Poetry Cluster – Key Quotes & Analysis
Main Quotes from ‘Ozymandias’
“Two vast and trunkless legs of stone”
Power of nature / time
Negative emotions of pride
Shelley illustrates how his identity has been lost as a powerful king (face is gone), but
his empire (legs) still stands which are meant to hold him up.
“Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare”
Metaphor, powerful adjective, oxymoron
Metaphor for his ego, exaggerates the former greatness of his empire but also the
vulnerability of such leaders to the ravages of time.
“Lone and level sands stretch faraway”
Personifies passing time as sand, loneliness, insignificance
Personification shows how powerful leaders are still endangered by insignificant
things like time / sand.
Main Quotes from ‘The Charge of the Light Brigade’
“Cannon to the right of them, Cannon to the left of them, Cannon in front of them”
Lots of repetition, constantly reminding the soldiers of their obedience to commands
and the danger they are in. Just how everyone should be reminded of their sacrifices
Use of anaphora & Epiphora – drives into the reader that they are surrounded.
“All in the valley of Death, Rode the six hundred” + “Into the jaws of Death, Into the mouth
of Hell, Rode the six hundred”
Metaphor & Personification of Death – going to meet Death
The repetition of “rode the six hundred” shows how they come, go, and die as a
group. Shows that won’t come out alive.
Showing the inevitability of death as they charge into what is seen as a one-sided
outcome.
“Honour The Light Brigade, Noble six hundred!”
Poem = memorial, shows they need to be remembered for their sacrifices
Use of an imperative / commanding sentence demands the reader that they must
remember. Reality of war, loss, and absence
People must never forget what has happened, shows the insignificance and
treatment that soldiers normally experience, why should this one sacrifice have any
more recognition than other ones?
Main Quotes from ‘Ozymandias’
“Two vast and trunkless legs of stone”
Power of nature / time
Negative emotions of pride
Shelley illustrates how his identity has been lost as a powerful king (face is gone), but
his empire (legs) still stands which are meant to hold him up.
“Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare”
Metaphor, powerful adjective, oxymoron
Metaphor for his ego, exaggerates the former greatness of his empire but also the
vulnerability of such leaders to the ravages of time.
“Lone and level sands stretch faraway”
Personifies passing time as sand, loneliness, insignificance
Personification shows how powerful leaders are still endangered by insignificant
things like time / sand.
Main Quotes from ‘The Charge of the Light Brigade’
“Cannon to the right of them, Cannon to the left of them, Cannon in front of them”
Lots of repetition, constantly reminding the soldiers of their obedience to commands
and the danger they are in. Just how everyone should be reminded of their sacrifices
Use of anaphora & Epiphora – drives into the reader that they are surrounded.
“All in the valley of Death, Rode the six hundred” + “Into the jaws of Death, Into the mouth
of Hell, Rode the six hundred”
Metaphor & Personification of Death – going to meet Death
The repetition of “rode the six hundred” shows how they come, go, and die as a
group. Shows that won’t come out alive.
Showing the inevitability of death as they charge into what is seen as a one-sided
outcome.
“Honour The Light Brigade, Noble six hundred!”
Poem = memorial, shows they need to be remembered for their sacrifices
Use of an imperative / commanding sentence demands the reader that they must
remember. Reality of war, loss, and absence
People must never forget what has happened, shows the insignificance and
treatment that soldiers normally experience, why should this one sacrifice have any
more recognition than other ones?
