The Lost Woman

by Patricia Beer
My mother went with no more warning  (a)

than a bright voice and a bad pain. (b)

Home from school on a June morning  (a)

And where the brook goes under the lane (b)

I saw the back of a shocking white  (c)

Ambulance drawing away from the gate. (d)

She never returned and I never saw (e)

Her buried. So a romance began. (f)

The ivy-mother turned into a tree (g)

That still hops away like a rainbow down (h)

The avenue as I approach. (i)

My tendrils are the ones that clutch. (j)

I made a life for her over the years. (k)

Frustrated no more by a dull marriage (l)

She ran a canteen through several wars. (m)

The wit of a cliché-ridden village (l)

She met her match at an extra-mural (n)

Class and the OU22 summer school. (o)

Many a hero in his time (p)

And every poet has acquired (q)

A lost woman to haunt the home, (r)

To be compensated and desired, (q)

Who will not alter, who will not grow, (s)

A corpse they need never get to know. (s)

She is nearly always benign. Her habit (t)

Is not to stride at dead of night. (u)

Soft and crepuscular in rabbit- (t)

Light she comes out. Hear how they hate (d)

Themselves for losing her as they did. (v)

Her country is bland and she does not chide. (w)

But my lost woman evermore snaps (x)

From somewhere else: ‘You did not love me. (y)

I sacrificed too much perhaps, (x)

I showed you the way to rise above me (y)

And you took it. You are the ghost (z)

With the bat-voice, my dear. I am not lost.’ (z)

  Format: 6 stanzas with 6 lines each
language: -emotive language used
                 -high order vocabulary with simple meanings
Imagery: - similes
                 -personification
                 - sensory language
                 - exaggeration
Rhetorical Devices: -metaphor
                                  -Anaphora
                                  -hyperbole
                                  -Rhyme Scheme
Theme: - it focuses on the relationship of a mother and daughter which isn't in good terms. Each stanza focuses on different aspect of the daughter and her ignorance.

Biographical: Patricia Beer was born into a Plymouth Brethren family in Exeter and the influence of that religious training became one of the forces that shaped her poetry. Devon and its beautiful countryside were other factors of influence. Other significant influences were the passing of time and the workings of good and evil. Though Patricia Beer moved away from the religious teachings of her childhood, they remained a dominant influence in her life.

Literary:  the form of this poem is six stanzas of six lines following the same neat and regular rhyme scheme. The rhyme scheme is like a dance of separation and reunion.

The overall impression of this formal design is of control and balance. 

Tension is also evident in the tone and language. At first Beer’s language is ordinary and understated: ‘My mother went’ is a seemingly rather cold way of saying ‘my mother died’. The poem’s title also suggests emotional detachment and distance, depicting the tragic experience. 

Passion

by Kathleen Raine

Full of desire I lay, the sky wounding me,

Each cloud a ship without me sailing, each tree
Possessing what my soul lacked, tranquility.

Waiting for the longed-for voice to speak

Through the mute telephone, my body grew weak
With the well-known and mortal death, heartbreak.

The language I knew best, my human speech

Forsook my fingers, and out of reach
Were Homer’s ghosts, the savage conches of the beach.

Then the sky spoke to me in language clear,

Familiar as the heart, than love more near.
The sky said to my soul, ‘You have what you desire.

‘Know now that you are born along with these

Clouds, winds, and stars, and ever-moving seas
And forest dwellers. This your nature is.

Lift up your heart again without fear,

Sleep in the tomb, or breathe the living air,
This world you with the flower and with the tiger share.’

Then I saw every visible substance turn

Into immortal, every cell new born
Burned with the holy fire of passion.

This world I saw as on her judgment day

When the war ends, and the sky rolls away,

And all is light, love and eternity.

Rhyme scheme: a,a,b,c,c,d,e,e,e,f,f,g,h,h,i,j,k,k,l,l,m,n,n,o

Format: each stanza has 3 lines; mostly the first two lines have rhyme scheme. 

Language: comparison is used along with some higher order vocabulary but, the meaning is quite clear. The writer has tried to keep the poem straightforward yet it has a deep meaning to it. The verses are short which helps convey the meaning faster.

Imagery: -personification 

               - Comparison and contrast 

Rhetorical devices: -rhyme Scheme

                                 -hyperbole

                                 -strong verbs 

Theme: contrast between the start and end is clear because, it starts with a negative note but ends in a very positive way. It is visible that the speaker is under depression and referring to the second stanza the speaker has been through a heartbreak. The poem shows a journey from pessimism to optimism.  

