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power and conflict poetry - Coggle Diagram

- - - - shows a culture can abandon life and glorify death, Owen complains about this
      - shows after effects of war on those who participate in it, exposure is during the war but also owen suffered from shellshock after
      - both show that war creates nihilism
      - both explore importance of memory
    - - exposes the after effects of war on individuals participating in it- PTSD and shellshock
      - makes a political point that soldiers are not looked after, makes us sympathise with soldiers
    - - supports patriotic propoganda, promotes the cult of the warrior and death as a noble sacrifice, contrasts exposure
      - subtle hints at the war being wrong
      - is memorable to read aloud in celebration of heroism
      - both explore use of sound in poetry
    - - both accuse the readership of indifference to foreign suffering
      - questions the role of the media in perpetuating or preventing war
      - explores damaging effect of war on those who report in it- affects everyone involved
    - - both use sibilance to create sound effects which highlight the violence and pain evident in these poems
      - both poets show war creates nihilism
  - - - sibilance mimics the sound of the bullets streaking through the air, could also be sharp intakes of break of men in shock, perhaps also the sound of shivering as they freeze to death
      - bullets described as 'less deadly' than the snow, british public would have been shocked to hear their brave soldiers were being killed by harsh conditions rather than nobly dying in combat
      - imagery of the air 'shudder[ing] black with snow' contrasts with joyful images of christmas back home in england. The weather becomes unnatural, snow which we expect to be white takes on a negative image
      - harsh assonance and consonance links weather with gunfire and therefore conflict and pain
      - ironic that the sibilance is soft here, quite muffled, taking away the threatening idea of the bullets- the men also feel this, being more threatened by the air
    - - personification of the wind as a murderer, the winds has no mercy and they feel like they are being stabbed with cold, contrasting being stabbed with real bayonets in battle
      - their brains ache with both cold, and, possibly, the extreme fatigue, loneliness and despair they all felt, aswell as the numbness from boredom, tedium and not knowing what to think
      - 'east winds' sibilent 's' sounds with the hard consonants 't' and 'd' create a cutting, bitter edge to the elements as if the weather attacks and betrays them. Hissing s sound captures the noise of the wind, sounding both lonely but also biting
      - the sibilance is sinister and immediately makes us feel uneasy, reflecting the uneasiness the soldiers faced whilst waiting for battle, and waiting for death
    - - the reader is presented with the image of the soldiers burying their own men. The 'shaking grasp' could be because of the cold, or the effects of PTSD (previously known as shell-shock)
      - the 'half known' faces could refer to them not knowing each other very well, or it maybe that they no longer recognise eachother
      - part of their duties, but a 'party' is associated with happiness, creating an oxymoron which contrasts the funerals (or what should be funerals) and sadness of burying their fellow colleagues
    - - repetition in final lines emphasises the process doesn't end, the soldiers are frozen in time and hell- for many this will be their final memories
      - he is also writing to the people back home, if they knew what it was like there they would try to stop it, he is trying to make them aware, but nothing happens- the war continues, society didn't acknowledge their suffering until afterwards
      - repeated refrain, the soldiers are waiting for the counterattack that never comes, reflects the poets desire to escape the terrible waiting, anything is better than waiting for battle- even battle itself, although they are also waiting for the war to end
      - it seems odd he's complaining nothing happens, trying to point out to his readers at home that they could do something, they could stop this war, but they don't- they continue encouraging young men to sign up
    - - his own faith is disappearing and is under attack, reflects the internal conflict within himself due to his experiences in war
      - the consequences of war- so many men are dying around him, perhaps he is thinking it is God's love itself that is dying, God no longer loves mankind because of their actions that led to war
- - - - also explores patriotism, suggests it is an illusion and the soldiers are dying for no reason
      - focuses on hardships of war which are dehumanising, make us sympathise with the soldiers
      - shows the british and the public are unprepared for the reality of war and that soldiers are dying needlessly- the soldier is inexperienced and underprepared to be there
      - explores the use of sound- alliteration and sibilance
      - how war creates nihilism (despair that life is pointless) echoes in symbols of civilisation (king, country, honour) the soldier sheds
      - also a soldiers first world war experience, but written later and no from personal experience
      - exposure has a more formal stanza structure, modern bayonet charge employs more enjambment and less repetition and rhyme
  - - - simile is used to create vivid imagery
      - juxtaposed ideas of patriotic tear, a beautiful and noble thing full of emotion contrasted with molten iron which further dehumanises the soldier and likens him more to a tank or machine
      - symbolism- 'tear' is a homonym, suggests he is torn away from his patriotism, no longer feeling patriotic
    - - personification gives the bullets agency, they seem to act violently on their own accord
      - the bullets puncture the air and the image of 'smacking' refers to the winded feeling the soldier has as he runs for his life across the field
      - semantic body parts with 'belly' and 'smashed arm' blurs the line between weapon and man by dehumanising the soldier and personifying the weapons
      - metaphor also implies nature is being attacked by the bullets, war becomes unnatural- a crime against nature
      - onomatopeaic sound created thrugh the sibilance and alliteration of the bullets being fired and the rush of the bullets going by
    - - simile, cruel violent death of a hare to show how nature is damaged and ruined by war unnecessarily
      - the yellow hare represents the innocence of nature in conflict
      - the 'threshing circle' is a farming term but has connotations of violence and destruction. Threshing gives us sustenance by harvesting the wheat, but also sorts the wheat from the chaff leaving the rest of the plant as rubbish, in the same way the hare itself becomes rubbish and so does the man watching it happen if he gets killed he simply becomes another victim, another useless plant that is feeding the war
      - suggests even if you aren't fighting in war it still affects you
      - the horror of war is not conveyed by the men he sees being killed around him, he notices the suffering of nature
      - 'yellow' has connotations of cowardice, perhaps reflects fear of the soldier, or the cowardice of the politicians and nations which have sent these young men to die in their place
      - hare acts as a warning by jolting him out of his own panic and is a metaphor for the soldier's trapped in war
      - the hare represents not only nature but all the men, no men around him are described as dying in the poem, but of course they are being killed. It is only the plight of this hare that has caught his attention as though the killing of real men has no impact on him as he's seen it thousands of times, is totally dehumanised as he no longer has any human feelings
    - - listing of the key motivations for war emphasises that here and now they are second to the rush of the battle, everything that may have caused him to sign up no longer apply, the only thing on his mind is survival
      - 'etcetera' makes it seem irrelevant and vague, they don't matter like they used to, he is sick of being told about it as all that is left is the basic human instinct to survive, nothing else matters. Devalues the other items in the list, undermines their impact with dismissive 'etcetera' shows his only priority now is survival and self preservation
      - simile
      - fast paced listing mirrors the rapid shift from inaction into action
    - - harsh consonnance 't' sounds like a countdown or ticking time bomb, emphasises adrenaline rush and almost animal like reactions
      - alliteration implies he could be destroyed by his own fear
    - - simile creates a dual meaning: he could feel numb to the pain he has to cause with the rifle, he could have literally smashed his rifle into his arm in his panic. Highlights both the soldier's inexperience and trauma at what he has had to do in the war. Irony- a smashed arm that was broken would be incredibly painful, not numb- as if he's turned off the pain as the trauma has led him to derealise.
- - - - Repetition + metonymy [replacing name ‘light brigade’ with 6hunderd] suggest hundreds were killed but also that the charge against Russians faced impossible odds, mindset was fixed on the suicide mission. Death was nearly inevitable, but they followed orders. Height of heroism
    - - Implies some doubts in soldier’s minds. Brief questioning, before returning to fixed mindset, don’t hesitate. Effect of propoganda and glorification of patriotsm ridding of human instinct.
    - - Thrusts into action, establish tense atmosphere. Repetition of distance creates sense of exposure and vulnerability – pounding feet of a charge and also reflects the pack mentality of a group of people charging. could also mirror shout of military command . Conscious continuation of riding to their suicide.
    - - Triplets drive poem forward. Break in rhyme represent stumble of horses/falling soldiers. Invites audience to question why without criticizing military. Lack of regular rhyme represents chaos of war. Repetition, anaphora reiterates soldiers obedience. Highlights soldiers lack of individualism. ‘and’ emphasises death is inevitable duty and patriotism important – suicide mission. ‘Theirs’ repetition emphasise their position in military hierarchy, job to execute order without hesitation, showing exemplary soldiers
    - - Keeps his anonymity focuses on bravery of soldiers despite of a blunder. kept nameless to focus on British greatness and notion of herosism; not only about bravery, but duty and willingness to obey orders unconditionally
    - - Biblical illusion, psalm 23. When in valley of death, don’t fear death as god is with you. Such a slim chance of survival, it had not been luck that a few survived, promotes protection of God, he is on side of British. Could also be criticism that higher ranks should’ve protected light brigade who were forced to engage in dangerous conflict due to low status.
    - - Fricatives and sibilance emphasise brutality. Violent imagery compared to guns, they are worthless. Dooms the charge straight away highlighting the lack of power and individualism of soldiers - cannot even choose to save themselves
    - - Rhetorical question alludes to poem being propaganda. Lives need to be lost for world to appreciate sacrifice, seen as patriotic even with error. Glorification of war, lives forever in history as they are immortalised by respect
    - - Metaphors create negative connotations, claustrophobic connotations. Shredded or eaten up by bullets. Impression of no escape once entering, alludes to story of Roman soldier, Curtius who rode horse into mouth of hell and killed sacrificially.
- - - - Paper receipts record everything but decay and are impermanent, demonstrating how our lives and money is insignificant.
      - transcience of history- uncertainty of reality and the 'truth' we tell
      - eventually we will become paper (tissue)- mortality, recorded in history
      - remarks how nothing is meant to last, so don't hold too tightly to it and be willing to let everything go
      - extended metaphor of paper for recording history but contrasting its fragility with the longevity of paper
    - - asks for tolerance and cultural and religious understanding
        
