Anthology Poetry

• Key themes:

  War

  Love

  Place

  Passing of time

  Power

  Nature
• London - Context

  Key word: Melancholy

  Describes London in the 1790's

  Blake witnessed the corruption in London firsthand

  Blake was anti - monarchy and anti - religion and he used his poems to show this
• London - Key quotes

  "Charter'd street / charter'd Thames"

  "Black'ning church appalls"

  "Blood down the palace walls"

  "Marriage hearse"
• "Charter'd street/Charter'd Thames"


  "Charter'd" means controlled. Blake used repetition of this to highlight his criticism of the government and how they control everything that people do
• "Black'ning church appalls"


  Reveals Blake's anti - religion views. He believes that the Church is working with the government to corrupt the people of London and to brainwash them.
• "Blood down the palace walls"


  "Palace" creates an image of someone rich, such as the royal family. This shows that Blake believes that the rich are to blame for the corruption of London in 1790
• "Marriage hearse"


  "Hearse" creates an image of sadness and is linked with death and funerals. This shows that Blake believes that the only reason why the people of London are living is to die and they don't have any other purpose in life. They are seen as married to death
• London - Poem Link

  Living space

  Both poems show awful living conditions that people are expected to live in, however one describes modern day Mumbai whilst the other describes 1790's London
• Living space - Context

  Key word: Injustice

  Dharker was born in Pakistan but raised in Scotland, her multiculturalism is reflected in her poems

  Describes the modern day slums in Mumbai

  Her poems offer a sense of live and hope

  It criticizes the class divide in India
• Living Space - Key quotes

  "Beams balance crookedly"

  "Those eggs in a wire basket"

  "Bright, thin walls of faith"
• "Beams balance crookedly"


  Dharker uses alliteration to highlight the dangerous conditions that these people are living in. "Crookedly" symbolizes the corruption of the class system and the large gap in the class divide
• "These eggs in a wire basket"


  Dharker uses a metaphor to show how fragile and vulnerable the people living in the slums are.
• "Bright, thin walls of faith"


  Dharker uses religious imagery to highlight the optimism of the people living in the slums. She also describes the metaphorical "walls" as a way to keep the people protected from the harsh reality of the slums
• Living Space - Poem link

  London

  Both poems show awful living conditions that people are expected to live in, however one describes modern day India whilst the other describes 1790's London
• Sonnet 43 - Context


  Key word: Eternal

  Browning wrote Sonnet 43 for her husband

  Browning married her husband against her fathers wishes and was later disowned by him

  Was written during the Victorian times, when female writers were not accepted and were mocked
• Sonnet 43 - Key quotes

  "How do I love thee? Let me count the ways"

  "Ends of being and ideal grace"

  "By sun and candlelight"

  "I shall but love thee better after death"
• "How do I love thee? Let me count the ways"


  "Count" implies that there is numerous ways that she loves her husband.

  The interrogative allows Browning to immediately express her love for her husband
• "Ends of being and ideal grace" 


  Browning uses religious imagery to show that she loves her husband the same amount that she loves God, this was during the Victorian period where religion was very important.
• "By sun and candlelight" 


  Browning uses a metaphor to show that her husband is the light of her life and he is her life source, she wouldn't be able to exist without him
• "I shall but love thee better after death"


  Browning reveals that her and her husband's love is eternal and that they are perfect for each other even after they die
• Sonnet 43 - Poem link

  Valentine

  Whilst both poems explore love and relationships, Sonnet 43 explores conventional love and Valentine explores unconventional love
• She walks in beauty - Context

  Key word: Infatuation

  Byron was apart of the romantic movement and was considered a romantic poet

  Romantic poets explored the beauty of nature, feelings and emotions
• She walks in beauty - Key quotes

  "Which heaven to gaudy day denies"

  "One shade the more, one ray the less"

  "So soft, so calm, yet so eloquent"

  "A heart whose love is innocent!"
• "Which heaven to gaudy day denies"


  Byron uses religious imagery to highlight that her beauty is out of this world. Her beauty is described as being supernatural and from heaven.

  "Heaven" creates an image of an angel
• "One shade the more, one ray the less"


  Byron uses light and dark imagery to highlight that if this women was only slightly different she wouldn't look as angelic as she does.

  Byron believes that everything about her is perfect and nothing should be moved not even an inch
• "So soft, so calm, yet eloquent"


  Byron uses repetition to reinforce this woman's fragility and innocent.

  He reveals everything about her is perfect, even her characteristics and personality
• "A heart whose love is innocent!"


  Byron uses an exclamatory finish to symbolize this woman's beauty and to highlight his joy that he has seen her

  "Innocent" reveals that this woman has never known real love before
• She walks in beauty - Poem link

  Sonnet 43

  Both explore love, Sonnet 43 explores genuine, heartfelt love whilst She walks in beauty explores a man's infatuation with a woman's beauty
• Cozy Apologia - Context

  Key word: Contentment

  Dove's affectionate tribute to her husband

  It is written in free verse - there is no actual rhyming scheme, this reveals that she feels free in her love and with her husband
• Cozy Apologia - Key quotes

  "I could pick anything and think of you"

  "Chain - mail glinting"

  "We're content but fall short of divine"

  "Still, its embarrassing this happiness"

  "I fill this stolen time with you"
• "I could pick anything and think of you"


  "Anything" reveals that everything in her life will remind her of her husband because he is always on her mind and she has many memories with him
• "Chain - mail glinting"


  "Chain - mail" creates a cliche image of a knight in shining armour.

  This reveals how Dove feels saved by her husband and how he is the most important person in her life
• "We're content but fall short of divine"


  Dove reveals that their relationship may not seem perfect from the outside but they are happy with it and that is what matters
• "Still, its embarrassing, this happiness"


  Dove reveals that she believes that their love is too simple to be happy about it, she may be ashamed when others realize how ordinary their love seems
• "I fill this stolen time with you"


  Dove discloses that she is always thinking of her husband when they are apart. She believes that time spent without him is a crime and that she is only fully happy when they are together
• Cozy Apologia - Poem link

  Valentine

  Whilst both explore the theme of love, Cozy Apologia explores conventional love, whilst Valentine explores unconventional love
• Valentine - Context

  Key word: Conventional

  Duffy goes against traditional views of love because she is gay

  Considered a post - modern poem because it criticizes modern love
• Valentine - Key quotes

  "I give you an onion"

  "It is a moon wrapped in brown paper"

  "It will blind you with tears"

  "Possessive and faithful"

  "Cling to your fingers, cling to your knife"
• "I give you an onion"


  Duffy uses an extended metaphor throughout the poem of an "onion" to symbolize her love for her partner. She uses an unconventional gift of love to criticize traditional gifts given out of love
• "It is a moon wrapped in brown paper"


  Duffy uses a metaphor of something ordinary, "brown paper", and uses it to hide the romantic gesture she is giving underneath. This reveals that Duffy believes that something that may seem ordinary and simple from the outside can be romantic and intimate on the inside