English Lit: Poetry

Kamikaze by Beatrice Garland.

CONTEXT:A 'Kamikaze' pilot was a Japanese fighter pilot in WW2 whose suicide was seen as a great honour for the country.FORM: A narrative poem told by the pilot's daughter. The narrative switches from third to first person (first person in italics); first person gives a direct account, heightening the personal effect on the family of the pilot metaphorical 'death'. STRUCTURE: Regular Verse; 6 lines - reflects tight control of the Japanese military. Free rhyme + Enjambment - contradicts tight control with freedom of expression; represents the freedom the pilot wants in his personal ideas vs. the idea of national duty. Focus of Time - change in generations ('my mother', 'we children') is jarring, mirroring the turbulent and extensive effect of the pilot's decision on the family. Repetition of 'safe' - ([the waves] 'bringing their father's boat safe - yes, grandfather's boat - safe,') reminiscent of when his father ventured out and came back from the sea 'safe' - the pilot too has ventured out to sea but wants to return safely. LANGUAGE: Word Choice (noun and adjective): 'powerful incantations' - the message driven into him by society; he is being brainwashed with the powerful incantations (representing societal expectations drilled into him); he is shunned for not conforming to - just like in the army you must be exactly the same and have exactly the same mindset. Nature Imagery + Sibilance: 'dark shoals of fishes flashing silver as their bellies turned towards the sun.' - experiencing nature in its beauty, doesn't want to deprive others of that (p + n language too). Positive and Negative Language: 'dark' 'turbulent' 'black' vs 'bunting' 'safe' - conflict between himself and society, the decision to turn back or not Nature Imagery: 'her father embarked at sunrise' - Japan is the land of the rising sun; their military flag is that of a red sun; the sun in the previous displays the fact he thought he was turning back to life, but it was in fact his 'death'. Metaphor: 'a one way journey into history' - the decision to return was a kamikaze mission in itself; when he returned people thought of him as the past - the history - and he had no way back to change it because his decision was a 'one way journey'. Metaphor: 'he must have wondered which had been the better way to die.' - metaphorical of his death to society; literal death vs emotional death, treated like a ghost. KEY IDEAS: The conflict in the poem is personal as well as national. Conflict between the cultural expectation and the inner conscience - the pull between the two. All about the expectations of society and how you must conform to that in order to fit in - relates to the pilot as well as the children having to learn to not speak to him since that's what they were taught by society ('till gradually we too learned to be silent' - adjective 'silent' displaying how society doesn't want you to speak out). His loss of identity comes from his choice to shun his duty, an act one may initially believe ends in individuality. LINKS: Tissue Exposure Bayonet Charge

Checking Out Me History by John Agard.

CONTEXT: Born in Guyana,Caribbean which is ruled by Britain - even in his own country his own culture oppressed. Moved to Britain in 1977 after he finished school. Often writes about what it is like being black to challenge racist attitudes, especially those which are unthinking. Focuses on the Eurocentric view he was taught and the problems with displaying ethnicity and social minorities. FORM: Oral Poetry: meant to be spoken and passed down - wants us to pass on and share his message and culture. Dramatic Monologue: employs Creole (Caribbean dialect) to represent the voice of a black man who is angered and frustrated by a Eurocentric history syllabus. STRUCTURE: Italicised Stanzas + No Rhyme (Black Culture): italicised to convey the importance of black culture; no rhyme reflects how white culture is structured with its rhyme and is therefore not free and individual; no rhyme allows complexity when talking about black culture. Rhyming Couplets (White Culture) + Enjambement + Fronted Conjunction: 'Dem tell me bout de dish ran away with de spoon but dem never tell me about Nanny de maroon' - childlike rhyme when talking about British history, mocking the simplicity and rigid white teachings; the rhyme makes for a structural climax which emphasises the last line and the black figure there; enjambement forces us to put black and white figures together in equality; fronted conjunction conveys empowerment and disassociation with white teachings, defying the neglect of his culture. LANGUAGE: Metaphor: 'Blind me to me own identity.' - metaphorical of the brainwashing he experienced; verb 'blind' is deliberate, heightens the deliberate segregation and erasure of his culture by white people. Pronoun + Repetition + Anaphora: 'Dem tell me wha dem want to tell me.' - brainwashing he experiences that wipes out his individual view, just like the whites are wiping out black history; phonetic pronoun 'dem' shows he's separate from them (white people); segregation faced by black people; example of Creole - refuses to use British dialect, defiance over the eurocentric oppression; repetition of pronoun forces white people to acknowledge it; repetition of the Nature + Light Imagery: 'fire-woman' + 'a healing star' + 'freedom river' - nature imagery reflects freedom, but light imagery is used in references to black culture, 'illuminating' them and black culture with the light connotations of goodness. Verb Choice: 'I carving out me identity' - 'carving' is a strenuous and deliberate process; Agard has to find his own identity himself and he is one of the first to do it if he's 'carving' the way - a pioneer of black culture; carvings are permanent, his culture will not be oppressed once he flaunts it. KEY POINTS: Conflict of identity. Power of white people with their brainwashing eurocentric mindset. LINKS: Tissue - conflict of identity and deals with social issues such as racism. London - oppressive society. The Emigree.

