Power Context Flashcards
(2 cards)
Hawk Roosting
Written by Ted Hughes who was a highly celebrated English Poet.
He was known for his fascination with nature especially it’s raw and violent power.
Poem was published in 1960 during cold war era when power, control and authoritarian rule were major global issues.
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Poem is split into 6 stanzas with equal line lengths - controlled and precise mirroring the bird’s authority and complete command.
Consistency of the form reflects the haw’s unwavering and arrogant perspective.
Dramatic monologue - gives the hawk a voice of authority.
Only hear the haw’s perspective - self absorbed and arrogant.
Hughes could be using the hawk to explore how human beings think they are superior, using the hawk as a metaphor for our own egos.
Ozymandias
Written by the Romantic poet Percy Shelley in 1817 as part of a friendly competition with Horace Smith.
Based on the Egyptian Pharoah Ramesses whose stature was being transported to the British Museum at the time.
Poem shows how time& nature are both more powerful than man.
Shelly criticises those in power, ridiculing Ozymandias throughout the poem.
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Poem is 14 lines - Sonnet - Ozymandias has a love for power and himself.
The ABAB rhyme scheme is slightly irregular and unsettled, which could mirror the fragmented ruins of Ozymandias’ statue and the idea that power is not as permanent as it seems.
Ozymandias was highlight confident in his legacy however all that remains is the artistic and literary record of his legacy suggesting that with time, nothing will last.
