poetry Flashcards
(54 cards)
nature topic
exposure
kamikaze
storm on the island
ptsd
exposure
remains
war photographer
honour
cotlb
kamikaze
violence
cotlb
remains
futility
bayonet charge
cotlb
exposure
remains
kamikaze
effects of war
poppies
effects of war
war photographer
kamikaze
kamikaze topic sentence
- conflict is personal as well as national
- nature is the cause of him to turn home
kamikaze structure
- tight structure - 6 lines. tight control of military and national expectation of what soldier should do
- contrastingly: free verse & enjambment.
- contrast of tight and free shows inner conflict between personal desires and freedom and national duty
kamikaze quotes (6)
“flashing silver as their bellies swivelled twards the sun”
- sibilance creates the smooth movement and natural wonder and serenity of the sea. natural world is a reminder of the beauties that he will deprive both himself and the enemy targets from
- “silver”, also repeated when describing “loose silver of whitebait” could be perceived as a connotation of war, like a medallion, demonstrating the glorification and supposed utmost honour of the mission. however “silver” describes coming in second place. insight to soldier’s motivation to retreat, as it suggests that even if he does complete the mission and achieve honour, he will never be the true “winner”, as he has caused the death of himself and others. futility of war
“her father embarked at sunrise”
- another reminder of the power of nature, the sun will continue to rise
- “sunrise” cleverly alludes to japanese military, as japan is known as “the land of the rising sun”, with the military flag being a rising sun. this, along with title “kamikaze” itself describing japanese aircraft, is a clear notion to garlands westernised criticism of japanese war cultures, where fighter pilots were sent on suicide missions. imagery of nature is conflicted by violence and human conflict, further depicting the constant battle of power of man vs power of nature
idea of natural imagery such as “sunrise” being conflicted with natural imagery can also be seen through the:
fish swim “like huge flags” in “figures of eight”
- flags: war imagery, a reminder of the gravity of his mission. also alludes back to japanese “rising sun” flag, images of nature are plagued by warfare and duty
- “figure of eight” illustrates something infinite, and how the soldiers mission is inevitably futile as war will always be present
kamikaze context
“kamikaze” used to describe japanese fighter pilots sent on honourable suicide missions. garland’s westernised views evidently seen through her criticisms of these japanese cultures
war photographer structure
very orderly - 4 stanzas each with 6 lines, with abbcdd rhyme - contradicts chaos of war
- reflect how efforts to bring awareness to the sufferings of war is futile, as nothing changes. reflects the ignorance of the public, how easily we forget
the readers eyeballs prick with tears between the bath and pre lunch beers
internal rhyme “tears” “beers”. only time the rhyming pattern changes: changes the pace - shows how fast people forget/ignore
war photographer quotes
“spools of suffering set out in ordered rows”
- sibilance demonstrates how easily the photographers may lose grips of reality, as it physically slips off the readers tongue
- following imagery of “ordered rows” depicts photographer’s attempts to reform control into their life. however also has imagery of a graveyard, criticising how the public attempts to organise and beautify their ideas of war, like corpses being organised into neat rows in a graveyard. shows futility of photographers job as their efforts to bring attention and knowledge of the sufferings of war become almost romanticised and glorified by the public
“half formed ghost”
- initially seen as description of photograph as it forms and develops in the not only present violence of war before the photographer
- also could describe the violence of war, depicting a soldier that is physically deformed and mutilated due to fighting and injury, highlighting the incomprehensible suffering of war that the photographer aims to share
- could metaphorically suggest that the soldier is only half remembered, stripped of his individuality in the machinery of war. we cannot even mourn for this soldier, as he is unidentifiable. duffy criticises the sheer amount of dishonoured soldiers that have been merely forgotten
“the readers eyeballs prick with tears between the bath and pre lunch beers”
- criticises public for how easily they forget and continue with their privileged lives
- internal rhyme “tears” “beers” quickens the pace - shows how fast people forget/ignore
war photographer overall message
criticising how we dont have grips on actualy reality of war
war photographer context
duffy was friends with war photographers
poppies context
weir is a textile designer
refers to it to try to make sense or bring comfort to the grief
mother of two boys
“treid to put across how i might feel if they were fighting”
structure poppies
free verse, varied stanza length, enjambment, caesura. very chaotic structure - grief cannot be organised - ever changing
long stanza: trying to stay in past
enjambment between stanzas: words “flattened, rolled, turned to felt, —- slowly melting”.
