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Poetry Flashcards

(77 cards)

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1
Q

“Falling in ____ is __________ ____”
You

A

“Falling in love is glamorous hell”
Oxymoronic - two sides to love
“Falling” - depth of love

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2
Q

“Like a _____ ready to ____”
You

A

“Like a tiger ready to kill”
Animalistic simile
“Kill” - severity of love

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3
Q

“You ________ in”
“You ________ in my gaze”
You

A

“You strolled in”
“You sprawled in my gaze”
Elongated verbs - hesitation of the speaker

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4
Q

“Hid… in my __________ rooms”
You

A

“Hid… in my camouflage rooms”
“Camouflage” - introverted nature: hiding from what love will bring

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5
Q

“There you are… like a ____, like a _________ _____”
You

A

“There you are… like a gift, like a touchable dream”
Repeated simile; fantastical imagery - a final conclusion

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6
Q

You structure/form

A

Form of a sonnet - 14 lines
Doesn’t follow an a-b-a-b-c-d-c-d-e-f-e-f-g-g rhyme scheme
Inconsistent line length - inconsistency of love
- Elements of romance

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7
Q

“Love’s _____ ______”
Hour

A

“Love’s time’s beggar”
Time as the enemy of love

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8
Q

“like ________ on the ground; the _____ light”
Hour

A

“like treasure on the ground; the Midas light”
Simile: “treasure” - value of love
Allusion to Greek mythology - everything touched turned to gold

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9
Q

“Time _____ love”
Hour

A

“Time hates love”

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10
Q

Hour structure/form

A

Shakespearean sonnet
Typical of Duffy’s poetry
Slant rhyme

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11
Q

“_______ of by you all ___”
Rapture

A

“Thought of by you all day”
Starts with a thought-provoking declarative

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12
Q

“The ______ ____ in the shelter of a _____”
Rapture

A

“The birds sing in the shelter of a tree”
Classic piece of symbolism - peace

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13
Q

“goes nowhere _________”
Rapture

A

“goes nowhere endlessly”
Adverb “endlessly” - infinite
Oxymoronic: “nowhere” - lack of hope

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14
Q

“Then ____ comes, like a sudden ______ of _____”
Rapture

A

“Then love comes, like a sudden flight of birds”
Volta line 10 - significantly between a rhyming couplet “kiss” and “bliss” (opposes simile)
Simile - tranquil side of love

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15
Q

“Huge _____ _______ us”
Rapture

A

“Huge skies connect us”
Metaphor
“Connect” > link to title - eternity with God
Eternity with partner

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16
Q

Rapture structure/form

A

Shakespearean sonnet
a-b-a-b-c-d-c-d-e-f-e-f-g-g rhyme scheme
4 lines of enjambment

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17
Q

“Your _____ will be _______ things”
Elegy

A

“Your bones will be brittle things”
Delicacy of physical romance

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18
Q

“_________ fits the _____ of my ____”
Elegy

A

“perfectly fits the scoop of my palm”
Well-suited relationship (adverb)

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19
Q

“___ you with a _____”
Elegy

A

“lit you with a flame”
Past tense
Takes patience to keep something lit - flames do not last forever

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20
Q

“press their ______ to the _____ of your _____”
Elegy

A

“press their thumbs to the scars of your dates”
Suggestion of physical distance/separation
Metaphor for the death of love

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21
Q

“till I ________ your ____, your ________ grace?”
Elegy

A

“till I mirrored your pose, your infinite grace?”
Interrogative - leaves readers with curiosity; perhaps linked somehow to how we question what happens after death
Endlessness - pre-modifier “infinite”
Well-suited “mirrored”

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22
Q

Elegy structure/form

A

Not a sonnet - atypical of Duffy’s love poetry
You/your used 15 times - speaker has specific listener in mind

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23
Q

“wearing my ____ of _____”
Betrothal

A

“wearing my gown of stone”
Metaphor - willing to devote themselves to a lack of freedom
Feminist remark
Ophelia allusion

