Poem-Levertov
particular historical
period
scientific, religious,
philosophical or
economic paradigms
ideas, impacts and
consequences of
globalisation.
Relationship between
local and global.
Global culture has
blurred traditional
concepts and
boundaries of time
and space.
Knowledge, values
and ways of
thinking have
become at once
global and local
through the
impact of new
technologies and
modes of
communication.
Context,
circumstance and
perspective have
shaped a range of
individual and
community
responses to this
changing reality:
while some have
embraced or
reluctantly
accepted it, others
have challenged
or retreated from
it.
The ideas, language
forms, features and
structures of texts
may reflect or
challenge ways of
thinking during this
period.
1966- United States
President Lyndon
Johnson states that the
United States should stay
in South
Vietnam until Communist
aggression there is
ended. March 8 –
Vietnam War: U.S.
announces it will
substantially increase its
number of troops
Science and
Technology:
Levertov mimics the
media recording of a
culture-reinforcing
stereotypes/Bombs of
war
Religious/Philosophical
Levertov records the
Buddhist rituals and
Loss of identity
Power
Memories
Commodification of
Culture
Justice
Media images blur
fact and fiction.
America
embraces the
opportunity for
hegemony
Hypophora
(question and
answer)
Answers echo and
amplifies ideas
Parodies journalistic
diction and
structures-detached
tone juxtaposed
against symbols of
death.
Alliterative plosives-
She believed
virtue lies in “the
heroic response to
creative
wonder”( DH
Lawrence). Her
goal was to
transcend the
paltry ego-Blake’s
“spectral self” and
achieve a broader
communion. She
preferred Jung’s
characterisation of
the global psyche,
especially as her
life was in
constant
movement.
Czeslaw Miloszdescribes a poet’s
role as the
“passionate
pursuit of the
real.”-sums up
Levertov’s quest.
What Were
They Like?
honouring of familybuds in Vietnam.
The global may
override local through
force (violence) and
perception (media)
The local may be
Memories of past
are reshaped and
repackaged for the
present
Local voice has
been silenced
but Levertov
voices echoes
from the past
and raises
in Vietnam.
Philosophical:
Traces the path between
reality and the soul.
Philosopher Nicholas
Malebranche calls
attention the poetry of
the soul-for Levertov the
value of poetry is that it
asks us to pay closer
attention to ourselves as
living creaturescombatting paralysis,
numbness and
dispassion.
Economic
Agriculture/farming
The Sun Going
Down Upon our
Wrath
1971-time of lunar
landing, Apollo.
Vietnam Veteransprotest for a Just Peace.
American soldiers still in
Vietnam
Religious:
Apocalyptic vision of the
end of the world-“In your
anger do not sin. (Do not
let the sun go down while
you are still angry)
Deathly visions: Dust
returning to fruitful dust
Science:
Knowledge can result in
destruction-of
environment-“never
again a green blade in the
crevice” due to nuclear
weapons. “fire turn to
fire.” Violence towards
man-gaping meat livid
Philosophical:
Humanist philosophylike Whitman and other
mystics, she looked to
discover God in herself
and searched to discover
reshaped by Western
imperialist
perspectives.
awareness of
global abuse of
power
bitter/burned
Enjambment
Onomatopoeia
Final stanza-the
answer
Fragmented
imagery
Graphic imagery
juxtaposed against
lyricism.
Polysyndeton
Inscape-poems are
natural allegoriesthrough form they
resemble the ideas
being explored.
Some retreat from
global realities by
denying negative
outcomes.
Biblical allusions
Poets may raise
awareness of
inequities and
consequences of acts
of global on local
identity and
representation to
revalue local culture
and economic
practices.
She calls news the
“foul dollops of
history”
Wisdom and
Knowledge/ vs
Limited Vision based
on Fears
Death and Power
Renewal/Regeneration
Local may foster
knowledge based on
ancient wisdom and
religious beliefsantique anxietiesfatalism.
Individuals may
navigate world more
successfully by
educating themselves
and energising
themselves through
education and
authentic knowledge
so that self destruction
Fear of future-due
to nuclear
weaponry and
Vietnam warNew technologies
may result in
global annihilation
and require an
imaginative
response based on
education and the
power of global
poetry so that
regeneration is
possible
Individuals may
choose to
embrace the
future by
empowering
themselves
through
knowledge
Levertov
challenges blind
fatalism and
encourages
activism and
renewal
Auditory imageryonomatopoeia“heart stones rattle.”
