https://padlet.com/kgriffiths6/poetry_rants Write a response to one of the given poetry questions. en-us 2017-04-21 19:41:57 UTC 2017-04-25 10:06:20 UTC hello@padlet.com https://padlet.com/kgriffiths6/poetry_rants/wish/168046475 Power of humans in Ozymandias is showed by the king having power over his people when he was alive but the power of nature was stronger - "Boundless and bare".  This quote shows that his power has faded and there is nothing left. 
Shelly's view contrasts with Browning's view of power of humans in My Last Duchess. In My Last Duchess power of humans is showed by the Dukes possessiveness of his wife. Browning uses the personal pronoun "my" in the title to show that he has power and ownership over the Duchess. 
Even though both Ozymandias and the Duke start off with power, they both end up with nothing. The quote "The lone and level sands stretch far away" from Ozymandias shows that he is left with nothing but a broken statue. In My Last Duchess, all the Duke is left with is a painting of his wife, as he is now alone as a result of his need for control. 
The Dukes story is a subtle warning about how he expects his next wife to behave. The story of Ozymandias is a warning about how power never lasts. The last two lines "boundless and bare" and "lone and level sands" describe the huge and immortal desert to emphasise the insignificance of human power and pride]]> 2017-04-25 09:38:56 UTC https://padlet.com/kgriffiths6/poetry_rants/wish/168046475 https://padlet.com/kgriffiths6/poetry_rants/wish/168046750 Blake and Shelley both base their poems on the power of man, particularly mans impact on nature. 

Blake puts emphasis of the word 'charter'd' by repeating it twice. Charters were documents that stated ownership of land. 'charter'd street' represents wherever Blake travels all of London is owned by those in power. Although the people he see have nothing at all and are in complete poverty those in power own even the streets they live on, aswell as having all the luxuries they need. It presents unfairity and cruelty of man. Blake was a romantic poet meaning his poems were a direct criticism of the government and how the country is run. The poverty presented in 'London' exposes the distance between those in power and those who are suffering in London in the 18th century.
Similarly in Ozymandias a cruel dictator is presented who is deluded in their belief that their power is supreme and invincible. We can see once again those in power, mistreating those suffering 'The hand that mocked them' we can see Ozymandias is a cruel leader 'mocking' those below him, forcing them into poverty. Shelley was also a romantic poet and to criticise the king at the time, king george III, he used ozymandias as a metaphor. So we can see both poets criticising those in power.]]> 2017-04-25 09:40:16 UTC https://padlet.com/kgriffiths6/poetry_rants/wish/168046750 https://padlet.com/kgriffiths6/poetry_rants/wish/168046822 In 'My Last Duchess', structure has been used to present the Duke's memory of the Duchess. The poem is written in the form of a dramatic monologue of the Duke reflecting on his life with the Duchess and her alleged unfaithfulness. This theme of memory can be seen throughout the whole poem as Browning uses past tense such as 'she like whate'er she looked on, and her looks went everywhere'. This shows his memories of the Duchess and the form of a dramatic monologue along with the fact that poem is written in one long stanza only and is written with constant enjambment and caesura shows how this is a negative memory for the Duke and that he can not get over the lack of control that he had over the Duchess and the jealousy that he displayed. ]]> 2017-04-25 09:40:43 UTC https://padlet.com/kgriffiths6/poetry_rants/wish/168046822 https://padlet.com/kgriffiths6/poetry_rants/wish/168046835 In the poem "Emigree" by Carol Rumens, presents a woman who recalls her identity through the poem whereas in "Ozymandias", it presents an old ruler who has lost everything he once had power over.

In the poem "The Emigree" ,the writer shows the reveal of identity in first person. This allows the reader to be placed in the shoes of the character to get a better understanding of the story. 
In addition to this Rumen's had described her childhood "like a hollow doll" this shows that she had a very empty childhood and like in 'Ozymandias' she has used a lifeless object to symbolise her identity. ]]> 2017-04-25 09:40:46 UTC https://padlet.com/kgriffiths6/poetry_rants/wish/168046835 https://padlet.com/kgriffiths6/poetry_rants/wish/168046901 How is memory presented with My Last Duchess and Emigree?