Exposure by Wilfred Owen.

CONTEXT: Joined the army in 1915 and died in battle in 1918. Originally pursed a career in the church but felt the church was hypocritical and failed to care for others. Revolutionary war poet - most war poems of the time were focused on patriarchy and honour of war and how sacrifice was necessary for England's survival, yet Owen exposes (title link) the reality of war. FORM: Nostalgic Narrative. Monologue of the days of war slowly drifting by. STRUCTURE: Repetition: repetition of anti-climactic ending in each stanza with a half line after dramatically heightening the tension Consistent eight stanzas: consistent structure throughout - powerful sentence, body of highly emotive language, anti-climax half line; reflects the emotional rollercoaster the soldiers went through every single day. Para-Rhyme: words that appear to rhyme but sound wrong when read ('silent' + 'salient' and 'knife us' + 'nervous'); unease of the situation; soldiers are denied closure and a true ending to their suffering; defy the expected outcome, something which again echoes the experience of war. Caesuras: 'Slowly our ghosts drag home:' + 'For hours the innocent mice rejoice:' + 'Shutters and doors, all closed:' - creates a division on each line, reflecting the division between the people at home and the soldiers. Cyclical Structure: 'But nothing happens' links the beginning and the end, highlights the futility of the war and nothing has been achieved, they're all just slowly dying. LANGUAGE: Biblical imagery: 'For love of God is dying.' - context link; soldiers are like Christ - fighting for the civilians so they can live whilst the solders/Christ die. Personification: 'merciless iced east winds that knive us...' + 'Pale flakes... come feeling for our faces.' (fricative alliteration). Simile: 'Like twitching agonies of men among its brambles.' KEY POINTS: The poem defies the convention of war and shows that the weather is the real enemy, not another army. This highlights the unknown horrors of war to people at home ('For hours the innocent mice rejoice.') Exposure - not only the weather conditions, but he also exposes the reality of war by saying that war is futile and the glory is a glorification of the reality. Nature and God are unmoved and unsympathetic - mirrors the Germans. Loss of individuality - soldiers are soon forgotten, even at home. Power of nature. Conflict between the glorified image the civilians perceive war to be and the harsh reality that Owen 'exposes'. LINKS: The Prelude. The Charge of the Light Brigade. Bayonet Charge. Remains.

My Last Duchess by Robert Browning.

