Relationships (Edexcel GCSE English Literature): Flashcards
Exam code: 1ET0
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Fill in the gap: "I see a ＿＿＿＿＿ on thy brow,"
Keats
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Cards in this collection (150)
Fill in the gap: "I see a ＿＿＿＿＿ on thy brow,"
Keats
Answer: "I see a lily on thy brow,"
Fill in the gap: "Alone and ＿＿＿＿＿ loitering"
Keats
Answer: "Alone and palely loitering"
Fill in the gap: "And no ＿＿＿＿＿ sing."
Keats
Answer: "And no birds sing."
Fill in the gap: "And her eyes were ＿＿＿＿＿."
Keats
Answer: "And her eyes were wild."
Key quote: "O what can ail thee, knight-at-arms,"
Keats
Analysis
The poem opens with a rhetorical question spoken directly to the knight. It shows straight away that he is suffering, though we do not yet know why.
Key quote: "And on thy cheek a fading rose"
Keats
Analysis
The metaphor of a "fading rose" shows the colour and life draining from the knight. It suggests he is growing weak and close to death.
Key quote: "Full beautiful – a faery's child"
Keats
Analysis
Calling the lady a "faery's child" makes her seem supernatural and not fully human. Her strange beauty hints that she may be dangerous.
Key quote: "And made sweet moan."
Keats
Analysis
The sensory language creates a feeling of closeness and desire between the knight and the lady. It shows how easily he is drawn in by her.
Key quote: "I love thee true"
Keats
Analysis
The lady says she loves him, but she speaks in "language strange". This hints that her love is deceptive and cannot really be trusted.
Key quote: "Thee hath in thrall!"
Keats
Analysis
The dead kings warn that the lady holds the knight "in thrall", meaning under her spell. Here love is shown as a kind of entrapment that leaves men helpless.
Fill in the gap: "I'm ＿＿＿＿＿ to see you, dad."
Baillie
Answer: "I'm vexed to see you, dad."
Fill in the gap: "How wan and ＿＿＿＿＿ are your cheeks!"
Baillie
Answer: "How wan and hollow are your cheeks!"
Fill in the gap: "＿＿＿＿＿ up and be our dad again."
Baillie
Answer: "Rouse up and be our dad again."
Fill in the gap: "You do not ＿＿＿＿＿ me, dad."
Baillie
Answer: "You do not hear me, dad."
Key quote: "Grand-dad, they say you're old and frail,"
Baillie
Analysis
The direct address and the pairing of "old and frail" open the poem on the grandfather's weakness. It sets a gentle, worried tone.
Key quote: "You used to smile and stroke my head,"
Baillie
Analysis
The shift to the past tense recalls happier times together. It highlights how much the relationship has changed as the grandfather has aged.
Key quote: "I love my own old dad."
Baillie
Analysis
This simple refrain confirms the child's unconditional love. The plain language makes the feeling honest and moving.
Key quote: "You will not die and leave us then?"
Baillie
Analysis
The rhetorical question exposes the child's deep fear of death beneath their hopeful tone.
Key quote: "I'll lead you kindly by the hand;"
Baillie
Analysis
The child now offers to guide the grandfather, a role reversal that shows the carer and cared-for swapping places.
Key quote: "You love a story, dad?"
Baillie
Analysis
The innocent question shows the child eagerly trying to keep the grandfather awake and engaged, unaware of how ill he is.
Fill in the gap: "She walks in ＿＿＿＿＿, like the night"
Byron
Answer: "She walks in beauty, like the night"
Fill in the gap: "Which waves in every ＿＿＿＿＿ tress,"
Byron
Answer: "Which waves in every raven tress,"
Fill in the gap: "A ＿＿＿＿＿ at peace with all below,"
Byron
Answer: "A mind at peace with all below,"
Fill in the gap: "A heart whose love is ＿＿＿＿＿!"
Byron
Answer: "A heart whose love is innocent!"
