poetry

• Remains - Summary

  A soldier at battle with his conscience after killing perhaps an unarmed looter whilst on duty abroad. He is plagued by his memories and cannot escape them even asleep or when on drink/drugs.
• War Photographer - Summary

  Written in third person, the poem describes a war photographer in is darkroom as he develops prints from his latest job in the field. As the image which slop in his trays emerge, he is filled with horror at the memories of the violent scenes he's witnessed.
• Bayonet Charge - Summary

  The poem follows the journey of a single soldier as he goes from sleeping in camp to running either from or towards a sudden battle. The poet emphasises the soldier's terror, shock and confusion at finding himself in such a horrific scene. Much of the poem's imagery centres of the destruction of the once peaceful and natural scene of a green field. The poet questions the idea of blind patriotism and the soldier questions what his purpose in the war really is. He seems to stop to question his reason for doing so but eventually succumbs to battle to survive.
• The Charge of the Light Brigade - Summary


  The poem follows the journey of a light brigade of some 600 British soldiers as they charge head first into the cannons and gunfire of a much-larger Russian army. The tone of the poem is one of pride, the poet doesn't mourn the loss of these soldiers nor does he show anger towards the men who gave these wrong orders. Instead, their bravery is celebrated.
• Kamikaze - Summary


  In this narrative poem, the poet explores the testimony of the daughter of a kamikaze pilot who turned around. The poem vividly explores the moment that the pilot's decision is made and sketches out the consequences. His family abandon him and he is shunned by his country.
• Poppies - Summary


  The poem is about the nature of grief. The speaker is a mother who is speaking directly to her son who has gone off to the war which she struggles to come to terms with. The poem demonstrates the inner emotion of a narrator who is trying to remain calm and composed but is breaking with sadness inside.
• Exposure - Summary


  The poem centres on a group of British soldiers as they wait in the trenches and battlefields for war. The main conflict here is between the soldiers and the biting winter weather. Owen highlights the extreme conditions these men were subjected to in WW1. This is not the type of danger and suffering people expected the British soldiers to be dying of.
• Remains - Context


  - Written by Simon Armitage in 2008

  - Looks at the effect of war on soldiers

  - Based on a British soldier who served in Iraq, information gathered from interviews

  - PTSD of the soldier
• War Photographer - Context

  - Written by Carol Ann Duffy in 1985

  - Based on Duffy's friendship with a war photographer and interested in their struggle

  - Imagery in 3rd stanza is based on a famous photo of children fleeing a Napalm attack during the Vietnam War

  - References major historical air strikes
• Bayonet Charge - Context

  - Written by Ted Hughes in 1957

  - Ted Hughes was brought up in the countryside and had a passion for nature

  - Father was a WW1 veteran who had survived the massacre of his regiment at Gallipoli
• The Charge of the Light Brigade - Context

  - Written by Alfred Lord Tennyseon in 1854

  - Based on the Battle of Balaclava in the Crimean War

  - British troops were given an incorrect order to charge into Russian cannons

  - Tennyson was Poet Lauriette so it was rare for him to criticise the ruling class
• Kamikaze - Context


  - Written by Beatrice Garland in 2013

  - Based on the imagined story of a Japanese kamikaze pilot during WW2, who were expected to fly suicide missions = dying is the ultimate honor and fulfillment of duty

  - During WW2 about 3860 kamikaze pilots died this way

  - Interested in causes of fundamentalism and what motivates someone to give up their life for their country
• Poppies - Context


  - Written by Jane Weir in 2009

  - Addresses female experience and is 'a consciously political act'

  - Was inspired to write by mothers who had lost sons in wars

  - Reflects war's impact on every part of society
• Exposure - Context


  - Written by Wilfred Owen in 1917

  - Wilfred Owen was a soldier in WW1 but was tragically killed aged 26 a few days before the war ended

  - He wanted to convey the 'pity of war' to the public and had an anti-patriotic attitude

  - The freezing 1917 winter caused many soldiers to suffer from hypothermia, frostbite and trench foot
• Remains - Key Messages

  - Armitage raises awareness of the struggle soldiers

  encounter even when back from war (specifically PTSD) and the lack of support they receive

  - Explores the consequences of holding the power to kill, and how it can make someone powerless

  - Highlights the unnecessary nature of murder
• War Photographer - Key Messages

  - Duffy highlights how civilians are not as affected as they should be by the images of war and the loss of capacity for compassion in society

  - Perhaps Duffy is also criticising the British media for reporting on such events, but doing nothing to stop them.

