Grade 12 Poetry

A Teacher’s
Guide
Compiled by Umlazi District

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 CONTENTS

No. Aspect Page

I Introduction to Poetry 3-4
ii Figures of Speech 5
iii Useful Terminology 6-7
iv Sound devices 8
v How to analyse a poem 9
vi Ten steps to analyse a poem 10-11
vii Four Square Poetry Analysis 12 - 13
Title Poet Page
1. My Mistress Eyes (Sonnet 130) William Shakespeare 14 – 18
2. The child who was shot dead by Ingrid Jonker 19 – 23
soldiers in Nyanga
3. At a Funeral Dennis Brutus 24- 28
4. Poem of Return Jofre Rocha 29 – 32
5. Talk to the Peach Tree Sipho Sepamla 33 – 36
6. Prayer to Masks Léopold Sédar Senghor 37 – 40
7. This Winter Coming Karen Press 41 – 43
8. Solitude Ella Wheeler Wilcox 44 – 52
9. The Morning Sun is Shining Olive Schreiner 53 – 56
10. It is a beauteous evening, calm William Wordsworth 57 – 61
and free
11. Fern Hill Dylan Thomas 62 – 72
12. The Shipwreck Emily Dickinson 73 - 76
13 Setting the poetry Contextual 77
14 Setting the Unseen poem 78
15 Setting the Poetry essay 79
16 Acknowledgment of sources 80

Compiled by
D.Moodley Savannah Park Secondary
R.Gowthum-Seebadri Westville Boys High School
S.D.Daniels Durban High School
S.Sunker New West Secondary
K.Pillai Umbilo High School
Edited by Ms R.S.Hassan ( Wingen Heights Secondary)

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Terms you must be familiar with:
 Theme
 Intention
 Style
 Diction
 Tone
 Mood
 Form
 Rhythm
 Rhyme
 Imagery
 Symbolism

Theme:
It is the topic, main concept, or underlying idea. It is also occasionally used interchangeably with a piece of writing's
meaning or sense.

Intention:
The reason or motive the poet had for writing his poem. The poet may want:
to persuade , to defend, to express hatred / scorn, to protest, to praise, to argue, to express love, to flatter, to warn,
to criticise, to evoke sympathy, to enrage, to mock, to incite, etc.

Style:
It is the way a poet or writer represents himself, his defining characteristics, or the unique way in which he employs
the available language. It has many components, but sometimes it's useful to consider the time the poem or piece
was written to identify the poet's writing style. Sometimes it is useful to sum up a poet’s style in a word or two:
Colloquial, conversational, emotive, factual, humorous, idiomatic, sensational, succinct, terse, technical, clichéd, etc.

Diction:
This speaks to the poet's word choice or language The poet intentionally chose the words and the sequence of those
words to achieve his goals..Keep in mind that not all words have a set meaning; rather, the precise meaning of a word d
epends on its context.
Word sounds could also be significant. Every phrase a poet uses should be viewed as a tool to further his meaning.

Tone:
It is the poet’s attitude towards his subject and towards his readers. The tone can only be determined once one has
examined the poem thoroughly. The tone may also vary within a poem.
Examples of tone: * sincere,* humorous,* forceful *critical,* sarcastic,* ironical,* loving,* sentimental, *
joyful,* melancholy, *bitter,** mocking, etc.

Mood:
This refers to the poet's diction or word choice. To accomplish his objectives, the poet purposefully selected the words
and their placement in the text. Remember that not every word has the same meaning; rather, a word's exact meaning
relies on its context. The sounds of words may also be important. Every word a poet chooses should be seen as a tool
to help him express his ideas more fully.

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FORM: or structure and it may be rigid and prescribed or loose and undefined.

BALLAD:
Most ballads started as songs passed on from onegeneration to the next. Characteristics: * fast moving story,
* rhythm is pronounced * rhyme pattern (usually rhyming couplets or alternate rhymes) and * metre is usually iambic.
Poems in short stanzas narrating popular story without rhyme pattern or unpronounced rhythm, is narrative poetry.
Entertains the readers by telling a dramatic story.