        dharker asks for equality for all people
      - explores the importance of family and family history
  - - - smilie
      - Implies money controls out lives, if the control was eased we could have more freedom, like a kite fluctuating in the wind but there’s the invisible string bringing you back to earth so its only an illusion of freedom. Money still has a hold on us and is important even if we think we’re free as always have responsibilities we are never free. We are controlled by governments and laws even though it’s a ’free’ country, so how can we get rid of the things that control us to have more freedom? If everything was temporary, we may have more freedom, and everyone would be able to make their mark out of vanity and pride. Highlights freedom and the illusion of freedom but we’ll always be brought back by responsibilities
      - Irregular rhyme replicates the changing wind pattern in one stanza but is very loose and free, we shouldn’t be restricted by rules just do what you want and you’d be happier
      - Free verse reinforces lack of mans power, undermines their efforts as futile
- - - - anaphora at the beginning builds up a rhythm as he's making a point, creates accusatory tone conveying his anger, also carribean rhythm
      - assonance- simplistic rhyme because its aimed at a childhood audience aswell as an adult one as he talks about the kind of history we are taught in schools, deliberately getting us to educate all children in a different way
      - repetition mirrors the rote learning Agard may have had to rote learn the history he was taught due to the lack of its personal relevance to him, creates an oppressive tone to the teaching of history
      - juxtaposition of pronouns shows speaker taking back the power from 'dem'
    - - false view of histroy is mirrored by the false treatment of his eye
      - 'eye' is a homophone for I, pointing out it is himself and own identity which has been bandaged, but ironically it is his own history which has blinded him, we are only taught about the british involvement in slavery rather than the afro-carribean side of the story
      - connotations of injury imply he feels he's been hurt by his sheltered upbringing
      - his tone is anrgy as if he is wounded and constricted being kept ignorant of history is disabling
      - feels he has lost his identity and the biased view of history is disabling and crippling, history depends on who is telling it- history is a construction put together by those in power
      - conflict between fact and truths which are often obscured by race or gender
    - - florence nightingale was known as the lady with the lmao but Mary Seacole emits light herself, the light imagery associates figures of black history with light due to their emotional significance to him, a source of guidance for him highlighting the importance of teaching children about these people. The light acts as a beacon of hope and symbolises the truth
    - - 'but now' volta marks a turning point as he switches from 'dem' to 'I', taking ownership of his identity making the poem about himself and his journey, taking it away from them
      - repetition of 'I' in the ending concludes the poems sentiment that colonialism has had a large effect on individuals as people, also asserts the speakers freedom and self education
      - verb 'carving' suggests its an arduous task to figure it out but is worth completing as once he's found it its strong and permenant, ever lasting
      - contrasts the beginning 'blind me to me own identity', conveys the speaker's journey to resolution
      - could suggest each new piece of history he discovers adds something to his identity, building it gradually, identity isn't something that can be constructed in an instant or imposed from the outside
        
