Power and Conflict Contexts Flashcards
Ozymandias – Percy Bysshe Shelley
Romantic poet, disliked oppressive rulers.
Inspired by statue of Ramesses II in British Museum.
Commentary on power’s impermanence.
London – William Blake
Critique of poverty, corruption, industrial revolution.
Lived in London, saw effects of industrialisation.
Part of his “Songs of Experience” → loss of innocence.
The Prelude (extract) – William Wordsworth
Romantic poet, focus on nature’s power.
Autobiographical → memory of childhood, awe at nature.
Belief in spiritual and moral growth through nature.
My Last Duchess – Robert Browning
Dramatic monologue set in Renaissance Italy.
Based on Duke of Ferrara (real historical figure).
Explores themes of control, jealousy, art vs life.
The Charge of the Light Brigade – Alfred Lord Tennyson
Based on Crimean War, Battle of Balaclava (1854).
Celebrates bravery despite military blunder.
Tennyson was Poet Laureate → national voice.
Exposure – Wilfred Owen
WW1 poet, soldier in trenches.
Shows harshness of weather as enemy.
Critique of war, loss, futility.
Storm on the Island – Seamus Heaney
Irish poet, reflects on storms battering rural life.
Metaphor for political unrest (“Stormont” → Northern Ireland’s parliament).
Focus on human vulnerability vs nature.
Bayonet Charge – Ted Hughes
Post-WW2 poet, no direct war experience.
Focus on soldier’s raw panic + instinct.
Explores themes of fear, patriotism, violence.
Remains – Simon Armitage
Based on real accounts from Iraq War.
Highlights PTSD, trauma, moral injury.
Focus on personal aftermath of conflict.
Poppies – Jane Weir
Textile artist, contemporary poet.
Response to modern conflicts, Armistice Sunday.
Mother’s perspective on loss and memory.
Tissue – Imtiaz Dharker
Pakistani-Scottish poet, global themes.
Paper as metaphor for human fragility + power.
Links to religion, borders, human control.
War Photographer – Carol Ann Duffy
Inspired by real war photographers.
Reflects on trauma of recording suffering.
Tension between media consumption + real horror.
The Émigrée – Carol Rumens
Imagined speaker from a country under oppression.
Themes of exile, memory, identity.
Not about a specific country → universal meaning.
Kamikaze – Beatrice Garland
Japanese kamikaze pilots in WWII.
Explores honour, shame, family reaction.
Focus on conflict between duty and humanity.
Checking Out Me History – John Agard
Born in Guyana, migrated to Britain.
Challenges Eurocentric history, celebrates Caribbean heritage.
Themes of identity, oppression, reclaiming voice.