Key quote: "Of cloudless climes and starry skies;"
Byron
Analysis
The natural imagery of clear night skies extends the opening simile. It presents her beauty as calm, pure and flawless.
Key quote: "And all that's best of dark and bright"
Byron
Analysis
The contrast of "dark and bright" suggests her beauty perfectly balances opposites into harmony.
Key quote: "Thus mellow'd to that tender light"
Byron
Analysis
The soft "tender light" makes her beauty seem gentle and understated, rather than harsh or showy.
Key quote: "How pure, how dear their dwelling-place."
Byron
Analysis
The repetition of "how" shifts the praise from her looks to her mind, admiring her inner beauty.
Key quote: "So soft, so calm, yet eloquent,"
Byron
Analysis
The list of gentle qualities idealises her character as peaceful yet expressive.
Key quote: "The smiles that win, the tints that glow,"
Byron
Analysis
Her winning smiles and glowing colour convey a quiet charm, suggesting goodness rather than deliberate seduction.
Fill in the gap: "There is a ＿＿＿＿＿—and I am poor;"
Wordsworth
Answer: "There is a change—and I am poor;"
Fill in the gap: "Whose only business was to ＿＿＿＿＿;"
Wordsworth
Answer: "Whose only business was to flow;"
Fill in the gap: "What ＿＿＿＿＿ moments did I count!"
Wordsworth
Answer: "What happy moments did I count!"
Fill in the gap: "A comfortless and ＿＿＿＿＿ well."
Wordsworth
Answer: "A comfortless and hidden well."
Key quote: "Your love hath been, nor long ago,"
Wordsworth
Analysis
The past tense "hath been" makes the loss of love feel painfully recent. It shows the love is now firmly in the past.
Key quote: "A fountain at my fond heart's door,"
Wordsworth
Analysis
The metaphor of a "fountain" presents his past love as overflowing and life-giving, always freely given.
Key quote: "Blest was I then all bliss above!"
Wordsworth
Analysis
The near-religious hyperbole of "all bliss above" lifts the past joy high, which makes the present pain feel worse.
Key quote: "Of murmuring, sparkling, living love,"
Wordsworth
Analysis
The list of "-ing" verbs makes the past love feel vivid and alive, full of energy and movement.
Key quote: "In silence and obscurity."
Wordsworth
Analysis
The soft sibilance conveys a dead, lonely silence where love once flowed, stressing his isolation.
Key quote: "Of my fond heart, hath made me poor."
Wordsworth
Analysis
Echoing the opening line, the cyclical ending shows his grief is unresolved and keeps returning.
Fill in the gap: "＿＿＿＿＿ enough to have strength to die;"
Hardy
Answer: "Alive enough to have strength to die;"
Fill in the gap: "They had fallen from an ash, and were ＿＿＿＿＿."
Hardy
Answer: "They had fallen from an ash, and were gray."
Fill in the gap: "Like an ＿＿＿＿＿ bird a-wing"
Hardy
Answer: "Like an ominous bird a-wing"
Fill in the gap: "keen lessons that love ＿＿＿＿＿,"
Hardy
Answer: "keen lessons that love deceives,"
Key quote: "We stood by a pond that winter day,"
Hardy
Analysis
The bleak "winter day" is an example of pathetic fallacy, using the cold weather to mirror the coldness of the dying relationship.
Key quote: "And the sun was white, as though chidden of God,"
Hardy
Analysis
The drained, "white" sun seems scolded by God. This creates a lifeless, bleak atmosphere that matches the failing love.
Key quote: "Over tedious riddles of years ago;"
Hardy
Analysis
Calling their old arguments "tedious riddles" suggests the relationship has worn down into weary boredom.
Key quote: "The smile on your mouth was the deadest thing"
Hardy
Analysis
The superlative "deadest" turns a smile, usually warm, into an image of the death of love.
Key quote: "And a grin of bitterness swept thereby"
Hardy
Analysis
A "grin of bitterness" replaces tenderness with bitterness and resentment between the former lovers.
