poetry

• ozymandias

  • report from a stranger of a statue in a desert
  • statue is falling apart and decaying
  • the sculpturer has made it in a way that portrays the cruelty of the king
  • kings pedestal says "kings of kings" showing the arrogance of the leader
  • irony of his claims when the statue is surrounded by endless featureless desert
• london

  • walking through the streets of london observing its corruption and dirt
  • sees sign of sadness and suffering in every person he passes
  • signs of child labour, church's corruption, the army and monarchy
  • sees prostitutes and newborn children
  • views carriages of newlyweds - cycle of misery
• storm on the island

  • island community preparing for a storm
  • they have designed the island to withstand storms and nature
  • the land is barren of crops and trees
  • in a storm nature seems to turn against them
  • they stay hiding and waiting for it to past
  • they are powerless and scared
• the prelude

  • a boy steals a boat and rows out on the lake
  • watches ripples as he easily rows whilst focusing on a fixed point
  • starts to see mountain grow bigger in the backgorund
  • realises the immensity of the mountain and of nature
  • scared and starts to row back to shore
  • haunted for days
  • has changed perspective of nature and humanity
• charge of the light brigade

  • light brigade charging through a valley after ebing ordered to charge russian guns
  • unable to dispute and order given
  • order was a "blunder"
  • surrounded by cannons and artilery fire
  • big heroic battle - bayonets vs guns
  • come back from the battle and most dead
  • surrounded as they retreat
  • they should be remembered, honoured and glorified "noble six hundred"
• bayonet charge

  • soldier is thrown into battle unprepared - in medias res
  • he is clumsy and confused
  • he pauses on the batlle field to consider his role in war
  • a hare gets thrown out in front of him from the fighting
  • hare is dying adn suffering in front of him which jolts him back into consciousness
  • he realises the danger he is in
  • reverts to his instincts and runs towards the battle in fear
• exposure

  • the soldiers are waiting in a trench
  • they are scared to rest because they could be attacked at any time
  • nothing eventually happens
  • they watch nature adn trenches which all have signs of suffering
  • dawn only seems to. bring more misery and suffering
  • the cold is another agressor and appears to be more of a threat than the enemy soldiers
  • the passing of time is marked by snow transitioning into sings of spring
• remains

  • soldiers sent out to handle bank looters
  • man runs away and is shot by three soldiers
  • violent death - looter suffering and dying pain
  • body taken away but not respected
  • soldier keeps seeing his blood- haunted by guilt
  • guilt comes home with him- ptsd
  • keeps reliving the moment
  • suffering at home- drink, drugs, cant sleep
  • cant forget the looter of his guilt
• war photographer

  • a man is alone in a darkroom. the mood is calm but sombre
  • places that are experiencing conflict are listed
  • the man is revealed to be developing his photos
  • he is relieved to be in england away from threat of violence
  • the photographer sees his photos come into focus and remembers the suffering of his subjects. he expresses a sense of vocation
  • he realises that the photo will only affect the reader momentarily
  • the setting changes from his darkroom to an aeroplane. he stares "impassively" out the window reflecting on the indifference of the english people
• Narrator


  • Tells a story about her memories of the country she left as a child
  • Believes the memories to be infallible
  • Acknowledges the sad truth that there are tyrants and wars throughout the land
• Narrator starts to gain clarity on the situation

  She presents a positive perspective
• Language


  Important in terms of who she is
• Although she cannot return


  She is reminded of her city
• Maternal emotions


  Towards her city
• Compares her city


  To her new home
• Threatening atmosphere from civilians

  Juxtaposed with the positivity of her old city
• kamikaze

  • daughter is recounting the journey of her father as he flew on a kamikaze mission
  • remembering the father setting off and the things he took
  • she is telling the story to her children
  • father looks at the sea and village, boats and fish act as symbols
  • father remembers childhood on the beach with his brothers
  • daughter interjects that this is the children's grandfather
  • memories of the grandfather bringing home fish
  • daughter remembers father being rejected by community
  • remembers being forced to reject him herself
  • poems leaves with questions if he should have died
• poppies

  • the poem open "three days before armistice Sunday" to establish the theme of remembrance.
  • the narrator places poppy on her son's blazer
  • she recounts memories of her son -using sellotape to remove cat hair from his clothes
  • she remembers trying to stop her emotion and resist smothering
  • after he leaves the house, she goes to his room
  • she then climbs up a hill to lean on a war memorial and watch a dove
  • the narrator wishes shse could her the sons voice
• tissue

  • tissure paper is described to be fragile and easily affected by aging and handling
  • paper is then attributed to the significance of the koran
  • maps and buildings are then included in the external metaphor
  • dharker claims that an architect could use tissue to build with instead of bricks
  • tissue is finally linked to skin
• checking out me history

  • the speaker begins to list historical figures he is told about
  • in the next stanza in italics, the speaker talks about Toussaint L'ouverture a figure of the haitan revolution
  • in the next stanza, the poem reverts to plain text and lists furhter white figures. this pattern repears until the last stanza
  • finally the speaker concludes by stating that despite not being taught about his history it is okay as he can do that himself