METRE:
Poetic rhythm determined by character and number of feet.

IAMBIC: unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable.

TROCHIAC: stressed syllable followed by an unstressedsyllable.

ODE:
Poem often in the form of an address and in exalted style, in praise of something/one. It is exalted in both feelings and
expression, written in rhymed stanzas. Expresses the speaker’sadmiration.

ELEGY:
Song of lamentation or morning that honours someone/thing that has died. Subject matter is treated in a suitable
serious fashion. The tone is sad and mournful with a slow rhythm. Expresses the speaker’s sorrow.

LYRIC POETRY:
Originates also in songs. It is much more emotive thatusually conveys feelings. It is typically a short poem that deals
with a single theme or idea. Expresses the speaker’sfeelings.

AN ALLEGORY
It is the representation of abstract ideas or principles by characters. Once again the allegory makes use of the story
form, and it is long, but it either has a religious theme or it contains a moral warning, or offers advice to the reader, e.g.
“Animal Farm”

Rhythm:
Rhythm is the follow of words or ‘beat’ in a poem. It is the repetition or recurrence of stress.Metre is the term used
to describe the measurement of regular rhythm.
The function of rhythm is to emphasise or endorse the meaning of the words in a poem. It can also help create a
particular mood or atmosphere, convey a particular theme or set a particular pace.

Rhyme:
It is the repetition of similar sounds.
a) End rhyme: rhyme occurs at the end of lines of verse. (time; crime)
b) Half rhyme: words do not fully rhyme but there is a similarity in sound. (work; pitchfork)
c) Internal rhyme: a word in the middle of the verse line, rhymes with the word at the end ofthe verse line. (“In
mist or cloud, on mast or shroud,)

Imagery:
It is the use of word pictures or images that usually appeal to our senses but they may also appeal to the heart or the
mind.

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 Figures of speech:
Words, phrases or expressions used in a manner other than their literal meaning in order to produce a special effect.
It is important to know how figures of speech work.

POETIC DEVICES & FIGURES OF SPEECH FUNCTION / EFFECT (N.B.)

Figures of speech based on associated ideas

METONYMY:
Substitution of the name of something for that ofthe thing meant, e.g. “And ploughs down palaces, and thrones,and
towers.”

SYNECDOCHE:
A part is named but the whole is meant/understood, OR the whole is named but only part is meant/understood, e.g.“ …
his back to the five thin healthy head grazing.”

HYPERBOLE:
Exaggerated statement. Not meant to be taken literally.

EUPHEMISM:
Substitution of vague or mild expression for harsh or direct one, e.g. “He passed away” is aeuphemism for “He
died”.

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Other useful terminology
RHETORICAL QUESTION: It emphasizes the fact stated. It draws attention to the
Asked not for information but to produce effect. statement and makes the reader stop and think.

APOSTROPHE: It creates a sense of immediacy; it makes the person or

The poet addresses an inanimate object, or anabsent object addressed seem closer and more real.
person. When an inanimate object is addressed it is, of course,
personified.

PATHOS:
Quality in writing that excites pity or sadness. Excites pity or sadness.
ENJAMBMENT: It suggests continuation, so strengthens the meaning of
Continuation of sentence beyond end of line, e.g.“His state lines which state that something is going on without
Is kingly; thousands at his bidding speed And post stopping; it creates a fluent movement or helps create
o’er land and ocean without rest:” a restful mood; Sometimes it emphasizes the last word
of one line and the first word of the next line if the end of
the first line occurs at an unusual position.

