Larkin’s poetry often deals with the dissatisfaction of modern living and the reality of life today. With reference to at least two poems show how true this is.
Larkin's poetry often deals with the dissatisfaction of modern living and the reality of life today. With reference to at least two poems show how true this is. To answer this I will be looking at poems taken from Philip Larkin's collection 'The Whitsun Weddings.' The two poems I have chosen to focus on in more depth are 'MCMXIV' and 'A Study of Reading Habits' 'MCMXIV' has often been read as a nostalgic poem as it reflects the speakers desire to return to some earlier time in their life, but is also a poem tinged with sadness as it deals with the period before and immediately after World War One. It reflects the vanishing way of traditional English life and how the speaker is saddened by the changing world. As the title 'MCMXIV' suggests it is a poem, which looks at the past and in contrast to the reality of the world today. The detailed descriptions seem to suggest the speaker is looking at old photographs. Stanza one for example may show that the speaker is looking at on old photograph that shows, 'Long uneven lines standing as patiently as if they were stretched outside the oval...' These long lines maybe the queues of conscripts waiting to sign up to join the army. This shows how in the past people were very willing and eager to fight and even risk their own lives, and also how close the community was in 1914. The spirit at this time is described as, 'A August
Theme of Isolation in the Ancyent Marinere
Tutor Marked Assignment Q Alone, alone, all all alone, Alone on a wide wide sea And Christ would take no pity on My soul in Agony Comment on the theme of isolation in "The Rime of the Ancyent Marinere" as a whole. To what extent do you think it is a Christian poem? Coleridge's The Rime of the Ancient Mariner is the story of the Romantic archetype, the Wanderer, the man with the mark of Cain (who killed his brother), doomed to be a restless wanderer on the earth and was once alienated from God's presence "so lonely 'twas that God himself scarce seemed there to be". Isolation is a state of separation, solitude or loneliness and has been explored in varying degrees throughout this poem; from geographical, social, to spiritual. Why has Coleridge gone to great lengths to perpetuate this theme throughout the "rime", what is the significance of Isolation in conveying his message? In Chapter I, the ship is driven by storms to the South Pole where there were "ne shapes of men ne beasts we ken" and "the ice was all between". The ship and its crew were geographically isolated from the rest of the living world due to the unbeatable force of nature; they saw no living creatures, but were surrounded by Ice; the extreme opposite of warmth, like blue sea, blue skies, green islands, and the colourful sea creatures; which was probably the scene when they were on the equator. Just like
Compare the poems "Hard Frost" and "winter the Huntsman". Decide which poem paints the best picture.
Compare the poems "Hard Frost" and "winter the Huntsman". Decide which poem paints the best picture "Winter the Huntsman" and Hard Frost" are both poems which have the same settings, both are in the season of winter, Hard Frost (HF) was set at the end of winter and Winter the Huntsman (WTH) was set at the beginning of winter. "WTH" is set in a forest being captured by winter and "HF" is set in a rural, and near habitation. Also the image in hard frost is completely different to image portrayed in W.T.H. The image from H.F is that there is human habitation this is proven by this quote 'at every footstep a tiny brittle pane is broken'. With the idea of humans being able to live along side with frost gives me the effect a Christmas card feel to the poem. In W.T.H the image created by the poem is completely different. The image is a cruel and harsh. The theme is a huntsman hunting down all colour and life from summer. Differences in the poem are continued with the use of personification. In "HF" frost is depicted as a soldier of the army of winter, evidence of this is numerous. One particular piece from the poem describes it best, "Frost called to water "Halt!", this personifies frost as someone who would command like a sergeant in the army. More aspects of frost being humanlike is in the following quote 'interns poor fish'. This means that he has the power to lock away fish
Poetry of the First World War.
