1. Poetry – Relationships cluster summary
Poem Summary Themes Feelings Links to… Key quotes
‘The - The narrator is the wife of a Pain and Caring ‘Nettles’ - the -‘the parachute silk of his punctured lung’
Manhunt’ by soldier who has come home from suffering Patience suffering of a - ‘I picture the scan,/the foetus of metal’
Simon war with serous gun shot Time (the Pain loved one - ‘ a sweating unexploded mine/buried deep
Armitage wounds. father will in his mind’
- It is more difficult to see and not be able - ‘I come close’
understand his mental scars and to protect ‘Praise Song’ –
the problems these cause. his son as he relationship
grows up) between parent
and child
‘Hour’ by - Describes and hour spent between - Love against - cherishing - ‘To His Coy - ‘Love’s time’s beggar’
Carol Ann the narrator and her lover time the moment Mistress’ – time as
Duffy - The poet personifies time as love’s - Fairy tale - strong the enemy of love - ‘For thousands of seconds, we kiss’
enemy love does not belief in love
- Love almost manages to make time last - Physical -‘Sonnet 116’ – time -‘Now. Time hates love,’
stand still pleasure and love,
personification -‘Love spins gold, gold, gold from straw’
‘In Paris with -The narrator is upset about love – -Negative -Self pity -‘To His Coy -‘I get tearful when I’ve downed a drink or two’
You’ by James he’s split up with someone and sees emotions Mistress’ – narrator
Fenton himself as a victim -Bitterness as seducer; humour -‘I’m a hostage’
-He’s gone to Paris with someone -Hurt
else, but still seems unhappy -humour -‘Sister Maude’ – -‘Don’t talk to me of love’
- He doesn’t want to go out in the anger
city – he’d rather stay in the hotel -lust -‘all points south’
room -‘Quickdraw’ – being
hurt by someone
‘Quickdraw’ -The poem compares phone calls -Attitudes -Hurt -‘The Farmer’s Bride’ -‘like guns, slung from the pockets of my hips’
by Carol Ann and texts in a relationship to a gun towards love and ‘In Paris with
Duffy fight in a western movie -Expectation You’ – hurt from love -‘your voice a pellet/in my ear’
-The narrator always seems to come -hurt
off worst, and is left hurt -Tension -‘The Manhunt’ - -‘the silver bullets of your kiss’
-What ‘finishes her off’ isn’t cruelty, communication
but text message kisses, which hit -‘high noon, calamity, hard liquor/In the old Last
her like bullets Chance saloon’
2. ‘Ghazal’ by -The narrator is talking about intense -Attitudes -Intense love ‘The Farmer’s Bride’ ‘iron fist in the velvet glove’
Mimi Khalvati feeling of love towards love -playfulness and ‘Nettles’ and
-In each stanza, she creates a new -Lust -Pleasure ‘Hour’ – natural -‘charmer, use your charm, weave a spell and
message to portray love through -Love poetry imagery subdue me’
imagery (the ghazal
structure) -‘To His Coy -‘don’t hand/on my lips’
Mistress’ and ‘Hour’
-lust -‘I’ll be twice the me’
‘Brothers’ by -The narrator remembers a moment -Family -Frustration -‘Nettles’ – reflecting ‘Saddled with you’
Andrew from childhood when he and his relationships on a childhood
Forster older brother had to look after their -Guilt incident as an adult -‘spouting six-year old views’
younger brother -Sibling
-They are fed up with him, but relationships -Freedom -‘Sister Maude’ – an -‘we must stroll’
excited to be out on their own unhappy event in a
-They send their younger brother -regret sibling relationship -‘unable to close the distance’
home to get the bus fare, then run
off, leaving him behind
‘Praise Song -The mum in the poet was the whole -Parental love -Gratitude -‘Nettles’ – parent -‘You were water to me’
for my world to her child child relationships
Mother’ by -The narrator compares her mum to -Being -Joy -‘deep and bold and fathoming’
Grace Nichols water and food – vital for life prepared for -‘Ghazal’ – natural
-Also compares her mum to moon life -Prase imagery -‘replenishing replenishing’
and the sun (both masculine and
feminine role in her life) -‘Go to your wide futures’
‘Sonnet 116’ -Shakespeare is writing about how -Attitudes -Devotion -‘To His Coy ‘Time’s fool’
by William constant true love is towards love Mistress’ – the
Shakespeare -True love doesn’t change when -Constancy effects of ageing on -‘edge of doom’
circumstances change -True love is love
-‘He says that if what he says isn’t not fickle and -True love -‘it is the star to every wand’ring bark’
true, then he never wrote anything does not -‘The Manhunt’ –
and nobody has ever been in love. change over constancy and true -‘Admit impediments’
Since we know he did write and time love
people have loved, he’s saying his
words are true.
