Power and Conflict Poetry Anthology

Question 1

Ozymandias

‘Half…’

Answer 1

‘Half sunk, a shattered visage lies’
-Metaphor
-Nature has taken over
-Long forgotten
-Power has been obliterated

Question 2

Ozymandias

‘King…’

Answer 2

‘King of kings’
-Shows of the kings arrogance and narcissism
-Omnipotent

Question 3

Ozymandias

‘… Command’

Answer 3

‘Sneer of cold command’
-Looks down on his subjects
-Harsh alliteration reflects harsh style of ruling

Question 4

Ozymandias

‘Of…’

Answer 4

‘Of that colossal wreck’
-Unidentifiable
-Reflects his own destructive nature
-Reaffirms natures victory

Question 5

Ozymandias

‘bound…’
‘lone…’

Answer 5

‘Boundless and bare, lone and level sands stretch far away’
-Creates a harmonious image
-Makes us feel happy for natures success
-Shows the absolute destruction the statue faced

Question 6

London

‘In…’

Answer 6

‘In every infants cry of fear’
-No hope of a future of freedom as power never ends
-Repetition of ‘every’ represents overwhelming sense of oppression and worldwide effect

Question 7

London

‘Marks…

Answer 7

‘Marks in every face I meet, marks of weakness, marks of woe’
-Repetition symbolises how indelible the suffering is
-Weakened by the governments control and can’t fight back
-Branded with the look of poverty

Question 8

London

‘mind…’

Answer 8

‘Mind-forged manacles I hear’
-Enslaved by chains which aren’t real but from their imagination
-Invokes the idea of slavery
-INT 1- People have internalised the oppression and holding themselves as slaves
-INT 2- People have created these chains themselves
-‘forged’:
-INT 1- Blacksmithing: Real
-INT 2- Forgery: Fake/Untrue
-Stereotyped to be criminals
-‘I hear’ he can hear people trying to fight back

Question 9

The Prelude

‘It was an act…’

Answer 9

‘It was an act of stealth and troubled pleasure’
-Connotes sneakiness and slyness- Morally wrong
-Selfish
-Pictures humans negatively
-Shows his arrogance, he feels entitled to enjoy it

Question 10

The Prelude

‘The grim…’

Answer 10

‘The grim shape towered up between me and the stars’
-Personification implies nature is dangerous and uncontrollable
-The narrators confidence has disappeared
-Man’s inability to escape nature’s power

Question 11

The Prelude

‘And through…’

Answer 11

‘And through the meadows homeward went, in grave and serious mood’
-The peaceful meadows juxtaposes the deadly mood
-Deceiving just like the rest of the trip

Question 12

The Prelude

‘There…’

Answer 12

‘There hung a darkness’
-A change to a darker and melancholy mood at the end of the journey
-Juxtaposition of the pleasant start of the poem to the dark end shows the cruelness of nature

Question 13

My Last Duchess

‘Thats…’

Answer 13

‘That’s my last duchess painted on the wall’
-The possessive pronoun of ‘my’ suggests that the Duke still believes that the Duchess is his property
-Objectification of women which was typical in the 16th century

Question 14

My Last Duchess

‘Will’t…’

Answer 14

‘Will’t please you sit and look at her?’
-Posed as a question but really a command, an example of the Duke trying to exert his power
-Forcing people to look at his wealth and admire his possessions

Question 15

My Last Duchess

‘Since…’

Answer 15

‘Since none puts by the curtain I have drawn for you but I’
-Curtain symbolises how the Duke can steal control the Duchess as his property even after death

Question 16

My Last Duchess

‘As if she…’

Answer 16

‘As if she ranked my gift of a nine-hundred-years-old name with anybody’s gift’
-Punctuation shows how the Duke is getting angry and is consciously calming himself down
-Reveals his true jealousy despite his arrogance

Question 17

My Last Duchess

‘This grew…’

Answer 17

‘This grew; I gave commands; then all smiles stopped together’
-Use of caesura and short sentences highlight the coldness and ruthlessness in which the Duke disposed of her life

Question 18

The Charge Of The Light Brigade

‘Cannon…’