Poetry of the First World War The First World War broke out on the 4th August 1914. It sparked fantasies for many young men of becoming a war hero. The government assured everyone that the war would be over by Christmas. Boys and men decided to join up in an attempt not to miss the excitement. Poets were just as patriotic as the men going to die fighting. Because of this patriotism, the poets wrote about how glamorous the war was and how good it felt to die for ones country. This was all in an attempt to keep the number of men high enough to replace those who were lost. These men did see action but they were all mainly middle class people and so were given high ranks and didn't see much of the front line. They didn't see the true horrors of war and carried on writing patriotic poems. Fortunately for men still joining the war, some poets, such as Wilfred Owen, did see the horrors of war and wrote very unpatriotic poems such as 'Dulce Et Decorum Est' which was one of his most famous poems. 'The Volunteer' by Herbert Asquith tells about how good war was and how one should die for their country; "and in that high hour he lived and died" he says that the greatest point in a man's life is when he dies for his country. He never saw war which makes him hypocritical as he talks about an experience he never had. In his poems, Asquith uses great images of Roman wars to glamorize
Why did the number of women employed in Britain begin to rise significantly from mid-1915?
Assignment One: Objective 1 Why did the number of women employed in Britain begin to rise significantly from mid-1915? In 1911 the government census revealed that 11 million adult women did not have a paid job. The main reason as to why many women in Britain were not employed is that women were expected to marry and become housewives. Their job was to care for their husbands and raise children. However working class women had no choice other than to work. The most common job for working class women at the time was domestic service. 1.5 million women worked as domestic servants working long hours as cooks, cleaners or chambermaids. 500,000 women worked in the sweated trades and 900,000 women worked in the textiles industry. The textiles industry was a major employer of women. Women were usually paid two-thirds of a man's wage or less. When the First World War broke out in 1914, women had to fill in jobs that men had left behind them to go and fight. More and more men went to fight in the war and by mid 1915; Britain's workforce was seriously depleted. In the spring of 1915, Herbert Asquith (famous for his "business as usual" motto), went on a speaking tour of Britain to talk to the 'Workers of Industry.' This was clearly an attempt to boost the morale on the Home Front as the war dragged on into its second year. Entry to Asquith's meetings was free, but by ticket only.
The Theme of Time in The Two Poems, 'Days' and 'Toads Revisited'
The Theme of Time in The Two Poems, 'Days' and 'Toads Revisited' By Philip Larkin. The titles of these poems alone suggest there will be a theme of time in them; The title 'Days' speaks for itself as days are a way of measuring time, 'Toads Revisited' however is much more subtle but the notion of revisiting, indirectly tells us that he is going somewhere or doing something that he has done before in his lifetime. 'Days' is a poem about Larkin's views on death and how our approach on the subject can alter the way we live. Larkin begins his first stanza with the rhetorical question of 'What are days for?", though this is a question similar to the biggest question of all time 'What is the meaning of life?' Larkin answers it with a simple monosyllabic response, "Days are where we live". For such a broad and open question this is a very closed, unrefined answer. This could be a reflection of Larkin's view on the meaning of life, that he feels it is not important to search for a complex answer. I get the impression that Larkin is tired of life and its repetitive structure, "They come they wake us, time and time over" this is shown by his impassionate language and monosyllabic style. Its seems as if he feels time is passing too slowly. 'Toads Revisited' unlike 'Days' is the second poem out of two, the first being similar in subject but written 10 years before when Larkin was at
Comparison between Tennyson's 'charge of the light brigade' and Owen's 'Dulce et Decorum Est'.
Comparison between Tennyson's 'charge of the light brigade' and Owen's 'Dulce et Decorum Est'. During this essay I am going to try and prove to you that these two war poems have a different meaning to them and a different message behind them. Obviously they are both trying to get the point across about what the poets believe war to be like but I feel Wilfred Owen's poem is a lot more detailed whereas Alfred Lord Tennyson's has a more vague approach! Firstly, I will discuss Tennyson's impression of war and how he shows us that war is full of honour, bravery and heroism. Throughout this poem Tennyson sticks to a very brief description of soldiers, death and general war! Tennyson is trying to tell us that the soldiers who fought in this war were brave and should be honoured and respected. Proof of this is in the quote 'Honour the charge they made'. From Tennyson's point of view he must of felt that the soldiers were brave and courageous enough for us to honour them which is asked of us in this quote. In this poem it is as if there is no hope for these soldiers, like they are already dead and this effect is proven by many of the gloomy quotes which are portrayed throughout the poem- "while horse and hero fell" emphasising the word "fell". Many of the quotes in 'Charge of the Light Brigade' are negative because when we read these lines it makes the soldiers sound more brave and
Compare the way Siegfried Sassoon and Wilfred Owen portray war in 'The Rear Guard' and 'Strange Meeting'.
