English Literature- Poetry Flashcards
What is the overview of ‘Ozymandias’?
The speaker is telling an anonymous traveler’s description of a ruined statue of a once great ruler.
Poem can be seen as an analogy: time will challenge any great ruler.
Statue can be a metaphor for the foolishness of the ruler.
Name some key quotations from ‘Ozymandias’.
‘Two vast and trunkless legs of stone’
‘Half sunk, a shatter’d visage lies’
‘Sneer of cold command’
‘My name is Ozymandias, king of kings!’
‘Colossal wreck’
What is the form and structure of ‘Ozymandias’?
Form: a sonnet written with iambic pentameter, but doesn’t follow regular sonnet rhythm. (May reflect how power can be destroyed.)
Structure: Speaker begins with description of statue, ends with the description of the enormous description. Reflects insignificance of statue.
What poems can ‘Ozymandias’ be linked to, and how?
‘My Last Duchess’- human power and pride and life represented in art.
‘The Prelude’, ‘Exposure’, ‘Storm on the Island’- power of nature.
What is the overview of ‘London’?
Written in first person.
Poem describes a walk through London.
Describes the imbalance in quality between the poor and the rich.
Describes suffering of the poor, lack of individual freedom.
Name some key quotations from ‘London’.
‘I wande thro’ each chartered sreet’
‘Marks of weakness, marks of woe’
‘In every cry’
‘Mind forg’d manacles’
‘Every black’ning church appalls’
What is the form and structure of ‘London’?
Form: Dramatic monologue- speaker tells us about the suffering the man walking sees. ABAB rhyme scheme echoes the misery.
Structure: Relentless imagery of poor people. First two stanzas focus on people, third stanza switch to the institutions responsible and last stanza returns to how people are affected.
What poems can be linked to ‘London’, and how?
‘Checking out me history’- feelings of anger.
‘The Prelude’, ‘Emigree’- experiences of a place.
What is the overview of ‘Exposure’?
Poem is based on Wilfred Owen’s experiences (the poet) in the trenches of World War 1. It is the winter of 1917- winter was freezing. Soldiers are waiting at night out of fear of an attack. Nature is the real enemy.
What are some key quotations from ‘Exposure’?
‘Our brains ache, in the merciless iced east wind that knifes us’
‘But nothing happens’
‘Sudden successive flights of bullets streak the air’
‘Pale flakes with fingering stealth come feeling for our faces’
‘Shrivelling many hands, puckering foreheads crisp’
‘All their eyes are ice’
What is the form and structure of ‘Exposure’?
Form: Poem is written in present tense using the first person plural ‘we’, ‘our’, ‘us’. Shows it was a collective experience between soldiers. Regular rhyme scheme (ABBAC) reflects the monotonous experience of the soldiers.
Structure: Eight stanzas, but there is no progression. Last stanza ends with same words as the first reflecting the dull life in the trenches.
What poems can be linked to ‘Exposure’?
‘Charge of the light Brigade’, ‘Bayonet Charge’- reality of war.
‘Storm on the Island’- power of nature.
What is the overview of ‘Storm on the Island’?
Speaker describes how a community is well-prepared for a storm that is coming. Storm develops, their confidence disappears. Power and sound of the storm are described.
What are some key quotations from ‘Storm on the Island’?
‘We are prepared’
‘When it blows full blast’
‘Exploding comfortably’
‘Spits like a tame cat turned savage’
‘We are bombarded’
‘It is a huge nothing we fear’
What is the form and structure of ‘Storm on the Island’?
Form: Poem is written in blank verse which mirrors everyday speech, makes the poem feel like a conversation. First person collective, ‘we’, used to show a collective experience.
Structure: Poem shifts from security to fear. ‘But no’ is the volta- start of the storm.
What are some poems that link to ‘Storm on the Island?
‘Bayonet Charge’- fear
‘The Prelude’- fear, the power of nature.
‘Exposure’- the power of nature.