"Looking as if she were alive". The narrator is talking in past tense, and similarly in Emigree, "I left as a child" is also in past tense and both poets are talking in past tense showing it is just a thing from their past.

"bright, filled paperweight." This metaphor suggests that the narrator's memories are bright and positive but also solid and fixed. However, in My Last Duchess, the Duke is still has memories of the Duchess he has supposedly murdered. This can be seen by the quote " That's my last Duchess painted on the wall."

The poets both reflect on their pasts, but in very different ways. The voice in 'My Last Duchess' looks at the negatives in his past, and how his late wife was almost a burden on him. Whereas, the writer for the Emigree looks at the good things about the country she came from.]]> 2017-04-25 09:41:13 UTC https://padlet.com/kgriffiths6/poetry_rants/wish/168046901 https://padlet.com/kgriffiths6/poetry_rants/wish/168046948 The Emigree is a poem about the narrator leaving her city in a country as a child and looking back upon the city when she's grown up in the city she's moved to. 
In Checking Out Me History the narrator is talking about how he wasn't able to learn about the history of his Caribbean heritage. He argues that the education system is biased towards the white history.

In the first stanza of The Emigree the speaker talks about how her city "may be sick with tyrants, but I am branded by an impression of sunlight". She describes how her city may be under attack but she still remembers it how it was and is "branded" by it. The fact she is "branded" means that her identity is permanently with her. The negative of "branded" and the positivity of the "impression of sunlight" imposes a juxta-position.

The final line of Checking Out Me History is a powerful emphatic word that links to the overall theme of identity. Agard is "carving out me identity". He wants to discover his heritage and by using this he will create his identity.  The fact that "identity" is the final word makes it stand out the most which further coincides with the theme of the poem.

The difference is that in the Emigree, the narrator already knows her heritage and identity of her home city. However, in Checking Out Me History Agard needs to discover his identity by researching his own heritage of Caribbean historical figures.]]> 2017-04-25 09:41:29 UTC https://padlet.com/kgriffiths6/poetry_rants/wish/168046948 https://padlet.com/kgriffiths6/poetry_rants/wish/168047005 In the poem the Emigree, Rumens explores the theme of identity in great detail. The title of the poem tells us that the poet is a female who is forced to leave her country due to political and social reasons. Also, the pronoun emigree gives the speaker an identity which has sprung from the word emmigration. Similarly in Checking Out Me History, the speaker feels that his personal identity has been shaped too much by British National Identity, shown by the semantic field of eurocentric language.]]> 2017-04-25 09:41:49 UTC https://padlet.com/kgriffiths6/poetry_rants/wish/168047005 https://padlet.com/kgriffiths6/poetry_rants/wish/168047317 Presented by Frankie Blincoe and Emily Homer.

In the poem My Last Duchess by Robert Browning the Duke is remembering the Duchess, and what caused her demise from a painting he keeps behind a curtain. In the poem The Emigree by Carol Rumens, the narrator recalls what caused her to leave her "sunlight" country. Despite leaving it "as a child", her memory of it is "sunlight clear". Not only does this create imagery but also shows that her memory is strong and positive for a city "sick with tyrants". In My Last Duchess, the form of a dramatic monologue and the structural device of enjambment to show his power in society (the listener is silent), and to create a story-telling effect, mirrored in the way he speaks. Browning opens by mentioning "looking as if she were alive", which is later explained by "then all smiles stopped together", reflecting how the Duke recalls his memory. ]]> 2017-04-25 09:43:45 UTC https://padlet.com/kgriffiths6/poetry_rants/wish/168047317 https://padlet.com/kgriffiths6/poetry_rants/wish/168047342 In both poems, the narrator's memory is triggered by a picture which reminds them of a  past experience. The themes for the memory both include anger. Anger is present throughout the whole of my last duchess however anger is only expressed in the latter stanza in war photographer. They both use enjambment which reflects the way their thoughts are being expressed]]> 2017-04-25 09:43:49 UTC https://padlet.com/kgriffiths6/poetry_rants/wish/168047342 https://padlet.com/kgriffiths6/poetry_rants/wish/168051496 2017-04-25 10:04:37 UTC https://padlet.com/kgriffiths6/poetry_rants/wish/168051496