AQA GCSE English Literature - detailed notes and analysis for all 15 Power & Conflict poems.
Includes context information and at least 5 quotes for each poem with analysis of form, structure and language.
Also included is a link to digital flashcards with spaced repetition for 6 of the poems (Exp...
Context:
● Romantic poet
● Lived in the Lake District
Opening:
● ‘One summer evening (led by her)’
● Personification of nature as a powerful, guiding force
● Story-like opening
Form and structure:
● First person narrative
○ Offers a emotive and personal response
○ Describes a pivotal moment in the poet’s life
● Blank verse
○ Recreates the rhythm of natural speech
○ Creates a conversational tone
Language:
● Contrasting imagery
○ ‘troubled pleasure’
○ ‘heaving through the water like a swan’
○ ‘sparkling light … darkness’
○ Highlights the strong conflicting emotions of the poet
● Repetition
○ ‘huge peak, black and huge … huge and mighty forms’
○ Stresses the overwhelming scale of the mountain and associated sublime
power of nature
● Extended personification
○ ‘the voice of mountain echoes’
○ ‘Upreared its head’
○ ‘like a living thing / Strode after me’
○ Emphasises the monstrous appearance of the mountain
○ May be symbolically linked to the poet’s guilt
Ending:
● ‘a trouble to my dreams’
● Portrays the long-lasting effects of the memory
● Difficulty comprehending what has happened
My Last Duchess
Context:
● Patriarchal Victorian society where female shows of sexuality were considered
inappropriate and women were often married for political or financial gain
● Inspired by the Duke of Ferrara whose wife died in suspicious circumstances
, Opening:
● ‘That’s my last Duchess painted on the wall’
● Possessive pronoun ‘my’ is suggestive of the duke’s power over his wife
● Adjective ‘last’ implies that wives are indispensable to him
Form and structure:
● Dramatic monologue
○ Implied conversation with the count’s ambassador
○ One-side nature stresses the duke’s position of power
● Rhyme scheme and rhythm
○ Controlled rhyme scheme and iambic pentameter maintains momentum of
monologue
○ Could mirror the duke’s dominant power and controlling nature
Language:
● Tone
○ ‘I gave commands … all smiles stopped’
○ Cold, calculating tone
○ Implies that he ordered the duchess’ execution
○ Adds to the sense of his ruthless command
● Symbolism
○ ‘None puts by the curtain … but I’
○ Symbolises patriarchal control over women
○ Represents the duke’s absolute power and continuing
● Repetition
○ ‘stoop’
○ The duke would not discuss her behaviour with her as it would lower his
status
○ Emphasises the inflexibility of his power
Ending:
● ‘Notice Neptune, though / Taming a sea-horse’
● Abrupt conversational shift
● Metaphor mirrors how he imagines himself ‘taming’ his wife
● Reinforces the idea of the objectification of women
The Charge of the Light Brigade
Context:
● British troops were ordered to charge into the valley during the Battle of Balaclava
surrounding by enemy cannons, armed with only sabres
● Tennyson was Poet Laureate so responsible for recording events of national
significance
Opening:
● ‘Half a league, half a league / Half a league onward’
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