        teaches us not to reply on everything you're taught in school, be inquisitive and curious
      - finishes with a rhyming couplet, traditionally used to round off poems with happy endings, signalling the positive journey ahead
      - metaphor shows artistry in sculpting sense of self overtime, creating something beautiful which is going to last and change history, how his poem is going to change your perspective of the world
  - - - rhyme scheme links white and black history, Agard is trying to end the segregation through literary unification
      - rhyme is all the same making the next line predictable and creates a mocking effect with childish assonance on each line
      - semantic field of childhood implies he feels he has lost his childhood and is stuck in the past without knowing where he came from therefore doesn't feel he can move forward (being kept ignorant is disabling)
      - hey diddle diddle nursery rhyme is taught in schools, it is silly and nonsensical yet we aren't taught about important history
  - - - problems with society caused by those in power (who choose what to educate us) - church, king and parliament, and men in the patriarchy, are damaging lives (who yeilded power when britain was an imperialist country)
      - shows damaging effects on society when it exploits its children- links to education when people are children they are given the wrong history that is when they are the most impressionable and their identity is set
    - - explores the difficulties faced by migrants fleeing corrupt political systems in the countries they leave and in the countries they settle in, Agard's own narrative
      - shows how a lone voice can try to achieve political change
      - how the past is reinterpreted and how memory is precious, even though it changes the facts- reinterprets the past and changes your perspective bringing to light, doesn't change the facts to falsehoods but does introduce to us new facts we didn't know but now become more important
      - shows how the oppressed can resist tyrannical power- both at the end
- - - - asyndetic listing - shows detailed memory from the speaker, she's grasping for any memory she has, desperacy to get her son back
      - soft plosive, draws the ear's attention
      - poppy connotations of remembrance
    - - semantic field of pain, lexical choice shows painful undertones this memory has
      - maternal affection is juxtaposed against the injury-like connotations
    - - glorified and overflowing emotion
      - link to pirates, familiarised with taking something that's not theirs
    - - biblical reference - taking solace in religion, dove is a link to peace
      - release of emotions
    - - 'wisbone' - something inevitably pulled apart, she can't interact with the war and her son, however much she desires to. she will be taken away from her son physically and physiologically
      - 'wish' extent of what's in her power is to hope
    - - metaphor
      - sound is the only thing she can grasp onto as a reminder of her son
      - childish lexis, sense of reminiscence, she reverts to his child-like ways in order to gain him back
- - - - oxymoron, striking and unusual dsecription as it seems contradictory, suggests this is something it has done before and will do again. Perhaps suggests because the violence is far off you feel more secure
      - appeals to senses as it can be visualised and imagine the sound of
      - juxtaposes fear with safety- even the sea which was once calm can quickly turn violent and dangerous, reality vs misconception- the sea is the enemy no matter how enticing it looks, heaney points out to us how little we actually know
      - the sea is exploding, because the main method of attack by the IRA was through bombing
    - - powerful violent verb 'bombard' and image of combat, attacked by an invisible threat reinforces unpredictability of attacks and powerlessness to defend against the elements
      - semantic field of warfare through military language 'salvo', 'strafe', 'bombarded', it is a warzone attacking relentlessly- it is a battle between humans and nature that humans can't even join because they know they will never win, implies mans powerlessness. Heaney draws comparisons with the wind and human aircraft, suggesting they are only what we make them
    - - simile makes it seem threatening and untrustworthy, they are at nature's mercy and reinforces the sea as the enemy
      - uses a very familiar image to describe something that is powerful and majestic, undermining the strength of the weather, suggesting it is only scary if we choose to let it be
    - - caesuras slows down, conveys the speakers self-reflection on this idea, he realises they fear something they cannot see nor control therefore their fear is futile
      - oxymoron suggests our fear is a paradox, maybe there is nothing to fear or perhaps we fear the nothingness of the invisible wind, perhaps it is so common it doesn't scare us anymore, could be the fear of losing everything and having nothing
      - left ambiguous, there is more to say but it is left for the reader to question
      - suggests the ultimate power of the storm is that is is an unknown quantity, no one knows what the wind will do and what each storm will bring
  - - - in exposure they have given up and are ready to die, but SOTI they choose to live there and stay, even if they cannot leave they choose to fight for their home and homeland, they are prepared with little doubt
      - both show mans powerlessness against nature
    - - both first person, neither in stanzas, prelude gets rids of form to find greater freedom liberated from the church, celebrating pantheism, a God surrounding us everywhere in his natural works
      - both show mankind is small compared to the power of nature
      - heaney was catholic but perhaps suggests there is no God 'great nothing' atheistic poem, contrasts Wordsworth's view of pantheism, the power and deity in nature that is everywhere
  - - - conflict between nature and man and people's fear of the weather, but heaney point out the fears are rather small in the grand scheme, also uses the military like weather to hint at war and conflict
      - the cottage represents safety and calm and behind its walls the violence of the weather is undermind, reflecting conflict between nature and man
      - heaney is able to communicate a sense of calm friendliness using asides and recognisable imagery to describe the attack of the weather
    - - heaney was an irish catholic, religion played a huge part in his life. He humbles the weather into very human terms unlike other poems which fear its might, he is also humbling the idea of God, reducing his power into a 'huge nothing'. The suggestion of fear is that power is only there if you let the other thing scare you. Behind his walls and well prepared, he doesn't need to fear and so the weather (and God) lose power
      - his suggestion of fear challenges the allocation of power, that we only give power to what we fear if we let it
- - - - the duke never names his wife
      - it is the money ('munificence') that appeals to the duke from the Count's daughter's dowry, dowries were a social system giving money attached to a marriage, for men to pay eachother for getting rid of women as they were not seen as an asset to a family, merely a burden, liability and an expense
  - - - suggests that Duchess had not learnt her place in the patriarchy/class system (she doesn't rank his gift of a renowned title as the most important) & that status did not matter to her. Instead "cherries" and a "white mule" (presents that are essentially worthless) pleased her more. The couplet line of "but thanked somehow - I know not how - as if she ranked" concludes a 11-syllable line, where all the rest have 10 syllables. This may prove to the audience, that this moment was where he loses control, as he realises his social status is being disrespected by the Duchess
      - egotisitical- he ranks himself above everyone else, but she seems the other men as equal
    - - suggests that the reason why he had her killed was fundamentally because of her joy (her 'smiles') and 'disregard' towards his status and title.
      - Also reinforces his ruthlessness in that he had her killed conveniently, and with no solidity for his reasoning. He only had to give "commands" and it was done.
      - euphemism for murder, cold and clinical language shows his lack of emotion and reinforces that he sees her as a possession rather than loves her
    - - "last" creates the illusion of death, and whilst she is the "last Duchess", she may not have been the only Duchess - she may have just been the latest in a list. It is possible that he has married multiple, and perhaps executed each.
      - "painted on the wall" - a fresco painting (painted directly on the wall - not a painting that is hung up). This is evident as the painter worked "busily for one day" - fresco paintings could only take 1 day. This conveys a sense of urgency - the Duke only decided to have her painted when he decided to have her killed. May also suggest that the Duke was so restless - the Duchess had to painted in 1 day, so that he could execute her quickly. This presents the Duke as callous and unempathetic. He humourizes this by offering that she looks "as if she were alive" - he knew when she was being painted that she was to be killed soon after.
    - - Furthermore, it can be argued that the Duchess was not sexually sinful, but was instead 'sinful' for being happy. 'Spot' may be a recurring portrayal of guilt throughout literature - seen in Macbeth (Lady Macbeth: "out damned spot"). The "spot of joy" may suggest that the Duchess' only guilt or sin was being happy, which was resented by the Duke.
      - the speaker refers to the duchess blushing twice, the repetition showing how much it bothers him that she seems to be flirting and getting attention from other me
      - objectifies her as a woman and highlights he feels she is his possession, believes she was promiscuous
      - a victorian reader would have interpreted the spot as a a mark of guilt or shame, the enjambment asks us to consider the spot as shame but is actually a mark of how much she loves life and fully appreciates life- one of the reasons the duke had her killed, implies he is anti-life and anti-joy, showing the corruption of the ruling classes sucking the joy out of the people beneath them
    - - However, Browning may use a statue of "Neptune and a "sea horse" to downgrade the Duke. Neptune was a God who could make actual horses (not the incomparable, smaller sea horses). Therefore Browning may humourize the Duke and the power he think he holds, by using sea-horses as a symbol in the statue, as opposed to real horses - which were associated with the Neptune instead.
      - Browning may be suggesting that the Duke considers himself to be God-like as he shifts focus from talk of the Duchess and refers to "bronze" statue. Browning may again be epitomising the patriarchal society - whereby men are considered to be God-like, and hold all the power, whilst it is their job to 'tame' the women (who must be subservient) - who are apparently considered less than human - as a 'sea horse'. Neptune and the sea-horse are a metaphor of men and women in a 19th century patriarchal society.
    - - the Duke attempts to show off his wealth by name-dropping famous artists/sculptresses, which were world-renowned. Structurally, Browning may end the poem, with 2 words that perhaps epitomise the dramatic monologue - "for me!". The poem finishes with deliberate attention on the Duke, again reinforcing his selfishness, and his vanity.
    - - he won't let the man near her, he has to sit, but he does let him look at her. This is ironic because it was men looking at her that drove him to such jealousy while she was alive
    - - the duke paints a portrait in words for the reader to imagine what she was like,
      - her depth is in her passion- that is what art is designed to do, it should make people passionate and inspired and heighten their positive emotions for life but for the duke it has heightened his jealousy
      - she is earnest and serious in the picture but he later chooses to see her as frivolous, he doesn't recognise his wife in the portrait as his view is entirely sexist0 he only ever sees her as a posession. However, we see her as a deep and passionate human being which makes this poem a feminist poem because the depth of her femininity is denied in the society that he duke rules, which parallels the society browning writes in, saying that women are not appreciated for themselves
  - - - the painting exists behind a curtain only the duke can pull back- objectification and megalomania even after her death
  - - - shows the damaging effects on society when it exploits it's children- society married younger girls as teenagers
        
