Senior Poetry: Last Post

'In 2009, after winning critical acclaim for years in the United Kingdom (UK) and elsewhere, Carol Ann Duffy was named the first female poet laureate of the UK...'

'It is wholly admirable that the new Poet Laureate,CarolAnnDuffy, shouldhavecommissioned a slew of modern war poetry. "War, it seems, makes poets of soldiers and not the otherwayround,"

'A historical look at the role of poetry in wartime...'

'Considered one of the most representative, widely read, important, and loved poets of her time, Duffy has produced many collections since the publication of Standing Female Nude in 1985. It received the Scottish Arts Council book award, and her other collections also received prizes such as the Somerset Maughan for Selling Manhattan (1987) and the Forward and Whitbread for her fourth collection Mean Time (1993). She was given an Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 1995. In addition to her outstanding reputation and output, she qualifies as a major poet on account of her range and influence on other poets. She restored poetry's function as public utterance and generated new kinds of democratic expression that maintain the imaginative and linguistic qualities of her art...'

'‘Last Post’ was commissioned by the BBC to mark the deaths of Harry Patch and Henry Allingham, two of the last surviving British First World War veterans. How might this context help you to think about the poem’s title, and how might the title help you to think about the poem?..'

'With the conflict in Afghanistan escalating and the Iraq inquiry pending, poet laureate Carol Ann Duffy commissions war poetry for today..'

'The theme is the underlying message that the writer or artist wants to convey. Themes can feature in poetry, a short story, a novel, or even a work of art...'