AQA Power and Conflict poems to compare to eachother

•

Phonetic spelling – “dem” shows Agard refuses to conform to the rules of the English language- forces the reader to acknowledge Agard’s own identity. Going against the Eurocentric view that was imposed on him in Guyana

•

Lack of punctuation – punctuation is a restriction as we are told we must use it. Agard is refusing to accept the restrictions forced on him by the English language. It would restrict his identity and take away the musicality of the poem

•

Play on words – “Appal” means to go pale with fear but the churches are going black with soot juxtaposes the two – both shouldn’t be able to exist together if the church was doing their job properly poverty wouldn’t exist. Perhaps Blake is implying that the church exploit those who are less fortunate (liked bible but not organised religion)

•

Metaphor – “Hapless soldier’s sigh/ Runs in blood down palace walls” – the unhappiness of the British soldiers’ could lead to something like the French Revolution possibly implying an uprising should happen against those in power

•

Metaphor – “Bandage up me eye” – metaphors of vision and blindness which is ironic as bandages are used in aid in healing but in this case its used to hide history. Those who wrap the bandages shape our individual identities and understating of ourselves coupled with BROKEN SYNTAX – draws attention to this point

•

Italicisation – of Black history makes them stand out - no rhyme scheme shows no one controls them or their history – suggests that black historical figures are more important than non-fictional white figures which would be contradictory as that was what the British did

•

Alternatively he uses enjambment continuously to show his uncontrollable emotion and to force the reader to combine the historical figures as history should have done

•

Iambic tetrameter – repetitive inescapable life people in London have

•

Cyclical Structure – “marriage hearse” it’s like the cycle of life it repeats and is cyclical

•

Agard’s poem ends with the narrator ‘carving me own identity’ whereas London accepts that it is cyclical and apart of life which is inescapable which is why Blake left London in later life