Poetry Subject

Vocabulary vocabulary
Ozymandias by Percy Power of humans, power of nature, pride, (romanticism): Narrator meets a traveller who tells him of a statue of a previous king in the desert.
Bysshe Shelley The king was proud, arrogant and demanding. Because of this ,the statue has been left in ruins. Sonnet Bleak
London by William Blake Individual experiences, anger, loss, absence: The people of London are affected by misery and despair. Nobody can escape it. People in power Elegy Patriotic
create the problem but do nothing to help.
Caesura Nostalgic
The Prelude by William Power of nature, fear and individual experiences: An autobiographical poem which explores key moments in Wordsworth’s life. Explores the
Wordsworth concept of Romanticism and the idea that nature is powerful. Includes a range of fearful, dramatic and beautiful imagery and is told from a first Blunt
person perspective. Metaphor
Melancholy
My Last Duchess by Robert Pride, jealousy, power of humans (Italian Renaissance): The Duke discusses a portrait of a Duchess (his former wife). He initially seems really Euphemism
Browning proud of her but it becomes clear that he was very angered by her flirtatious behaviour and try to stop it. Contemptuous
Personification ness
The Charge of the Light Effects of conflict and realities of war: A tribute to the men who died in battle. Description of a battle between Russian forces and British cavalry.
Brigade by Alfred Lord Based on a misunderstanding – British only had swords whereas the Russian soldiers had guns. The Light Brigade were defenceless.
Tennyson Enjambment Bewilderment
Exposure by Wilfred Owen Reality of war, power of nature, loss and absence: This was written by Wilfred Owen whilst he was in the trenches during World War One, not Alliteration Exasperation
long before he was killed in battle. The poem reveals his anger at the horrific conditions of war and explores feelings and attitudes of suffering,
boredom, hopelessness .
Oxymoron Polemic
Storm on the Island by Power of nature, fear, individual experiences of place: Explores a community that believes it is ready for a storm but as the storm develops, their Naivety
confidence disappears. Uses violent imagery to describe the power and sounds of the storm. By the end of the poem, it describes the fear as the
Juxtaposition
Seamus Heaney
storm hits. Remembrance
Consonance
Bayonet charge by Ted Effects of conflict, reality of war, fear: A focus on one soldier’s experience of a charge towards enemy lines. Includes a combination of violent
Hughes and natural imagery to describe his thoughts and actions as he tries to stay alive. His patriotism is replaced by fear. Futile
Assonance
Remains by Simon Memory, effects of conflict and individual experiences: Poem told from the point of view of a soldier who survived was but is suffering from Conscription
PTSD. A group of soldiers shoot a man who is trying toe escape a bank raid and graphic imagery is used to describe the brutality of his death. He Figurative vs.
Armitage
is haunted by the death of the man when he returns from war. Literal Mourning
Quatrain
Poppies by Jane Weir Effects of conflict, loss, absence and identity: A mother describes her son leaving home. The poet uses a combination of war and domestic Jingoism
imagery to describe her feelings and emotions about him leaving which are sadness, loneliness and fear. After he leaves, she goes to places that
remind her of him to try and find any trace of him. Volta Draft
War Photographer by Carol Memory, individual experiences ad effects of conflict: A war photographer is developing pictures that he has taken from across the world. He Desertion Conscientious
Ann Duffy contrasts being safe in England with where he has been. The photographer remembers the death of a man and the cries of his wife using emotive
language and religious imagery. The end of the poem focuses on the fact that the people back in England do not care about the people and Objector
Emphasises
places affected by war.
Accusative
Exaggerates
Tissue by Imtiaz Dharker Power of nature, power of humans, identity: The first three stanzas discuss the importance of paper as a means of recording our history. Stanzas Subordination
4-6 focus on the paradox that paper is fragile yet controls our lives. The poem explores the idea of creation in particular human life and discusses Accentuates
the idea that life is more complex than other things that we create but also temporary.
Desertion
Implies
The Emigrée Memory, loss, individual experiences: The speaker discusses her very positive view of a city in a country that she left as a child. The city seems to
Carol Rumens be under attack and unreachable; however, the poet uses personification to make it seem as if the city comes to her. Despite being threatened by Condemnation
an unknown ‘they’ she still sees the city in a positive way. The city may not be a real place. It may represent a time, person or emotion. Connotes
Denounces
Kamikaze Identity, memory, power of nature: The poem opens with a Kamikaze pilot setting off on a mission (Japanese pilot used towards the end of WW2 Depicts
Beatrice Garland to fly at enemy ships on suicide missions – this was seen as a great honour). As the poem develops we learn that the pilot turns around and does Defiance
not complete his mission. The poet uses natural imagery to emphasise the idea that he realised the beauty of nature and remembered his Evokes /
childhood. When the pilot got home he was shamed and they acted as though he didn’t exist. evocative

Checking out me history Identity, anger, power of humans: The narrator is talking about his identity and how it links to his knowledge of history. He remembers being
John Agard taught about British history but not his Caribbean routes. He comments on the fact that he doesn’t know about famous figures from other
cultures. He mentions how he believes that men and women from diverse backgrounds should be celebrated. At the end of the poem, he says
that he will create his own identity based on his heritage.