English GCSE poetry anthology revision

External quotes:
Conflict: ‘Older men declare war. But it is the youth that must fight and die’ - Helber Hoover
Nature: ‘Mere goodness can achieve little against the power of nature’ - Georg Hegel
History: 'History is a set of lies agreed upon' — Napoleon Bonaparte

Ozymandias
Ozymandias is a sonnet, written by Shelley, which showcases the how the immense power of the king lasts over a long period of time, however it also conveys how power will fade and crumble over time.

In Ozymandias, the statement ‘My name is Ozymandias, king of kings: Look on my works, ye Mighty and despair!’ emphasises Ozymandias’ view of himself, painting his character as an overwhelming tyrant and suggests he is a strong sense of authority. Further supporting this, is the repetition of the first-person pronoun ‘My’, this creates an arrogant and boastful personality for the king who seems proud to display his name publicly. This implies that Ozymandias had many great feats, as in context this statue was built in ancient Egypt where the Paroah’s public works such as; buildings and statues were so great that other people would cower in fear. However, this is dramatic irony for the readers as now the ancient buildings of Egypt have turned into ruins and there is many mysteries surrounding it, meaning that his power has faded over time. Furthermore, the repetition of ‘King of kings’ creates a biblical allusion, which references God. As people who lived in ancient Egypt believed in many deities and Gods called ‘netjer’, however these Gods has a specific role unlike the monotheistic religions. They were neither all powerful nor all knowing, however as Ozymandias references the ‘King of Kings’ he is saying he is omnipotent much like religions such as Christianity believe in. Combined with the alliteration to create an intimidating tone, Ozymandias is suggesting that he rules over even that of powerful Gods as he has so much strength. By using the imperative sentence ‘Look on my works’ he is creating a commanding tone, seeming like he is threatening whoever sees the statues, even after he has perished. This is symbolic that his power lasts over a long period of time even when he is no longer physically intimidating, his past accomplishments and presence in the form of a statue scare people. Furthermore, by creating an exclamatory sentence it represents the importance and absolute pride Ozymandias has. He is not afraid of anyone who may challenge him, instead it makes it seem like he is shouting; he is the one inviting a challenge, even though it is just text on a pedestal. Supporting his overwhelming attitude is the use of ‘Mighty’, this exemplifies the hubris of a leader who believed his dominion would endure indefinitely, referring to all the other rulers to come after his reign. They should despair, because according to him, they can't surpass his glory and power. This depicts the desire of the King to erect a statue in order to immortalize himself

Continuing, In Ozymandias the use of the alliteration in ‘And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command’ powerfully conveys the character's disdainful and dismissive attitude. The repeated "c" sound underscores Ozymandias's cold and uncaring nature, emphasizing the harshness of his leadership. The phrase suggests Ozymandias viewed his subjects as mere tools for his self-aggrandizement, a sentiment that is ironically contrasted with his ultimate downfall and insignificance, symbolized by his broken statue in a desolate desert. Additionally, it creates a patronising tone by which he looks down on all around him, signifying his stern ego. By using the adjective ‘wrinkled’, the readers see how much of a bigot Ozymandias was. This is symbolic of all rulers in the past, where personal desires came before the needs of the people, as it was written in the 19th century it would have been highly impactful as many monarchies were still present. This represents how the King in this poem was selfish, and most likely wanted everyone to obey his orders. Furthermore, ‘wrinkled’ could also be referencing his age. As this statue was designated to him after his death, the wrinkles could refer to his old age just before death. This shows that although Ozymandias was of old age, he still had the strong authority present. Therefore, showing his immense power over others no matter of the time. The noun 'sneer' depicts the condescending, haughty and arrogant look on Ozymandias' face, he was a cruel and tyrannical ruler of a past civilization. Suggesting that although he had power during his life, once he died his power faded as no one respected him. Ozymandias is giving an authoritative or peremptory order, ‘command’ shows the ability to control others around him. Suggesting Egypt was great under his rule, however many people probably suffered from the consequesions of his actions.

Finally, the fact that stories over time are told is represented by ‘I met a traveller from an antique land’. It is the beginning of an extended metaphor used in the poem. The statue of Ozymandias metaphorically represents power, legacy, and command. It clarifies the meanings of the object and makes it clear that once the king was mighty and all-powerful, the fact that a traveller is spreading the story represents how power stays over time. Reinforcing this is the use of the first-person pronoun ‘I’, which shows the speaker of this poem is also telling another person this story. Suggesting that the tale of this King of Kings will continue to spread, showing is absolute power even after years of his rule. However, as the traveller comes from an “antique” land, it implies that his nation is ancient in the sense that it has a deep connection to the past, or perhaps even that its past outweighs its present. Symbolising deeply how it is no longer important, and the King’s rule did not make that significant of an impact in history, ultimately the fact that no matter the power, it will definitely fade over time. Furthermore, as the British Monarchy had so much importance at the time of writing Shelley begins by detaching himself from the story to immediately make a point that ‘this is not an open criticism to the British monarchy’, however it was a clearly thin veiled attack. This symbolises the importance of this poem to real life events, it represents that time will continue to move and no matter the importance of a figure to us now, that in the future their name will most likely disappear in history books.