INVERSION: It may create a jerky rhythm suggesting restlessness,

Reversal of normal, grammatical order of words,e.g. intense emotion, etc; it often serves to lift out certain
“How with this rage shall beauty hold a plea Whose words by placing them at the beginning or end of a line,
action is no stronger than a flower, or sentence, in an unusual position.
…”

SATIRE: Causes amusement/makes fun of people/ shows things

Ridiculing prevalent vices or follies e.g. or people up as fools/influencesthe reader’s response.
“Tis with our judgments as our watches, noneGo just
alike, yet each believes his own.”
DRAMATIC IRONY: It creates tension and links characters,
The audience/reader is aware of a fact which the speaker is events or themes.
unaware of. This gives the speaker’s words a double
meaning.
UNDERSTATEMENT:
Represents something as less than it really is: After the floods, when things were carried away bythe water, we say
“We’ve had some rain.”

CLIMAX:
Event or point of greatest intensity or interest.

ANTI-CLIMAX: Creates a let-down feeling, suggests a

Ineffective end to anything that has a suggestedclimax. feeling of disappointment / dissatisfaction.

ALLUSION:
Reference to a specific person, place, event or literary work in the course of a poem.

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Figures of speech based on comparison or resemblance.

PERSONIFICATION: It makes the scene more vivid or the actionmore

Attribute human qualities to thing or quality. forceful.

SIMILE: Makes the picture more vivid and helps to convey more
Comparison between two things, using like or as. accurately how the writer experienced a sensation.

METAPHOR: Makes the writer’s experience clearer and more vivid

Calling something by a name to an object/personwhich is and conveys a depth of meaning by calling up numerous
not literally applicable to it. associations in the mind of the reader.
Makes the description more compact.

Figures of speech based on contrast or differences

PUN:
Uses the double meaning of a word or phrase for suggestive and humorous purposes.

PARADOX:
A statement which is self-contradictory but which contains some truth. “One has to be cruel to bekind.”
Punishing a child who plays with the electric socket may seem cruel, but is kind, because if youdon’t he/she may be
electrocuted.

OXYMORON:
A paradox contained in two words: “rotten beauty”.
A beautiful girl with low morals is outwardly beautiful, but inside she is rotten.
ANTITHESIS:
Opposites are contrasted or balanced in two clauses or phrases.“The years to
come seemed waste of breath
A waste of breath the years beyond.”
(N.B. Antithesis contains no contradiction or seeming contradiction, it is merely opposites/contrasts)
SARCASM: Expresses feelings, serves to reveal the speaker’s
Bitter or wounding remark, ironically worded taunt. attitudes or feelings towards the person
meant/addressed.
IRONY: It expresses the speaker’s feelings and attitude towards
Expression of meaning by language of opposite the person/thing he is discussing. It is usually used to
or different tendency. create humour.

INNUENDO:
When something is hinted at without actually saying it.

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 Sound devices:
The following are not strictly figures of speech, although they are often classified as such. It iswhere the sound of
words is just as significant as the meaning of the words.

ALLITERATION: Links important words and emphasizes them. Imitates

Repetition of beginning consonant sounds, atshort sounds mentioned in the poem. Influences the rhythm,
intervals, of different words, e.g. either slowing down the tempo, or increasing it, depending
“ … my dongas on whether the words are long or short and whether the
and my ever-whirling dust,My sounds are clipped or drawn-out.
death …”

ASSONANCE: Creates vivid aural images by imitating thesounds of

Repetition of vowel sounds in two or more words, without objects mentioned in the poem.
the repetition of the same consonant, e.g.
“And all is seared with trade, bleared, smeared
with toil. …”

ONOMATOPOEIA: Imitates the sounds referred to.help to create a vivid aural

Forming words from sounds that resemble those picture and make the scene more immediate and real to
associated with the object or suggestive of its qualities, the reader.
e.g.“The buzz saw snarled and rattled in the yard …..”

Symbolism:
A symbol is any word or object which represents or suggests an idea.

Tone: quality or timbre of the voice that conveys the emotional message of a text. In awritten text, it is achieved
through words.

