poet anth - contexts - new Flashcards
1
Q
Romanticism
A
- Personal responses and powerful emotions
- a focus on an appreciation of beauty in the natural world & learning from past
2
Q
Death of a Naturalist - Seamus Heaney
A
- Grew up in rural Northern Ireland on his family’s farm.
- He described his childhood as ‘an intimate, physical, creaturely existence’.
- Catholic background – The Troubles - conflict between the Protestants (Unionists happy with the union with the UK) and the Catholics (Republicans – wants to escape control from the UK)
- Heaney wanted to escape from the violence of the Irish troubles
- martial imagery - semantic of violence – (frogs were cocked, pulsed like sails, poised like mud grenades)
- extended metaphor of the loss of innocence of N Ireland
3
Q
Hawk roosting - Ted Hughes
A
Violent imagery
* The violent imagery is influenced by his father, who was a WW1 veteran.
* A ‘war poet once removed’ – he felt the effects of war but didn’t fight in either.
Power - The image of a bird sat atop a tree (‘The Imperial Eagle’) was a Nazi party symbol in WW2 – shows power.
Northerner – Yorkshire - deeply influenced by the natural world.
4
Q
Excerpt from The Prelude - William Wordsworth
A
- A Romantic poet.
- He loved to ice skate and learned how to do it on Esthwaite lake.
- ‘The Prelude’ is autobiographical and focuses on Wordsworth’s childhood and relationship with nature.
- Distant relationship with his father. His mother died when he was 7 or 8. He was sent to boarding school.
- He lived with his maternal grandparents and uncle in rural Cumbria. They did not get on. He contemplated suicide.
- Wordsworth spent a lot of time outdoors. He believed nature could be like a parent or teacher that he lost.
- sense of nostalgia - suggests that he misses his childhood - grew up in lake district - nature was prevelant
5
Q
To autumn - John Keats
A
- Significant Romantic poet
- Both his parents died before 14 and sent to live with grandparents (like William Wordsworth, did difficult family life make them turn to writing or nature)
- 6th ode of 6 ode collection - ancient Greek style poem - in celebration of autumn – romantic ideology – learn from the past
- subtle signs of death in the poem - he was dying of tuberculosis when writing the poem - he was a surgeon - acceptance of death – autumn symbolises death as winter approaches
6
Q
As Imperceptibility as Grief - Emily Dickinson
A
- Obsessed with and afraid of death.
- Did science as a kid.
- Dickinson barely left her house for 30 years, rarely had visitors and became an observer of the world - Recluse.
- Dickinson’s religious faith and reliance on a benevolent God comes from her Puritan roots. The idea of God’s Grace, his benevolence towards undeserving humanity, is important to appreciate here.
7
Q
Barrett Elizabeth Browning - Sonnet 43
A
- Devoutly Christian
- Ill and frail for most of her life.
- Many family deaths and difficult family relationships.
- Robert Browning began writing to Elizabeth in the 1840s, after some of her literary success.
- They communicated in secret: Elizabeth knew her father wouldn’t approve.
- Amongst the correspondence, Elizabeth wrote Robert a series of sonnets. This is the 43rd out of 44!
- The romance revitalised Elizabeth. They married and moved to Italy. After some persuasion, Elizabeth published these poems in Sonnets from the Portuguese.
*
8
Q
She walks in beauty - Lord Bryon
A
- Romantic – fascinated by beauty – compares to nature – turns her to a god - Involved in a number of sex scandals
- Influenced by Byron meeting his cousin’s beautiful wife at a party.
*
9
Q
cozy apologia - rita dove
A
- Married to fellow-writer Fred Viebahn. Cozy Apologia seems to be an affectionate tribute to him.
- hurricane floyd caused Dove to think about her childhood romances creating a relfective tone
- the hollow centre of the hurricane is reflected in the hollowness of her childhood romances
10
Q
Valentine - Carol Ann Duffy
A
- Metaphysical – uses symbolism and figurative language to represent other things
- Metaphysical trope – onion layer represents the pain, pleasure complexity of love
- Unconventional – subverting modern ideology of valentines day
- This is reminiscent of metaphysical poets such as John Donne, who approached ordinary subjects in original and surprising ways (see The Flea).
11
Q
Ozymandias - Percy Bysshe Shelley’s
A
- looks into past - romantic ideology - learn from past.
- shows his liberalist political views, atheist - questioned any form of organised power – anarchist.
- semantic of destruction - corrupt power won’t last – rejects & and exposes faults of tyrannical rule of Ozymandias.
- Was expelled from Oxford for promoting atheist views.
- Had a troubled relationship with his parents, particularly his father, who was a member of parliament.
- His parents rejected his beliefs, which included vegetarianism, political radicalism, and sexual freedom.
- *
12
Q
Ozymandias
A
- A.k.a. Ramses II of Egypt.
- Egyptian pharaoh = a god on Earth, head of the government, leader of the army.
- Ruled Egypt from his teens to his 90s. One of the greatest pharaohs ever.
- Had many statues and structures built in his honour.
- Part of the statue (pictured) was acquired by the British Museum in the 1800s. Shelley wrote the poem in anticipation of it.
13
Q
Living Space - Imtiaz Dharker
A
- Argues against cultural displacement – was an Immigrant – knew the feeling of not fitting in
14
Q
Living Space - Mumbai slums
A
- Millions of people live in these slums, hoping for a better life.
- Limited access to electricity, clean water, food, education.
- Poverty.
15
Q
Afternoons - Phillip Larkin
A
- Larkin never married, had children or even left the UK in his whole life.
- Philip Larkin’s poetry celebrates the ordinary details of day-to-day life.
- But rather than focusing on his own middle age, Larkin examines the lives of others, analysing the existence of a group of young mothers he observes at the local recreation ground.
- Attacks organised urban life – cynical.