Concrete images.
Anaphora
Rhetorical questions
Symbols of death
Paradox-feet pulled
towards away
Sibilance
Repellant visual
imagery
Mythical imageryphoenix rising
Spatial imageryhigh/deep.
The Malice of
Innocence
Levertov inspired by
watching a film about a
hospital ward
remembers her
experience as a nurseduring 2nd World War in
London.
1972-Nixon orders
development of Space
Shuttle programmeVietnam War-American
forces resume bombing
of Hanoi.
Watergate Scandal
how self is a natural part
of the world;
pantheistically,
ecologically, socially,
historically, lyrically.
(Berrigan-we may be
driven sane by
community, by
conscience, by treading
the human crucible in her
poetry)
Provokes responder to
search for a deeper
understanding based on
self responsibility and
beyond ancient
forebodings.
may be avoided
Scientific:
The camera represents a
lens through which past
may be revisited.-media
representation of war.
Camera also represents
the efficiency of hospital
and Emergency ward and
machinery.
Philosophical:
Traces the path between
reality and the soul.
Philosopher Nicholas
Malebranche calls
attention the poetry of
the soul-for Levertov the
value of poetry is that it
asks us to pay closer
attention to ourselves as
living creaturescombatting paralysis,
numbness and
dispassion.
Detachment of
technology from
individual lives.
Memory and
perception.
Guilt
Death
She explores the
tension between our
private local lives and
role within a world
where war causes
death.
She reflects on the way
global forces impact on
individual lives and
jobs.
Technology
provided a means
to treat patients
more effectively
and efficiently but
ironically provides
a means by which
individuals may
detach themselves
from others.
Levertov reflects
on how she
became part of a
hierarchy of death.
From Dachau-to
Vietnam.
“I loved the power
of our ordered
nights.”
Her memory
catalyses personal
change and
reflection.
The camera image
catalyses a
personal
reflection(inscape) on the
way individuals
may view war and
suffering through
the lens of
bureaucracy.
Camera becomes
a metaphor for
detachment from
harsh reality and
suffering in her
role as efficient
nurse, Levertov
recognises the
way technology
was a barrier to
true
understanding of
global impacts-of
Paradox-malice and
innocence.
Stream of
consciousness stylerecording of
memories and
images.
Order juxtaposed
against disordered
line lengths.
Dance performance
motif.
Twilight images.
Plosives
CapitalisationLevertov critiques
self importance of
role of hospitals.
violence.
A Place of
Kindness
The Life of
Others
1975-Watergate Scandal.
Bill Gates founds
Microsoft.
Fall of Saigon-Vietnam
War ends.
Oil crisis.
Space Race. (see others
above)
Scientific:
Agony inflictorsincreasing efficiency of
war machinery. Mass
production of B52bombers, M16 rifles,
Napalm, M48 tanks,
Agent Orange.
Religious: Levertov
challenges position of
splendid isolation and
ignorance is bliss-she
subverts an image of
religious meditationchallenges audience to a
deeper knowledge of
man’s role.
Philosophical:
Introduces ironically
notion of a higher
consciousness and state
of knowing through
depicting a reductive
state of denial.
Economic:
By extension, this
individual is able to live
so comfortable due to the
economic benefits of the
global-an off shoot of
technological progress.
Personal choice and
lifestyle
Immobility
Violence of the global
Responsibility
Global standardises
war machinery.
The bigger the scale
the more detached
local can become from
global impacts,
ironically.
Without knowledge it
is hard for the
individual to navigate
successfully.
Technology has
become
homogenised
through war.
Economies of
global scale.
Individual within
local becomes
detached from the
realities of war.
Technology
represents war
through imagesfrom global which
provide isolated
snapshots of war
but create a
barrier from
realities for local
individuals.
Education is key
to movement.
Local individuals
may choose safety
of inaction to
avoid sense of
1977-NASA Spaceship
Enterprise, Space
Shuttle-man’s belief in
omnipotence and flight.
