Poetry Structure and Form

• Structure of The Prelude - There are three main sections in the extract. In the first, the tone is fairly light and carefree. There is a distinct change when the mountain appears, the tone becomes darker and more fearful. The final section, the narrator reflects on how experience has changed him
• Form of The Prelude - First person narrative, helping it to sound personal. There is also an unrhymed verse in iambic pentameter which makes it sound serious, helping to make the general rhythm of the poem much more natural
• Form of My Last Duchess - Dramatic Monologue, written in iambic pentameter, giving the impression that the duke is in conversation with his visitor.
• Rhyming and Line Structure of 'My Last Duchess' - Rhyming couplets help to show the Duke's desire for control, however the constant enjambment suggests how he gets carried away with anger, helping to create a picture of an unstable character with an obsession over their own power
• Structure of 'My Last Duchess' - The poem is framed by the visit to the Duke's gallery, but the Duke gets clearly caught up in his emotions. The poem builds up to almost a confession about how the girl was "dealt" with, before the Duke moves onto another artwork.
• Form of "Charge of the Light Brigade" - Narrated in the third person, making it seem like a story. The rhythm and its relentless and regular nature helps to make a fast pace, imitating the cavalry and its advance

  Rhyming couplets help to drive the poem forward, but the momentum is broken by unrhymed lines, which can mirror the horses stumbling and the soldier's downfall. The overall rhyme scheme hints at the chaotic nature of the war
• Structure of "Charge of the Light Brigade" - Tells the story of the battle in chronological order, the final stanza is much shorter and summarises the heroism of the brigade.
• Form of 'Bayonet Charge' - Enjambment and caesura, and has lines of uneven lengths. Creating an irregular rhythm mirroring the soldier struggling through the mud.

  The writer keeps the identity of the soldier anonymous, giving the idea that the soldier described was a universal figure that could reflect any soldier at war.
• Structure of 'Bayonet Charge' - Starts in medias res (in the middle of the action) and covers the movements and thoughts of the soldier over a short space of time.

  In the final stanza he gives up his morals and seems to have lost his humanity
• Form of 'Remains' - There is no regular line length or rhyme scheme, making it sound like a story.

  The poem initially starts with it being written with the first person plural "we", but changes to the first person singular "I" and the poem becomes more personal.

  The final couplet, both lines have the same metre giving the feeling of irreversibility and hints that the guilt the soldier has will stay with the soldier
• Structure of 'Remains' - Begins as if it is going to be an amusing anecdote, but quickly turns into a graphic description of a man's death.

  There is a clear volta in the 5th stanza, where the soldier's tone, thoughts and emotions are changed by his guilt.
• Form of 'Poppies' - First person narrative giving a strong impression of the mother's emotions.

  There is no regular rhyme or rhythm, which makes it sound like the narrator's thoughts and memories.

  Long sentences and enjambment give the impression that the narrator is absorbed in her own thoughts and memories, with cesurae show how she tries to hold her emotions together
• Structure of 'Poppies' - The poem is chronological. The time frame of the poem however is quite ambiguous, giving the idea of how much the mother misses her son that she has confused the memories of her son.
• Structure of War Photographer - The poem follows the actions and thoughts of the photographer, there is a clear change in the third stanza, when the photographer remembers a specific death. In the final stanza, the focus shifts to the way the photographers work is received and if the sacrifice he makes is worth it.
• Form of 'War Photographer' - 4 stanzas of equal length and a regular scheme (ABB), set out in "ordered rows" like the photographer's spools, echoing the care that the photographer takes over his work.

  The use of enjambment reflects the gradual revealing of the photo as it develops
• Form of 'Tissue' - The poetic voice is elusive, with the focus on humanity in general rather than a specific person or speaker.

  The lack of regular rhythm or rhyme and the enjambment across lines and stanzas gives the poem a freedom and openness, reflecting the narrator's desire for freedom and clarity.
• Structure of 'Tissue' - Short stanzas alludes to the idea that the poem is built up in layers, just as it suggests that human life is.

  The poem moves through ideas about history, human experience and the creation of human life. The final line stands out and focuses the reader on their own identity and how its created
• Form of 'The Emigree' - Written in the first person, with no regular rhythm or rhyme scheme
• Structure of 'The Emigree' - 3 eight line stanzas, with the first two containing lots of enjambment, but much less in the final stanza, reflecting the speaker's feeling of confinement in her new "city of walls". Each stanza ends with "sunlight" reinforcing the idea that the speaker sees the city in a positive way

  The speaker's memory of the city grows and solidifies as the poem moves on
• Form of 'Checking out me History' - A mixture of stanza forms, suggesting he's breaking the confining language rules he's been taught. The Caribbean history stanzas have shorter lines and more broken syntax that the British history stanzas, making them seem more serious. When describing the British history, Agard uses rhyming quatrains making it seem like a nursery rhyme.

  The rhyme scheme are also different; British stanzas have lots of simple rhymes, making them sound much more childish.
• Structure of 'Checking out me history' - The poem alternates between historical and fictional figures from Caribbean and British culture, emphasising the differences between them. The British figures are skipped over quickly, whereas Caribbean figures are spoken about in much greater detail. This could show how he knows that people already know about the British figures but would not know about the people from the Caribbean which he speaks about.