FreeAQA15 Poems
AQA Poetry Anthology: Power & Conflict
Free annotated notes for all 15 poems. Key quotes, techniques, themes, context, and comparison points.
01 / 15
Ozymandias
Percy Bysshe Shelley
Theme
Power of nature over human power
Key Quote
"Look on my Works, ye Mighty, and despair!"
Techniques
Irony — the boast is surrounded by emptiness
Enjambment mirrors the passage of time
Sonnet form subverted — power doesn't last
Context
Written 1818 during political revolution. Shelley was anti-monarchy. The poem mocks the arrogance of rulers who think their power is permanent.
Compare with
London (abuse of power)My Last Duchess (controlling power)Tissue (fragility of power)
02 / 15
London
William Blake
Theme
Corruption and suffering in society
Key Quote
"mind-forg'd manacles"
Techniques
Repetition of 'every' — suffering is universal
Metaphor of 'manacles' — people are mentally trapped
ABAB rhyme scheme — relentless, like the suffering
Context
Written 1794 during the Industrial Revolution. Blake was angry at the Church and government for ignoring poverty and exploitation.
Compare with
Ozymandias (abuse of power)The Emigrée (memory of a place)Checking Out Me History (oppression)
03 / 15
The Prelude (extract)
William Wordsworth
Theme
Power of nature / individual experience
Key Quote
"a huge peak, black and huge... upreared its head"
Techniques
Volta — shift from confidence to fear
Personification of the mountain
Blank verse — natural, conversational tone that shifts
Context
Autobiographical poem written 1799. Wordsworth was a Romantic poet who believed nature had spiritual power over humans.
Compare with
Storm on the Island (nature's power)Ozymandias (humbling of human arrogance)Exposure (nature as enemy)
04 / 15
My Last Duchess
Robert Browning
Theme
Jealousy, control, power
Key Quote
"I gave commands; Then all smiles stopped together"
Techniques
Dramatic monologue — unreliable narrator reveals his cruelty
Enjambment — he can't control his speech like he controlled her
Iambic pentameter — controlled, aristocratic tone
Context
Based on a real Duke of Ferrara (16th century Italy) whose wife died suspiciously. Browning critiques male power and possessiveness.
Compare with
Ozymandias (arrogant power)London (control over others)Poppies (loss and memory)
05 / 15
Charge of the Light Brigade
Alfred Lord Tennyson
Theme
Honour in battle / futility of war
Key Quote
"Into the valley of Death Rode the six hundred"
Techniques
Repetition — relentless, like the charge
Dactylic rhythm — mimics galloping horses
Biblical allusion — 'valley of Death'
Context
Written 1854 about a disastrous British cavalry charge in the Crimean War. 600 soldiers charged into heavy artillery due to a miscommunication.
Compare with
Exposure (futility of war)Bayonet Charge (reality of combat)Remains (psychological impact)
06 / 15
Exposure
Wilfred Owen
Theme
Futility and suffering in war
Key Quote
"Nothing happens"
Techniques
Repetition of 'nothing happens' — tedium and pointlessness
Half-rhyme — unease, things not quite right
Personification of weather as the real enemy
Context
Written 1917 from the trenches of WW1. Owen wanted to show war's reality — not heroism but cold, boredom, and death from exposure.
Compare with
Storm on the Island (power of nature)Bayonet Charge (reality vs expectation)Charge of the Light Brigade (contrast)
07 / 15
Storm on the Island
Seamus Heaney
Theme
Power of nature / conflict with nature
Key Quote
"It is a huge nothing that we fear"
Techniques
Extended metaphor — storm as political conflict (Northern Ireland)
Conversational tone — 'We are prepared'
Oxymoron 'huge nothing' — fear of the unknown
Context
Written 1966. Heaney was from Northern Ireland — the poem is an allegory for The Troubles. 'Stormontʼ is hidden in the title.
Compare with
Exposure (nature as enemy)The Prelude (power of nature)Ozymandias (human vs nature)
08 / 15
Bayonet Charge
Ted Hughes
Theme
Reality of combat / terror
Key Quote
"The patriotic tear that had brimmed in his eye Sweating like molten iron"
Techniques
In medias res — thrown straight into action
Enjambment — breathless, chaotic pace
Simile 'like molten iron' — pain replaces patriotism
Context
Hughes' father fought in WW1. The poem captures a single moment of charging towards enemy lines — the gap between patriotic ideals and terrifying reality.
