CONTENTS:
- Assessment objectives
- Key terms
- A Poison Tree
- The Destruction of Sennacherib
- Extract from The Prelude
- The Man He Killed
- Cousin Kate
- Half-Caste
- Exposure
- The Charge of the Light Brigade
- Catrin
- War Photographer
- Belfast Confetti
- The Class Game
- Poppies
- No Problem
- What Were They Like?
- Revision Questions
You will be assessed on these objectives, that means you should always aim to have work which shows them off. They will all get marks but not all the same amount, so AO1 and AO2 will get you in the region of 80% of your poetry marks.
AO1 / Read, understand and respond to texts.-Maintain a critical style and develop an informed personal response
-Use textual references, including quotations, to support and illustrate interpretations.
AO2 / Analyse the language, form and structure used by a writer to create meanings and effects, using relevant subject terminology where appropriate.
AO3 / Show understanding of the relationships between texts and the contexts in which they were written.
AO4 / Use a range of vocabulary and sentence structures for clarity, purpose and effect, with accurate spelling and punctuation.
Half-Caste / John Agard
Catrin / Gillian Clarke
War Photographer / Carole Satyamurti
The Class Game / Mary Casey
No Problem / Benjamin Zephaniah
What Were They Like? / Denise Levertov
Belfast Confetti / Ciaran Carson
Poppies / Jane Weir
Literary Heritage Poems
A Poison Tree / William Blake
The Charge of the Light Brigade / Alfred Tennyson
Extract from The Prelude / William Wordsworth
The Man He Killed / Thomas Hardy
Cousin Kate / Christina Rossetti
Exposure / Wilfred Owen
The Destruction of Sennacherib / Lord Byron
A Poison Tree (1794) William Blake
Poem and Context
Romantic poet – literature rooted in nature and man’s destruction of nature. Blake often uses religious imagery and references. This poem links to anger (wrath) which is one of the seven deadly sins. Blake portrays how you should not allow the evil of wrath to root itself within you or it will lead to the devil’s work.
Theme/Meaning
A man addressing his anger once and getting over it, but then not addressing it the second time and allowing it to grow within him, rooting it firmly within his mind and eventually having it explode with devastating consequences for his “foe” who is found dead under a tree at the end.
Tone/Mood
Ambiguous tone. angry at points, calm and measured at others.
Structure/Form
Ballad - 4 stanzas each with 4 lines, strong rhyming couplets/AABB rhyme scheme.
Techniques – Poetic Terminology
Symbolism – the tree. Firmly rooted and growing/stemming symbolising the anger growing within the speaker.
Anaphora/repetition – “I”. Reinforces it was the speaker’s decision not to deal with his anger.
Personification – “night had veil’d the pole” underscoring the darkness (evil) which hid the killing of his foe.
Language – Words and their importance
“apple” – noun. The symbol of the temptation which links to the Biblical story of Adam and Eve.
“see” – verb. Everything else is past tense but this is a present-tense verb, suggesting the speaker can still visualise the event. It has had a lasting effect.
“foe” – noun. Suggests the person who is dead at the end was the speaker’s enemy, but it is never clarified why. Said in contrast to “friend” in the beginning line.
Key Quotes:
“I was angry with my friend:
I told my wrath, my wrath did end.”
“In the morning glad I see
My foe outstretch’d beneath the tree.”
The Destruction of Sennacherib (1815) – Lord Byron
Poem and Context
Another Romantic poet but more liberal – had an unsettled upbringing and led to Byron living a somewhat risqué life – even dabbling in homosexuality (which was illegal at the time). This poem links to a Biblical story and fundamentally shows that God’s power is far greater than that of mortals/man.
Theme/Meaning
An army went to attack Jerusalem but the ruler – Judah – begged for God’s help. As the army lay in wait the night before attacking, God responds to Judah’s request and sends an “Angel of Death” who breathes on the soldiers and kills them all – showing the power of God over man.
Tone/Mood
Calm and never overly violent – reflecting the power of God over man
Tone changes in final stanza where the “wail” of the families of Sennacherib’s army contrasts the silent and peaceful deaths of the soldiers.
Structure/Form
Ballad form -6 stanzas each with 4 lines (quatrains), strong rhyming couplets/AABB rhyme scheme.
The structure is set out chronologically, in order of the events as they occur.
Techniques – Poetic Terminology
Simile/sibilance – “like stars on the sea”. Underscores the soldiers gleaming – portrays their shiny armour.
Semantic/lexical field of water – “sea”, “wave”, “surf” – suggests cleansing like God cleanses the Earth of these evil men.
Alliteration – “Face of the foe”. Sounds like the breath of the “Angel of Death” as he breathes on the army and kills them all, effortlessly.
Language – Words and their importance
“summer” and “autumn” – nouns. Symbolises things strong and full of life, to then being in a state of decay.
“breathed” – verb. Underscores the lack of effort the Angel of Death needed to wipe out Sennacherib’s army.