‘To His Coy -The narrator is telling the woman -The passage -Impatience -‘Sonnet 116’ – the
Mistress’ by that he loves that she shouldn’t play of time effects of time and - ‘Deserts of vast eternity’
Andrew hard to get – there isn’t time -Urgency death
3. Marvell -The poem is structured into a three -Seduction - ‘My vegetable love should grow’
part argument - the first part -Reluctance -‘Hour’and ‘In Paris
explaining how much he would -Death with You’ – lust and - ‘A grave’s a fine and pleasant place’
worship her and what they would do physical love
together if there was time -Physical - ‘Now’
-the second part describes how desire
there is not time and shows what - ‘like amorous birds of prey’
will happen when they grow old
-the third part declares that they
must live for the moment , make the
most of their youth
‘The Farmer’s -The farmer has been married for 3 -Unhappy love -Frustration -‘Hour’ and ‘In Paris -‘Shy as a leveret, swift as he’
Bride’ by years, but his bride is still frightened with You’ – love seen
Charlotte of him -Desire as an intense -‘Straight and slight as a young larch tree’
Mew -He tells the story of how the experience
relationship went wrong -Fear -‘poor maid’
-He finds her rejection almost -‘To His Coy
unbearable. By the end he seems to Mistress’ – -‘her hair, her hair’
be struggling to resist taking her by frustrated narrator
force
‘Sister Maude’ -The poem’s narrator has kept her -Intense -Betrayal -‘Sonnet 116’ – -‘comeliest corpse’
by Christina boyfriend a secret from her parents emotions intense feelings
Rossetti – but her sister has told them about -Jealousy -‘Cold he lies, as cold as stone/ With his clotted
him -Family -‘Brothers’ – family curls’
-The narrator is angry with her sister relationships -Anger relationships
for this and her boyfriend’s death -‘shall get no sleep/ Either early or late’
-The narrator is also jealous that her -Sibling
boyfriend may have desired her relationships -‘Bide you with death and sin’
sister
‘Nettles’ by -The narrator’s son has fallen in a -Feelings -Anger -‘Born Yesterday’ – -‘regiment of spite’
Vernon bed of nettles and is badly stung about loved the hopes and fears
Scannell -His father comforts him, then cuts ones -Revenge that adults have for -‘those green spears’
down the nettles. However, they children
grow back two weeks later -Family -Tenderness -‘blisters beaded’
-The story shows how parents can’t relationships -‘Sister Maude’ –
always protect their children from - anger; family -‘that fierce parade’
pain Helplessness relationships
4. -The poet uses an extended military
metaphor to express the threat from
the nettles
‘Born -Larkin wrote this poem the day -Priorities -Tenderness -‘Sonnet 116’ – the -‘Tightly-folded bud’
Yesterday’ by after the birth of his friend’s idea that beauty is
Philip Larkin daughter -Family -Scorn not necessary for -‘May you be ordinary’
-He takes the fairy tale idea of giving relationships real love/happiness
out wishes to a new born, but his -Realism ‘Not ugly, not good-looking’
wish is not for great beauty or -Happiness -‘Nettles’ – an adult’s
exciting things – he wishes for -Cynicism hopes and concerns -‘skilled,/Vigilant,flexible,/
practical, useful talents which he -Surviving life for a child Unemphasised,enthralled/Catching of happiness’
knows will help her most to be
happy (as Larkin knows how hard it -‘Hour’ – the fairy
is to be happy) tale is not important
for love – the simple
things count far
more