Mood: atmosphere or emotion in written texts; shows the feeling or the frame of mind of the characters; it also refers
to the atmosphere produced by visual, audio or multi-mediatexts.

Theme: the central idea or ideas in text; a text may contain several themes and these may notbe explicit or obvious.

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 METHODS TO ANALYSE A POEM :
 Treat each poem as a work of art! Instead of pointing out flaws, consider the advantages.
 Maintain an open attitude and give the poet's voice some room to impact you.
 Before doing a thorough analysis of a poem, read it at least three times.

 The ENTIRE poem must be considered. Start with the complete poem, then go on to its component portions, and
finally come back to the whole poem.

METHOD
 If you can, read the poem aloud several times.
 Consider what the poet is trying to convey to the reader.
 Consider identifying the topic and the subject.
 Take into account the poet's motivations for creating the specific poem.
 Examine the poet's diction in detail.
 Consider the language and writing style that were employed.
 Any words you do not understand or know, look them up.
 Establish the emotions the poet wants the reader to experience before evaluating the poem's atmosphere.
 Examine the poem's structure to see how the poet used it to convey his ideas.
 Check out the poet's use of rhyme, rhythm, figures of speech, and sound effects.
 Examine each one separately to determine how it affects the poem's overall success.
 List any more remarkable or peculiar characteristics.
 Determine whether the poet's intention was successful.

Poetry literary essay:

This essay will be a shorter version. The structure of this literary essay is exactly the same as aprose literary essay.

REMEMBER:
 Write in the third person (objective).
 Use the present tense while writing.
 Every point MUST be backed by evidence from the poem (you are analyzing the assigned assignment today).
 An introduction and a summary
 Question is quickly rephrased in the text to demonstrate your viewpoint. (Are you in agreement?
 Make a mental map of the question's important components.
 Find instances from the poem to substantiate each component under that aspect.
 Don't provide criticism on a poem's quality (excellent or terrible); only say whether the author was successful in
achieving the stated goals.
 Do not just reiterate the subject matter of the poem or its historical context; instead, focus on the issue.
 Include your understanding of poetic devices.
 (Learn them and master them immediately!)
 Stick to the word count by writing coherently in paragraphs and avoiding repetition and pointless instances.

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 TEN STEPS TO ANALYSE A POEM

When reading a new poem, it is important to identify the main ideas and the techniques used to present
them. The diagram below shows the ten steps that take a reader to comprehend and explore the stylistic
features of a poem.

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 Four Square Poetry Analysis:
Imagery and Sound devices: Tone, Attitude:
(Figurative language is language that uses  Words that give the feeling and emotion thatthe
words orexpressions with a meaning that is poet wants to express.
different from the literal interpretation. When a  Which words are chosen to create a mood/
feeling?
writer uses literallanguage, he or she is simply
 Does the tone change in the poem?
stating the facts as they are.)
 Is the poem satirical, ironic, thoughtful, sad,
 Describing words? painful, happy, celebratory, funny?
 Alliteration  Word choice:
 Onomatopoeia  Connotations- emotions attached
 Metaphors  Denotation- actual meanings of words.
 Similes  Why does the writer use the tone or feeling inthe
 Vivid Language poem?
 Word Choice
 Alliteration, assonance, onomatopoeia

 Why does the poet choose these words?

 What effect do they have on the overall poem?

Style/Structure/Form: Interpretation/Theme/Message:
 What type of poem is this? Eg. Lyric, epic,  What is the poet trying to say (message)?
narrative, haiku, free verse, prose, ekphrasis  Who or what is the poem for?
 How many stanzas? Are they a particular type?  Is it about a historical event?
Eg. Couplets, quatrains et al.  An important event in the life of a person (birth,death,
 Other considerations: Line length, love, mental illness, change of heart, upheaval in
linegroupings, are there metric their life)?
patterns.  Who is the narrator? Who is speaking and to
 Is there rhyme? A rhyme scheme? whom? Under what circumstances is the narrator
 Note the unusual use of punctuation, or speaking?
absence of it  What does the poem mean to you? Can you
 Why does the writer use these devices relate to the feeling or to the events in the poem?
orforms? What message, or feeling do you pullfrom the
story/words/form of the poem?
 What themes can you identify in the poem?

