Poetry > O Poetry

Advantages: Totally new type of book, fascinating, intelligent, beautiful and amazing
Disadvantages: A bit short, but that only means you can read it again and again and again...

...by Michael Ondaatje (author of The English Patient) is a unique hybrid of poetry and prose, mixed with both historical fact and fiction based on the true life story of the famous American outlaw William Bonney, who was better known as “Billy the Kid”. Already from this little bit of information, you can tell that this is not a book that follows any usual format or structure. I really can’t describe the “plot” of this book, because there is no real ...
...vicious and fascinating personality from the pages of American folklore and history. Ondaatje has basically put himself into Mr. Bonney’s shoes and from inside the mind of this infamous criminal, tried to give us a totally different view of who this man really was. We are exposed to Bonney the poet who looks at the crimes he’s committed almost as works of art. We are introduced to Bonney the lover, who is both gentle and harsh with his prostitute ... Read review

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Disadvantages: May be in the wrong place!

A sensitive and influential poem, "Anthem For Doomed Youth" captures the underlying true aspects of war. The first hand account written by Wilfred Owen is a powerful indictment of war, in which Owen uses codes and conventions to construct meaning. The poem is written in a form of a sonnet. The octave deals mainly with sound images and good depiction of atmosphere, whereas the sestet is more heart-felt, with visual images to convey the sorrow of death. ...
...He establishes the seriousness and solemnity of his purpose by using the word "Anthem" which is an important sacred song. However, it has a touch of irony in it, as the word a"Anthem brings to mind a country's national anthem, which gives thoughts of hope and glory. There is no hope or glory in this poem. With the phrase "Doomed Youth" he believes the soldiers have no hope of survival, a whole generation are destined to die right from the outset. ... Read review

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I read The English Patient by Michael Ondaatje before I saw the movie. Then I picked up the book of poems called The Cinnamon Peeler. I am now forever hooked on this man as both a novelist and a poet. It is a shame that most of his other work is overshadowed by The English Patient and that he is not recognised for being a great POET as well. The poem entitled The Cinnamon Peeler is by far the my favourite poem and ends with perhaps the most memorable ... Read review

Advantages: very good poem with a hidden meaning
Disadvantages: some words/lines are hard to understand

...wrote over 33 poems. Disabled is just one of his great poems. It was written in 1917 (when he was aged 24) and he wrote it when he visited a hospital during WW1. The poem is dedicated to another war poet called Jessie Pope. Disabled is a poem about a soldier in a hospital who has no legs and possibly got one/two arms. So Wilfred Owen would have been in one of these hospitals in Britain. The title itself is negative, so this may mean that the poem ...
...is a victim of war. He has no legs and arms “sewn short at elbow.” Owen shows that the soldier is a victim because he says he waits for dark. This means that the soldier waits for night, so he can sleep and forget about his disability. Then there’s an image of young boys playing in the park. The boys are echoes of his youth because he’s jealous as he can’t do anything no more. He can’t walk or play anymore. Then it says “Till gathering sleep had ... Read review

Advantages: Powerful and gripping storyline, Great contributions of all characters
Disadvantages: None that I have found

Written by Arthur Miller in the early 1950s during the time of the McCarthyism when the government blacklisted accused communists. Miller was also summoned in court and he wrote this play as a parable and links the Salem witch-hunt and the McCarthy trials which took place nearly 250 years apart. A very powerful play and an excellent one to study for GCSE English Literature for its revoloutionary work in the theatre and its portrayal of the human ...
...man's struggle to find and do what is right by him. With just 4 Acts and 5 important characters, this truly is a masterpiece. Proctor, a hard-working family man finds in the middle of lying and confessing to witchcraft, both of which go against his newly developed religious beliefs. ... Read review