CONTEXT: Based on Duke Alfonso II, duke of Ferrara in the Italian renaissance. The Duke married Lucrezia di Cosimo de Medici, who just after their marriage was found dead, poisoned (rumoured it was the Duke). Published in the Victorian era in which when woman married, they became the legal property of her husband (how the Duke saw the Duchess) - poem focuses on the misogyny of the people in the Victorian era and the faults with discriminating women (the Duke's language can be inferred as erratic and mad. FORM: Dramatic Monologue. Diatribe: a bitter attack. STRUCTURE: Iambic Pentameter: this and the heroic couplets reflect the style of romantic poets at the time despite how the fact this poem is a diatribe; it is yet another facade for the Duke (uses many euphemisms to disguise his real purpose). Heroic Couplets: 'There she stands as if alive. Will't you please rise?' - rigid like his control; caesura; rhetorical question + imperatives seems polite but actually commanding; change in tone (VOLTA) - conversational to monologue, and how he changes the topic after he reveals too much. Enjambment: rigid rhyme symbolises his control over others, but the fact his lines flow over shows he can't control himself and his anger. One Single Stanza: reflects how the Duke doesn't stop to think about who he's speaking to; rather overwhelming when read out loud, just like the Duke's character. LANGUAGE: Metaphor: 'Notice Neptune, though, taming a sea-horse.' - metaphorical of his attitude to the duchess; he sees her like a pet that needs taming (possessive pronoun 'my' repeated throughout); materialistic - displaying his power through art which is the power the Duchess herself flaunts (she is forever displayed as a painting, still powerful in a sense over the Duke); Neptune - how he sees himself. Euphemism: 'I gave commands; then all smiles stopped together.' - euphemism displays his subtle control, but also how he's still insecure and not quite powerful enough to reveal his true intentions to anyone; caesura - abrupt stop to reflect her death; imperative 'gave' - display of power. Foreshadowing: 'The faint half-flush that dies along her throat.' - the verb 'dies' may be a play on the word 'dye' as in paint, but also foreshadows her death. The fact this is the Duke speaking may be him unintentionally telling us he did kill her, despite the euphemisms he uses to disguise his true intentions; power of art. KEY IDEAS: The Duke is insecure of his power being threatened by the Duchess, for the underlying theme is that kindness and joy can threaten power. Change in tone: sinister undertones and power struggle in the poem, yet he is the only one at conflict. Power of art and words (the Duchess is art herself) is just as prominent as the power the Duke has himself. LINKS:Ozymandias.

Charge of the Light Brigade by Alfred Lord Tennyson.

CONTEXT: Tennyson was the Victorian Poet Laurette, meaning he wrote on occasion about important historical events. In the Crimean War in the Battle of Balaclava, there was a miscommunication sent to the light brigade which sent them charging head first into a valley surrounded with the enemy's cannons. It was a huge catastrophe and many died; however, they were still respected for following orders despite knowing they may be wrong. FORM: Dactylic Dimeter: mirrors the galloping of the horses and the sounds of the battle, allowing the readers to empathsise; however, also often used in comical poems and therefore could be interpreted as subtle satirical criticism of the power of the leadership; however, 'someone had blunder'd' is the only line that doesn't conform to this and subtly draws the reader's attention to the blunder of the leaders. Ballad: often sung, meant to pass down the praise and honour of the soldiers. STRUCTURE: Repetition and Anaphora: 'Theirs not' - emphases the blind order and obedience, but also how the loss due to the obedience may be worth realising and mourning.LANGUAGE: Metaphor: + Biblical Imagery: 'Into the valley of death.' - is a line in the Christian prayer 'The Lords Prayer' a Victorian would've noticed. This phrase being used in the poem once more reflects the pure honour of the light brigade and how we should respect them as much as we do biblical figures; there was no sin in their actions, possibly a view of the powerful who made the mistake and are trying to cover it. Also, this along with 'jaws of Death.' can be interpreted in the same way; the change to 'Came thro' the jaws of Death / Back from the mouth of Hell.' displays their honour, for they were almost devoured by death but survived. Verb Choice: 'All the world wonder'd.' in the positive narration of this, could be interpreted as the people being awestruck at the honour, the fact it's the entire world thinking about this emphasising the scale of the bravery; however, could be interpreted as the world wondering how such a big mistake could've been made; positive and negative connotations. Adjective Choice: 'Noble six hundred!' - glorifies war and shapes death into a heroic act; similarly, the anaphora of the imperative 'honour' previously in this stanza enforces how we must celebrate the soldiers for dying, despite the fact the entire thing was a blunder. KEY POINTS: The military language is intertwined with military allusion to emphasise the scale of the bravery and honour. The poem could also be interpreted to be a criticism of a blind obedience to power. LINKS: Exposure. Bayonet Charge. Remains. Kamikaze.