British Airways
Philosophical: Poetry is
a battle for conscience
that had to be waged in
consciousness, charting
inscape.
An existential exploration
Unity and dignity
within local patterns.
Interconnectedness of
life.
Man’s proprietorial
attitude.
Economic values
are accepted and
homogenised. Yet,
nature transcends
these and can
teach wisdom
Individuals may, if
open to
knowledge and
natural world,
locate a more
effective way to
Concorde.
culpability.
Levertov
challenges
inaction through
provocative
poem.
Enjambment
Present continuous
tense
Sibilance
Appellation
Violent diction
Accumulation
Poem is a metaphor.
Birds’ flight a
microcosm for the
local.
Notation of thoughts
and feelings.
What It Could Be
1975
Watergate Scandal. See
above.
Vietnam War-Cold Warfear of Nuclear War.
in to how local natural
experiences can enable
man to reflect on self in
relation to global.
Economic: man has
ownership of resources
in golden earth-feels he is
omnipotent. GoldenvalueReligious: Poem has a
religious/spiritual mood.
Reflective almost prayer
like. Patterns of local
ritual have prayer like
qualities.
Interconnectedness of
values such as
empathy may be able
to transcend other
global values such as
ownership of
resources.
Local patterns can be a
metaphor for new
patterns of behaviour
of successful
navigation. Simbiosis
between local and
global. Transcendence
of space and
ownership.
about Western
Imperialist
notions and maps.
navigate the
global-and reach a
state of grace in
communion with
nature. Achieve
simbiosis.
Use of first person
plural.
Metaphor of thread,
interconnectedness.
Religious diction.
Irregular lines to
show movement.
Metaphor of map
and navigation.
Enjambmentmovement.
Religious:
Levertov challenges
notion of religious
ideology for a reverence
for sacred land, deep
knowledge of landscape.
Pantheism.
Non-violence may be an
act of reverence for land.
She values the timeless
knowledge held in
contrast to immediate
demands of global.
Mother Nature.
Philosophy:
Metaphysical-Science of
being and study into
things which do not
change.
Economic: Earth is there
to plunder: “wrestling,
ravaging..” gouging
Local holds deep
knowledge which
transcends limitations
of earthly ownership.
Consequences of
technology and
nuclear war could be
destruction of the
planet.
Local holds wisdom,
rituals, strength,
grounding force.
Local knowledge may
be a source of
empowerment in face
of global economic and
scientific paradigms.
Homogenisation
of global valuesuranium as source
of strength.
Technology can
destroy natural
worlds but true
knowledge lies
beneath. Is source
of direction.
Choice of
individual not to
engage in violence
may be an act in
itself.
Use of superlativesmost.
Listing of continents
Subterranean
imagery.
Violent diction.
Personification of
earth.
Anaphora-a creed.
Religious diction.
Talk in the Dark
1982
Nuclear War-fear of Cold
War-Seabrook protestsJailing of protestors.
Rallies against nuclear
weapons. 1980-1200
nuclear tests.
Writer as a social
protestor. Part of global
ecosystem.
uranium. Immediate
wealth.
Scientific: Earth is able
to be conquered through
force
Scientific:
Science has ironically
hindered man’s ability to
navigate into the future.
Mass death. Technology
becomes a Leviathan.
Religious: Apocalyptic
imagery. Ash. Burning.
Search for direction and
meaning. Fiery wind.
Philosophical: Personal
choice and self fulfillment
versus Nihilism-fatalism.
Existential crisis.
Acceptance of global
values –valuing of
science and technology
and destruction of
planet. This has
reduced local
individual choice and
ability for individuals
to navigate. Stasis or
fragmentation-day to
day.
Levertov’s
confrontational poetry
encourages individual
to ponder choices to
liberate selves from
restrictions.
Homogenisation
of global valuing
of technology has
led to a sense of
fatalism.
Individual
challenged to
navigate own path
through local
conversations.
Fear is a form of
immobilisation.
Individuals may
liberate
themselves from a
lack of choice
through self
education.
High modality
language
Metaphor of
darkness physical
and emotional.
Apocalyptic
imagery.
Collective nounsMass-global
annihilation.
Hyperbole-all the
dead.
Motif of the road.
Rhetorical
questions.
Structure of an
imagined
conversation.