1. Ozymandias by Percy Bysshe Shelley
Quote 1: "Look on my Works, ye Mighty, and despair!"
Analysis: Ironic. Intended as a boast, it highlights the fleeting nature of power. The monument lies in ruins, emphasising that even the greatest rulers are forgotten.
Quote 2: "Nothing beside remains. Round the decay..."
Analysis: Juxtaposition. The contrast between the ruler's proud words and the surrounding emptiness shows the impermanence of human achievements.
Quote 3: "Two vast and trunkless legs of stone"
Analysis: Image of incomplete ruins. Demonstrates the inevitable decay of human constructs over time.
Quote 4: "The lone and level sands stretch far away"
Analysis: Alliteration and imagery. Nature reclaims all; time erodes all legacies.
Quote 5: "The hand that mocked them and the heart that fed"
Analysis: Ambiguity in 'mocked'. Could mean to imitate or ridicule, hinting at the artist’s critical view of the ruler.
2. London by William Blake
Quote 1: "Mind-forged manacles"
Analysis: Metaphor for psychological oppression. Suggests people are trapped not only by external systems but also by internalized control and conformity.
Quote 2: "Every black’ning Church appalls"
Analysis: Symbolism. Critique of religious hypocrisy. The church, a symbol of purity, is blackened by industrialization and moral decay.
Quote 3: "The hapless soldier’s sigh / Runs in blood down palace walls"
Analysis: Allusion to revolution and criticism of monarchy. Emphasizes the cost of conflict and leadership's disconnection from reality.
Quote 4: "Chartered Thames does flow"
Analysis: Irony. Even natural elements like the river are controlled and commercialized.
Quote 5: "Marks of weakness, marks of woe"
Analysis: Repetition. Highlights the widespread suffering and bleak atmosphere of the city.
3. The Prelude (Extract) by William Wordsworth
Quote 1: "A huge peak, black and huge"
Analysis: Repetition and dark imagery convey the overwhelming, almost supernatural power of nature. Nature dominates the speaker’s consciousness.
Quote 2: "Troubled pleasure"
Analysis: Oxymoron. Reflects the conflicting emotions the speaker feels—initial joy turns into awe and fear.
Quote 3: "She was an elfin pinnace"
Analysis: Metaphor. Romanticised view of nature at first, later subverted by fear.
Quote 4: "With trembling oars I turned"
Analysis: Physical reaction to fear. Indicates humility in the face of nature's power.
Quote 5: "Were a trouble to my dreams"
Analysis: Nature leaves a lasting psychological impact. Emphasizes the poem’s message about the sublime.
4. My Last Duchess by Robert Browning
Quote 1: "I gave commands; Then all smiles stopped together."
Analysis: Euphemism for murder. Highlights the Duke's authoritarian control and jealousy. Reflects the objectification of his wife.
Quote 2: "My gift of a nine-hundred-years-old name"
Analysis: Pride in heritage. Implies the Duchess should feel privileged, revealing the Duke’s obsession with status.
Quote 3: "That piece a wonder, now"
Analysis: Objectification. The Duchess is seen as artwork, not a person.
Quote 4: "Too soon made glad, Too easily impressed"
Analysis: Implies criticism of the Duchess’s friendliness. Reveals the Duke's controlling nature.
Quote 5: "I choose / Never to stoop"
Analysis: Pride and arrogance. The Duke refuses to communicate or compromise.
5. The Charge of the Light Brigade by Alfred, Lord Tennyson
Quote 1: "Theirs not to reason why, Theirs but to do and die"
Analysis: Highlights blind obedience and the futility of war. Soldiers follow orders despite the fatal consequences.
Quote 2: "Into the valley of Death"
Analysis: Biblical allusion. Suggests noble sacrifice and evokes a sense of inevitability and doom.
Quote 3: "Cannon to right of them, Cannon to left of them"
Analysis: Repetition and anaphora. Emphasizes the soldiers’ entrapment and danger.