Answer 18

‘Cannon to the right of them; cannon to the left of them’
-Repetition
-Highlights the violence
-Highlights how helpless the soldiers are from the incoming enemy fire
-Their fate is inescapable (surrounded)

Question 19

The Charge Of The Light Brigade

‘Theirs…’

Answer 19

‘Theirs not to make reply, theirs not to reason why, theirs but to do and die’
-Anaphora
-Suggests the soldiers lack of control over their own fate
-Repetition of ‘theirs’ symbolises the true heroes of the battle

Question 20

The Charge Of The Light Brigade

‘Volley’d…’

Answer 20

‘Volley’d and thundere’d’
-Onomatopoeia
-Thudding/echo ring quality like distant guns or cannons

Question 21

The Charge Of The Light Brigade

‘When…’

Answer 21

‘When can their glory fade?’
-Challenges the reader to think about how to honour the men who lost their lives

Question 22

The Charge Of The Light Brigade

‘Honour…’

Answer 22

‘Honour the charge they made! Honour the light brigade’
-Repetition of the imperative verb cements the poets message that these men deserve admiration and respect
-Leaves the reader with the feeling of honouring the cavalry

Question 23

Exposure

‘Our brains…’

Answer 23

‘Our brains ache in the merciless iced east winds that knive us’
-Sibilance:
-Highlights the intensity of the pain and the brutality of the war
-Represents the onomatopoeic sound of the wind
-Personification:
-Makes it sound menacing or deadly
-Characterises the enemy as the wind straight away

Question 24

Exposure

‘Less…’

Answer 24

‘Less deadly then the air that shudders black with
snow’
-Personification
-The weather is more damaging and deadly then the bullets
-Connotes the image of death-foreshadowing the end

Question 25

Exposure

‘Slowly…’

Answer 25

‘Slowly our ghosts drag home’
-The war has sucked life out of the soldiers
-Memory

Question 26

Exposure

‘But…’

Answer 26

‘But nothing happens’
-Repetition gives a sense of boredom and hints at the pointlessness of war
-‘Nothing’ isn’t what the soldiers are expecting to happen

Question 27

Exposure

‘Sudden…’

Answer 27

‘Sudden successive… streak the silence’
-Soft tone reinforces the fact that bullets aren’t as deadly
-Contrasts with ‘flowing flakes that flock’ which is harsh and deadly

Question 28

Storm on the island

‘We are…’

Answer 28

‘We are prepared: we build our houses squat’
-Emphasises the confidence and security of the Islanders’
-Use of caesura reinforces the confidence through the speakers certainty of safety

Question 29

Storm on the Island

‘You can…’

Answer 29

‘You can listen to the thing you fear forgetting that it pummels your house too’
-Dangerous Imagery
-The reader is as vulnerable as this affected in the poem (Context)
-Allows the reader to feel more connected
-Invokes the idea of human vulnerability

Question 30

Storm on the Island

‘Strange…’

Answer 30

‘Strange, it is a huge nothing that we fear’
-Juxtaposition
-Highlights how strange the situation is
-Human preparation is insufficient
-Speaking to
himself
-Links to Exposure

Question 31

Storm on the Island

‘The very…’

Answer 31

‘The very windows spits like a tame cat turned savage’
-The storm is wild and uncontrollable
-Something so innocent can be deadly
-Deceiving

Question 32

Storm on the Island

‘Bombarded…’
‘And strafes…’

Answer 32

‘Bombarded by empty air’
‘And strafes invisibly’
-Repetition of ‘nothing’ which could show this isn’t about nature
-Militaristic feel

Question 33

Remians

‘Probably…’

Answer 33

‘Probably armed; possibly not’
-Reminds the readers with the doubt and anxiety soldiers must deal with
-Gives an assumption of danger
-Doubt is his key driver to guilt and torment
-Repetition shows ongoing torment which keeps appearing

Question 34

Remains

‘I swear…’

Answer 34

‘I swear I see every round as it rips through his life’
-Graphic imagery
-Contrasts the previous vagueness
-Shows he is thinking of the person not just the physical nature of the body
-Highlights the brutal nature of war
-It is branded in his memory
-Present tense shows how his suffering is ongoing and it lives in his mind