Remains by Simon Armitage.

CONTEXT: True story based upon a soldier stationed in Iraq. Simon Armitage is known for being very direct in his work. FORM: Monologue: uses very conversational asides and syntax to structure the sentences.STRUCTURE: Repetition: 'well myself and somebody else and somebody else' - all the soldiers have the same mind, identical killers; the line is dominated by the other soldiers, shifts the blame of the death to others; however, contrasts to the end with the personal pronoun in 'his bloody life in my bloody hands.' which is him fully accepting his blame in the death of this 'possibly' innocent man; a link to Lady Macbeth - she cannot wash the blood off her hands, just like the soldier cannot 'flush out' the memories of the man he killed. Cyclical Structure: 'probably armed, possibly not.' - the trauma the soldier experiences is inescapable; ambiguous to whether the looter was actually armed, heightening the guilt that haunts the soldier; links to PTSD ('the drink and the drugs won't flush him out.') Stanzas: first seven stanzas are unrhymed quatrains; however, the final stanza consists of only two lines and therefore stands out, emphasising the fact the speaker cannot rid himself of the memory of the killing. LANGUAGE: Colloquialism + Personal Pronouns +Anecdotal Sense: 'I swear I see' - gives poem a sense of heightened realism; casual language makes the reader aware of life in a warzone and how normal this is for the soldier; this is contrasted directly by the harsh imagery of the metaphor: 'as it rips through his life.' - this reflects the PTSD and the experience of the soldier for one minute he felt 'normal' and conversational before that immediately changes to imagery of death and suffering; the verb choice of 'rips' heightens this. Sibilance + Compound Adjectives: 'sun-stunned, sand-smothered land.' - positive imagery directly contrasted by aggressive adjectives, symbolising how the joy within the soldier's life has been tainted by the evil of war. Biblical Imagery: 'I see broad daylight on the other side.' - connotations of the daylight being heaven, and in extension how the looter was in fact innocent; the adjective 'broad' connotes to his innocence being obvious, and if the soldier wasn't trained to be such an identical killer then he possibly would've realised this. Metaphor: 'his blood-shadow stays on the street.' - like a 'shadow', this memory cannot be escaped and is a constant reminder of a past that cannot be changed; ironically tragic that the soldier cannot carry out his duty to 'walk right over it week after week.' in his normal life for the conflict in his mind has began to blur into reality, connoting to the effects of mental illness and PTSD. LINKS: War Photographer. Exposure. Bayonet Charge. The Prelude. Poppies.

Poppies by Jane Weir.