- break in line reflects the breaking emotions of mother, grief cannot be organised.
- “flattened” “rolled” felt” connote fabric, could be seen as reference to weir’s work as a textile designer
poppies quotes
describes the poppy she pins on her son’s blazer as
“spasms of paper red, disrupting a blockade of yellow bias”
- intimate act of motherly love
- however “spasms” describes injury and suffering and “blockade” can have war imagery of something being closed off by troops. memories of intimacy are plagued by reminders of sons danger, her fears are inescapable
- “bias” describing fabric, could be seen as reference to weir’s work as textile designer. could suggest how she refers to it to bring comfort, and make sense of grief, as weir wrote poem influenced by her role as a mother. “tried to put across how i might feel if they were fighting”
“sellotape bandages around my hand” she is trying to remember tender moments but cannot keep violence oht of mind : disruptive
“to run my fingers through the gelled blackthorns of your hair”
- physically painful memory
- blackthorns - barbed wire. gelled - trying to make pain look presentable
- blackthorns: biblical reference to jesus thorned crown. soldier believes he is heroic, doing gods work
“leaned against it like a wishbone”
simile- wishing for son to return.
-fragility: mothers fragility. she could break at any moment- unsure of how she will turn out
remains context
based on true story
guardsman troman, iraq 2003
remains structure
repetition
“somebody else and somebody else”
- make it clear that he was accompanied, not solely to blame
- dominates line, trying impose blame on others to relieve his own
- further explored in same stanza “three”, chant like, perhaps depicts speaker trying to convince or reassure himself that it was not wholly his fault
- shifts by end; “his bloody life in my bloody hands”, “my” signifying raking responsibility. accepting that now he is “home on leave”, he faces his consequences alone.
- imagery of “bloody hands” could be perceived as an intertextual reference to lady macbeth trying to scrub hallucinated blood stains from her hands. demonstrates how guilt is inescapable, and consumes and disorientates someones life
remains quotes
“somebody else and somebody else” “three” “his bloody life in my bloody hands”
“remains”
- describes something left after being used, mirrors how soldier has been used purely as a machine in war, and is now left as “remains” to face the effects trauma. like the “remains” of a building, he is a broken, destroyed, perhaps empty ruin.
- describes body after death (someones “remains”). not only a literal reminder of the man he killed, whos remains were “sort of inside out”, also an idea that speaker is metaphorically dead inside
“sun-stunned, sand-smothered land”
- sibilance: demonstrates lack of control, as it slips off the tongue. creates image that the speaker’s life almost spills away from his grips, and he is helplessly unable to order his words and daily life
- assonance “sun-stunned” can be physically difficult to say, demonstrates the messiness and disorientation of soldiers life
exposure about the author
- died in battle
exposure structure
- each stanza cleverly structured: blunt, powerful, emotive sentences, builds climactic tension, mirrors adrenaline and alert of soldiers. then anti-climactic line: “but nothing happens”, mirrors futility and exhaustion of adrenaline
- reinforced by unchanging rhyme scheme
exporsure quotes
“exposure”
- exposure and vulnerability to nature on battlefield
- how the poem itself exposes the reality of war, revolutionary as war poetry up to this point praised bravery and glorified battle
“the burying party” “pause over half known faces”
- describes sheer cruelty of nature and the cold, as it disfigures and deforms soldiers. nature is presented as more violent than artillery
- “half-known” no individuality, lack of grips on true reality of war leads to many unhonoured soldiers
“merciless iced east winds that knive us”
- sibilance depicts both bullets and noise that soldiers may make from cold
- “knive” suggests an intimate, purposeful murder rather than guns of other artillery typically seen in war, as “kniving” someone involves close, forceful, almost strenuous effort. shows sheer malevolence and reinforces “mercilessness” of nature
“for love of god is dying”
- difficult to believe in god when exposed to horrors of war
- could refer to how jesus died for our sins. allusion between soldiers and christ suggests that soldiers are christ-like characters, as they sacrifice themselves for others
“like a dull rumour of some other war”
- simile has biblical reference of jesus talking about the end of the world, “you will hear of war and rumours of war”. suggests how situation feels like the end of the world
bayonet charge about the author
- not alive during wars, father served in ww1