        the count is offering up his daughter to marry the duke even though he has confessed to killing his last wife, because of the corruption of the patriarchal society
    - - explores power of the [atriarchy and what this does to define a mother's role
      - how it breeds naivety and overconfidence in men- son going off to war, duke knows he's going to get away with murdering his wife due to corrupt society
      - explores importance of memory
  - - - spoken only by the Duke. Reflects the Duke's self-importance, as the reader does not hear the response of the witness, demonstrates his egotistical tendencies
    - - The rhyming couplets may also suggest that the speech has been rehearsed - to speak in rhyming couplets is not natural.
      - It is written in rhyming couplets - perhaps creating the illusion of a couple - equality between between the two. However, the reader will discover that there is no equality between the Duke and the Duchess, and that the Duke holds the power.
      - iambic pentameter is another façade for the duke's character, shows his high status, even though he is talking to someone he never lets them speak
      - rhyming couplets throughout reflects his controlling character
- - - - misguided notions of human power and power of nature
    - - explores effects of one moment on the mind, but prelude is strongly influenced by romanticism
      - both use first person viewpoint and some colloquial language but the voice in remains is more modern and colloquial
    - - mankind is small compared to power of nature, atheistic 'great nothing that we fear' whereas prelude is pantheistic
  - - - the peak is personified to demonstrate the physical power of nature in a more forceful way, supported by the repetition of 'huge' and the speaker's frightened reaction. Being on your own enhances and amplifies these negative experiences, excacerbating the loneliness
      - volta- shift in tone, language becomes darker and dangerous. The mountain is personified 'with purpose of its own', nature is shown as aggressive
      - the mountain is like a great angry entity and represents the full might and power of nature, it seems to take offense at the poet going too far or too 'lustily'
      - shift in language use from figurative and expressive language has lost him, shows his shock reverts him to simplistic descriptions, highlights impact mountain has on the speaker, realised in an instant that humans aren't powerful
    - - translated as 'fairy boat', a metaphor for the now heated mood of the poet, elves were often viewed as lustful
    - - similie reminds us that anything man tries to produce is merely imitating and copying nature which will always do it naturally better
      - the journey of the boat during the poem represents a more spiritual journey and it bcomes more rough and hostile along the way. At firsy nature is at peace with the poet, later as it gets darker and he tries to reach the horizon it becomes harsh and predatory, putting man back in his place
      - calm beautiful imagery of elegance presents his sense of power whilst rowing
    - - nature has been robbed of everything he associates with nature, black and white world devoid of pleasure
      - repetition and rule of 3 of 'no' shows how the speaker's initial pride has vanished, he is not confident of what he knows, can only explain in terms of what he does not know
    - - focuses attention on small details to demonstrate the beauty in tiny things, adverb 'idly' emphasises how nature is beautiful in an effortless way
      - semantically peaceful language creates an idyllic and peaceful scene
      - magical, almost celestial quality to the moment
  - - - it has many private and personal experiences, deep images and symbolisms in it because he kept it and kept working on it for decades without publishing it it was simply written for himself to explore his own ideas
    - - the feminine view of nature suddenly changes to the huge mountain, feels more masculine, along with 'grim', 'towered up', 'strode after me'
- - - - In My Last Duchess the noble and proud accent of the Duke is at odds, and therefore conflict, with his greedy cruel nature demonstrated within the actual events which occur in the poem. In contrast Remains uses a very general and familiar accent to hide the inner suffering and pain the soldier is experiencing, it is also used to undermine the horrific nature of the conflict taking place, while this has some similarities to my last duchess, we see the soldier here as a victim
    - - makes a political point that soldiers are not looked after, makes us sympathise with soldiers
      - explores effects of conflict, but while remains focuses on the devastating effects on the soldier, war photohrapher focuses on the lack of effect on the public and how the photographer feels about this
      - remains uses enjambment between the stanzas, war photographer uses end stopping
      - both poets use sibilance and alliterative effects aswell as strong imagery to create a sense of panic, disorder and to highlight the violence of war and conflict
      - Duffy uses internal rhyme whereas Armitage uses colloquial language, both to highlight a casual attitude towards war and suffering
  - - - 'On another occasion' casual nature is a surprise, suggests he has told this story many times, and that there were many occasions he has talked about where he has had to shoot someone, as if it is normal to him. Also implies this particular killing which he treated as normal at the time is no longer normal, holds a special meaning to him which is why he keeps recalling it. Anecdotal language, matter of fact tone, suggests this is one of many events
      - casual and colloquial 'legs it', doesn't seem like a dangerous person, aren't fighting, like a child running away. Even if he is armed, he isn't being threatening to the soldiers as he is running away like a child. Suggests the speaker doesn't care about the individual and is going to shoot them anyway
      - 'myself and somebody else and somebody else' language of distance- when people do things they are regretful for or know is bad they frame it in a way that makes them seem less responsible. He remarks it wasn't just him twice, but is reluctant to name his mates, already knows what he's done is wrong and therefore doesn't want to name anyone else
      - 'three of a kind' reminds us of the three musketeers, a band of brothers, they're mates, yet they're 'letting fly' as if they are in a cartoon and it doesn't feel real. The language suggests it wasn't really murder. Analogy, soldiers are described as cards in Poker, a game of luck. Emphasises that everything about this was just chance.
      - change to italics makes it much more serious, the protagonist is no longer pretending it hasn't deeply affected him- total tone change to resignation and self loathing
      - 'rips through his life' wider implications of his life and his families lives that are affected as he has taken away his life, violence of the verb totally destroyed. Graphic Hyperbole used to demonstrate the lack of glory or honour in this killing, it is not pretty but still very matter of fact. 'R' alliteration reflects the violence of the image, portrays his memory vividly bringing it to life through its sound
      - 'sort of inside out' he is registering his horror but doesn't know how to explain it as he hasn't seen anything so horrible before, suddenly what he has done is haunting him, he has gone too far in abusing his power
      - 'my mates' before referred to as 'somebody else' but now he takes it seriously and knows that they were in it together and he's just like them
      - 'end of story' as if its done and dusted, takes the reader by surprise because it is at the beginning, like he is desperate for it to be the end of the story but it isn't. 'Story' endings have a moral to them and now the ending of this man has a point, reveals the callousness necessary in a soldier. War time destroys soldiers of all sorts and destroys them morally, but armitage isn't blaming them because being involved in a war inevitably makes you more savage and act in immoral ways
      - 'some distant, sun stunned, sand smothered land or six feet under in desert sand' poetic description of iraq, sibilance makes it sound like a peaceful and beautiful place but is also unreal, actually describing a personified land that has been murdered. Gives the impression of a sinister dream/nightmare-like state. Armitage uses imagery to suggest how iraq has been smothered by british and american forces, stunned by the effects of war, have we liberated it or have we made the country worse?
    - - begins in the middle of a conversation, shows how killing is commonplace to the soldier
      - the refrain (within the line repeititon) with the alliteration 'probably armed, possibly not' two parts of the sentence mirror eachother. the two words recur as a theme throughout so the possibly not becomes more and more important, suggests he wants to believe he was armed but subconsciously knows he wasn't. Later in the poem he sees his mate toss his guts back in the body, but doesn't see him picking up his weapon, inferring there was no gun therefore the probably armed is wishful thinking, but the possibly not is his final conclusion of what he really knows
      - 'i swear' language we'd expect in terms of abuse, links to abuse happened in the poem, but also the language used in a court of law, suggests this monologue is a confession even though he's trying to tell himself he isn't guilty
    - - ironic as Armitage doesnt think the soldier is fully responsible, writes the poem to show what war does to even good men, clear he is a good man because of his feelings of guilt and regret
        