Key quote: "And a pond edged with grayish leaves."
Hardy
Analysis
The return to the grey pond gives the poem a cyclical structure, trapping the speaker in a bitter memory.
Fill in the gap: "How do I love thee? Let me ＿＿＿＿＿ the ways"
Barrett Browning
Answer: "How do I love thee? Let me count the ways"
Fill in the gap: "I love thee ＿＿＿＿＿, as men strive for Right"
Barrett Browning
Answer: "I love thee freely, as men strive for Right"
Fill in the gap: "by ＿＿＿＿＿ and candlelight"
Barrett Browning
Answer: "by sun and candlelight"
Fill in the gap: "I shall but love thee better after ＿＿＿＿＿"
Barrett Browning
Answer: "I shall but love thee better after death"
Key quote: "I love thee to the depth and breadth and height"
Barrett Browning
Analysis
The metaphor of "depth and breadth and height" and the list present her love as boundless, filling every dimension of space.
Key quote: "My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight"
Barrett Browning
Analysis
The religious word "soul" lifts her earthly love into something spiritual and eternal.
Key quote: "I love thee to the level of everyday's / Most quiet need"
Barrett Browning
Analysis
The quiet, domestic image shows love as a constant, ordinary everyday need, not just grand passion.
Key quote: "I love thee purely, as they turn from Praise"
Barrett Browning
Analysis
The word "purely" and the repetition of "I love thee" suggest a selfless love, free of vanity or reward.
Key quote: "I love thee with the passion, put to use"
Barrett Browning
Analysis
She redirects old emotional energy into love, showing her passion put to good use.
Key quote: "with my childhood's faith"
Barrett Browning
Analysis
Comparing her love to a child's "faith" suggests total, unquestioning sincerity and trust.
Fill in the gap: "That's my last ＿＿＿＿＿ painted on the wall"
Browning
Answer: "That's my last duchess painted on the wall"
Fill in the gap: "her ＿＿＿＿＿ went everywhere"
Browning
Answer: "her looks went everywhere"
Fill in the gap: "Never to ＿＿＿＿＿"
Browning
Answer: "Never to stoop"
Fill in the gap: "＿＿＿＿＿ a sea-horse"
Browning
Answer: "Taming a sea-horse"
Key quote: "Looking as if she were alive"
Browning
Analysis
The phrase "as if she were alive" hints that the Duchess is now dead. It quietly foreshadows the Duke's sinister role in her fate.
Key quote: "That piece a wonder, now"
Browning
Analysis
Calling the portrait a "piece" shows the Duke prizes the art over the woman. He treats her as a possession to be owned.
Key quote: "too soon made glad"
Browning
Analysis
The Duke resents that she was "too soon made glad", revealing his controlling jealousy of her warmth towards others.
Key quote: "My gift of a nine-hundred-years-old name"
Browning
Analysis
The Duke's boast about his ancient family "name" shows his pride and his belief that his high status should command her gratitude.
Key quote: "I gave commands; / Then all smiles stopped together"
Browning
Analysis
The chilling euphemism "I gave commands" hints that the Duke had the Duchess killed, showing his need for total control.
Key quote: "There she stands / As if alive"
Browning
Analysis
Now fixed to the wall, the Duchess is finally under the Duke's total control, silent and unable to smile at anyone else.
Fill in the gap: "I said I liked ＿＿＿＿＿ music"
Cope
Answer: "I said I liked classical music"
Fill in the gap: "So I'll have something ＿＿＿＿＿ to say"
Cope
Answer: "So I'll have something clever to say"
Fill in the gap: "I mustn't appear too ＿＿＿＿＿"
Cope
Answer: "I mustn't appear too besotted"
Fill in the gap: "＿＿＿＿＿ she is out of my league"
Cope
Answer: "Perhaps she is out of my league"
Key quote: "It wasn't exactly a lie"
Cope
Analysis
The wry understatement "wasn't exactly a lie" shows the speaker deceiving herself as she tries to seem impressive.