CONTEXT: Weir was a textile designer as well as a poet. She is also a mother herself so will have first hand experience with these emotions of motherhood. FORM: Dramatic Monologue: poet speaking as a character to another person who always remains silent - this could be signalling that the son is in fact dead since we never hear him speak; emphasises the pain of the mother and the people left behind, people not typically thought about.STRUCTURE: Free Verse + Different Stanza Lengths: chaotic structure, reflects the chaotic impact on the mother now her son left - her life and mind alike are chaos due to the conflict within it due to the conflict of war. Enjambment Across Stanzas +Caesuras: 'all my words flattened, rolled, turned into felt, / slowly melting.' - this break in structure reflects how the mother herself is breaking emotionally; the flowing and sudden stops is jarring for the reader, representing the emotion of the grieving mother. LANGUAGE: Foreshadowing: 'poppies had already been placed on individual war graves... I pinned one onto your lapel.' - foreshadowing how the son may actually be dead. Plosive Alliteration + Juxtaposition of Imagery - War and Textile, Domestic Phrases: 'spasms of red, disrupting a blockade of yellow bias binding around your blazer.' - use of the personal pronoun 'your', considering also how the poem is in past tense could be the mother once more placing the memories of her son into the present reality, for he has ambiguously died; the military imagery of the noun 'blockade' represents the unpenetrable idea of the son going off to war (represented by the blockade talking of his uniform blazer - the noun 'bias' telling us the son's bias towards going to war) ,and how the poppy - a sign of rememberance and love - is the mother fruitlessly attempting to prevent the son from going and ends up being a symbol of the conflict of her emotions starkly encaptured within a symbol of the conflict of war itself. Metaphor: 'the dove pulled freely against the sky, an ornamental stitch.' - a dove is a symbol of peace, but also of mourning so it represents the mother's conflicting emotions; metaphorical for her son flying away from her as a free spirit - considering this, the fact the dove led the mother to the churchyard ('this is where it has led me, skirting the church yard walls.') is again foreshadowing how the son may be in fact dead, and this is the mother's attempts to place the memories of her son in a reality in which he simply does not exist. KEY POINTS: Domestic conflict caused by national conflict - the view of the people left behind at home, a view barely looked over. The constant blending of military and domestic phrases tells us the son is constantly on the mother's mind - the fact the mother says 'I was brave' contrasts our preconceived ideas of conflict and how we expect this to be said by the soldiers, but in fact it's the mother; this emphasises (like Remains) how emotional conflict is just as prominent to people and civilians as actual warzone conflict. LINKS: COLB. Exposure. Bayonet Charge. Remains. Kamikaze. War Photographer.

Storm on the Island by Seamus Heaney.

CONTEXT: Northern Irish poet, focused on rural life and identity since he grew up on a farm. Born in 1939 - shortly after the split between Northern and Southern Ireland; Southern Ireland saw the British as oppressors when they came to Ireland. FORM: (Possibly) Dramatic Monologue: only one dominant voice in the poem - the narrator; reflects the injustice and relationship between the people and nature.STRUCTURE: Blank Verse + Half Rhyme at the beginning: no rhyme reflects the uncontrollable and unpredictability of the storm; this allows the poet to mimic natural speech patterns in an anecdotal style - despite the personal pronoun of 'we' used, we're the only company for the narrator; the only half rhyme lies at the beginning and the end, creating a cyclical structure which represents the unescapable power of the storm. Iambic Pentameter: a common structural device used in English poetry; Heaney's way of infusing English values with his Irish heritage (a link to context, both of the conflict between England and Ireland and Heaney's focus of identity in his poems). One Single Stanza, Complex Sentences and Enjambment: represents the huge and relentlessness of the storm + power of nature; this juxtaposes the conversational style of the poem, telling us that the narrator is used to this conflicting way of life (just with the oxymoron 'exploding comfortably'). LANGUAGE: 'Stormont' can be found in the title - the Irish rule (parliament buildings). Lexical Field of Military Language: 'And strafes invisibly. Space is a salvo.' + 'bombarded' - caesura; the storm itself is a metaphor for the conflict Ireland has experienced, and the fact nature can be seen turning on itself in the poem reflects the tensions within Ireland at the time of the split between N. and S. Ireland; also emphasises the conflict between nature and man, and between nature itself. Oxymoron: 'exploding comfortably' - used to the storm; dual opinion of the storm - devastating, yet its power is admirable; underlying beneath all the savagery of nature, the power of nature is almost perceived as a comfort with its constant presence. Metaphor: 'Strange, it is a huge nothing that we fear.' - representative of how calm and comforting things can turn, just like how nature turns on itself; usually, it is the nothingness of the 'empty air' around them but in a storm the thing relied on most - the very power of nature - can turn; the storm teaches the islanders - and all of mankind - never to underestimate the profoundly devastating effect nature can have physically and emotionally. KEY POINTS: Conflict: can be read as a metaphor for the conflict in Northern Ireland. Power: power of nature and how nature can turn on itself as well as others. LINKS: Exposure. Poppies. The Prelude.