        Armitage asks society whether we are really justified in sending our soldiers off to war in a country that isn't threatening us, but doesn't give an answer, no resolution
  - - - each poem focuses on a flashback scene of the soldiers has struggled to forget, remains is written for someone who served in Basra, tries to capture the moment when he shot a man looting a bank
    - - the memory hurts the soldier more than the event itself
  - - - there are no sounds in this poem, perhaps an effect of the drug and drinking, he has managed to dull his senses but is left with the visual images which he can't get rid of, degeneration of the speaker's mind ('I see' repeated)
      - his body is the personification of pain- his actions and their consequences are vivid in his mind
    - - his sense of sight is attacking him, he doesn't see his bloodstain, only the shadow- which follows him around like shadows.
      - death has stained his conscience- permenance and darkness
      - Metaphor for the memory of the man and events. Blood connotes death, shadow suggesting a lingering memory
- - - - poem begins in trochaic metre (the 1st syllable is stressed), which changes to iambic pentameter in the next line to unsettle the reader with its changing of rhythmic dialect.
      - Symbolism of "dark room" - suggests that the photographer's purpose is "dark", perhaps questioning his moral purpose. Is he a 'dark' person, or just capturing 'dark' events?
      - He is "finally alone" suggests relief that he is by himself, perhaps he dislikes humanity (he presumes men cannot be good because of what he sees at war?), or suggests he is constantly haunted by his experiences, and this allows him to escape
    - - written in iambic pentameter (contrasts previously line in trochaic metre - unsettling). "Spools of suffering" - each photo conveys suffering. Sibilance with the 's' sounds - a sinister sound. Suggests that not only are the photos sinister, but what he does is sinister (he is a public observer of the horrific photos, but does not interfere). Photos being set out in "ordered rows" is an allusion to death, a suggestion of graves or bodies - the semantic field is a graveyard.
      - The central moral dilemma is that the photographer makes money out of people's deaths. Does he profit off their death, or does he try and prevent further suffering?
      - contrast of 'spools of suffering' which seems chaotic yet in 'ordered rows'
    - - 1st line - trochaic, 2nd line - iambic (unsettling again). Plosive 'p' sounds ('priest preparing') - threatening, perhaps reminding how people have died.
      - the simile and religious imagery suggests he has reverance and devotion to the pictures
      - Duffy uses biblical illusion 'all flesh is grass' - a metaphor that is frequently used to excuse death, implying that we are all born to die, and should not complain about death. Given that Duffy may have previously questioned death, the reference "all flesh is grass" is a travesty - as it suggests that life on Earth does not matter (given the perpetrators reason to continue killing).
      - The nonchalance tone within the line may also suggest that the photographer is no longer shocked by death - no matter the scale (although he may want his readers to react with pain).
      - Metaphor "priest preparing to intone a mass" is ironic, as the photography is merely recording death, with no mention of heaven or holy references. May also be ironic because Duffy could suggest that God does not exist - for mass slaughter occurs too frequently.
      - "Belfast. Biuret. Phnom Penh." - each location increases in size.
      - juxtaposition of the idea of the church with the warzones listed, also emphasises the scale of horror he has seen
      - sibilance hides the genocide
    - - 'half formed ghost' references the image forming in the solution. The use of 'ghost' creates semantic field of death, reminding the reader that the person in the photo is likely dead. Shifts focus from death to the living - 'the man's wife'. Verb 'cries' may be positioned at the end of the line to emphasise the pain the wife felt. The photographer then contrasts this, and refers to himself as he 'sought approval' to photograph while the wife 'cries' for her husband, who is about to be executed.
      - Moral dilemma - did the photographer take the photo to reiterate the horrific nature of war, or is there a voyeurism - an intrusion on private grief.
      - personal pronoun 'he' emphasises a namelessness, that he is one of many, but also a sense of detachment and guilt in the tone
      - metaphor shows the still faint origins of the photo but also implies that the subject may well now be dead
    - - internal rhyme between 'tears' and 'beers' which makes the line seem jolly. This is ironic because the readers should feel shock/horror. Duffy contrasts this by iterating that their eyes only "prick" with tears - conveys that the tears don't completely form. Duffy is angry, their tears are meaningless and this is a small pause in their life, not of worth to them
      - Although the photographer 'sought approval' for the photo to be taken, it has not had the desired impact in transforming the reader's opinions of war. Instead they figuratively wash it out with a bath, and become jolly while drunk on beer. Duffy may suggest that the readers are aware of suffering, and may even have to sedate their conscience with alcohol - as they distance themselves from the horror in the foreign lands. Despite the photographer's efforts, they have little impact on the readers - who ignore, the images only affect them for a short while and their lives continue as normal, unlike the victims of war in the photographs (and the ones who don't even get recognised by photographs- dying alone and unacknowledged).
      - Ultimately, Duffy may convey the photographer's life as a tragedy. He is no longer able to feel in response to the suffering, is alone in his "dark room" - but his reward is that still no one pays attention to his efforts to raise awareness. Suspended between both worlds belonging in neither as he is ridden of his ignorance.
      - trivialises the suffering, only momentarily evokes pathos but we remove ourselves from the horror because of the photo barrier, they don't convey the full horror of war- apathy of the media
    - - the scenes in his negatives are compared to 'agonies', powerful noun conveying the pain of conflict
      - colour imagery that they are in 'black and white' makes them seem merely factual or simplified, suggesting that their pain is not given enough recognition because a still black and white image cannot begin to describe their suffering or what the photographer saw and experienced around him in full colour, in real time and with hearing aswell
      - pun of dark humour- it is black and white in the newspapers, but also emphasises the morality- war is black and white
  - - - both portray perspectives that are external to the conflict, but experience feelings of conflict/grief themselves.
    - - both have suffered from effects of the war, which has led to psychological damage - which is particularly prominent in remains.
      - Both poems explore the mental damage that war can have and the haunting memories of war, as well as physical destruction.
      - both experienced war- but one is perspective of soldier, one of just the war photographer
      - both poets wrote it from talking to other people about it, not first hand accounts
      - both poets highlight the sometimes casual and uncaring attitudes towards conflict- Duffy by using internal rhyme whereas Armitage has used examples of colloquial language
      - both use imagery and metaphor, as well as alliterative effects to create a sense of panic, disorder and highlight the violence of war and conflict
- - - - even nature is under control when its supposed to be free-flowing, nature is being controlled by powerful men which is symbolised by the river, but so are the streets in which we live, arguing we as londoners are also bought and sold- chartered
      - the system owns every part of the city, not just the people
      - the Thames was contaminated and extremely dirty in the 18th century - nothing could survive in it - prostitutes would often commit suicide in it - links to later parts of the poem
      - presents the Thames in a negative way - rejects the romanticized versions of it by other authors
      - nature should be free for everyone, but the river is being bought up by the wealthy so the rich gain more power and the working class get poorer having to pay for things they didn't have to pay for before
    - - anaphora repetition of 'every' at the start of the line, emphasises the scale of suffering
    - - metaphor implies they are not physically held back, but their belief in their own weakness holds them back
      - even money is an illusion yet so powerful
        