War photographer

‘War Photographer’ is a narrative which shows the effects of war on a photographer and the de-sensitisation of such images through media exposure. Both of these represent the detrimental (steer word) of war while not being directly involved in the conflict.

Similarly, (steerword) is also presented in War Photographer through the metaphor ‘the blood stained into foreign dust’. Although this could be meant in a literal sense, as the extreme fighting causes an immense amount of blood to stain the enemies' land, it shows the undeniable fact that the war is so intense and brutal that blood is a common occurrence to spill everywhere. This represents the cruelty of conflict for all victims involved, the ones whose blood has shed, but also the ones who get to see that sight afterwards, referencing a war photographer in this case. The absolute bigotry of the leaders involved ignores the suffering of the people, just to become politically better. It references these leaders with blood on their hands, they are not innocent and should try to pacify conflicts when they can. However, the metaphorical bigger picture is that the memories and feelings associated with war will be forever imprinted onto this foreign land, the generational trauma does not dissapear and many soldiers will have shell shock and PTSD. Highlighting the emotional effect on each person involved in a war and the memories that will haunt. This further dehumanises each individual as not a person, but just a shadow of a pawn in war. What remains of them is blood stained onto the foreign land, as there is no physical reason for them to be needed anymore, reinforcing the idea that the government does not care about those lost or harmed in battle as long as it is beneficial to themselves in the long run. It is also implied that the Photographer is now forced to desensitise as a means to control the memories that plagues his mind, the taunting idea that no matter how much awareness he tries to spread with his photos, ultimately the people will not experience the first-hand trauma of seeing and being involved in that seen so they will continue blindly following the tryrants in charge and do not care. Furthermore, the enjambment in this shows the Photographer going through the process of casual flash backs, which shows the twisted reality of cruel human nature, that the Photographer will never be able to heal. By using the noun ‘dust’ it represents how ultimately the importance of this will fade, the people will end up forgetting the detrimental effects of this war and continue to do it in the future. The many people who end up dying in war, will not be remembered by the future as it keeps on moving forward, therefore signifying the futility of war.
The metaphor ‘All flesh is grass.’ in War photographer is a biblical allusion which is ironic as the bible heavily disapproves war and has a prominent pacifist stance which many of the victims and leaders would have said to believed in, however they did not follow this rule as their greed overpowered it, wanting to send others to war to fight for their country as long as it did not involve harming themself. Showing even if people believed in the concept of peace, the innate human hamartia is the desire for power; greed and specifically leaders who will not be involved in the conflict, do not care about the effects of war as long as it does not involve them. The semantic field of nature, ‘Grass’ creates a juxtaposition of natural against unnatural as there is an abnormal amount of death due to human conflict. It references flesh as grass, which is not only biologically incorrect but also an odd statement to say as humans have grown to not care about nature due to their ego that humans are supreme. Since these two objects are so different, it creates a symbolic theme that War does not have to follow any set rules, and it will not. Infact, by using two nouns which are natural it creates a whole new view for the Photographer on war, they have seen it so much that it is almost considered natural in modern society. Furthermore, grass is easily broken and destroyed, which can be viewed as humanity being reduced to something so fragile, which is helpless due to the immense hypocrisy of war. Literally, it also represents that there is so many bad effects of war, like death, that all the grass has been covered by flesh; dead bodies, blown up limbs and other injuries, flesh has literally decomposed into the ground. Biologically, although skin and grass are an object it is created up of many different cells. For example, grass is composed of many different plant cells symbolising that one person is just a cog in the grand scheme of war. They are just being used as chest pieces, and together many different victims such as; soldiers, mothers, war photographers make up the trauma of war. Furthermore, it can represent how although each person is very different we are all made up of the same components so we should not fight eachother and be treated differently.


