beginning changes to positive once she is dead
Language
‘Icy-amorous embrace’ oxymoron - presents the water as a lover, welcoming – death is more inviting than life
Water personified and symbolises death, but in a positive way
Repetition makes it more like a dream, hypnotic – also adds to the sense of confusion caused by her memory loss
Structure
Narrative style told in present tense as if people are watching her but from a distance and can’t stop her from killing herself – inevitability of war

15. NEXT TO OF COURSE GOD AMERICA I
Meaning
Patriotism, religion, death
Tone
Satirical, mocking patriotism, sarcastic
Language
Childish words and nonsense words used – ‘by gosh by gum’ – shows that what the speaker is saying is nonsense – patriotism is all for show
Uses a line from the national anthem - ‘land of the pilgrims’ and other clichés to mock
Structure
Written in lower case to show that it is not important, the narrator is mocking patriotism
Rhyme adds to the mocking tone of the poem

16. HAWK ROOSTING Meaning Instinct, nature, death, power Tone
Positive tone of power
Language
Language is sophisticated and shows he is educated, but this contrasts with the stupidity of what he is talking about
‘I hold creation in my foot’ – he has people in the palm of his hand – powerful
Negative images ‘tearing off heads’ – contrasts with the mention of the sun and other positive nature imagery
Structure
Persona of a hawk symbolises a dictator
Stanzas all same length – shows calmness and rational mind of the hawk who is controlling the violence