War Photographer by Carol Ann Duffy.

CONTEXT: Current poet laureate. Inspired to write this poem by her friendship with a war photographer. FORM: Narrative: leads us through the act of the photographer processing photos; in a narrative (apposed to a dramatic monologue in first person), it's written in third person which detaches us from the subject of the poem, just like he is detached from the rest of civilian life and it's failure to comprehend him and the people in war.STRUCTURE: Regular structure of 4 stanzas including rhyming couples consistently throughout: ordered structure reflects precision of his job, contrasting the chaos of his experiences; reflects his job to impose order on the chaos of war, making it palatable for ignorant civilians; the war photographer's effects are futile - he tries to make us see what it's really like in war but the consistent regular structure shows us it's in vain. Caesura: 'Rural England.' - civilians separated completely by the two caesuras, reflecting how the people back home are isolated from the horrors of war. Cyclical Structure: begins with him 'finally alone' - finally back from war - to going away again ('from the aeroplane he stares impassively') - links to theme of fate, once more the futility of the photographer's efforts to uncover the horror of war, for he was destined to constantly go out there and try to enlighten people to no avail since he is still going out there and trying by the end stanza. Internal + Half-Rhyme: 'with tears between the bath and pre-lunch beers.' - 'tears' and 'beers' represent the quickness of how normal civilians get over the pictures of war, for they are isolated from it (caesuras); the fact it's half-rhyme also reflects how the efforts in which civilians try to understand and emphasise are futile, hence the LANGUAGE: Biblical Imagery and Simile: 'as though this were a church and he a priest preparing to intone a Mass.' and the juxtaposition to sinister imagery of 'darkroom' - a sombre approach to his work, contrasting the basic ideologies of a photographer - someone who immortalises life within a photo - whilst he acts like a Priest putting the dead to rest (linking to 'half-formed ghost'). Sibilance + Assonance (o's): 'spools of suffering set out in ordered rows.' - once more a futile attempt to put order into the chaos of war and suffering; the 'spools of suffering' could also be metaphorical for war graves, and the will of humans to structure a concept - death - which simply will not be structured. LINKS: Exposure - 'half-formed ghost' - the civilians don't understand. Remains - 'blood stained into foreign dust' + 'his hands, which did not tremble then though seem to now.' (PTSD).

Bayonet Charge by Ted Hughes.

CONTEXT: Former RAF serviceman. Obsessed with astrology. Grew up in the Yorkshire countryside - a county very much affected by the deaths resulting from His father served in WW1; the poet was set in WW1, despite Hughes never actually been in WW1 (born in 1930). FORM: Narrative Written in Third Person.STRUCTURE: Enjambment: 'Then the shot-slashed furrows / Threw up a yellow hare.' - this across stanza enjambment makes the reader feel very disjointed, just like the narrator himself. Hughes makes the poem hard to read, mirroring the struggle of the narrator. LANGUAGE: Synecdoche + Rhetorical Question Caesura: 'In what cold clockwork of the stars and the nations was he the hand pointing that second?' - link to famous propaganda poster; the narrator is against the horror of war, but just by participating in it he has publicized it; existential connotations - the phrase including the noun 'clockwork' - connotes to how he is a small aspect of the universe, a tiny cog in the clock of existence (supported by 'listening between his footfalls for the reason of his still running' - existential connotations; the complex language forces us to struggle through the poem, once more like how the soldier struggles through the charge. Ridden With Similes: (example: 'the patriotic tear that had brimmed in his eye sweating like molten iron from the centre of his chest.') - two similes in each stanza - simile's used to explain and describe something that cannot be truly described on its own; the abundance of these suggests how indescribable the horrors of war are; this particular simile is the prelude to the below point, displaying how patriotism has been drilled into him - that is his meaning, and without it he becomes existential). List: 'King, honour, human dignity, etcetera.' - the adverb (indicating that a list is too tedious or clichéd to give in full) 'etcetera' provides a satirical tone, mocking and criticizing the patriotism (simile link) drilled into the soldier's heads; the soldier in the poem is almost breaking free of this with his existential thoughts, realising the patriotism is in fact a guise to pretend their struggle is meaningful, when in fact they are just (link to synecdoche) a small cog in the clock of existence; the fact the poem is written in third person with the personal pronoun 'he' showing how the poem may not merely be about just one soldier, but is actually about all of them - a general critique of war. LINKS: Exposure. Remains. COLB. Kamikaze (last language point).