Quote 4: "While horse and hero fell"
Analysis: Alliteration. Emphasizes the tragic loss of life and valor.
Quote 5: "When can their glory fade?"
Analysis: Rhetorical question. Tennyson immortalizes their bravery despite the flawed command.
6. Exposure by Wilfred Owen
Quote 1: "But nothing happens"
Analysis: Refrain. Emphasizes the soldiers’ prolonged suffering and the stagnation of trench warfare.
Quote 2: "Our brains ache, in the merciless iced east winds that knive us..."
Analysis: Personification and sibilance. Nature is portrayed as the true enemy, more brutal than the opposing army.
Quote 3: "Sudden successive flights of bullets streak the silence"
Analysis: Sibilance. Builds tension and mimics the sound of gunfire breaking silence.
Quote 4: "We cringe in holes"
Analysis: Dehumanization. Soldiers likened to animals; the war strips them of identity.
Quote 5: "All their eyes are ice"
Analysis: Metaphor. Reflects death and emotional numbness. War has frozen their humanity.
7. Storm on the Island by Seamus Heaney
Quote 1: "Spits like a tame cat turned savage"
Analysis: Simile. Suggests unpredictability of nature. Domestic imagery contrasts with wild violence.
Quote 2: "It is a huge nothing that we fear"
Analysis: Paradox. The most fearsome force is intangible. Reflects psychological impact of natural threats.
Quote 3: "We are bombarded by the empty air"
Analysis: Military metaphor. Nature is a silent aggressor.
Quote 4: "Can raise a tragic chorus in a gale"
Analysis: Personification. The wind becomes an expressive, almost theatrical, force
Quote 5: "You know what I mean"
Analysis: Colloquial tone. Creates immediacy and shared experience with the reader.
8. Bayonet Charge by Ted Hughes
Quote 1: "His terror’s touchy dynamite"
Analysis: Metaphor. Human emotion is volatile and explosive. Suggests how fear can override logic.
Quote 2: "In what cold clockwork..."
Analysis: Dehumanizing metaphor. War is mechanical, calculated, uncaring.
Quote 3: "Suddenly he awoke and was running"
Analysis: In medias res. Throws reader into the chaos and confusion of battle.
Quote 4: "Bullets smacking the belly out of the air"
Analysis: Violent personification. War violates even the air around them.
Quote 5: "King, honour, human dignity, etcetera"
Analysis: Irony. Noble ideals are dismissed in the face of survival.
9. Remains by Simon Armitage
Quote 1: "Probably armed, possibly not"
Analysis: Repetition and uncertainty. Suggests guilt and moral ambiguity; the speaker justifies but doubts his actions.
Quote 2: "His bloody life in my bloody hands"
Analysis: Macbeth allusion. Highlights the speaker’s psychological torment and guilt; he can’t wash away the memory.
Quote 3: "I see every round as it rips through his life"
Analysis: Graphic imagery. Emphasizes the violence and vivid trauma replaying in the speaker’s mind.
Quote 4: "End of story, except not really"
Analysis: Volta. Suggests the physical event is over, but emotional damage endures.
Quote 5: "The drink and the drugs won’t flush him out"
Analysis: Metaphor. Trauma is inescapable; attempts to numb the pain are futile.
10. Poppies by Jane Weir
Quote 1: "I pinned one onto your lapel"
Analysis: Symbolism. The poppy links domestic love and national mourning; maternal care contrasts with militarism.
Quote 2: "The world overflowing like a treasure chest"
Analysis: Simile. Suggests youthful excitement and opportunities, but foreshadows loss.
Quote 3: "A single dove flew from the pear tree"
Analysis: Symbol of peace and mourning. Implies the son’s death or spiritual departure.
Quote 4: "I listened, hoping to hear your playground voice catching on the wind"
Analysis: Auditory imagery. Blends memory, mourning, and yearning.
Quote 5: "Sellotape bandaged around my hand"
Analysis: Domestic image turned symbolic. 'Bandaged' implies emotional and physical pain.
