“A Wife in London” is a bleak anti-war poem by the English poet Thomas Hardy. The poem focuses on a woman who receives the tragic news of her husband’s death in the war. Then, to make matters worse, a letter from the husband himself arrives, talking optimistically about future plans.
What is the irony in A Wife in London?
The Letter That wife in London receives a telegram informing her of her husband’s death on the battlefield. The very next day she receives a letter he obviously had written some time earlier that is filled with the excitement of making plans for when he gets home. That is the very definition of modern irony.
What rhyme scheme does A Wife in London have?
The rhyme scheme for each stanza is ABBAB, although Hardy is a bit careless in the second stanza with trying to make “shortly” rhyme with “smartly”.
What does whom the worm now knows mean?
His hand, whom the worm now knows: This stanza, titled, The Irony, allows the devastating news to sink in for the readers. The day after the London wife found out that she was a widow, she received a letter from her husband, written in his hand. Thus, to this woman, the letter was as if it came from the grave.
What are the main themes of A Wife in London?
“A Wife in London” is an anti-war poem that seeks to illuminate the absurdity and tragedy that go arm-in-arm with violent conflict. It is a message of war’s hopelessness—how war cuts life short needlessly, affecting not just those immediately involved but those back home as well.
What is the context of the manhunt?
What is the context of Manhunt? – The poem address common effects of war on soldier’s bodies and minds. – It was originally aired as part of a television documentary; read by Laura, the wife of soldier Eddie Beddoes.
What is sleep by Kenneth Slessor about?
Kenneth Slessor’s ‘Sleep’ describes how an infant is born in the womb of a woman. The poet finds fulfillment in the child’s development inside a woman’s “huge cave”. While it’s ready to see the first light, the infant is detached from the woman’s body. Slessor describes it as a “betrayal of harsh birth”.
How is loss presented in the poem a wife in London?
The language is ominous, indicating darkness and tragedy – “tawny vapour”, “webby fold” and “waning taper”. Her whole world is covered in gloom. “He – has fallen” is a euphemism to shield the widow from the harsh truth but the dashes represent her grief and inability to process the news of her husband’s death.
What is the poem a complaint about?
“A Complaint” is a short poem by the English Romantic poet William Wordsworth. The poem portrays the love that speaker used to have as a life-enriching force. The loss of this love, in turn, feels like a wellspring of joy has suddenly dried up.
What is the theme of futility?
Futility is an anti-war poem, powerfully evoking the pity of war with its anger and simultaneous tenderness to those who suffer. The futility of war and of life itself is the main theme of the poem.
What is the meaning of the poem The Soldier?
“The Soldier” explores the bond between a patriotic British soldier and his homeland. Through this soldier’s passionate discussion of his relationship to England, the poem implies that people are formed by their home environment and culture, and that their country is something worth defending with their life.
What happened to Eddie Beddoes in war?
Eddie Beddoes was a soldier working on a peacekeeping mission in Bosnia in 1997. Nobody thought that there was any danger, but during the mission Eddie was shot and suffered injuries which later haunted him. He was only 19 years old and had his whole life in front of him. He suffered PTSD as a result of the shooting.
Who wrote the manhunt poem?
English Literature KS3 / GCSE: Simon Armitage on his poem ‘The Manhunt’ SIMON: When you say war poetry these days, people tend to presume that you’re talking about the poets of the First World War. They’re the last generation of trained writers, and trained soldiers. I’ve never been involved in a war.
When was sleep by Kenneth Slessor?
This selection was first published as One Hundred Poems in 1944 (with the addition of three further poems in 1957), and includes an introduction by Dennis Haskell and an Author’s Note.
How is sleep presented in the poem sleep by Kenneth Slessor?
The poem Sleep by Kenneth Slessor is a celebration of sleep. It uses child birth and motherhood as a metaphor or double entendre to describe how intimate sleep is. There are two speakers in this poem, one being sleep and the other being the sleeper/ mother. Utterly is used as submission to sleep.
Is it sleep in a sonnet?
‘To Sleep’, a sonnet by one of the leading second-generation Romantic poets, John Keats (1795-1821), addresses sleep as a ‘soft embalmer of the still midnight’. Sleep allows us to escape our own minds, when one’s conscience begins to prick us, keeping us awake.
What is the significance of the last line of letter to a wife?
With the final four lines of the stanza, she suddenly indicates that their relationship has changed as “at fifteen [she] stopped scowling.” Her next words show how dramatically her love has grown.
How is time presented in as imperceptibly as grief?
“As imperceptibly as grief” is a deceptively simple meditation on the nature of time, written by Emily Dickinson. It compares grief to summer, suggesting that people don’t always notice the way that everything undergoes gradual change—but that nothing in life stays still, and death always lurks in the background.
Why did Duffy write Valentine?
Carol Ann Duffy wrote Valentine after a radio producer asked her to write an original poem for St. Valentine’s Day. Duffy likes to break conventions and in Valentine she is criticising society’s views of being materialistic.
Who wrote A Complaint poem?
William Wordsworth was one of the founders of English Romanticism and one its most central figures and important intellects.
How do I file A Complaint?
File a complaint with your local consumer protection office or the state agency that regulates the company. Notify the Better Business Bureau (BBB) in your area about your problem. The BBB tries to resolve your complaints against companies.
What is the speaker’s complaint?
Complaint is a face threatening act and it happens when a speaker reacts with anger to things which go wrong or to a speech or an action which affected him/her unfavorably.