GCSE English Lit: Key Poems
Poems
- Created by: clare
- Created on: 13-04-11 10:06
On my First Sonne - Ben Jonson
What it's about
- A father who is mourning the death of his 7 year old son and is saying goodbye to him.
Themes
- Death - Death of his son
- Parent/child relationships - Talks about his love and pride for his son "child of my right hand, and joy"
- Love - Loves his son - "lov'd boy"
Structure
- Rhyming couplets
- Says goodbye to his son
- He envies his son because he is in heaven
- His son is his best creation and he doesn't want to love anything too much because he will lose it.
- Controlled, one stanza poem - shows that he wants to control his emotions.
Language
- Pride and affection - "child of my right hand and joy", "rest in soft peace"
- Metaphors - "best peice of poetry", " seven yeeres tho'wert lent to me"
- Death - "thy fate" "here doth lye"
Attitudes and feelings
- Grief - is upset about the death of his son
- Uncertainty - Wonders whether it is better to be alive or dead
Links
- Death - 'Mid Term Break', 'October'
- Parent/child - 'Catrin', 'Affliction of Margaret'
- Love - 'Sonnet', 'Mali'
The Affliction of Margaret - William Wordsworth
What it's about
- A mother who has lost her son for 7 years and is unsure whether he is dead of alive and is desperate to see him
Themes
- Parent/child - Describes her love and pride for her son and is miserable without him
- Strong emotions - her descperation and pain takes over her life and she can't be happy without knowing he is ok.
Structure
- Long poem - suggest the time she has been worrying about him
- Rhyming couplets
- She is pain for the loss of her son
- Talks about how good-looking he was - she was proud of him
- Children don't realise how much thier mothers worry about them
- She is so desperate that she 'looks for ghosts'
- No- one understands her grief
Language
- Obsessive - "an object beauteous to behold", "I look for Ghosts", "Of Him I wait for day and night", "My apprehensions come in crowds"
- Pain and Fear - "was ever darkness like this?","I suffered long", "tears like dew", "weeping for him when no one knew"
- Reflective - talks directly to his son - "where art thou", "seven years, alas!" - tries to understand - "wishes, vain as mine"
Attitudes and feelings
- Sympathy - the Poet makes the reader feel sorry for Margaret
- Anxiety - Is worried about her son, she wants to talk to him
- Despiration - It seems nothing matters to her except her son
Links
- Parent/child - 'Follower', 'Catrin', 'Mali'
- Strong emotions - 'The Laboratory', 'The Field-Mouse'
Patroliing Barnegat - Walt Whitman
What it's about
- Describes a fierce storm at night on Barnegat, a bay in America
- People are patrolling the beach and they see a shipwreck in the distance
Themes
- Nature - the nature of the storm is powerful and 'wild'.
- Danger - the storm has power over the patrollers, causes a shipwreck - 'red signal flaring' - red shows danger
Structure
- One block stanza and one long sentence - shows the storm going on and on and also the strength of the storm
- Rhyming is used and each line ends with 'ing' words to create a sense of the storm happening right now
Language
- War-like language - references to war e.g. 'advancing', 'cutting swirl' (swords), 'confronting', 'warily watching' - the watchmen are fighting against the enemy i.e. the storm.
- Dramatic language - 'demoniac laughter', 'savagest trinity lashing' (trinity refering to the 'waves, air, midnight')
- Sounds of the storm - onomatopoeia - 'incessant undertone muttering', 'horse roar' - rough and powerful, 'slush and sand spirts of snow fierce slanting' - alliteration, sounds of the waves
Attitudes and feelings
- Wariness and caution toward the storm - it is dangerous
- The poet respects the power of nature
- The poet has admiration for the watchmen's bravery
Links
- Nature - 'Sonnet', 'Storm on the island'
- Danger - 'Cold knap lake', 'little boy lost',
Language
- Visual Imagery - 'summer beaming forth', 'white wool sack clouds' (purity, softness), 'gold' instead of yellow - idealistic view, 'bright beetles' -alliteration enforcing idea of brightness.
- Peacefulness - 'reed clumps rustle' - onomatopoeia, 'clear deep lake', 'flower head swings', 'happy wings'
Attitudes and feelings
- Love for nature, summer and its beauty
- Tranquility - relaxed and at peace
- Happiness to be in the countyside and seeing natures beauty
Links
- Nature - 'Blackberry picking', 'October'
- Love - 'Catrin', 'Mali'
- Imagery - 'Patrolling Barnegat', 'Inversnaid'
At a Potato Digging - Seamus Heaney
What it's about
- The poem moves between a modern day potato harvest and remembering the Potato Famine in 1845 when thousands of people died of hunger
Themes
- Death - The poet talks about the many deaths of people in Ireland who starved
- Politics - Shows the difficulties that occur in certain countries - the famine in Ireland
Structure
- Long poem shows the how long the potato famine went on for
- In sections I and IV
Language
Attitudes and feelings
Links
Death of a Naturalist - Seamus Heaney
What it's about
Themes
Structure
Language
Attitudes and feelings
Links
Digging - Seamus Heaney
What it's about
Themes
Structure
Language
Attitudes and feelings
Links
Storm on the Island - Seamus Heaney
What it's about
Themes
Structure
Language
Attitudes and feelings
Links
Catrin - Gillian Clarke
What it's about
Themes
Structure
Language
Attitudes and feelings
Links
A Difficult Birth, Easter 1998 - Gillian Clarke
What it's about
Themes
Structure
Language
Attitudes and feelings
Links
The Field-Mouse - Gillian Clarke
What it's about
Themes
Structure
Language
Attitudes and feelings
Links
Cold Knap Lake - Gillian Clarke
What it's about
Themes
Structure
Language
Attitudes and feelings
Links
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