Finally, in War photographer it states ‘the only light is red and softly glows’. The colour symbolism of red heavily implies connotations to blood, and therefore the suffering of victims involved in war, blood is ultimately the most seen thing by the War Photographer as they visited conflict sights. It can be seen all throughout war, as it is a biological human substance that we all have, due to the intense harm of war it would have been scattered around the sights. This can be seen the violent impact; however it shows The Photographer is used to this as he has seen so many examples of this extreme conflict. Contrastingly, the positive natured adverb ‘softly’ creates an image of care and peacefulness, which is the antithesis of war. This may suggest that although The Photographer is desensitised he still has care and emotions in his feelings, this is shown as an important role in the poem as the verb ‘glows’ means to be bright and prominent. Therefore, both poems present (steerword) in war as inhumane and brutal but still create a small sense of sympathy for those affected and a chance for hope in the future.

Exposure
Exposure is a monologue to focus on the power of the weather the World War 1 soldiers faced, furthermore implying the futility of war.

In Exposure the metaphor “Our brains ache, in the merciless iced east winds that knive us...” uses a harsh sibilant sentence to create a tone of being vulnerable and open,it represents the physical and emotional weakness of humans when faced against an immense power they cannot control; the weather. It constast normal human expectations where our innate argoence makes us believe we have absolute authority and tyrancy of the world. However, through weather we see the absolute authority it has over humans and how it is more dangerous than it inherently seems. It focuses on the misery felt by World War One soldiers waiting overnight in the trenches. Although nothing is happening and there is no fighting, there is still danger because they are exposed to the extreme cold and their wait through the night is terrifying. Throughout the sentence there is also an onomatopoeic tone, representing the hyperbole of the semantic field of nature portrayed in Exposure. Furthermore, it represents the memories of soldiers collectively; by using the pronoun ‘our’, this creates a sense of overwhelming dread amongst the population much like those all soldiers would have faced. Showing that everybody faces suffering in times of war, however they can be from different views and different experiences. It suggests we need a community to rely on, however the cruel reality sometimes does not allow the innate human need to bond exist. ‘Merciless’ is personified to show how the weather has an emotional advantage over humans as well, as it does not have feelings. It does not care how humans may be affected, much like how the hypocritical upper class in war do not care either. It is used to show that soldiers can have neither humans nor weather on their side, as they have only themselves to rely on and neither can be trusted. Furthermore, by saying ‘our brains ache’ it implies that the memories of death and suffering plague their brain and cause them to face immense fatigue and pain. Showing the detrimental effects on humans in war, it damages them emotionally and physically, causing mental health issues such as PTSD and Shell shock. Exposing the harsh reality that soldiers in conflict must deal with, representing the futility of war as it helps no one.

Furthermore, The metaphor ‘air that shudders black with snow’ is the antithesis of the natural state. By using the personification of air, it shows that something that is inanimate still feels the cold as the weather is so extreme. Encouraging people who have not faced these circumstances to feel empathy and recognise how impactful nature can be to humans. The colour symbolism ‘black’ shows the uncleanliness of nature in war, which is dirty with death caused by humans. This references all the blood shed on the battlefield, it is so common that blood scatters around all the land, symbolically it may also reference the greed of those in power. The cause of conflict is leaders of countries, who are overcome with their own greed and do not care about the suffering of their own people. Showing their inconsiderate actions for personal gains, the battle feild is tainted with the influence of awful people. Furthermore, ‘shudders’, represents how death through unnatural causes should not exist in the world. It is an unethical decision to destroy the life of individuals in a form of fighting, implying that the power of nature should not be due to humans but due to natural causes. Straight after is the alliteration ‘flowing flakes that flock’, this shows the intense fast pace of war which is then suddenly stopped by a comma. Representing the uncontrollable emotions of humans in war, which creates an internal conflict of loyalty, showing the futility of war.

In Exposure the sibilance of “Sudden successive flights of bullets streak the silence” creates a harsh undertone of violence, which creates a cyclic cycle of miserableness. The sibilant consonants mirror the sound of gunfire which shows the reader that the snow is the real threat as snowflakes slice through the air in the same way as bullets. Furthermore, it shows the intense threatening nature of conflict. As it states ‘streak the silence’ it suggests that after the sound of gunfire, it goes silent. The unerving silence is perhaphs more torturus than the sound of gunfire, as the anticipation of impending comabt is more frightening than the actual combat. This idea is reinforced by the refrain of ‘But nothing happens’ and the apparently ironic ‘worried by silence’, This correlates as it is created by humans which disrupts the natural essence of silence the peaceful environment usually has. This shows that although nature has power against humans, it is not an omnipotent figure and can also be hurt by humans likewise. However, this is an unnatural and unnecessary action for humans to be committing, which further shows the want revenge against an unknowledgeable element. Showing that humans wish to harm the unknown, just out of curiosity. That they are willing to harm others for this, further showing the stupidity of war.