Summary
Summary AQA Power and Conflict Poetry Revision Notes
I picked three quotes from each poem and explained and analysed them in detail. I got a 9 in GCSE English Literature using these notes only for poetry.
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Power and Conflict Poetry RevisionOzymandias
“A shattered visage lies”
Shows that there is absolutely nothing left of Ozymandias – he has no legacy
like he imagined he would.
‘Shattered’ - Could mean on both the outside and the inside
‘Visage’ - Ambiguous because the visage could mean the face of the statue or a
metaphor for the appearance/reputation of those in charge
“My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings”
Boastful and vain
Could come across as irony, as maybe he is saying this to convince himself – no
one else really believes him.
He believed he was higher than kings
Also believed he was as high as God, as ‘King of Kings’ is a biblical reference.
“Sands stretch far away”
Power of man vs nature: Shows how the power of man is ultimately worthless
and can quickly deteriorate, compared to the power of nature which is
everlasting.
Sibilance used could suggest hissing or mocking laughter – maybe Ozymandias
was presenting himself as powerful just to convince himself, that other people
never thought that. He could have built that statue based on what he desired
to be like, not who he actually was.
Mocking/hissing could also suggest that he might used to have been powerful
and feared, but now people just pity him instead.
There is only sand now on what used to be a huge empire.
, London
“Near where the chartered Thames does flow”
Chartered - Critiquing how everything is run by the government (all privileged
people) and how the people who live in London have no control.
Could be ironic because the Thames is a river and usually rivers are things that
aren't controlled, but now everything is controlled by the government, even
the Thames.
This exaggerates just how bad the problem is.
“In every infant’s cry of fear”
Children crying is use of emotive language to let people know how bad the
situation is.
Suggesting that these children are having to grow up in conditions that aren't
getting any better, suggesting that London will be like this for a long time in the
future.
Every black’ning church appalls”
Shows that even the church – which is meant to be one of the purest places –
is corrupt too.
This could be because the poet – William Blake - was famously critical of
religion so he would look to blame the church for any bad situation that
occurred.
Blake also critiques marriage later on in the poem, which could be because it’s
a religious concept as well.
Believes that innocent, poorer people in London are being exploited by the
church and the government.
, The Prelude
Enjambment leading up to the volta in the poem
This could show how scared the speaker is of nature, emphasising its great
power (power of man vs nature)
Shows how powerless he is once he sees the mountains etc of nature
He could be in awe of nature as it is something he perhaps hasn’t experienced
before so his words just spill out and he can't stop talking about it.
“A huge peak, black and huge”
Volta in the poem, shows how nature has changed from a thing of beauty and
awe to a thing of power and fear.
Repetition of the adjective huge could show that the speaker is so overcome
by nature that he can't think of the words to describe it properly.
Black gives connotations of darkness, fear and the unknown.
“No familiar shapes remained, no pleasant images of trees”
Even though the speaker is back home now, what he has seen/experienced has
changed him, so he doesn’t see life in the same way.
Nature can’t comfort him anymore like it seems to do at the beginning of the
poem, as again, he has changed.
His outlook on all of life has been changed for the worse just from one event.
Again emphasises the power of nature vs the power of man.
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