Compare with
Charge of the Light Brigade (contrast in portrayal)Exposure (reality of war)Remains (psychological impact)
09 / 15
Remains
Simon Armitage
Theme
Guilt / psychological impact of war
Key Quote
"his blood-Loss shadow stays on the street"
Techniques
Colloquial language — soldier's voice, PTSD
Present tense — memories won't stay in the past
Repetition — 'probably armed, possibly not'
Context
Based on a real account from a soldier in Iraq. Armitage wanted to show how killing haunts soldiers long after they return home.
Compare with
Bayonet Charge (reality of combat)Poppies (impact on individuals)War Photographer (witnessing trauma)
10 / 15
Poppies
Jane Weir
Theme
Loss / mother's perspective on war
Key Quote
"I wanted to graze my nose across the tip of your nose"
Techniques
Sensory language — touch, texture, domestic imagery
Metaphor of 'released a song bird' — letting go
Non-chronological — fragmented like grief
Context
Written 2009. Weir explores a mother's experience of her son leaving for war. Challenges the idea that war poetry must be from a soldier's perspective.
Compare with
Remains (impact of war on individuals)War Photographer (emotional detachment)Kamikaze (family and duty)
11 / 15
War Photographer
Carol Ann Duffy
Theme
Conflict between witnessing and feeling
Key Quote
"a hundred agonies in black-and-white"
Techniques
Stanza structure — orderly, like developing photos
Contrast between 'Rural England' and war zones
Religious imagery — 'a priest preparing to intone a Mass'
Context
Inspired by real conflict photographers like Don McCullin. Duffy questions whether media images of war actually make people care.
Compare with
Remains (witnessing trauma)Poppies (emotional response to conflict)Tissue (recording human experience)
12 / 15
Tissue
Imtiaz Dharker
Theme
Fragility of power / impermanence
Key Quote
"Paper that lets the light shine through"
Techniques
Extended metaphor — paper as power structures
Enjambment across stanzas — flowing, like paper
Light imagery — transparency, truth
Context
Dharker was born in Pakistan, raised in Glasgow. She explores how human structures (borders, money, buildings) are as fragile as paper.
Compare with
Ozymandias (impermanence of power)London (man-made structures)The Emigrée (identity and place)
13 / 15
The Emigrée
Carol Rumens
Theme
Memory, identity, displacement
Key Quote
"my city takes me dancing through the city of walls"
Techniques
Light imagery throughout — positive memories resist darkness
Personification of the city as a person
Contrast between memory and current reality
Context
Written about leaving a country — possibly political exile. The 'city' could be any place lost to war or political change.
Compare with
London (experience of a city)Tissue (identity and place)Checking Out Me History (identity)
14 / 15
Kamikaze
Beatrice Garland
Theme
Honour, shame, family vs duty
Key Quote
"he must have wondered which had been the better way to die"
Techniques
Third person / reported speech — he's silenced by shame
Nature imagery — beauty vs destruction
Ambiguous ending — was turning back brave or cowardly?
Context
Japanese kamikaze pilots in WW2 were expected to die for their country. Those who turned back faced social death — shunned by family and community.
Compare with
Charge of the Light Brigade (duty and honour)Poppies (family and war)Remains (living with consequences)
15 / 15
Checking Out Me History
John Agard
Theme
Identity, cultural oppression, reclaiming history
Key Quote
"Dem tell me... But now I checking out me own history"
Techniques
Phonetic spelling — Caribbean voice, identity in language
Contrast between 'dem tell me' and 'I checking out'
No standard punctuation — rejecting colonial rules
Context
Agard is from Guyana. He challenges the British education system for teaching only white European history and ignoring Black Caribbean figures.
Compare with
London (oppression)The Emigrée (identity)Tissue (power of records/history)
Ready to test your essay?
Use our free AI essay marker to get examiner-level feedback on your poetry comparison essays.
Try the Essay Marker — free