  - Duffy also criticising the limited view we have of war 'pick out five or six' and the impossibility to express the true horrors of war through media
• Bayonet Charge - Key Messages

  - Hughes is highlighting the brutality of war and is perhaps critical of how this process transforms a soldier from a living, thinking person into a dangerous weapon of war

  - Depicts how war is not just a physical battle but also a mental one

  - War distorts soldiers' sense of identity

  - Criticises the futile sacrifice of soldier's lives
• The Charge of the Light Brigade - Key Messages

  - Tennyson highlights and celebrates the heroism of our soldiers and the need for remembrance (he was commissioned to write the poem)

  - Perhaps a propaganda piece of writing, or a criticism of the poor leadership of the army

  - Glorifies war, praises the soldiers for dying bravely for their country

  - Acknowledges the fault that was made, perhaps commenting on the blind faith soldiers are forced to have on their commanders
• Kamikaze - Key Messages

  - Garland's poem reflects the immense social pressure brought to bear on the pilots to carry out kamikaze missions as part of Japan's war effort during World War Two

  - The poem perhaps prompts us to think about the consequences of suicide missions for families in the modern world as well as in past conflicts

  - Reflects the conflict between doing what is right and what you're told is right

  - Contradicts the glory of dying at war and the perceived 'honour' of personal sacrifice
• Poppies - Key Messages

  - Weir's poem highlights the conflict that war brings to those left at home waiting for news of their loved one's safety.

  - The reader needs to feel empathy for the mother over her changed relationship with her son and the turmoil she now feels.

  - Depicts war's effects on every part of society by shining a light on the paine experienced by those indirectly impacted by it
• Exposure - Key Messages

  - Owen experience first-hand the horrors of war and has a sense of injustice about the way the soldiers are being treated. - Owen has set out to expose the conditions the soldiers have experienced to the world, criticising the glorified image of war specifically in the media

  - His tone is deliberately provoking and emotive language is used with the intention of involving and even upsetting the reader

  - Lamenting the loss of faith in religion that soldiers experienced as a result of the attrocities of war
• Remains - Language/Form/Structure


  - First person

  - Colloquial language to emphasise desensitivity to death

  - Told as a story

  - Enjambment used to show he cannot forget and the memories are relentless, but quatranes show his attempt to organise his mind/experiences

  - Quick shifts between past and present reflects how he keeps being forced to relive the past (PTSD)
• War Photographer - Language/Form/Structure

  - ABBCDD rhyme scheme reflects the monotony of his work and how it is his job to attempt to impose order on such a tragic event

  - Third person

  - Religious metaphor

  - Haunting imagery

  - Quick pace and internal rhyme scheme reflects how quickly newspaper readers will forget the issues they see
• Bayonet Charge - Language/Form/Structure

  - Lack of rhyme scheme depicts how there's no logic behind his action and no way to predict what happens next

  - Third person

  - 3 stanzas each with a different tone

  - Enjambment - pace is important, when running it is quick and when thinking it is slow

  - In media res beginning to jump straight into the action
• The Charge of the Light Brigade - Language/Form/Structure

  - Metaphors show the horror of war 'valley of death' 'jaws of hell'

  - Adjectives depict the heroism of these men 'noble'

  - Imperative verb 'honour' directs the reader to remember the fallen with respect

  - Told in dactylic dimeter (1 stressed then 2 unstressed) which reflects horses galloping but also reflects the vigour of the soldiers and makes the lines when the meter doesn't fit more significant (e.g. 'not the six hundred')

  - Refrain 'rode the six hundred' switching to 'not the six hundred' highlights the loss they suffered and symbolises the soldier's perseverance
• Kamikaze - Language/Form/Structure


  - Told in a narrative voice makes it more personal

  - Natural imagery to show the beauty of life

  - Metaphor 'a tuna, the dark prince' to show the pilot is dangerous

  - Freedom of form and shifts in character, focus and time reflects the drifting of reminiscence
• Poppies - Language/Form/Structure


  - First person monologue

  - Maternal language/domestic imagery used to show home and safety, contrasted with violence to enhance the mother's conflicting emotions