“Lord!” – noun. The last word of the poem, underscoring Byron’s viewpoint that God is the most important power and force on Earth.
Key Quotes:
“And the sheen of their spears was like stars on the sea,”
“And breathed in the face of the foe as he pass’d”
Extract from The Prelude (1850) – William Wordsworth
Poem and Context
The third Romantic poet in the collection. As a young man, Wordsworth developed a love of nature, a theme reflected in many of his poems, but he suffered many personal losses in his life and so his poetry often links to grief and losing people he loved.
Theme/Meaning
This section from this epic poem explores the speaker finding a boat and going for a row, only to see the mountains loom over him which terrify him. It affects him for days afterwards – the message being that man does not have power over nature; nature has power over man.
Tone/Mood
Switches from the speaker believing he can control nature, to realising how powerful nature is over man. From calm and peaceful/serene, to terror and nervousness.
Structure/Form
Blank verse - All one lengthy stanza/section from a HUGE poem. No regular rhyme but s STRICT 10 syllables per line.
Techniques – Poetic Terminology
Repetition of monosyllabic word “huge”, reinforces his loss of words at the size of the mountain.
Simile – “like a swan”, suggesting he has power to manipulate the water and power over nature at this point.
Iambic Pentameter – strong 10 syllables per line providing a conversation and chatty/personal tone to the poem.
Language – Words and their importance
“summer” – noun. Suggests the most joyous season and happiness is contained within the poem. Misleading.
“solitude” – noun. Shows how alone he is surrounded by nature and the eminent power of nature.
“and” – conjunction. Repeated showing his breathlessness and anxiety caused by the mountain.
Key Quotes:
“a huge peak, black and huge”
“There hung a darkness, call it solitude”
“No familiar shapes remained,”
The Man He Killed (1902) – Thomas Hardy
Poem and Context
A Victorian novelist and poet who linked a lot of his works to nature and rural life. His work is often real and hard-hitting rather than figurative and encrypted. This poem links to The Boer Wars and his opinion that there is a nonsensical/futile (pointless) nature to war.
Theme/Meaning
Two men from opposite sides in the Boer War meet on the battlefield and shoot at each other. The speaker lives but his adversary does not. The speaker (NOT HARDY but a character in his poem) cannot understand why he killed someone – if they had met anywhere else they would have probably got along and been friends. The poem underscores Hardy’s view that war is futile and pointless.
Tone/Mood
A chatty tone which turns dark and upsetting as the poem continues. The final stanza tries to make light of what he has done, but it is clear that he is critiquing the futility of war and trying to justify his actions in his head.
Structure/Form
Ballad - 5 stanzas each with 4 lines, strong ABAB rhyme scheme/alternate lines rhyme.
Techniques – Poetic Terminology
Repetition – “because” suggesting he is stuttering and trying to justify (to himself) why he killed the man.
Punctuation - particularly the full stop after “and killed him in his place.” Underscoring the finality of the man’s life.
Enjambment – between stanzas 3 and 4, showing how he is thinking that the man was just like him and he is punishing himself for having killed him (underscoring the futility of the situation).
Language – Words and their importance
“he” (in the title) – pronoun. Suggests the speaker is trying to separate himself from the incident.
“foe” – noun. This word is repeated which suggests the speaker is trying to justify to himself why he killed the man – even though he didn’t know him.
“although” – conjunction. Suggests he doesn’t manage to make himself believe he had any good reason to kill him and shows his regret and upset at having killed someone just like himself.
Key Quotes:
“I shot him dead because-
Because he was my foe,”
“just as I – was out of work”
Cousin Kate (1860) – Christina Rossetti
Poem and Context
Another Victorian poet from a family of very important writers. A devoutly religious lady, she often used fantasy to discuss and explore Victorian issues in a symbolic way. This poem critiques the treatment of women in Victorian England.
Theme/Meaning
A young, Victorian girl is seduced by and made to feel special by a “Lord”. She loses her virginity to him, only for him to then cast her aside and start dating the speaker’s cousin – Kate. The speaker is upset and angry but shows happiness and a smug attitude in the end as it is revealed that she conceived a child from the affair (which made her an outcast in Victorian society) but her cousin cannot have a baby.
Tone/Mood
Resentful, Jealous, Betrayed, Smug (in the end)
Structure/Form
Ballad - 6 stanzas each with 8 lines per stanza. Mostly ABAB rhyme scheme but not every alternate line rhymes; where rhyme lacks, there is a point to be made about something being missing/taken away.
Techniques – Poetic Terminology
Sibilance – “shameless shameful life”. Suggests the topic is being shushed – cannot be openly talked about in Victorian times.
Repetition – “pure” in lines 25 and 27. Suggests she is mocking Kate when the speaker is no longer considered pure but the opposite due to the same man.
Simile – “changed me like a glove”. Suggests he changed her like a fashion accessory, but used her like a puppet.
Language – Words and their importance
“plaything” – noun. Suggests she was his toy which he played with for a bit but got bored of and cast aside.
