Poetry - In depth

Question 1

Summarise Storm On the Island

What are the themes of Storm On the Island?

Answer 1

The storm is a metaphor for the Troubles in Ireland and Northern Ireland

Power of nature (power of humans, effect + reality of conflict, memory, anger, fear)

Question 2

What is the context to Storm On the Island?

Answer 2

Written during the Troubles (tumultuous time between Britain + Ireland). Heaney was born on a farm in Northern Ireland, later lived in Republic of Ireland.
Troubles began in 60s - Derry Civil Rights march (1968), Battle of the Bogside (1969), deployment of British troops (1969). Written in 1966

Question 3

What are your language quotes for Storm On the Island?

Answer 3

“exploding comfortably” -oxymoron (different opinions on nationalist debate), ‘exploding’ = IRA, ‘comfortably’ = Irish support + desensitisation

“spits like a tame cat turned savage” - simile, wouldn’t expect wind to be dangerous (need preparing) OR situation currently calm, warning not to spark

First 8 letters of title spell Stormont -official government building in Belfast, significant in Irish National debate

Question 4

What is your structure quote for Storm On the Island?

Answer 4

Lots of enjambment - Troubles were relentless, Catholic / Protestant animosity would never end, OR power of nature would always be a threat

Question 5

Summarise Ozymandias

What are the themes of Ozymandias?

Answer 5

Discusses the remains of a weathered statue in the desert - the old king is now powerless

Power of humans (power of nature, memory, loss and absence, identity, pride)

Question 6

Give some context to Ozymandias

Answer 6

Part of the Romantic Movement, he came from a wealthy family but was against aristocracy, was expelled from Oxford for writing about atheism, was known as radical
Ozymandias was Rameses III, poem is a criticism of people that become huge + believe they’re invincible

Question 7

What are your language quotes for Ozymandias?

Answer 7

“sneer of cold command” - alliteration - sounds like a chant/spell (following leaders blindly is like a cult), lacks empathy for people, unhappy in power

“Ozymandias, king of kings” - arrogance and pride, thinks himself a god, Shelley wrote about atheism (blasphemy), wanted to leave a legacy

Question 8

What are your structure quotes for Ozymandias?

Answer 8

Form: sonnet - usually love poems, shows Ozymandias’ egotistical nature, a timeless form of poem - wants to be remembered + keep a legacy

One stanza - little information about him now, he holds no power, message to powerful people to not be so arrogant because everything dies

Question 9

Summarise Exposure

What are the themes of Exposure?

Answer 9

Exposes the soldiers of WWI’s struggles against the weather - fighting wasn’t the worst part

War (power of nature + humans, effect + reality of conflict, fear, individual experiences)

Question 10

Give some context to Exposure

Answer 10

In WWI, he and his fellow soldiers were left out in freezing conditions, wrote to show British people the horrors of life on the front line
Was hospitalised in 1917 from shell shock (PTSD) - met Siegfried Sassoon there who encouraged him to write

Question 11

What are your language quotes for Exposure?

Answer 11

“slowly our ghosts drag home” - metaphor - soldiers are physically returning but so permanently scarred they aren’t themselves anymore, battling the propaganda

” dawn massing in the east her melancholy army” -metaphor / personification - paranoia (seeing threats in everything), nobody wants to fight, her = mother nature

“sudden successive flights of bullets streak the silence” - sibilance, soft ‘s’ = comforting - attack is better than anticipation, might mean an end to life = good?

Question 12

What is your structure quote for Exposure?

Answer 12

Repetition of “but nothing happens” at irregular intervals = uncertainty of when attack will come, builds tension - something will definitely happen

Question 13

Summarise Remains

What are the themes of Remains?

Answer 13

Details the PTSD of soldiers that fought in the Gulf War

Memory (power of humans, effects + reality of conflict, loss and absence, guilt, individual experiences)

Question 14

Give some context to Remains

Answer 14

He has a colloquial style, deals with personal relationships often drawing on his own experiences
“These are the poems of survivors - the damaged, exhausted men who return from war in body but never wholly in mind” - Simon Armitage

Question 15

What are your language quotes for Remains?

Answer 15

“tosses his guts” - colloquial - should have been normal for his job - thinks others are nonchalant = embarrassment (toxic masculinity + men’s mental health stigma)

“his bloody life in my bloody hands” - neither are innocent - not fair for one to die and the other survive = guilt, hands still bloody = will never get over it

“image of agony” - hyperbole? most intense pain possible, watching it sparks narrator’s guilt, sympathy

Question 16

What is your structure quote for Remains?

Answer 16

Repetition of “probably armed, possibly not” - fear of the unknown = blind panic justifying his actions, ‘possibly not’ = may have been no threat = guilt + doubt

Question 17

Summarise My Last Duchess

What are the themes of My Last Duchess?

Answer 17

A possessive, jealous man showing off a painting of his past lover to impress a guest - objectification

Identity (power of humans, memory, loss and absence, pride, anger)

Question 18

Give some context to My Last Duchess

Answer 18

Was a big fan of the poet Shelley (Romantic), best known for dramatic monologues (e.g this poem)
Story based on Duke Alfonso - his wife died in suspicious circumstances (thought that she was poisoned)

Question 19

What are your language quotes for My Last Duchess?

Answer 19

“Notice Neptune, though, taming a sea-horse” - feels an affinity with statue (thinks he’s a god + wants to ‘tame’ his wife), constantly showing off = patriarchy

Title - possessive pronoun (my) = objectification + patriarchy, ‘last’ = has had multiple wives- pushes suspicious circumstances, 1st person = ego, ‘duchess’ = no name only title

“Will’t please you rise?” - patriarchy (pays visitor respect), changing subject after confessing murder, could be to his wife (guilt + remorse)

Question 20

What is your structure quote for My Last Duchess?

Answer 20

form - a dramatic monologue written in iambic pentameter - read like a conversation, iambic pentameter used by the rich = a status symbol