Laura Cole Compare the way Siegfried Sassoon and Wilfred Owen portray war in 'The Rear Guard' and 'Strange Meeting' The first poem 'the Rear Guard' describes a soldier's journey when trying to escape from the horror of the trenches. En route he stumbles across what is described by Sassoon as a 'sleeper'- a solider who is believed to be asleep. After a silent response and dormant reactions to the soldier's kick, he discovers that the 'sleeper' is actually a dead victim of war. Eventually the 'rear-guard' is able to leave the tunnel 'unloading hell behind him'. In 'Strange Meeting', it is supposedly Owen who is the narrator telling the reader of his experience. The narrator believes he has died and has been sent to hell, where he meets a ghost (hence the title) and is told how it is terrible to die young in war. The poems share many similarities as well as the obvious subject of war. Both writers portray the horror of war and it is true to say that both poems are strongly anti-war. Examples of this include 'Now men will go content with what we spoiled' (from Strange Meeting) and 'unloading hell' ('The Rear-Guard"). The choice of language of the two poems also shares similarities. Both writers use hard-hitting vocabulary, describing war unsparingly, more so in 'The Rear-Guard'- 'Savage he kicked an unanswering heap' although there is evidence of this in 'Strange
The Daffodils
The Daffodils 'The Daffodils' was written in the eighteenth century by William Wordsworth. Gillian Clarke wrote 'Miracle on St.David's Day' in the twentieth century, making her a contemporary poet. 'The Daffodils' is about a day when Wordsworth was contemplating, and decided to go for a walk. Along the way he observed a host of daffodils. He thought that the flowers were so beautiful that they left an indelible impression in his mind. Weeks, maybe months after he had first seen the flowers, when he was in a "vacant or pensive mood," Wordsworth remembered the beautiful sight of the daffodils. Just thinking of the flowers gave him inspiration and filled his heart with pleasure. We know that something remarkable is about to happen in Gillian Clarke's poem by reading the title; "Miracle on St. David's Day." The word 'miracle' conveys this feeling. After reading the title there's a chosen extract or a prolog from the poem 'The Daffodils.' We now know that Gillian Clarke's poem is accociated with William Wordsworth's poem. As this extract is located at the beginning of her poem it makes us believe that her poem is also going to be about daffodils. The poem by Gillian Clarke is about a 'miracle' that occurs on St. David's Day, when a dumb man is touched by the power of a poem. She visits a mental hospital and recites poems to the patients. When in middle of a poem the dumb man
Compare and contrast the ways in which Wilfred Owen and Ted Hughes write about nature.
Compare and contrast the ways in which Wilfred Owen and Ted Hughes write about nature. In this extended piece of writing I am going to compare and contrast 'Exposure', a poem written by Wilfred Owen, to a poem written by Ted Hughes, 'Thistles'. 'Exposure' is a poem about the men who are fighting in the First World War and are suffering from the effects of the weather and the formidable conditions in which they have to live. They hallucinate about going back home and dream about what it would be like, but then return to reality, to the cold and dreadful trenches. Towards the end of the poem, there is a shift in tone and atmosphere. The men realise that their being in the trenches is essential for the protection of freedom and domestic security. Moreover it is their destiny. Ostensibly, 'Thistles' is about nature. On a more profound level, the poem is about survival and the pain endured during the growth and rebirth of this plant. There are comparisons and effective phrases using natural imagery as the poem's focus, showing that the battle for survival in an indifferent world is a brutal one. I will now examine in more detail each poet's approach to the role of nature in these poems. Our brains ache, in the merciless iced east winds that knive us... This quotation is from the first line of 'Exposure'. Immediately, we recognise a sense of pain and anguish. This