Key quote: "That my brow was acceptably high"
Cope
Analysis
The pun on "highbrow" reveals she wants to appear cultured and to fit a higher social class.
Key quote: "I couldn't care less what they play"
Cope
Analysis
This blunt admission undercuts her cultured act, exposing the gap between her image and her true feelings.
Key quote: "Of rapt concentration"
Cope
Analysis
She mistakes his absorption in the music for boredom with her, a comic misunderstanding at the heart of the poem.
Key quote: "And quite undistracted by me"
Cope
Analysis
The matching refrain in both halves shows both people fear they are being ignored, the poem's central irony.
Key quote: "I implied I was keen on it too"
Cope
Analysis
His own white lie mirrors hers, showing both people play the same insecure game of pretence to impress.
Fill in the gap: "Not a red ＿＿＿＿＿ or a satin heart."
Duffy
Answer: "Not a red rose or a satin heart."
Fill in the gap: "I give you an ＿＿＿＿＿."
Duffy
Answer: "I give you an onion."
Fill in the gap: "It is a ＿＿＿＿＿ wrapped in brown paper."
Duffy
Answer: "It is a moon wrapped in brown paper."
Fill in the gap: "I am trying to be ＿＿＿＿＿."
Duffy
Answer: "I am trying to be truthful."
Key quote: "It promises light / like the careful undressing of love."
Duffy
Analysis
The simile compares peeling the onion to "the careful undressing of love", suggesting the slow, tender intimacy of a real relationship.
Key quote: "Not a cute card or a kissogram."
Duffy
Analysis
The repeated rejection of the "cute card" dismisses shallow romantic gestures in favour of honest emotion.
Key quote: "It will blind you with tears / like a lover."
Duffy
Analysis
The onion's sting becomes a simile for how love can cause real emotional pain, not just joy.
Key quote: "a wobbling photo of grief"
Duffy
Analysis
The tear-distorted reflection is an image of grief, showing that love can bring sorrow and loss.
Key quote: "cling to your knife"
Duffy
Analysis
The lingering scent and the word "knife" hint at love's possessiveness and its potential for danger.
Key quote: "Lethal."
Duffy
Analysis
The one-word sentence "Lethal." stands alone as a stark warning that love can be destructive, even deadly.
Fill in the gap: "Lying ＿＿＿＿＿ now, each in a separate bed"
Jennings
Answer: "Lying apart now, each in a separate bed"
Fill in the gap: "All men ＿＿＿＿＿"
Jennings
Answer: "All men elsewhere"
Fill in the gap: "How ＿＿＿＿＿ they lie. They hardly ever touch"
Jennings
Answer: "How cool they lie. They hardly ever touch"
Fill in the gap: "Strangely apart, yet ＿＿＿＿＿ close together"
Jennings
Answer: "Strangely apart, yet strangely close together"
Key quote: "He with a book, keeping the light on late"
Jennings
Analysis
The image of him reading alone, "keeping the light on late", shows two people sharing a room but living in isolation.
Key quote: "She like a girl dreaming of childhood"
Jennings
Analysis
The simile "like a girl dreaming of childhood" suggests she retreats into innocence, escaping a marriage drained of passion.
Key quote: "Her eyes fixed on the shadows overhead"
Jennings
Analysis
Staring at the "shadows overhead" hints at uncertainty, age and a growing sense of emptiness in the relationship.
Key quote: "Tossed up like flotsam from a former passion"
Jennings
Analysis
The simile of washed-up "flotsam" frames the couple as leftovers of a love that has now gone.
Key quote: "Of having little feeling - or too much"
Jennings
Analysis
The caesura and the paradox leave their feelings unresolved, either numb or secretly overwhelmed.
Key quote: "Whose fire from which I came, has now grown cold?"