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24
Q

“I’ll wear your ____, your ____”
Betrothal

A

“I’ll wear your ring, your ring”
Repetition/refrain
Devotion to marriage

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25
"I'll be ___ in a ___, for you to _______ my ____" Betrothal
"I'll be ash in a jar, for you to scatter my life" Metaphor for lost self/literal promise of dying for love Lack of freedom
26
Betrothal structure/form
Atypical of Duffy's romance poetry Not a sonnet Structural parallelism Set out as wedding vows
27
"October's ______ adore the ____... whirl to their own _____" Love
"October's leaves adore the wind... whirl to their own death" Juxtaposed Love is like what wind is to an Autumn leaf - Duffy commonly pairs perfectly-fitted imagery together to mirror love Leads to turbulent nature of love
28
"Not ____, you're __________" Love
"Not here, you're everywhere" Oxymoron - infliction Even when not physically present, their name is in everything
29
"The _______ sky" Love
"The evening sky" Given it's own line Romance conventions - engagement with the piece In different cultures, a colourful, evening sky represents the end of something - but are equally as beautiful
30
Love structure/form
Resembles a sonnet Doesn't follow sonnet rhyme scheme Use of enjambment - continuation
31
"I ____ the dying year ______ me like a _____ and let it ____" New Year
"I drop the dying year behind me like a shawl and let it fall" Simile - falling out of love/in love/into fresh resolutions alone? Internal rhyme - is the speaker so used to falling in love that the skill of discussing it comes naturally
32
"The ______ fireworks _____ themselves against the _____" New Year
"The urgent fireworks fling themselves against the night" Personification - desperate urge for reunion
33
"Most ___, most ____" New Year
"Most far, most near" Oxymoronic - metaphorically close but physically far Suggestion of distance causing outburst of emotion
34
"fields and _________ and _____, the _______ lit-up little _____" New Year
"Fields and motorways and towns, the million lit-up little homes" Triplet - confirmation of physical division? "Home" - source of comfort ironically splitting an even greater source of comfort
35
"Your _____ is ____ now on my ____" New Year
"Your mouth is snow now on my lips" Metaphor - warmth of the bond has disappeared, even if the contact is still there Change
36
New Year structure/form
Not a sonnet Three stanzas, each with 5 lines Line length - 12-16 syllables per line (getting more comfortable)
37
"That _____ we have of turning ____ to ____" Wintering
"That trick we have of turning love to pain" Bitterness of love repeating ("again": hence position) Wrongful and cyclical direction - reflected by seasonal change
38
"The _____ begin their ____" Wintering
"The stars begin their lies" "Stars" - celestial imagery Trying to navigate the core of the relationship as the stars would navigate "Lies" abstract noun - opposes trust
39
"Your _____... play inside my ____ like ______ ______" Wintering
"Your words... play inside my head like broken chords" Lack of harmony and fluidity in the relationship The power and harm of ones voice
40
"The ____ ______ at the house, bitter, ________" Wintering
"The wind screams at the house, bitter, betrayed" Metaphor, onomatopoeia, pathetic fallacy; plosives Heavy use of techniques used by Duffy to show depth of frustration "Screams" - release of emotion
41
"____ turns back _____ to ____" Wintering
"Pain turns back again to love" Continuous cycle of bittersweet romance
42
Wintering structure/form
Not a sonnet Change in tone 1st and 3rd lines rhyme
43
"your head a ____ ______ hissing _____" Answer
"your head a wild Medusa hissing flame" Greek mythology allusion "your" - anaphora (obsessiveness) "flame" - 1 of 4 main elements expressing depth of love
44
"your arms a _________ ________ me around" Answer
"your arms a whirlpool spinning me around" "whirlpool" - symbol of turmoil, chaos, and danger. Another discussion of an element "spinning" - uncontrollable
45
"If you were ____ of these, but really _____" Answer
"If you were none of these, but really death" Solidifies the 'death do us part' imagery The peace of nature can never compare to the depth of love within a chaotic romance
46
Answer structure/form
Not a sonnet Rhythm variations Elements of half rhyme "chest"/"flesh" - imperfections of love
47
"________, blackened, ________ to ash" Write
"reddened, blackened, whitened to ash" Colour symbolism Experiencing intensities of heat