11. War Photographer by Carol Ann Duffy
Quote 1: "Spools of suffering set out in ordered rows"
Analysis: Juxtaposition. Order contrasts with chaos of suffering; metaphor for emotional control.
Quote 2: "A hundred agonies in black and white"
Analysis: Metaphor. Photographs capture real pain, yet they're reduced to images—commentary on desensitisation.
Quote 3: "The reader’s eyeballs prick with tears"
Analysis: Irony. Brief, shallow emotion from the audience; critique of public apathy.
Quote 4: "He has a job to do"
Analysis: Blunt tone. Suggests emotional detachment required to cope with horrors.
Quote 5: "The only light is red and softly glows"
Analysis: Symbolism. Red light evokes blood, danger, and a sacred space of reflection.
12. Tissue by Imtiaz Dharker
Quote 1: "Paper that lets the light shine through"
Analysis: Symbolism. Paper represents human fragility; light symbolizes truth and clarity.
Quote 2: "The back of the Koran"
Analysis: Religious reference. Highlights the power of scripture, yet made from fragile material—paper.
Quote 3: "Maps too. The sun shines through their borderlines"
Analysis: Borders are human constructs. Nature (sunlight) ignores them, suggesting artificiality of control.
Quote 4: "Might fly our lives like paper kites"
Analysis: Simile. Suggests people are controlled by external forces, but with potential for freedom.
Quote 5: "Raise a structure never meant to last"
Analysis: Ephemeral nature of human achievements; encourages humility and acceptance.
13. The Emigrée by Carol Rumens
Quote 1: "There once was a country..."
Analysis: Fairy-tale opening. Nostalgic tone implies romanticised memory, idealized past.
Quote 2: "My memory of it is sunlight-clear"
Analysis: Light imagery. Symbolizes positivity and purity of remembered homeland.
Quote 3: "It may be at war, it may be sick with tyrants"
Analysis: Contrast. Acknowledges political turmoil, yet doesn't affect the speaker’s idealized view.
Quote 4: "I comb its hair and love its shining eyes"
Analysis: Personification. Treats the city as a cherished child or companion, reinforcing emotional attachment.
Quote 5: "They accuse me of being dark in their free city"
Analysis: Oppression and racism implied. Contrast between 'free' and 'accusation' shows hypocrisy.
14. Kamikaze by Beatrice Garland
Quote 1: "A shaven head full of powerful incantations"
Analysis: Suggests indoctrination; contrasts spiritual tradition with militaristic control.
Quote 2: "He must have looked far down at the little fishing boats"
Analysis: Imagery. Natural beauty and ordinary life cause him to question his mission.
Quote 3: "Bringing their father's boat safe / yes, grandfather’s boat – safe"
Analysis: Repetition of 'safe' emphasizes familial care, subtly undermining the suicide mission.
Quote 4: "Which had been the better way to die"
Analysis: Ambiguity. Suggests he lived physically but died socially/emotionally due to ostracism.
Quote 5: "No longer the father we loved"
Analysis: Isolation. Cultural shame leads to rejection; explores identity, duty, and familial bonds.
15. Checking Out Me History by John Agard
Quote 1: "Dem tell me / Wha dem want to tell me"
Analysis: Repetition and phonetic spelling. Emphasizes control over historical narrative; challenges Eurocentric education.
Quote 2: "Bandage up me eye with me own history"
Analysis: Metaphor. Historical ignorance is like a deliberate injury; withholding history is harmful.
Quote 3: "Blind me to me own identity"
Analysis: Identity erasure. Education system suppresses cultural heritage.
Quote 4: "I carving out me identity"
Analysis: Active verb 'carving'. Suggests reclaiming agency and constructing a self-determined identity.
Quote 5: "Toussaint / A slave / With vision"
Analysis: Juxtaposition. Elevates black historical figures; contrasts with trivial white history (e.g., nursery rhymes).