Jennings
Analysis
The metaphor of a dying "fire" and the rhetorical question mourn the faded passion that once created the speaker.
Fill in the gap: "let me be your ＿＿＿＿＿ cleaner"
Cooper Clarke
Answer: "let me be your vacuum cleaner"
Fill in the gap: "＿＿＿＿＿ in your dust"
Cooper Clarke
Answer: "breathing in your dust"
Fill in the gap: "you call the ＿＿＿＿＿"
Cooper Clarke
Answer: "you call the shots"
Fill in the gap: "i will never ＿＿＿＿＿"
Cooper Clarke
Answer: "i will never rust"
Key quote: "let me be your ford cortina"
Cooper Clarke
Analysis
The everyday image of a "ford cortina", a common 1980s car, replaces traditional romantic symbols. It makes love feel ordinary and real.
Key quote: "i wanna be yours"
Cooper Clarke
Analysis
The refrain "i wanna be yours" is repeated throughout, driving home the speaker's total devotion and giving the poem a song-like beat.
Key quote: "let me be your teddy bear"
Cooper Clarke
Analysis
Offering to be a "teddy bear", an allusion to Elvis, shows the speaker wants to give comfort and reassurance.
Key quote: "take me with you anywhere"
Cooper Clarke
Analysis
The plea to be taken "anywhere" expresses a strong longing for closeness that edges towards dependence.
Key quote: "let me be the electric heater"
Cooper Clarke
Analysis
The household image of an "electric heater" casts the speaker as an essential source of warmth, hinting at a need to be needed.
Key quote: "i don't wanna be hers"
Cooper Clarke
Analysis
The late mention of "hers" makes the devotion sound like a defensive argument for monogamy, giving the ending an uneasy, ambiguous feel.
Fill in the gap: "What I love about love is its ＿＿＿＿＿"
Hadfield
Answer: "What I love about love is its diagnosis"
Fill in the gap: "What I ＿＿＿＿＿ about love is its prognosis"
Hadfield
Answer: "What I hate about love is its prognosis"
Fill in the gap: "What I love about love is its ＿＿＿＿＿ – you"
Hadfield
Answer: "What I love about love is its zookeeper – you"
Fill in the gap: "What I ＿＿＿＿＿ about love is its burnt toast and bonemeal"
Hadfield
Answer: "What I loathe about love is its burnt toast and bonemeal"
Key quote: "What I hate about love is its me me me"
Hadfield
Analysis
The childish repetition of "me me me" mimics the selfishness that love can bring out in people.
Key quote: "What I love about love is its Eat-me/Drink-me"
Hadfield
Analysis
The allusion to Alice in Wonderland presents love as magical and transforming.
Key quote: "What I hate about love is its shrinking potion"
Hadfield
Analysis
The magical image of a "shrinking potion" suggests love can make you feel small and powerless.
Key quote: "What I love about love is its doubloons"
Hadfield
Analysis
The pirate-treasure image of "doubloons" presents love as precious and full of adventure.
Key quote: "What I hate about love is its boil-wash"
Hadfield
Analysis
The metaphor of a "boil-wash" shows love scalding and stripping you bare, a painful experience.
Key quote: "What I hate about love is its sick parrot"
Hadfield
Analysis
The closing image of a "sick parrot" links love to adventure that can also weaken or sicken you, hinting at its risk.
Fill in the gap: "those green ＿＿＿＿＿"
Scannell
Answer: "those green spears"
Fill in the gap: "White blisters beaded on his ＿＿＿＿＿ skin."
Scannell
Answer: "White blisters beaded on his tender skin."
Fill in the gap: "＿＿＿＿＿ in fury"
Scannell
Answer: "slashed in fury"
Fill in the gap: "That regiment of ＿＿＿＿＿ behind the shed"
Scannell
Answer: "That regiment of spite behind the shed"
Key quote: "My son aged three fell in the nettle bed."
Scannell
Analysis
The matter-of-fact opening establishes a calm, controlled tone that hides the parent's deep concern for his child.
