Poetry quotes, connotations and context mock
Ozymandias Context
-written by Percy Shelley who was a romatic poet
-he was anti-monarchist and supported social justice
-inspired by archeological finds in Egypt in 1817
-archeologists found a statue of Rameses 2 who the greeks called Ozmandias
-Ozymandias thought his statue would stand forever but crumbled over time
-Shelley uses this to show how the power of nature and time is more potent than the power of man
"I am Ozymandias, King of Kings"
Shows Ozymandias's arrogance. "King of Kings"suggests Ozymandias sees himself as equal to God.
"Look on my works, ye Mighty and despair!"
Capitalisation of "Mighty" suggests Ozymandias sees himself as God. Ozymandias thought his statue would last forever and so saw himself as more powerful than time itself.
"Nothing beside remains."
Time beat Ozymandias and so time will beat all power of man. Full stop to emphasise this idea.
"Round the decay of that colossal wreck...The lone and level sands stretch far away."
the sand symbolises time. "Colossal wreck" shows the statue is a shell of what its used to be and so is Ozymandias power. In fact the adjective "level" suggests despite all his power Ozymandias made no severe changes in the course of time.
Exposure context
-Written by Wilfred Owen in 1917.
-depicts the horrible conditions in war especially WW1
-Poem shows Owen's own experiences at war which contrast with British propaganda.
-in 1917 there was a very cold winter- it was so bad many men froze to death in the trenches and that is what is happening in the poem.
-anti-war.
"but nothing happens"
refrain repeated throughout the poem to emphasise it. Shows futility of war and that the soldiers in the trenches waiting for the German attack achieved nothing despite their severe suffering.
"what are we doing here?"
questions the reasoning behind war- saying it's futile. Rhetorical question.
"For love of God seems dying."
Refrain. Saying conditions soldiers are facing are so bad they are making them question their faith in God.
"the merciless iced east winds that knive us..."
personifies the weather and shows that it is killing the soldiers. Also shows natures power over man.
"Pause over half-known faces. All their eyes are ice."
"eyes are ice" is for the dead soldiers which we learn frozento death. Also for burying party- "eyes are ice" symbolises their insensitivity to death caused by the horrors of war.
Remains context
-written by Simon Armitage who was poet laurreate
-Armitage is an unconventional poet and he uses a lot of colloquial language and humour in his poems- he does not use humour in this poem to show its seriousness.
-based of a specific soldiers experiences in the gulf war and is a monologue.
-highlights in particular the suffering of soldiers after conflict i.e ptsd
"I see every round as it rips through his life"
graphic imagery to help show the magnitude of suffering soldiers witness.
"he's here in my head when I close my eyes,dug in behind enemy lines"
symbolic of ptsd.military terminology also used to help show wars lasting impact on soldiers- even when they get home still using military language.
"his blood shadow stays on the street".
"blood-shadow" is symbolic- mans death stained both the street and the soldiers mind. The soldier is forced to look at the blood shadow on patrol and relive memories of the death.
"his bloody life in my bloody hands."
shows soldiers guilt. "bloody hands" references macbeth- Lady Macbeth becomes obsessed with washing blood off her hands in the play which shows her guilt. possessive pronoun "my" also shows how the soldier takes sole responsibility for the mans death even though he was in a group with other soldiers when it happened.
The Emigrée context.
-Written by Carol Rumens
-Rumens has always been obsessed with the idea of elsewhere.
-Rumens wrote poem to show the struggles of refugees.
-the poems speaker and homeland remain anonymous so it can be applies to any refugees experiences.
"I am branded with an impression of sunlight."
"branded" has negative connotations of permanence."sunlight" has positive connotations of joy. The speaker, depsite what she may hear in the news, sees her country as beautiful and amazing still because of the power of her memories.
"it tastes like sunlight"
repetition of "sunlight" to emphasise the positivity associated with speakers homeland. "taste" shows memories are so powerful she can taste them.
"That childs vocabulary i carried here...banned by the state"
"childs vocabulary" suggests innocence and it is contrasted by "banned by the state" which connotes negative seriousness. Language is a big part of identity and so the fact the speakers old childs language is lost shows she has lost some of her identity. it also shows the speakers change over time in identity from a childs language to an adults.
"They accuse me of being dark in their free city,My city hides behind me. They mutter death"
Shows us that the speaker faces discrimincation in her new city and was happier in her old one. Also shows how the speakers identity of a refugee and being from a violence stricken country negatively affects her.
Checking out me history context
-Written by John Agard who grew up in Guyana and moved to Britain in his adulthood.
-when he was in school, he was not taught black history- instead he was taught white british history, which was almost irrelevant to him. This enraged him.
-the poem is a declaration of the speakers determination to discover his own identity and his history- it is written in creole to support this idea.
"Dem tell me bout 1066 and all dat, dem tell me bout Dick Whittington and he cat"
speaker mentions a british historical event in combination with a nursery rhyme. This shows that the speaker does not care for the british history (about as much he cares about the nursery rhyme). It also ridicules the curriculum he was taught as it makes no sense he was taught nursery rhymes rather than about important historical figures like Mary Seacole.
"Bandage up me eye with me own history, Blind me to me own identity"
Metaphor saying that he has had his history hidden from him and it has not allowed him to fully express his identity.
"I carving out me identity"
The speaker is resolute to find out his history for himself. The verb "carving" however, suggests this will take a lot of effort which should not be necessary but is.