The Emigree by Carol Rumens.

CONTEXT: Born in London, but traveled widely in Russia and Eastern Europe. Rumens bases many ideas on modern examples of emigration from countries such as the ones she's traveled to (Russia), where people are fleeing corruption and the tyranny of dictatorship. FORM: Patriotic and Reminiscent Narrative. 1st Person: use of 1st person allows the poem to be taken on by anyone in the narrator's place, but also makes the repetition of the pronoun 'they' seem more harsh in a sense of segregation within her current city. STRUCTURE: Free Verse: no rhyme, reflecting the freedom the narrator feels when reminiscing about her city. 3 Stanzas, 8 Lines, but 9 on last stanza: defiance of the racial oppression she faces by the people from her current city; her reminscence of her city as in the last stanza particularly, the longer length showing how she doesn't want to leave. Enjambment and Caesura: reflects the chaos of her home city, particularly in her last stanza about her home city; however, this disorder and chaos is contrasted by the positive imagery throughout - especially in the repetition of the noun 'sunlight', the fact is the last word of the poem - and of each stanza - leaves us with joyful imagery despite the oppression detail just prior to it - juxtaposition like this throughout. LANGUAGE: Power of identity. Conflict from racial prejudice and of the two idenitities of the opposing cities, showing how where you're from is truly your identity, and further shows how the city is personified to reflect the loving nature of herself. Repetition of Noun 'Sunlight' + Metaphor: integrated throughout, even when she talks of tyranny and oppression in both her current and home city; specifically, 'branded by an impression of sunlight.' is another contrast of positive and negative imagery, for the verb 'branded' is rather harsh, connoting to pain as well as how she is branded as an outsider in the current city, subjecting her to constant xenophobia; however, it can be viewed as metaphorical of her defiance not to change, and further the noun 'sunlight' is incredibly positive, connoting to images of pure happiness, the images of her city she wears on her sleeve - the images she is branded by - that cannot be destroyed by the xenophobia she experiences and the corruption in her home city; the light also relates to the possible biblical imagery of 'white streets' + 'white plane', connoting to heaven; 'my shadow falls as evidence of sunlight' - message of optimism that there is forever hope in darkness, and although she is surrounded by dark, xenophobic people in a dark city, she will forever be there as a reminder of the light of her previous city, even when she 'falls'(defeated) to the darkness of the prejudice; juxtaposition/contrast of light + dark imagery reflects the opposing views in her city. Metaphor + Adjective: 'the bright, filled paperweight' - the paperweight is metaphorical for her idealistic views, holding them down with the 'brightness' that defies the darkness of her current city; must protect what's inside, keeps her steady. Personification of a Lover: 'takes me dancing' + 'love its shining eyes' - attributes of a lover, shows the power of the place over her, the imagery of romance unbreakable; also a parental mindset, feels she must nurture the city into her idealistic view, the view she's had since childhood. LINKS: Kamikaze. Checking Out Me History.

Tissue by Imtiaz Dharker.