Key quote: "We soothed him till his pain was not so raw."
Scannell
Analysis
The plural "We" conveys united, tender parenting as they comfort the hurt child together.
Key quote: "a watery grin"
Scannell
Analysis
The weak "watery grin" marks the child's slow recovery and return to comfort.
Key quote: "A funeral pyre to burn the fallen dead"
Scannell
Analysis
The death imagery of a "funeral pyre" shows the parent's extreme, almost vengeful response as he attacks the nettles, part of the poem's military metaphor.
Key quote: "tall recruits"
Scannell
Analysis
The personification of the nettles as "tall recruits" regrowing proves nature is stronger than the parent's efforts, hinting at futility.
Key quote: "My son would often feel sharp wounds again."
Scannell
Analysis
The resigned final line admits the parent is powerless to shield his child from the pain of life.
Fill in the gap: "＿＿＿＿＿ and hold"
Armitage
Answer: "handle and hold"
Fill in the gap: "feel the ＿＿＿＿＿"
Armitage
Answer: "feel the hurt"
Fill in the gap: "the ＿＿＿＿＿ of his broken ribs"
Armitage
Answer: "the rungs of his broken ribs"
Fill in the gap: "the damaged, ＿＿＿＿＿ collar-bone"
Armitage
Answer: "the damaged, porcelain collar-bone"
Key quote: "passionate nights and intimate days"
Armitage
Analysis
The image of "passionate nights" recalls the closeness the couple have lost since his return, setting up the poem's distance.
Key quote: "the frozen river which ran through his face"
Armitage
Analysis
The metaphor of a "frozen river" running through his face captures his numbed, repressed emotions.
Key quote: "the blown hinge of his lower jaw"
Armitage
Analysis
The mechanical image of a "blown hinge" shows a body broken and disjointed by the injury of war.
Key quote: "the parachute silk of his punctured lung"
Armitage
Analysis
The military metaphor of "parachute silk" ties his damaged lung directly to the war that caused it.
Key quote: "a sweating, unexploded mine"
Armitage
Analysis
The metaphor of an "unexploded mine" suggests buried trauma that could still detonate at any moment.
Key quote: "Then, and only then, did I come close."
Armitage
Analysis
The emphatic ending shows that true closeness comes only from reaching his mind, bringing a hard-won resolution.
Fill in the gap: "five days ＿＿＿＿＿"
de Kok
Answer: "five days dead"
Fill in the gap: "He ＿＿＿＿＿, he hid away."
de Kok
Answer: "He hid, he hid away."
Fill in the gap: "face to the ＿＿＿＿＿, he lay."
de Kok
Answer: "face to the wall, he lay."
Fill in the gap: "a louder, ＿＿＿＿＿ place"
de Kok
Answer: "a louder, braver place"
Key quote: "Which way do we face to talk to the dead?"
de Kok
Analysis
The rhetorical question in the epigraph frames the poem's central struggle to communicate with the dead.
Key quote: "the borrowed coffin gleams unnaturally"
de Kok
Analysis
The pathetic fallacy of the coffin gleaming "unnaturally" adds a sense of unease to an already painful moment.
Key quote: "the pine one has not yet been delivered"
de Kok
Analysis
The mundane detail that the pine coffin "has not yet been delivered" shows the speaker deflecting from raw emotion, a form of avoidance.
Key quote: "unfrozen collar of his striped pyjamas"
de Kok
Analysis
The soft, sensory detail of the "striped pyjamas" breaks through the formality with sudden tenderness and poignancy.
Key quote: "my father's wry smile, his half-turned face"
de Kok
Analysis
The father's "half-turned face" suggests a reserved, hard-to-read man, keeping an emotional distance even now.
Key quote: "My father would not show us how to die."
de Kok
Analysis
The title line becomes a refrain suggesting the father withheld emotion even in death, teaching the family to repress their own feelings.
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