Biographical: Kathleen Raine ( 14 June 1908- 6 July 2003) was a British poet and critic, who studied at Griton College. She was known for her interests in various forms of spirituality. Some of her renowned works include - passion, stone and flower, living with mystery.

Song

by Lady Mary Wroth (1587-1653?)

Love a child is ever crying;
       Please him, and he straight is flying;
       Give him he the more is craving,
       Never satisfied with having.

His desires have no measure;
       Endless folly is his treasure;
       What he promiseth he breaketh.
       Trust not one word that he speaketh.

He vows nothing but false matter,
       And to cozen  you he’ll flatter.
       Let him gain the hand, he’ll leave you,
       And still glory to deceive you.

He will triumph in your wailing,
       And yet cause be he of your failing.
       These his virtues are, and slighter
       Are his gifts, his favours lighter.

Feathers are as firm in staying ,
      Wolves no fiercer in their preying.
      As a child then leave him crying,
      Nor seek him so given to flying. 

Format: each stanza has 4 lines and the last words of every 2 lines rhyme; Most of the rhymed words have 2 syllables. Each line has a pause at the end which catches the readers attention.
Language: heavily rhymed lines, words and phrases with hidden meanings.
Imagery: personification to describe love as a child.
Rhetorical devices: rhyme scheme
                                   hyperbole.
Theme: love is described as a child who is willing to care only out of need and selfishness. It shows how love can ruin a persons life if not pleased. 

Biographical: Lady Mary Wroth was born Mary Sidney, on October 18, 1587, into a family connected to the royal courts of Elizabeth I and James I. She was the daughter of Sir Robert Sidney, later Earl of Leicester, and Lady Barbara Gamage. She is best known as the first English woman to write a full-length prose romance and a sonnet sequence, departing from traditional "women's" genres such as epitaph and translation. Her work helped to open up the English literary world to women, and allowed female writers to move beyond pious subject matter.

Historical: Wroth spent much of her childhood at the home of Mary Sidney, and Penshurst Place,

Baynard’s Castle in London. Penshurts place was one of the great country houses in the Elizabethan and Jacobean period. It was a center of literary and cultural activity and its gracious hospitality is praised in Ben Jonsons's famous poem To Penshurst. During a time when most women were illiterate, Wroth had the privilege of a formal education, which was obtained from household tutors under the guidance of her mother. With her family connections, a career at court was all but inevitable. Wroth danced before Queen Elizabeth on a visit to Penshurst and again in court in 1602. Roth's rough relationship with her husband highly influenced her style of writing along with the, type of mentality people had during the Elizabethan period.   

The Clod and the Pebble
by William Blake

"Love seeketh not itself to please,
Nor for itself hath any care,
But for another gives its ease,
And builds a heaven in hell's despair."

So sung a little Clod of Clay,
Trodden with the cattle's feet,
But a Pebble of the brook
Warbled out these metres meet:

"Love seeketh only Self to please,
To bind another to its delight,
Joys in another's loss of ease,
And builds a hell in heaven's despite."

Rhyme scheme: a,b,a,b,c,d,e,d,f,g,f,g
Format: each stanza has 4 lines.
Language: olden English has been used for eg: seeketh, hath, etc.
The poem has been written in a way in which the meaning is hidden between the lines; the clod and pebble are brought to life using personification.
Imagery:personification
Rhetorical devices: -rhyme scheme 

                                 -hyperbole.
Theme: the poem portrays two aspects; the clod of clay shows how love is selfless " love seeketh not itself to please". The second and third stanza describe how love is selfish " love seeketh only self to please" 

Biographical: William Blake (November 28 1757-August 12 1827) was born in London, England, UK. He is a 19th century writer who is regarded as a seminal figure of the romantic age. Despite the lack of opportunities and appreciation, Blake  didn't ignore his passion for writing which began at the age of 10. His first vision was a tree full of angels which inspired him to further write more pieces.

Historical: Blake was influenced by the ideals and ambitions of the French and the American Revolution. He was also influenced by thinkers in the 19th century like Emanuel Swedenborg however, these influences didn't define his style or talent of writing. 

Literary: writers with a similar writing style include Samuel Taylor Coleridge and T.S Eliot. 