48
"The _____ held me _____ in its ____" Write
"The river that held me close in its arms" Personification Source of comfort - cooling effect as a result of the sun
49
"I _______ in belief" Write
"I drowned in belief" Juxtaposed ideas Struggle, but still a sense of hope
50
"the _____ like a mob of _____" Write
"the stars like a mob of light" Celestial imagery; simile "light" - common motif in the collection Navigation
51
Write structure/form
Free verse - no set rhyme No specific metrical pattern Not a sonnet
52
"Your ____, unwrapped, my _____ hands made _____" Grief
"Your gift, unwrapped, my empty hands made heavy" Irony; juxtaposition "empty", "heavy" Weight of loneliness Unconventional pairing of gift-giving with grieving
53
"My ____ stare ______ now" Grief
"My eyes stare inward now" Searching in their soul for the love once felt? Reflection of intense emptiness
54
"My ____, my ____" Grief
"My star, my star" Repetition of celestial imagery Personalisation: light to darkness
55
"learning, ________; __________." Grief
"learning, learning; understood." Triplet - process of realisation and acceptance
56
Grief structure/form
One stanza Resemblance of a sonnet Number of semi-colons: continuation
57
"slipped on the _____ of the ____ I ___" Ithaca
"slipped on the dress of the girl I was" Child-like & care free recognition of the past
58
"_______ your skin, your ____" Ithaca
"Tracing your skin, your hair" Roaming for leftover footprints of love
59
"ripening their _____ in our ____ ______" Ithaca
"ripening their tears in our pale fields" Metaphor - loss of vibrancy ("pale") Greenery of love is gone
60
"__________ of your ____, which I _______" Ithaca
"fragrances of your name, which I chanted" Traces of memory Intense need to rid of distance
61
"________ my small _____ boat" Ithaca
"dragging my small white boat" "dragging" sense of struggle, but still a will for continuation "white" - colour symbolism of purity
62
Ithaca structure/form
Equal stanza structure Not a sonnet
63
"Not ______ my ____ to the ______" Epiphany
"Not close my eyes to the light" The brilliance of their significant other is blinding and cannot be blocked out
64
"hours with the ____" Epiphany
"hours with the dead" Life without love is not a life worth living
65
"a _____ gone out yet _______, gold, ___." Epiphany
"a light gone out yet burning, gold, red." Juxtaposed "gone out" - "burning gold" Craving every moment left Passion is there even when the core is gone Colour symbolism: "gold" - value, "red" - passion
66
Epiphany structure/form
Resembles a sonnet - 14 lines Echoes of romance No steady rhythm - lack of continuity
67
"Till ____ ________ itself" The Love Poem
"Till love exhausts itself" Description of the long, tiring journey love has been on (position)
68
"love's _____ fading, ________, black as ___ on a ____" The Love Poem
"love's light fading, darkening, black as ink on a page" Process of love coming to a depressing, abrupt end Light mirrors the lover
69
"there is a ______ in her ____" The Love Poem
"there is a garden in her face" "garden" - literary heritage symbolism of life, beauty, and healing
70
"the ______ of the ____ for the ____" The Love Poem
"the desire of the moth for the star" Attraction to light (symbolic of the lover throughout the collection)
71
The Love Poem structure/form
3 stanzas broken up with a large amount of punctuation Messiness to the structure - reflection of the relationship? Speaker can't organise thoughts Not a sonnet
72
"No _____ in this _____ sky, no ____ to speak of" Over
"No stars in this black sky, no moon to speak of" Celestial imagery - typically light in a night sky. The pairing has been torn apart Focus of love has disappeared
73
"the ______ of love?" Over
"the death of love?" Finally establishes the reason for sombre tones Interrogative - hesitation and self-infliction/confusion
74
"_______ with light" Over
"flushing with light" Volta Light is reintroduced - position might suggest this is just the memory/a new experience bringing joy
75
"I hear a ____ begin its ____" Over
"I hear a bird begin its song" Classic piece of symbolism Cliche romance element Peace and acceptance?
76
"a ____, the blush of ______" Over
"a gift, the blush of memory" The memories left are seen as an element of joy and appreciation
77
Over structure/form
Not a sonnet - end of relationship Grouping of poems from the collection - memories of experience

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