poetry

• a wife in london 


  'whose webby fold on fold'
• a wife in london


  he-- has falllen- in the far south land
• a wife in london 


  fresh- firmed- penned in the highest feather
• mametz wood

  the china plate of a shoulder blade
• mametz wood 


  a broken mosaic of bone linked arm in arm
• mametz wood 


  slipped from their absent tongues
• ozymandias

  i met a traveller from an antique land
• ozymandias 


  which yet survived, stamped on these lifeless things
• ozymandias 


  look on my works yee mighty, and dispair
• ozymandias

  boundless and bare , the lone and level...
• the solider


  if i should die
• the solider

  her flowers to love, her ways to roam
• the solider


  her hearts at peace, under the english heaven
• dulce et decorum est 


  drunk with fatigue
• dulce et decorum est

  he plungles at me, guttering, choking, drowning
• dulce et decorum est 


  my friend, you would not tell me with such high zest
• dulce et decorum est 


  if you could hear, at every jolt, the blood come gargling
• the manhunt 


  parachute silk of his punctured lung
• the manhunt

  then, and only then, did i come close
• the manhunt 


  trace
• london


  i wander thro' each charter'd street
• london

  the mind-forg'd manacles i hear
• london


  the marrige hearse
• sonnet 43

  i love thee to the depth and breadth and height
• sonnet 43

  as men strive for right
• sonnet 43 


  i shall but love thee better after death
• she walks in beauty 


  all thats best of dark and bright
• she walks in beauty


  where thoughts serenly sweet express
• she walks in beauty


  a heart whose love is innocent!
• afternoons 


  young mothers assemble
• afternoons


  an estateful of washing
• afternoons 


  something is pushing them to the side of their own lives
• hawk roosting


  i sit in the top of the wood, my eyes closed
• hawk roosting 


  now i hold creation in my foot
• hawk roosting


  i am going to keep things like this
• the manhunt - context

  • written for a documentary 'forgotten heroes'
  • armitage never fought in any wars
  • bosnian war 1992 - 1995. very violent
  • based off Eddie beddoes, a British solider turned peacekeeper, who ended up suffering from PTSD
  • Poem from the perspective of his wife, Laura
• the solider - context

  • Written in 1914, pre WW1; was originally used for propeganda
  • Brooke enlisted to fight at 27 years old
  • Brooke never fought on the front lines of war
  • written as the final sonnet of his collection
• sonnet 43 - context

  • Elizabeth Barret Browning born 1806, died 1861
  • came from a wealthy, christian family
  • became ill at 15 and was on opium (drugs) most of her life
  • Her father didn't approve of her relationship with Robert Browning, who she ended up marrying
  • communicated with Robert through Love letters including 44 sonnets.
  • Married Robert in secret after moving to Italy
  • Robert persuaded her to publish the poems, though they were never meant to be.
• Dulce et decorum est - context

  • owen was enlisted to fight in WW1 in 1915 at 18
  • Had experiences with war horrors including falling into a shell hole and being blown up by a trench motor and laying on the floor for several days until he was found
  • Diagnosed with Shell shock and went in for treatment
  • went back to the front lines july 1918 - saw it as his duty to retell the harsh realities of the war
  • august 1918 - awarded a military cross for bravery
  • died 1 week before WW1 ended
  • 'dulce et decorum est pro portria; - 'it is sweet and proper to die for ones country' commonly used by war supporters
• Valentine - context

  • duffy was a contemporary scottish poet and former laureate
  • openly Bisexual
  • written for a radio station
  • previously in a relationship with adrian henri, a significantly older poet who took advantage of her and was unfaithful
  • her perception of love may be slightly skewed due to her relationship with Henri