Poetry Flashcards
A Poison Tree
“i was…..”
“both day….”
“till it…”
“my foe..:”
“i was angry with my friend”
“both day and night”
“till it bore an apple bright”
“my foe outstretch’d beneath the tree”
The Destruction of Sennacherib
“wolf on….”
“Angel of death spread….”
“foam of his…”
“broke in the….”
“wolf on the fold”
“Angel of Death spread his wings on the blast”
“foam of his gasping lay white on the turf”
“broke in the temple of Baal”
Extract from the Prelude
“And troubled…”
“of unknown….”
“no pleasant images….”
“trouble to…”
“And troubled pleasure”
“of unknown modes of being”
“no pleasant images of trees”
“trouble to my dreams”
The Man he Killed
“And staring…”
“i shot him dead…”
“that’s clear…”
“no other…”
“And staring face to face”
“I shot him dead because-/ because he was my foe”
“That’s clear enough”
“No other reason why”
Cousin Kate
“To lead a…”
“Call me…”
“my shame…”
“Your sire would…”
“To lead a shameless shameful life”
“Call me an outcast thing”
“My shame, my pride”
“Your sire would give broad lands for one”
Half- Caste
“Excuse…”
“Explain…”
“An mix a black key….”
“De other half…”
“Excuse me/ standing on one leg”
“Explain yurself”
“An mix a black key/ wid a white key/ is a half- caste symphony”
“De other half/ of my story”
Exposure
“Our brains ache, in the…”
“But….”
“What are…”
“Is it that….”
“Our brains ache, in the merciless iced east winds that knife us”
“But nothing happens”
“What are we doing here?”
“Is it that we are dying?”
The Charge of the Light Brigade
“Rode the…”
“Boldly they…”
“Into the….”
“Noble…”
“Rode the six hundred”
“Boldly they rode and well”
“Into the jaws of death”
“Noble six hundred”
Catrin
“I can remember…”
“Turn at…”
“Red….”
“In the glass…”
“I can remember you, child”
“Turn at the traffic lights”
“Red rope of love”
“In the glass tank clouded with feelings”
War Photographer
“While i seek…”
“the firmness of…”
“month too small….”
“blood stain on the wall”
“While i seek out the tragic, the absurd, to make a subject”
“the firmness of the edges can convince you”
“Month too small for her dark scream”
“Blood stain on a wall”
Belfast Confetti
“asterisk…”
“i was trying…”
“dead…”
“My name? where am…”
“asterisk on the map”
“i was trying to complete a sentence in my head but it kept stuttering”
“Dead end again”
“My name? Where am i coming from?”
The Class Game
“How can you…”
“Me say ‘Tara’ to…”
“Have i a label…”
“Why do you…”
“How can you tell what class i’m from”
“Me say ‘Tara’ to me ‘Ma’ instead of ‘Bye mummy dear’?”
“Have i a label on me head, and another on me bum?”
“Why do you care what class i’m from?”
Poppies
“spasms of…”
“i went into…”
“leaned against it…”
“your playground…”
“spasms of paper red”
“I went into your bedroom/ released a song bird from its cage”
“leaned against it like a wishbone”
“your playground voice catching on the wind”
No Problem
“I am not…”
“I can do…”
“i have no…”
“Sum of me best friends…”
“I am not de problem”
“i can do more dan dance”
“i have no chips on me shoulders”
“Sum of me best friends are white”
What were they like
“It is…”
“but after their children…”
“is bitter…”
“there was only…”
“It is not remembered”
“But after their children were killed/ there were no more buds”
“is bitter to the burned mouth”
“there was only time to scream”
