The Poetry of Conflict wardiscord turmoil disorderchaos anarchy fighting combat conteststruggle

1. You have one of the first two lines of a poem. Go around the room, pairing up with someone else! 2. Read your lines to your partner and listen to theirs. Talk about what they have in common and what’s different. Think imaginatively, going beyond the obvious. For instance, an obvious similarity might be that they’re both speaking voices. A less obvious one might be that they both use everyday language. 3. When your I say ‘All change’, find a new partner. 4. We’ll do this several times. 5. When I call a final halt, think back over all the people you have talked to and decide on your best ‘match’, where you found a lot to say about points of similarity. Join up with this person again and report back to the whole group on your perfect match.

Reading a poem is different from reading other kinds of texts: You need to read a poem several times over, to get to know it and enjoy it You need to read it aloud, to appreciate the sound of the words You need to think about what it looks like on the page Once you’ve read a poem once, you might let your gaze skim over it, looking at particular lines or phrases that jump out at you You need to look for patterns. Poems are full of them – repeated ideas, repeated words or phrases, repeated sounds. Think about why. Sometimes these patterns are broken. If so, think about why.

Move him into the sun – Gently its touch awoke him once, At home, whispering of fields half-sown. Always it woke him, even in France, Until this morning and this snow. If anything might rouse him now The kind old sun will know. Think how it wakes the seeds – Woke once the clays of a cold star. Are limbs, so dear achieved, are sides Full-nerved, still warm, too hard to stir? Was it for this the clay grew tall? – O what made fatuous sunbeams toil To break earth’s sleep at all?

Nouns A word used for a person, place or thing, eg girl, school, table Verbs A word describing an action, eg jump, think Adjectives Words used to describe nouns Synonyms Words that share meaning, eg shut and close Antonyms Words that are opposites, eg open and shut Note: some words may fit into more than one category 1.Are some words emphasised in the poem? 2.How does the poet emphasise them? (clues; through rhyme? through rhythm? Through repetition? through where they are placed in the line? 3.What ideas seem to be important in the poem?