CONTEXT: Born in Pakistan and raised in Glasgow - calls herself a 'Scottish Pakistani Muslim Calvinist.' Many of her poems look at issues such as religion, politics, identity and gender. FORM: Impressionist Poem: ambiguous meaning. On-going STRUCTURE: Free Verse: unrestricted, like the paper; links to enjambment - thoughts developing on the paper, once more paper's power (tissue) is unstoppable. Quatrains, except last line: last half-line doesn't conform to this 'turned into your skin' - the tissue paper links to us humans and shows as what makes up our identity, making us realise that these figments of man's delusion of power relate to us as much as anyone else, and we possess these ideas and thoughts without realising; this is highlighted by the personal pronoun 'your' which directly addresses our part in the societal construct of man's power over nature and in fact ourselves on areas such as gender. LANGUAGE: Power: a critique of man's power, and also its fragility, with nature being more powerful. Noun - Title: 'Tissue' - an extended metaphor for human life for we are all made of tissue - thin and fragile. Metaphor for Biblical Imagery + Enjambment: 'Paper that lets the light shine through... the back of the Koran,' - the light shining through could be biblical imagery, representative of God; the enjambment across stanzas 1 and 2 emphasises the distinct difference between God and man's power - man's power is fragile; the fact the 'a hand has written' in the book could be man trying to take on God's role, once more man is trying to claim a power greater than should be possessed. 'The sun shines through their borderlines' - maps segregate the natural world via man's attempt at power, creating divides that aren't naturally there; this is representative of Dharker's focus in poetry - that society constructs many things - gender, religion - that aren't naturally there, and yet again nature is more powerful than man - paper - since all it takes is light to shine through and break man's control, almost enlightening us to the fact mankind's rigid control is trivial and the ideas society dictates simply do not exist. Personification: 'with living tissue, raise a structure never meant to last.' - personifies tissue as living with the idea human achievement will fade - transcient power of man; the adverb/superlative 'never' ironically conveys the inevitability of this; the fact tissue is an extended metaphor for human life, it's saying that we pour our literal selves into structures and displays of man's power that don't actually mean anything and won't last. LINKS: The Prelude. Ozymandias.

The Prelude by William Wordsworth.

CONTEXT: Romantic poet - poems that challenged the way people at the time thought. Early life was troubled - mother died, hated father and then he died, his grandparents and other relatives hated him; had to leave his sister when he was forced to live with those grandparents so he spent a lot of time outside living in the Lake District. FORM: Numinous Poem: a spiritual/religious awakening - romanticism and gothic undertones. Epic Poem: often contains a heroic event or character, something that isn't immediately obvious to the reader since the poet - for most of it - is frightened and depressed; in this case, nature may be classed as the true hero which highlights its power. STRUCTURE: Blank Verse: no rhyme, but written in iambic pentameter. One Long Stanza + Enjambment: overwhelming and leaves us breathless, helping the reader understand the emotions of the narrator; both these structure points are similar to Paradise Lost, another epic poem. Juxtaposition: 'nothing but the stars and the grey sky.' -> 'towered up between me and the stars,' - the stars are the poet's sense of protection, but thinking nature is the thing that protects the poet is a grave mistake and a display of nature's ominous power over man, one that leaves the poet in such a depression due the 'huge peak, black and huge' of the mountain suddenly moving and blocking out his false protection, almost showing him that the stars are on its' side and not his; this realisation is most notable in the change in volta of 'I struck and struck again' just prior to the second quote, the repetition reflecting the urgency to get away from the nature he naively believed would protect him. LANGUAGE: Oxymoron: 'troubled pleasure.' - seemingly relaxed, yet there's underlying anxiety and secrecy to display nature's hold over others - a control so powerful that it's placed in the poem before the actual life-changing event. Alliteration + Personification + Caesura: 'There hung a darkness, call it solitude or blank desertion.' - the darkness is personified as the feelings of depression, once more giving power to this depression nature has caused; the verb 'hung' displaying darkness as the only thing in his life, the thing he can't escape from for it is forever hung just out his grasp like a shadow; harsh alliteration highlights the depression the darkness causes; the caesura abruptly stops the line after 'desertion', just like his experience has stopped him in his life and left him deserted. Personification: '(led by her)' - personifying nature as the force that took him to the boat - power; the brackets show the secretive behavior of this act; this pronoun juxtaposes the 'it' used to describe the mountain further on, connoting to the loss of humanity nature gives way to, truly showing nature's power as something a human couldn't possibly possess. LINK: Remains. Exposure.