        revolutionary poem- the law only allows the rich to start owning this property because we all go along with it, if everybody decided to use the thames as they wished and didn't pay the so called owners of the land we would have a revolution against the rich as they would have no power
      - accuses londoners of being complicit with their rulers
    - - Blake saw religion as a tool to oppress people, Christianity invites people to accept a terrible life now because they believe in a beautiful afterlife in which you will be rewarded, whereas Blake, a revolutionary, wants to make a better life here and now so attacks the Church for being responsible for lots of the evils in society like the exploitation of children
      - 'appalls' is a pun/metaphor- the church is appalled (shocked) by the children being exploited yet they do nothing about it. A pall is a black drape which covers coffins, suggesting the church is spreading the black drape over the dead body of london and is killing it
    - - blake is corrupting the idea of childbirth with sexual exploitaition and hate 'curse', the new born infant is born into a broken world. The Harlot is 'youthful' because she is still a child, yet another form of child exploitation where the poor are kept poor and young women unable to get jobs due to the patriarchal society which keeps them powerless have to turn to prostition to earn a living. Therefore they are cursed and they also 'curse' the society which has made them victims. Blake is attacking the men which use the children to satisfy their own sexual desires without a conscience for the consequences of their actions, blake is also attacking the church and the aristocracy for not doing anything about it
    - - hypocrisy of his society- prostitution only exists as married men pay for prostitutes outside marriage, suggests marriage is a hearse leading people to a spiritual death because men and women are not equal- men simply exploit women
      - oxymoron juxtaposes the joy of marriage with the misery of death, implies society has destroyed all the good things in life
    - - 'the hapless soldier's sigh runs in blood down palace walls'
        
