Poems of the Decade: An Anthology of the Forward Books of Poetry

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This anthology of anthologies draws on the ten Forward Books of Poetry published to accompany the prizes between 2001 and 2010. The very rigid form of the poem helps to represent the strict regime imposed by the feeder, and how it has become commonplace. There are a total of ten tercet stanzas, which adds to the overall regimented mood. In addition, there is assonance between the final words on the first and third lines of each stanza, such as “cake” and “weight”, with an alternative form of assonance in each line which breaks from the traditional idea of using rhyme. This is a very interesting rhyme scheme for a reader because it enables variety of language while still maintaining a sense of conformity and expectations, potentially echoing the expectations of the feeder. A selection of other books that we seriously considered for both lists—just to be extra about it (and because decisions are hard).

patterns of imagery - light/natural/pastoral imagery? images of joy? of danger? - why do they repeat this imagery - how does this reinforce/reflect the poet’s message Re read ‘To My Nine-Year-Old Self’ by Helen Dunmore and ‘From the Journal of a Disappointed Man’ by Andrew Motion. Compare the ways in which both poets portray personal experiences. It is easy enough to think of history as more-or-less the diligent assemblage of fact, a collective project aiming at the one true chronology of who we are and where we come from; this, of course, is a lie told by the victors, the reigning “WE” of so many middle-school text books who’ve always known that myth maps over power, and that the dominant story yields the dominant people. Robin Coste Lewis sees this lie and seeks to dismantle it with Voyage of the Sable Venus, her astonishing 2015 debut collection, the (perhaps) unlikely and (definitely) deserving winner of the National Book Award for Poetry. The objectification in this line shows how much the man is using the woman for his pleasure, not for hers. The only focus is on what he wants and likes, without any regard for the woman. The repetition of “girls” can also be seen as patronising the woman, and can also be seen as showing her vulnerability by likening her more to a child than to an adult.

- on the other hand, poet B adopts a more

MAIN BODY: agree - “in a similar vein”, author uses the method of - it is clear that the author is intending to evoke a sense of - author forces readers to confront how universal truth or societal message In this module, we read through Tim Turnbull’s ‘Ode on a Grayson Perry Urn’, focusing in particular on: (i) the concept of ecphrasis, a verbal description of a work of art, and two works of art to which this poem is responding – Grayson Perry’s ‘Language of Cars’ (1999) and John Keats’ ‘Ode on a Grecian Urn’ (1820); (ii) the timelessness of the characters on the urn – and of poetry itself. The adjective “sharp” is a distinctive choice which has connotations of precision and accuracy, but also of potential pain and suffering, perhaps highlighting the potential impacts of these transitions and passages. In addition, the idea of the stairwell and stairs could be interpreted as both a physical and mental transition of childhood to adolescence and adulthood. Last year, in an interview with Krista Tippett of On Being, Tracy K. Smith described the act of writing poetry as perpetually, and necessarily, expansive:

Interpreture gives ‘Eat Me’ a difficulty rating of 3, meaning that it is deemed to be of average difficulty. The difficulty is spread relatively evenly throughout the different aspects of the poem, with the potential of challenging techniques being partially outweighed by the variety of devices, making analysis relatively easy in an exam situation. ‘Eat Me’ Power: Throughout ‘Eat Me’ the idea of power is very important because it is fundamental to the ‘feeder’ relationship. Without this power it wouldn’t be able to operate, and the objectification and possession would not be able to take place.

- the title?

Use these questions to practice your essential essay writing skills, and consolidate your understanding of individual prescribed poems. Each section of the book takes place on a different frontier. In an interview with The Paris Review about the collection, Hong said, “To dream of the frontier is also to desire immortality. But there is no such thing as new territory. There are always previous civilizations, societies, families, and cultures. So when we build new worlds, there will be violence.” At a time when a new frontier feels like just another place for a billionaire to ruin, there’s something especially comforting in Hong’s naming this ruination.

Transgression and Taboo: The idea of a ‘feeder’ role within a relationship is very much linked to sexual ideas, and that someone could have strong control over another person’s life. This isn’t talked about much within society and is typically avoided due to people’s discomfort with discussing things of this nature. There is also the idea of discussion of the female body, particularly in this rather grotesque way. CD Wright could be on this list for any number of books she wrote in the last decade—which is saying a lot, considering she died far too early, in 2016. Even her posthumous meditation on the beech tree, Casting Deep Shade, could probably survive aggressive cross-genre shoehorning from lyric nonfiction to poetry.* So with that sort of inter-disciplinary invention in mind, I offer you Wright’s 2011 National Book Award finalist, One With Others, a book-length poem that could also be described as… lyric documentary? Poems of the Decade is a collection of poems from the first decade of the 21st century, published by the Forward Poetry Foundation. A selection of 20 of these poems has been chosen by Edexcel for the Poetry paper of the A Level specification.transfers between the narrator, the robot, and to a certain extent the narrator’s wife. The narrator Language urges you to push against what you might think you know, what you might initially be inclined to draw from what you’ve observed and even what you believe. That’s exciting because you’re wandering away from the things that you feel confident of, and you’re wandering into a place where—oh, maybe you’re not so right. Maybe you’re vulnerable in ways that you hadn’t anticipated, and maybe the vulnerability that you’re willing to claim isn’t the whole story.” MAIN BODY: disagree - the poets come to a point of disagreement in their portrayals of how - in poem A, - on the other hand, poet B adopts a more - yet the reader becomes increasingly aware speaker/perspective - why have they chosen this speaker - what is the value in their perspective - what is the purpose, what EFFECT does it have on reader

Society and Culture: It can be interpreted that while the poem considers cultural ideas such as growing up and rites of passage, there are also broader criticisms of the concept of adulthood such as the ‘drab’ working worlds and the plans and dreams which constantly fail to come to fruition. This is a book of movement that becomes deliberate in the very moment it occurs. It is a book of unapologetic wandering and unapologetic reflection. It is a beautiful collection, and is all the more beautiful for how it invites its readers to wander with it. – Jessie Gaynor, Social Media Editor Use these questions to practice your essential analysis and comparison skills, either as a challenge for AS practice, or for the A Level exam. Poems of the Decade is a celebration of the last ten years of poetry published in the UK and Ireland. The 100 poems contained in this anthology were selected from the many thousands of poems submitted to the Forward Prizes for Poetry over the past ten years. In her gorgeous second collection, Mary Szybist blends traditional and experimental aesthetics to recast the myth of the Biblical Mary for this era. In vulnerable lyrics, surprising concrete poems, and other forms, and with extraordinary sympathy and a light touch of humor, Szybist probes the nuances of love, loss, and the struggle for religious faith in a world that seems to argue against it. This is a religious book for nonbelievers, or a book of necessary doubts for the faithful.These poems are a testament to the lived experience of the past decade. They provoke, interrogate, excite and console. Above all, they connect – both by allowing us to connect with ourselves and with others. This anthology is a must-have compilation of the very best poetry from the last decade. The semantic field of the body is notable throughout the poem, with examples typically drawn from two sources. The first is the physical descriptions of the girl and her friend, with a focus on describing different parts of her and what she is wearing. The second main source is through descriptions of their surrounding environment, such as the “warm flank of the house” and “eye of the street”. The humanising descriptions of these surroundings are interesting because they encourage the idea of onlookers to the scene, further increasing the sense of importance of these actions. Armaments” are military weapons and equipment, so describing a “flash” links to them being fired, bringing one of the only references to weaponry and violence to the poem. Notably this is at the end of the poem, which could be interpreted by some readers at signalling the potential for future conflict. ‘An Easy Passage’ Key Themes