An accumulation of poems by myself for English. Also included is an annotation of "Civilisation".

1. P O E T RY A N T H O L O G Y
S O P H I E PA L M E R D A L E

2. A N N O TAT E D P O E M
C I V I L I S AT I O N - A RT H U R H E N RY

3. C I V I L I S A T I O N
A R T H U R H E N RY A D A M S
Dear fellow gamer,!
!
One moment mankind rides the crested wave,
A moment glorious, beyond recall;
And then the wave, with slow and massive fall,
Obliterates the beauty that it gave.
When discrowned king and manumitted slave
Are free and equal to be slaves of all,
Democracies in their wide freedom brawl,
And go down shouting to a common grave.
So one by one the petals of the rose
Shrivel and fade, and all its splendour goes
Back to the earth; and in her arms embraced
Through wintry centuries the dead seeds sleep
Till spring comes troubling them, and they unleap,
Once more their petals on the world to waste.!
!
Metaphor of mankind’s thrive,
describing it as a wave
Extended metaphor
relating to previous
“wave”
Another metaphor
describing the “fall” as a
rose dropping petals
Sibilance, excessive use of
’s’ sound
A
B
B
A
A
B
B
A
C
C
D
D
E
E
Rhyme scheme is
complicated and not
consistent

4. C O M M E N TA RY
Metaphors are a figurative language technique used extensively
and consistently throughout the poem. There is one extended
metaphor used also. The first metaphor, saying that “mankind
rides a crested wave”, is comparing humanity’s rise to power as
the height of a wave. This gives the image of man being strong
and powerful. The extended metaphor, however, also relates to a
wave, talking about the wave’s drop, stating civilisation has had
or is having a “slow and massive fall”. At this point in the poem’s
general theme is portrayed as being less cheerful as first
expected.

5. C O M M E N TA RY
Sibilance, repetitive use of the sound ’s’ is used often in the second
half of the poem, in the couplet, mostly for the effect of creating a
threatening feel, as this poem certainly attempts to do. It is used to
emphasis the rose metaphor, of the “petals” dropping.
The rhyme scheme of ‘Civilisation’ is perhaps unique. It seems
orderly at first, with two lines of ABBA. However, it then seems to
dwindle into a completely different pattern with a couplet, then
DEED to finish. This dwindling could also be connected to the
dwindling of mankind, as stated in the poem, describing how the
downfall makes things less orderly, delving into chaos before it
vanishes.

6. P E R S O N A L R E S P O N S E
“Civilisation” caught my eye on a personal level because of all the wars and conflicts that
are raging around us currently. I believe this poem is talking about simple civilisations of
history in general because of the ending,
“Till spring comes troubling them, and they unleap, once more their petals on the world
to waste.”
However, when I read the poem I interpret it as the ever shortening wax of the candle of
our entire civilisation on Earth. Many of the lines remind me of Israel and Palestine on the
Gaza Strip, such as “Democracies in their wide freedom brawl, and go down shouting to
a common grave”. All of the “petals” could fall with a touch of a button in our world,
bringing to the spotlight the fragility of our lives. It is true,
One moment mankind rides the crested wave,
A moment glorious, beyond recall;
And then the wave, with slow and massive fall,
Obliterates the beauty that it gave.

7. P O E M O N E :
S O N N E T
P I N P R I C K O F L I G H T

8. Dear fellow gamer,!
!
My Grandad’s favourite poem weighs my mind!
Life batters us all, leaving souls depleted!
But there is a chance of sight among us blind!
We can make an impact before defeated!
!
Short and sweet, a saying long said in every nation!
His poem says “In short measure, life can perfect be”!
These words still linger from that poem, perhaps they are our salvation!
Reminding us of precious time, hoping you agree!
!
For even the most wind-swept storms or raging fights!
Hold life worth living, thanks to a pinprick of light!
!
!

9. P O E M T W O :
F R E E V E R S E
D E A R F E L L O W G A M E R

10. Dear fellow gamer,!
!
Dear fellow gamer,!
!
On a screen, in your bedroom!
It’s a fantasy land!
Full of witches and wizards!
Coloured beautiful sands!
!
It has trolls and monsters!
That appear in the night!
At the sight of yourself!
They hide and take flight!
!
Any problems vanish!
With a swipe of your sword!
Your only trouble!
Is how much you scored!
!
In this dimensional hole!
You are hero of the story!
All quests undertaken!
You bathe in your glory!
!
!

11. Dear fellow gamer,!
Dear fellow gamer,!
!
Outside of the console!
You can’t take a stand!
No Sword of Might there!
In this actuality land!
!
There are bosses and teachers!
That you can’t really fight!
Can’t scare them off!
Can’t zap them with light!
!
You tumble down a hole!
Of three thousand storeys !
Hope dispersing !
Remembering old glory!
!
Card tricks and coins!
Is the only magic skill!
Cheating and lies!
Takes all good will!
!
!
!

12. Dear fellow gamer,!
Dear fellow gamer…!
!
This is life one like you has to face!
When the shadow of gaming darkens each pace!
Each step snatched away because you could not see!
The virtual guns from the life that exists in reality!
!
!
!
!

13. P O E M T H R E E :
F R E E V E R S E
E V E RY O N E I S “ D I F F E R E N T ”

14. !
In years gone by we have valued our soldiers!
Those tales of sacrificing and carrying on shoulders!
Where the valiant rushed amidst the battle in haste!
And the courageous chased; they died and defaced!
!
They who returned were given medals of glory!
Afterwards each told their different story!
The dead were given honours of their own!
Each proud name remembered in stone!
!
In years to come soldiers won’t attend war!
Those tales of sacrificing will exist no more!
Where the brave rushed in instead they will lie!
And they will die, without knowing of the bomb in the sky!
!
They won’t return, they’ll be ashes slain!
Afterwards a nuclear cloud will be all that remain!
The dead will die because there is no nobility!
Each human is “different”, in the eyes of civility!
!
!
!

15. V I S U A L P O E M
D E A R F E L L O W G A M E R