        sibilance - s's
        
        metaphor - the blood stains the pristine walls of the place - as it control and order soldiers to their deaths - reference to the stupidity of war and the massive loss of life it leads to - the soldiers are handing over control of their lives to the monarchy - who are they to play god?
        
        hapless- suggests they are stupid, also implies they are unfortunate suggests they will be killed when the revolution comes - cursed - pities the soldiers as they were doomed to end up sacrificing their lives for people who don't care, rallying cry to get soldiers to side with the people to avoid their own blood running down palace walls
        
        controlled by outside events to end up like this - almost fated in a cruel way - they have no agency of their own destiny
        
        definite article - creates an archetype rather than an individual character - universally experienced - symbolizes whole profession
        
        irony - the soldier sheds blood to maintain a system that put him in that position in the first place
        
        'palace walls' - the physical representation of the barrier between the rich and the poor - their blood stains the outside of them because they don't have the opportunity to be inside due to the circumstances of their birth and the machinations of the people in control
        
        'blood' - contributes with 'blackening' in a later line to the comparison with the french revolution
        
        blood running down palace walls signifies their sacrifice to protect the power of those who live in the palace, attacking the power of the soldiers being used against the people to defend the rulers. Opposite of what happened in france- the soldiers got rid of the monarchy
        
        symbolic metaphor where blake wants to see the blood of the aristocracy executed and gotten rid of
  - - - repetition - antanaclasis
      - repetition - parallel syntax
      - alliteration - m's and w's - emphasise how damaged London's population is and the citizens misery
      - semantic field of suffering - 'weakness' and 'woe'
      - double meaning- to notice or to brand like livestock, suggests these are marks of ownership where the rich londoners own the poor citizens of london by keeping them weak and miserable
      - sadness from their lives marks their expressions but also scars from their hard lives due to the oppression that makes them vulnerable
      - 'every face' - everyone he meets is helpless and suffering - no exceptions, everyone is without power and therefore miserable
      - a picture of seething, suffering humanity - a sea of faces
  - - - Ozymandias - control and how it effects people
      - Checking Out Me History - oppression of different societal groups - misuse of power by authority
- - - - he comissioned the statue himself so wanted to be portrayed like this, he was not a benevolant ruler, clearly wanting people to be scared of him to deter people from taking away his power, he was arrogant and proud and the harsh sounding alliteration foregrounds his cruelty
    - - the emotions are the same 3000 years later, humans don't change and what was made has been forgotten but how he made people feel is what's remembered, perhaps the sculptor also mocked and made fun of ozymandias whilst he built him, fixing his vanity in stone
        