Love (III)
by George Herbert

Love bade me welcome: yet my soul drew back,
Guilty of dust and sin.
But quick-eyed Love, observing me grow slack
From my first entrance in,
Drew nearer to me, sweetly questioning,
If I lacked anything.

A guest, I answered, worthy to be here:
Love said, You shall be he.
I the unkind, ungrateful? Ah my dear,
I cannot look on thee.
Love took my hand, and smiling did reply,
Who made the eyes but I?

Truth Lord, but I have marred them: let my shame
Go where it doth deserve.
And know you not, says Love, who bore the blame?
My dear, then I will serve.
You must sit down, says Love, and taste my meat:
So I did sit and eat.

FINIS.

Glory be to God on high, and on earth

 peace, good will towards men. 

Rhyme scheme: a,b,a,b,c,c,d,e,d,e,f,f,g,h,g,h,i,i
Format: Love (III) is a brief poem of three six line stanzas. Includes a series of rhyme scheme.
Language features: -Verbs in past tense used
                                   - rhyme scheme.
Imagery: Personification used in phrases for eg: "quick eyed love". It is written in a dialogue type of format which allows the reader to relate and understand the poem better.
Rhetorical devices: Hyperbole
Theme: this poem is structured as a sequence that the fluctuations of religious experience as a person strives to lead a faithful life. This poem depicts a meeting between a worshipper and God, it shows how the relationship is more than just a stern judgement. 

Biographical : George Herbert ( 3 April 1593- 1 March 1633) was a welsh born English poet, orator and angelic priest. Herberts poetry is associated with the writings of the metaphysical poets, and he is recognized as a " pivotal figure: enormously popular, deeply and broadly influential, and arguably the most skillful and important British devotional lyricist." Herbert was a very religious man which shaped his work and actions. 

Historical: Herbert wrote during the Caroline age when being religious was very common and highly respected. Shortly after Herberts death England fell into a period of relative turmoil and experienced a waning of faith. During that time period, and following, Herbert was looked to as an example of a successful life of quite devotion. 

Literary: Herberts writings are often associated with the metaphysical poets.  

For My Grandmother Knitting
by Liz Lochhead

There is no need they say
but the needles still move
their rhythms in the working of your hands
as easily
as if your hands
were once again those sure and skilful hands
of the fisher-girl.

You are old now
and your grasp of things is not so good
but master of your moments then
deft and swift
you slit the still-ticking quick silver fish.
Hard work it was too
of necessity.

But now they say there is no need
as the needles move
in the working of your hands
once the hands of the bride
with the hand-span waist
once the hands of the miner’s wife
who scrubbed his back
in a tin bath by the coal fire

once the hands of the mother

of six who made do and mended 

scraped and slaved slapped sometimes 

when necessary.

But now they say there is no need 

the kids they say grandma
have too much already
more than they can wear

too many scarves and cardigans – 

gran you do too much
there’s no necessity.

At your window you wave
them goodbye Sunday.
With your painful hands
big on shrunken wrists. 

Swollen-jointed. Red. Arthritic. Old. 

But the needles still move

their rhythms in the working of your hands 

easily
as if your hands remembered
of their own accord the patter

as if your hands had forgotten 

how to stop. 

- There is no rhyme scheme

Format: lines are written in an irregular pattern,  some which are incomplete and continued to the next line. 

Language: -emotive words 

                   -Strong adjectives 

                   -Alliteration 

Imagery: simple language which allows reader to easily imagine the scenario. 

Theme: the poem focuses on the life of a grandmother and her caring nature. It talks about how she knits for her children then her grandchildren and how this skill of hers is everlasting. It allows the reader to consider the way elderly are treated and how the process of aging changes our perception of individuals.

Biographical: Elizabeth Anne Lochhead was born in Motherwell, lanarkshire on 26th December 1947. Both her parents had served in the world war; her father was local government clerk, she wrote her first poem "the visit" after she entered the Glasgow school of art in 1965 and attended an informal creative writing group there run by Stephen Mulrine.  During the 1970's Lochhead was a member of the prestigious writers group initiated by Philip Hobsbaum and which included the new talents of   Alasdair Gray, Tom Leonard and James Kelman. 

Historical: the time at which Lochhead wrote in the 1980's was an immensely productive decade in both work for the theatre and poetry. Due to the circumstances during her childhood Lochhead's writing is heavily influenced by the world war. 

lion heart

by Amanda Chong

You came out of the sea,
skin dappled scales of sunlight;
Riding crests, waves of fish in your fists.