“he” – pronoun. She does not give him a name and repeats “he” throughout, suggesting she kept her dignity and didn’t name him, that he didn’t deserve a name, or that he was the one who was to blame for it all.
“bought” – verb. Suggests that her cousin was tempted by money and was fickle unlike herself who truly loved the Lord.
Key Quotes:
“To lead a shameless shameful life,”
“he changed me like a glove:”
“chose you and cast me by.”
Half-Caste (1996) – John Agard
Poem and Context
Born in Guyana in 1949 to parents of different races, John Agard moved to Britain in 1977. His poetry often includes imaginative and darkly comic critiques of racial misconceptions and divisions.
Theme/Meaning
Written so you read it in a strong Caribbean accent(and therefore feel like you are in speaker’s shoes), the speaker asks, over and over, why he is called “half-caste” and why, when other things are mixed – like keys on a piano – they are considered beautiful and he isn’t.
Tone/Mood
Angry, Annoyed, Demanding
Structure/Form
Free Verse form – debatably 3 stanzas with a short one at the beginning and end with a lengthy one on the middle. No regular rhyme. No set syllables per line. Almost like a rant/getting things off his chest.
Techniques – Poetic Terminology
Semantic/lexical field of colour – “red”, “green”, “black, “white”. Suggests this is a central theme of the poem.
Repetition – “half caste”. Makes you think of his critique of the term and how it is a negative thing to say.
Punctuation – the lack of punctuation adds to the angry rant of the speaker who wants to get everything off his chest in one go and gets you to listen until the end.
Language – Words and their importance
“excuse” – imperative verb. Polite but also quite aggressive. Speaker demanding that you stop and listen to his point.
“human being” – noun. Central point of the poem. Underscores his main idea that we are all the same, no matter our skin colour.
“whole” – adjective. Suggests he wants you to give him a real opportunity and sense of equality, not a half-hearted, fake attempt.
Key Quotes:
“excuse me”
“explain yuself”
“I half-caste human being”
Exposure (1917) – Wilfrid Owen
Poem and Context
Owen was a British soldier in WW1 who was hospitalised at certain points in his career for “shell shock”. Died aged 25 after being shot in service in the war – just days before the war ended. This poem links to the horrors and dangers of war, not just from the opposing armies but from nature and the elements in the treacherous trenches.
Theme/Meaning
A WW1 soldier describes, in detail, the horrors of war - and not just as a result of the gun fire. The use of weather explains how deadly just being in the trenches is and how they are attacked by the elements as well as the opposition. A strong anti-war poem
Tone/Mood
Ominous, Horrific,Terrifying,Cold, Deathly
Structure/Form
A dramatic monologue debatably written in an Ode form. The poem is structured into 8 stanzas. The last line of each stanza is noticeably shorter and indented which emphasises its importance and disrupts the flow of the poem. Many of these short lines are either rhetorical questions or the repetition of the phrase ‘But nothing happens’. Both have the effect of emphasising the apparent pointlessness of what is going on.
The first four lines of each stanza follow the rhyming pattern ofabba. This regularity emphasises the unchanging nature of daily life in the trenches. Many of these are half rhyme and do not quite work as full rhymes eg: knive us/nervous, wire/war, brambles/rumbles. This helps to unsettle the reader and defy the expected outcome, something which again echoes the experience of war.
Techniques – Poetic Terminology
Personification – used to describe the dangers of the elements, making the weather seem as dangerous as the artillery.
Sibilance/alliteration – “sudden successive flights of bullets streak the silence”. Mimicking the sound not only of the icy, deadly winds, but of the whistling of the bullets as they fly through the air.
Refrain – “but nothing happens” on the end of 4 of the stanzas, underscoring the futility of war and the monotony of their days/efforts
Language – Words and their importance
ghosts” – noun. Suggests the soldiers are shadows of their form selves.
“cringe” – verb. Shows the soldiers moving back from the weather and imminent dangers all around them.
“we” – pronoun. A group or men, showing togetherness. Underscoring the fact that everyone felt the same negativity and sense of futility.
Key Quotes:
“merciless iced east winds that knive us…”
“sudden successive flights of bullets streak the silence.”
“but nothing happens”
The Charge of the Light Brigade (1854) – Alfred, Lord Tennyson
Poem and Context
Born at the beginning of the Victorian period, Tennyson was a hugely popular poet and writer. He was made “Poet Laureate” and created poems which were meant to be patriotic and reflect the heroism of our men and our great country. This poem links to an actual battle in the Crimean War where men were misinformed by their superior officer and sent to their inevitable death by marching/riding into an ambush.
Theme/Meaning
On October 25, 1854, a Commander in the Crimean War issued an ambiguous order that his soldiers misinterpreted, resulting in the infamous “Charge of the Light Brigade” against a heavily defended Russian position. Facing artillery and musket fire on three sides, British cavalrymen were slaughtered in 100s as they galloped down the so-called “valley of death.” Yet because they maintained discipline amid the chaos and even managed to briefly scatter the Russians, the British public glorified them.