        the sculptor must have had the intention to please the king by modelling him but it was inevitable that his cruelty would show due to it being an inextricable part of him
    - - imperatives convey his arrogance, talking to Gods and mocking them implying he believes he is immortal (egyptian Pharoahs were considered Gods on earth)
      - irony in the structure placing it after his grandiose claim emphasises its emptiness, the shorter sentence is powerful and encapsulates the finality of his reign- for all his bluster nothing is there, contrasting the quiet confidence of mother nature and its superiority
      - he expects his empire and kingdom to survive- dramatic irony
      - none of his power remains, symbolic of how political power doesn't last- published in 1818 just after the Napoleonic wars- a dictatorship
    - - arrogant decleration, criticises leaders and their ideas of themselves, suggests he views himself as omnipotent
    - - different types of alliteration creates harmonious image of infinite nature contrasting with the pharoahs brutal and short lived regime
      - alliteration slows the line down making him seem barren and bare as human existance is irrelevant, alliterations demonstrate the vast, unending power of the desert and contrasts and belittles the limited power of man
      - isolated and empty, his crulety is the only rememberance
      - the desert lays monotonous and featureless, no sign of his legacy
      - the statue stands 'far away' where it stands so insignificant and unrecognised that only travellers know it exists even though Ozymandias tried so hard
    - - reference to the colossus of rhodes, a great wonder of the world highly celebrated but now is lost and broken
    - - classic 'traveller's tale'
      - the traveller is the one who tells the story, not the great king
      - Shelley gives a voice to the nobody - someone who was often forgotten in literature - he could have easily written the traveller out - suggests the importance of artists layering their interpretations on top of one another over the initial reality
      - game of telephone - Ozymandias, immortalised in a statue - unknown sculptor - unknown traveller - poet - reader
      - 'who said' - reported speech creates distancing effect - Shelley uses the 'traveller' to distance himself from any direct criticism of the monarchy/government
      - creates distance from the statue - his fame and power has disintegrated so much that the reader hears about it third-hand
      - 'antique land' - it is not named but is most likely Ancient Egypt
      - 'antique' - metaphor for Ozymandias' power - old and forgotten
      - the rest of the poem is a quotation - the speaker is barely present letting the traveller take over - makes the poem feel like a legend
      - emphasises the importance of both oral words and written ones - oral: the poem wouldn't exist without the speech of the traveller - written: the words on the sculpture have lasted throughout time where other parts of the statue haven't
  - - - known for having a high opinion of himself and was a cruel and intimidating ruler, believed he was God like and indestructable
  - - - imperfect rhyme supports theme of decay and corruption, transcience of human power
- - - - 'to emigrate'- to leave, not 'immigrate' (to move in)
      - 'the emigree' 2 contrasting languages already from the title establishes the idea of conflicting cultures and identities
  - - - Emigree cannot reconcile the past and the present identities contrasting with tissue trying to rebuild them in a new form. The soft tactile language of tissue and the warm sunlight in emigree representing the hope while the 'dark' and 'black' ideas represent the darker sides in these memories or global identity
      - asks for tolerance and cultural and religious understanding, equality for all people (cultures shes left and the culture shes moved to)
      - explores importance of family and family history, the emigree is notably alone and a child, lost her family either orphaned or her parents left in her country unable to leave together
      - both are full of metaphor- stylistic and structural connection
    - - Checking out me History uses rhythm and tone to create a very strong sense of tone and pace, this can contrast sharply with the way emigree has a very loose structure and no real rhyme to portray the speaker being lost in her past while checking out me history seems to have built a strong identity
      - celebrates poetry as a form of protest and a way to acquire political power or gain social change, emigree protests the way we discriminate against immigrants who come here because of war
      - both explore the immigrant experience and the difficulties faced by migrants fleeing corrupt political systems and ask for greater acceptance
      - form- interweves the childlike nursery rhyme to discredit the british voice, and the free verse to have an afrocarribean voice
    - - effective language to describe the power of nature
      - both poets deal with the idea of childhood and a child's reaction to power
  - - - story like language adds to theme of childhood memories
      - distant past, place has been forgotten as if clinging to a memory of home so it has been idealised and is likely unrealistic
      - elipses creates a caesura indicating exploration of past memories or a flashback
        
        emphasises unreliability of the memory as the caesura creates a pause implying how the speaker has to stop and gather her thoughts before continuing with the story
      - establishes a fantastical tone to highlight the fact that the place described is a memory rather than reality, shows how the place she remembers is romanticised by the idealism of youth and was never as perfect as the way she depicts
    - - metaphor suggests impression is permenantly burnt into them
      - violent adjective 'branded' is torn with ambiguity: it is a sign of being owned, and a way of marking out as having a particular bad or shameful quality, yet it is a violence she is proud of, wanting to hold onto this image as she cannot shake off this memory of a gorgeous sunlit city, even as an adult when she realises it is 'sick with tyrants'
      - epistrophe- repetition at the end of every stanza referencing sunlight
        
        demonstrates that no matter what she
        hears in the news, the speaker will always have a positive view of her city.
      - juxtaposes negative connotations of 'branded' with positive connotations of 'sunlight', shows how her love for her country will
        always overrule any feelings of pain caused by it
      - confused metaphor linked with positive natural images her view of the city is idyllic
    - - metaphor of beauty, colour and solidity highlights the value of memories, also a metaphor of preservation, its beauty shows the vulnerability of her memories and susceptibility to breakage
      - the paperweight may hold her back from new experiences and memories so in her mind she is stuck in the war torn past, but has twisted these into happy memories to maintain control and sanity
      - The memory has no more value than a trinket with no
        lasting value
      - metaphor is connected to paper, as Rumens recreates the city on paper by writing the poem, oxymoron- the memory has weight even though it's only made of paper, the weight that is paper is the poem itself as the poem encapsulates all her memories