'Ozymandias' and 'My Last Duchess' both show ideas
about social control, the aftermath of having too
much power and how powerful people want to
protect their power. 'Ozymanidas' is written in third
person whilst 'MLD' is written in first person and is a
dramatic monologue which shows how it is obvious
to even those without power that is creates evil and
arrogance.
'London' and 'Checking out me history'
show a theme of oppression. they show
that countries can be blinded and
oppressed and this makes them seem
alien. 'London' is eighteenth century
whilst 'Checking out me History' is
modern showing that oppression has
been happening throughout a lot of
history.
'The Prelude' explores the effects of events on the
mind and although in this poem the scary events lead
to nightmares and not PTSD, 'Remains' could be
compared well to this poem. 'The Prelude' is
influenced by romanticism as Wordsworth was a
Romantic poet. this explains why nature is heavily
featured in the poem as being more powerful than
man. Coloquial language is used in 'Remians' to show
trealsim of the even however 'The Prelude' is written
like a story showing that it may not have been a real
event.
'London' criticises the social class structure
whilst 'My Last Duchess' does the same.
'London' criticises in an open way whilst
'MLD' does it through presuming the reader
will make the link as they read from the
perspective of the Duke.
'The Charge of the Light Brigade' explores the negative
effects of conflict whilst 'Exposure' does the same. they
also both use similar structure with a repeated phrase
at the end of each stanza. IN 'TCOTLD' the phrase reads
'rode the six hundred' or something similar and in
'Exposure', it reads 'But nothing happens.' in 'TCOTLB'
this repeated phrase emphasises the large loss of men
whereas in exposure it emphasises the deadly waiting
that the soldiers had to endure.
'Exposure' and 'Remains' show the brutality and effects of
conflict. because 'Exposure' was written a long time before
'Remains' the effect of conflict isn't obviously leading to PTSD.
However, in 'Remains', the consequences are clearly showing
that the soldier now experiences a mental disorder. The
weather is also shown to become an enemy to the soldiers. this
shows that the effects of conflict make everything seem like an
enemy to the soldiers, again hinting at PTSD.
'Tissue' could be seen to be about memory and how making
memories are more important than what is left behind. The could
compare well with 'Poppies' as this is also about memory. Both
poems use imagery to create the sematic field of memory. In
'Poppies' there is a clear link to the layers of fabric being like
memories- supported by Weir's history of textiles. in 'Tissue' the
imagery of layers is also conveyed but through the ideas of book
pages and layers of skin.
'The Emigrée' is also about memory and shows it
to never to be altered no matter what may change
it. This links to 'Poppies' as the reader can never
be sure whether the son has died in war or has
just left. The shows that the memories of him can
not change as the war goes on and she still sees
her son as though he were a child.
'Kamikaze' is similar to 'Remains' in the
way that it shows the impact that
movement can have on a single
person's life. Differently, 'Remains' is
written in first person, while
'Kamikaze' uses mostly third person to
convey it's message. there is also
reported speech in 'Kamikaze' and
'Remains' is based on a real life event
making them similar.
'The Emigrée' could be compared to
'Ozymandias' by the theme of the power
of nature. In 'The Emigrée' sunlight is
portrayed to be powerful and the power
that allows her memories of her
country/childhood to be changed. The
sun may be magical to a child and the
power of it shown through the poem
could symbolise how it keeps the
memories alive. In 'Ozymandias', the
statue has deteriorated due to nature
showing that the power of nature can
overcome the power of humans
somewhat easily.
In some ways, 'My Last Duchess' is about the memory
of the Duchess. The whole poem is a dramatic
monologue showing the Duke's opinion of the Duchess
and all the things she supposedly did wrong. This
shows that even when someone has died, the memory
of what they did is still fresh and the Duke cannot
'forgive' her. This hints that the Duke had her killed as
he is still in a sate of malice towards her. if she had died
of other causes, he may have mourned for her.