names and context Flashcards
context of living space
(place)
-Imtiaz Dharker
-key theme of ‘place’
-written in 1954
-Dharker was born in Pakistan then moved to Glasgow at 1
-about the Mumbai slums where many people migrated to in search of a better life
-represents the fragility of human life and celebrates faith/human spirit.
context for valentine
(love)
-key theme of love
-written in 1993
-Carol Ann Duffy
-she was a feminist in her approaches/themes
-often tackles difficult/ awkward subjects, encourages reader to see a different point of view
-modern poem which shows that society is challenging the traditional views of romance ( not the cliched love poem)
context for a wife in London
(loss)
-key theme of loss
written in 1899
- set during the 2nd Boer war
-Hardy often wrote about grief, love, and tragedy
- Boer war1899-1902
context for death of a naturalist
(time/change)
-key theme of time/change
-Seamus Heaney
-Irish poet
-playwriter and translator, received 1995 Nobel prize in literature
-natural world is significant in all of his work
-became a leader for a new kind of romantic poetry
- went to boarding school
- little brother died in a car accident at the age of 4
- wanted to pursue a university education but his father would not allow it so he worked on the farm
context of to autumn
(nature)
-theme of nature
-john Keats
-inspired by his daily walks
- born 1795-1921
-he lost his dad to tuberculosis when he was 8 and his mother and brother to it when he was 14
-he started medical training at a hospital
-despite qualifying he never practised medicine
-in 1820 he got tuberculosis and sailed to italy in hope of a cure but died in Rome in 1821 (age 26)
- to autumn was one of his last poems
context of dulce et decorum Est
(war/conflict)
- Wilfred Owen (1893-1918)
- killed in action just a week before the war ended
- news of his death reached his mother as the bells were ringing for the victory of the war
- rapid developments in technology led to a brutal and visceral war
- 1 million grenades being produced every week
- British soldiers were outnumbered
- trench warfare
- horrendous conditions
- introduction of gas attacks, mustard gas, didn’t know how to defend against it
context for Ozymandias
(power)
-Percy Bysshe Shelley
-born 1792-1822
-major romantic poet
-radical in his views , poetry, not a fan of the monarchy
-2nd wife- Mary Shelley ‘Frankenstein’
-themes of how the mighty fall
->British empire -> Egyptian empire
-statue of Rameses II
-studied politics at Eton and Oxford, criticised of both people and systems that become huge and believe themselves invincible
-was expelled for writing an essay on atheism
context for manhunt
- 1963
- Simon Armitage
- his poetry deals with aspects of modern life
- grew up around the mores of Yorkshire which provided him with great thinking time
- wrote the manhunt as a part of a channel 4 documentary entitled forgotten heroes: the not dead
- documentary highlights the painful truth of lives damaged beyond help as a result of war
- based on the lives of Eddie Beddoes and his wife Laura
- Bosnian war
- uses dramatic monologue
context for sonnet 43
- Elizabeth Barret browning was born in 1806 a time when women could neither attend university or vote
- “how do i love thee, let me count the ways” Browning wrote this shortly before defying her family and running away to Italy with Robert browning
- autobiographical poem written to her future husband Robert browning
-sonnet 43 was part of 44 sonnet series - she suffered from a life long illness
context for London
- William Blake (1757-1827)
- was born and bred in London and was well placed to comment on the city
- 1789 was the French revolution and Blake was inspired by the French and wanted Londoners to do the same
- deals with the complexity of humanity, the poverty and grim of living in London in the Victorian era
- during the industrial revolution which saw mass unemployment, disease and suffering
- English soldiers were returning without benefits or support from the government
context for the soldier
- Rupert Brook ( 1887-1915)
- 1914
- people were unaware of the dangers of the war and were optimistic
- world war 1
- didn’t see or serve any action after dying from sepsis from a mosquito bite in 1915
- optimistic about war as they thought it would be over by Christmas
- romanticised account of warfare
- doesn’t treat death in a melancholic way
context for as imperceptibly as grief
- Emily Dickinson (1830-1886)
- born in Massachusetts
- never married or had kids
- lived a very introverted life/ reclusive
- rarely left her bedroom
- had lots of experience with death
- links the gradual unstoppable demise of summer to the way grief fades
- references the natural way all things end to her deep sadness and troubles
context for she walks in beauty
- lord byron (1788-1824)
- dies fighting in the greek war
- 2nd generation romantic poet
- poetry mainly focuses on natural imagery
- had an overall enthusiasm and zest for life
- notorious reputation as he had many affairs with women and men
- celebrates female beauty
- criticised heavily for his lifestyle which was coined ‘mad’ bad and dangerous to know
context for cozy apologia
Rita Dove (1952-present)
- youngest ever U.S poet laureate
- known for writing in a variety of styles
- married to fellow writer Fred Viebahn
- poem is rumoured to be an autobiographical account of hurricane Floyd
- attempts to focus on the everyday realities of love as opposed to a glorified overrepresentation of it
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context for hawk roosting
- ted Hughes (1930-1998)
- published in 1960
- born in Yorkshire and grew up on the countryside
- served in the RAF for 2 years
- wrote many poems about power and their link to nature and the natural world
- married to famous novelist Sylvia plath
- lived through ww2 and saw the despair caused by corruption of power
- hawk or war hawk is a name given in politics for someone who favours war
- humans cover up their killings whereas animals accept it and don’t hide it