 Washed up, your gills snapped shut.
Water whipped the first breath of your lungs, 

Your lips’ bud teased by morning mists.

You conquered the shore, its ivory coast.
Your legs still rocked with the memory of waves. 

Sinews of sand ran across your back—
Rising runes of your oceanic origins.
Your heart thumped— an animal skin drum

 heralding the coming of a prince.

In the jungle, amid rasping branches,
trees loosened their shadows to shroud you. 

The prince beheld you then, a golden sheen.

 Your eyes, two flickers; emerald blaze
You settled back on fluent haunches;
The squall of a beast, your roar, your call.

In crackling boats, seeds arrived wind-blown, 

You summoned their colours to the palm
of your hand, folded them snugly into loam, 

watched saplings swaddled in green,

as they sunk roots, spawned shade,
and embraced the land that embraced them. 

Format: 4 stanzas with 6 lines each. No specific rhyme scheme.
Language: mysterious language used with strong adjectives.
Imagery: vivid descriptions along with strong adjectives allows the reader the create an image of he scene.
Rhetorical devices: metaphors
Theme: patriotic poem about Singapore which uses the Merlion to symbolize the majesty and pride of Singapore as a nation; it is written to instill pride in its citizens. 

Biographical: Amanda Chong is a Singaporean writer who has reached success at a young age of 11 years old. Amanda Chong, a President’s Scholar joined Creative Horizons in Primary 3.  At 10, she became a published writer and went on to win the Commonwealth Essay Competition at 15, with her winning entry ‘ What the Modern Woman Wants’, that focused on the generational conflict of values between an old lady and her independent daughter. Her other accomplishments include the Foyle Young Poet’s Award in 2005, and the Angus Ross Prize in 2007, awarded to the top A Level literature student outside UK. Amanda went on to pursue her interest, reading Law at the University of Cambridge and completing her Masters at Harvard Law School. She remains connected to Creative Horizons and has been on our Paper Planes panel of judges in 2008, 2009 and 2012.

Historical: she is a modern time writer. 

Literary : she has a unique writing style which strongly depicts her love for her country. 

Tiger in the Menagerie

by Emma Jones

No one could say how the tiger got into the menagerie. 

It was too flash, too blue,
too much like the painting of a tiger.

At night the bars of the cage and the stripes of the tiger
looked into each other so long 5 

that when it was time for those eyes to rock shut

the bars were the lashes of the stripes 

the stripes were the lashes of the bars

and they walked together in their dreams so long
through the long colonnade 10

that shed its fretwork to the Indian main 

that when the sun rose they’d gone and the tiger was 

one clear orange eye that walked into the menagerie.

No one could say how the tiger got out in the menagerie.
It was too bright, too bare. 15

If the menagerie could, it would say ‘tiger’.

If the aviary could, it would lock its door.
Its heart began to beat in rows of rising birds

when the tiger came inside to wait. 

-No rhyme scheme 

Format: stanzas of 2 and 3 lines. It has no specific rhyme scheme.

language: diverse interpretations can be made by the way this poem is written.
Imagery: simple language which can be understood easily. imagery and robust metaphors used in the line 
"the bars were the lashes of the stripes 

the stripes were the lashes of the bars"

Rhetorical Devices: metaphors
Theme: No can be sure of how or when but the tiger had got into the menagerie. It was almost like a painting of the tiger moved inside in a flash. The bars of the cage and the stripes on the tiger were subjected to each other for so long that they seemed to have merged at night. Then the morning sun rose, “they” had disappeared & only the orange blazing eye of the tiger remained. Then the tiger got into the menagerie, the animals would have cried out “tiger” if they had the power of speech. The birds in the aviary would have barricaded themselves inside if that had been possible. But as it is they flew up to be out of the tiger’s reach.

Biographical:

 Emma Jones, or Emma Scully Jones (born 1979) is an Australian poet. Her first poetry collection, The Striped World, was published by Faber & Faber in 2009. Jones was raised in Concord, New South Wales, a suburb of Sydney. Her father is Australian; her British mother had emigrated to Australia. She studied at MLC School (in Burwood, Sydney), then worked and travelled abroad, returning to Australia to study English at the University of Sydney, where she graduated with the University Medal in 2001. Jones entered the University of Cambridge in 2002, and received a PhD in English Literature from Trinity College, Cambridge.