  - Whole poem is inf ree verse which reflects both the chaos/unpredictability of war and the speaker's inability to organise/control her memories

  - Caesura throughout forces the reader to slow down, reflects how the speaker wants to cherish evrey moment with her son

  - Enjambment throughout reflects her inability to control her emotions and leaves space for all her unsaid words
• Exposure - Language/Form/Structure


  - Pronouns 'our' and 'we' show collective misery

  - By repeating the phrase 'But nothing happens', the poem emphasises the agony of waiting and that war is not all about action, anti-climactic

  - Half rhyme = unsettling, unpredictable

  - Harsh consonant sounds reflects the difficult conditions

  - Personification of weather reflects its aggressive nature, highlights the idea of man vs nature
• Remains - Key Quotes

  "On another occasion, we get sent out"

  "Probably armed, possibly not"

  "I see every round as it rips through his life"

  "End of story, except not really"

  "Six feet under in desert sand"

  "His bloody life in my bloody hands"
• War Photographer - Quotes

  "Spools of suffering set out in ordered rows"

  "Running children in nightmare heat"

  "Half formed ghost"

  "A hundred agonies in black and white"

  "Pick out five or six"
• Bayonet Charge - Quotes

  "Suddenly he awoke and was running"

  "Lugged a rifle numb as a smashed arm"

  "Patriotic tear that had brimmed in his eye - sweating [...] from the centre of his chest"

  "King, honour, human dignity, etcetera"

  "His terror's touchy dynamite"
• The Charge of the Light Brigade - Quotes


  "Rode the six hundred"

  "Valley of Death"

  "Jaws of death"

  "Volley'd and thundered"

  "Mouth of hell"

  "And all the world wondered"

  "Honour the charge they made! Honour the Light Brigade!"
• Kamikaze - Quotes


  "Her father embarked at sunrise"

  "A shaven head full of powerful incantations"

  "He must have looked far down at the little fishing boats"

  "A tuna - the dark prince"

  "To be silent, to live as though he had never returned"

  "He must have wondered which had been a better way to die"
• Poppies - Quotes


  "Spasms of paper red disrupting a blockade of yellow bias binding around your blazer"

  "Steeled the softening of my face"

  "I resisted the impulse to run my fingers through the gelled blackthorns of your hair"

  "I listened hoping to hear your playground voice catching on the wind"
• Exposure - Quotes


  "Merciless iced easy winds that knive is"

  "Twitching agonies"

  "Slowly, our ghosts drag home"

  "For love of God seems dying"

  "But nothing happens"

  "All their eyes are ice"
• Ozymandias - Summary


  The narrator meets a traveller who tells him about this statue in the middle of the desert. The statue is of a king who used to rule through mockery, dictatorship and boasting. But now the statue has crumbled away and left in ruins.
• Ozymandias - Context


  - Written by Percy Bysshe Shelley in 1818

  - Bysshe Shelley was a radical thinker and an atheist, he didn't support the monarchy and was critical of people and systems that became huge and believed they were invincible.

  - Wrote 'Ozymandias' after the British Museum acquired a fragment of a statue of the Egyptian pharaoh Ramesses II (Greek name Ozymandias)
• Ozymandias - Key Messages

  - Aiming to highlight how all power is temporary, no matter their strength when allive.

  - Importance of accepting the limitations of human power

  - Criticising/highlighting the futility of hubristic attempts at immortality

  - All rulers, dynasties and political regimes will eventually crumble, as nothing can withstand time forever

  - The survival of creativity through the transience of tyranny
• Ozymandias - Language/Form/Structure


  - Consonance reflects his harsh nature as a ruler

  - 14 lines long like a sonnet, sonnets are usually used to capture a love of something - Ozymandias' love of himself

  - Iambic pentameter

  - Cyclical structure - starts and ends in the desert, nothing has changed, his whole reign and empire has been reduced to a story

  - Semantic field of deterioration - even power can't protect you from the effects of time

  - Hand - metaphor for power

  - Sense of hubris, ends up in a state of ruin
• Ozymandias - Quotes


  "Half sunk, a shattered visage lies"

  "Sneer of cold command"

  "The hand that mocked them"

  "King of kings: Look on my works"

  "Nothing beside remains"