Question 35

Remains

‘His…’

Answer 35

‘His blood-shadow stays on the street’
-He’s stuck their like he in the narrators memory
-Shadow symbolises the guilt that follows him

Question 36

Remains

‘Tosses…’

Answer 36

‘Tosses his guts back onto his body’
-Gruesome imagery
-Indicates the reality of war and lack of honour which is associated with his job
-Shows how they are desensitised and careless

Question 37

Poppies

‘Released…’

Answer 37

‘Released a songbird from its cage’
-Symbolism
-Reflects her acknowledgment and trying to come to terms with her sons’ desire to be free and independent
-Birds symbolise freedom

Question 38

Poppies

‘A split…’

Answer 38

‘A split second and you were away, intoxicated.’
-Drunk on freedom and newfound independence
-Growing up too fast

Question 39

Poppies

‘On reaching…’

Answer 39

‘On reaching the top of the hill I traced the inscriptions on the war memorial’
-Climbing to the top of the hill could be a metaphor for her struggle to deal with grief of losing her son and sending him to war
-The son could have died

Question 40

Poppies

‘All my…’

Answer 40

‘All my words flattened, rolled and turned into felt’
-The mothers grief and fear has left her speechless

Question 41

War Photographer

‘Running…’

Answer 41

‘Running children in nightmare heat’
-Understand the intensity of the suffering caused by the war
-Refers to children to remind the readers that innocent lives are taken and affected by the war

Question 42

War photographer

‘All…’

Answer 42

‘All flesh is grass’
-Gruesome imagery
-Points out the scale of bloodshed
-Biblical - All life is temporary

Question 43

War Photographer

‘Spools of…’

Answer 43

‘Spools of suffering set out in ordered rows’
-Hints at the photographer’s efforts to make sense of and order something so horrific
-Contrasts between what the photographer wants to do and the reality of conflict

Question 44

War Photographer

‘The reader’s…’

Answer 44

‘The readers eyeballs prick with tears, between the bath and the pre-lunch beers’
-Shows the comfort of those not affected by the war
-Contrasts with the image of pain throughout the poem

Question 45

War Photographer

‘He stares…’

Answer 45

‘He stares impassively at where he earns his living and they do not care’
-Impassively suggests that the photographer is numb to the significance of his task as are the readers and his editors
-He feels guilty for the money he gains for this suffering
-Implies hopelessness as he cares about what is happening yet feels the readers do not - his work has become meaningless

Question 46

The Emigrée

‘The bright…’

Answer 46

‘The bright filled paperweight’
-Metaphor
-Suggests the strength and solidity of the speakers positive memories

Question 47

The Emigrée

‘I comb…’

Answer 47

‘I comb its hair and love its shining eyes’
-Personification
-Identifies the sense of the speakers love and affection to the city
-Patriotic connotations
-A childish image, conjuring up images of innocence

Question 48

The Emigrée

‘My…’

Answer 48

‘My city’
-Conveys the speakers deep admiration and affection towards the city

Question 49

The Emigrée

‘The white…’

Answer 49

‘The white streets’
-Colour Imagery highlights how overwhelmingly positive the speakers views of her city are

Question 50

Kamikaze

‘Her father…’

Answer 50

‘Her father embarked at sunrise’
-Japan is known as the land of the rising sun so it could be a reference to its heritage
-Symbol of hope
-Conveys his patriotism

Question 51

Kamikaze

‘They treated…’

Answer 51

‘They treated him as though he no longer existed’
-Ironic, his survival is meaningless, the people he survived for, see him as dead

Question 52

Kamikaze

‘Enough…’

Answer 52

‘Enough fuel for a one way journey into history’
-Metaphor
-Indicative of the significance of the act and the honour it could bring him, he doesn’t originally plan on coming back
-Immortalised with respect

Question 53

Kamikaze

‘A tuna…’

Answer 53

‘A tuna, the dark prince, muscular and dangerous’
-Oxymoron
-Imbalance of power between humanity and nature
-The kamikaze pilot isn’t the most dangerous in the poem, a fish is