Poetry Quotes

• Before you were mine - Q1


  "shriek at the pavement. Your polka-dot dress blows round your legs. Marilyn."
• Before you were mine - Q2


  "the fizzy, movie tomorrows"
• Before you were mine - Q3


  "where you sparkle and waltz and laugh before you were mine."
• Before you were mine - Context


  Speaker's Mother Stays out late, drawing attention to herself - In 1950's England this behavior would oppose stereotypical female behavior.

  Duffy's poem offers a critical view of the way motherhood restricts women - it was expected females adopted the role of mother and wife above all else.
• Climbing My Grandfather - Q1


  "the skin of his finger is smooth and thick like warm ice."
• Climbing My Grandfather - Q2


  "not looking down, for climbing has its dangers, then pull myself up"
• Climbing My Grandfather - Q3


  "watching clouds and birds circle, feeling his heat, knowing the slow pulse of his good heart."
• Climbing My Grandfather - Context

  Waterhouse focused a lot of his work on the environment showing his interest in nature.

  Waterhouse struggled with mental illness & took his own life.
• Eden Rock - Q1


  "Her hair, the colour of wheat, takes on the light."
• Eden Rock - Q2


  "The sky whitens as if lit by three suns"
• Eden Rock - Q3


  "I had not thought that it would be like this."
• Eden Rock - Context

  Causley's father died when he was young, then his mother in 1971.

  Charles himself worked as a coder for the Navy during the

  second world war. His poetic style is iconic for his simplicity and direct messages. Causely drew many inspirations for his poems from Cornish folk tales, as well as the

  landscapes that he grew up in.
• Follower - Q1


  "My father worked with a horse-plough"
• Follower - Q2


  "I stumbled in his hob-nailed wake"
• Follower - Q3


  "In his broad shadow round the farm."
• Follower - Context


  Seamus Heaney (1939-2013)

  Heaney heralds from a rigid farming community, and was born in Northern Ireland.

  He was the eldest of nine children, which meant his had a lot of

  pressure to be adept at

  farming.
• Letters from Yorkshire - Q1


  "he saw the first lapwings return"
• Letters from Yorkshire - Q2


  "You out there, in the cold, seeing the seasons"
• Letters from Yorkshire - Q3


  "our souls tap out messages across the icy miles."
• Letters from Yorkshire - Context


  The disparity between urban and rural life Dooley has experienced is reflected in the poem.

  Many of her poems also contain the theme of communication which may also be the result of

  Dooley's connections around the country.
• Mother any Distance - Q1


  "You at the zero-end, me with the spool of tape, recording length, reporting metres, centimetres back to base"
• Mother any Distance - Q2


  "unreeling years between us. Anchor. Kite."
• Mother any Distance - Q3


  "I reach towards a hatch that opens on an endless sky to fall or fly."
• Mother any Distance - Context

  Simon Armitage (1963 - )

  In 2019, Armitage became the new Poet Laureate, following Carol Ann Duffy in the post.

  His poetry often relates

  back to his Yorkshire heritage (Armitage was born in Huddersfield) and often focuses on relatable

  situations in order to resonate with and engage the reader.
• Walking Away - Q1


  "like a satellite Wrenched from its orbit, go drifting away"
• Walking Away - Q2


  "a half-fledged thing set free"
• Walking Away - Q3


  "Like a winged seed loosened from its parent stem"
• Walking Away - Context

  Cecil Day-Lewis (1904 - 1972)

  Day-Lewis was brought up by his father as his mother died when he was young. This may explain

  the emphasis he places on the father-son relationship with his own son.
• Love's Philosophy - Q1

  "The fountains mingle with the river And the rivers with the Ocean"
• Love's Philosophy - Q2


  "Nothing in the world is single; All things by a law divine"
• Love's Philosophy - Q3

  "See the mountains kiss high Heaven, And the waves clasp one another"
• Love's Philosophy - Context


  -Shelley is a key romantic Poet

  -Poem is of the Victorian era where this poem would have been read very controversial as the male is attempting to have a physical relationship supposedly pre-marriage
• Neutral Tones - Q1


  "We stood by a pond that winter day, And the sun was white"
• Neutral Tones - Q2

  "The smile on your mouth was the deadest thing"
• Neutral Tones - Q3

  "Your face, and the God-curst sun, and a tree"
• Neutral Tones - Context


  -Hardy was known as being insecure, depressed and sensitive as a result of two unhappy marriages which is well-reflected in the tone of "Neural Tones"
• Sonnet 29 - Q1

  "I think of thee!- my thoughts do twine and bud About thee, as wild vines, about a tree"
• Sonnet 29 - Q2

  "I will not have my thoughts instead of thee"
• Sonnet 29 - Q3


  "Drop heavily down, - burst, shattered, everywhere!"
• Sonnet 29 - Context


  -During the Victorian era, women were expected to not experience or express strong emotions so the end of the poem may be representative of Barrett Browning casting off these restraints.