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 KEY ASPECTS AND GUIDING QUESTIONS FOR POETRY ANALYSIS

After forming a general impression of the poem, it is necessary to progress from the comprehension to the
appreciation level. For a more in-depth analysis of a poem, you should examine the following seven aspects in
greater detail. Some guiding questions are provided below to guide you to notice and identify the features
under each aspect.

1. Content/Subject and Theme(s)

 Does the title give you an idea of what the poem may be about?
 What is the poem about? What concept and ideas is the poem exploring? What is the writer’s view on this
subject?
 Can you summarise the main idea of the poem or paraphrase it in a few sentences?
 Are there messages or ideas that are repeatedly stated in the poem to draw the reader’s attention?
 Are the themes and messages implicitly or explicitly stated in the poem?
 How are the ideas organised in the poem? Are they developed in a straightforward manner to a conclusion? Is
there a shift or turning point in its development? If yes, when and why does the shift take place?

2. Speaker, Tone and Voice

 Who is the speaker of the poem?
 Is the speaker the poet or a character/persona the poet takes on?
 Who is the speaker speaking to?
 What is the tone of voice adopted?
 What is the speaker’s attitude towards the subject in the poem?
 Does the poem sound happy or sad when you read it aloud?
 Can any of the adjectives of feelings and emotions listed below describe the tone and voice of the speaker?

3. Setting and Atmosphere

 Where and when is the poem set? Does the setting create any prevailing feeling in the poem?
 Does the setting affect the mood of the speaker?
 Can any of the adjectives listed below describe the mood and atmosphere of the poem?

Form and Structure

 Does the poem follow a regular poetic form (e.g. sonnets, ballads, haiku) or stanza form (e.g. quatrains)?
 Is the regularity in the form and structure broken in any part of the poem? How and why?
 Do the lines end with a completion of a thought or closed punctuation (i.e. end-stopped lines) or flow without
pause from one to the next (i.e. enjambment, run-on lines)?
 How do the form and structure contribute to the development of ideas and themes in the poem?
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4. Sound Effects
 What sounds are frequently used in the poem?
 Is there a rhyming pattern/rhyme scheme in the poem? Are there any examples ofinternal rhymes?
 What is the rhythm of the poem? Can you identify the metre of the poem or apattern of stressed and
unstressed syllables?
 Does the poet use any sound devices (e.g. alliteration, assonance, consonance,onomatopoeia)?
 What effects do the devices create and how do they help to present the themes ofthe poem?

5. Poetic Devices
 Does the poet use imagery in the poem? What senses (i.e. sight, hearing, smell,taste, touch) are
appealed to?
 Does the poet use poetic techniques such as similes, metaphors, personification,metonymy or other
figurative language such as symbolism in the poem?
 What effects do the devices create and how do they help to present the themes ofthe poem?

6. Diction/Word Choice/Use of language

 How would you characterize the language and diction in the poem? Is there a tendency to use a particular kind
of language (e.g. colloquial/formal/slangy/archaic expressions, polysyllabic/mono-syllabic words, foreign terms
or indigenised varieties of English)?
 Is there any unusual use of language (e.g. inverted order of words, coined words) that breaks the conventions
and rules?
 Is there any significance to the capitalisation and spelling of words?
 What effects does the choice of language create?

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 SONNET 130 – WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE

1 My mistress’ eyes are nothing like the sun;

2 Coral is far more red, than her lips red:
3 If snow be white, why then her breasts are dun;
4 If hairs be wires, black wires grow on her head.
5 I have seen roses damasked, red and white,
6 But no such roses see I in her cheeks;
7 And in some perfumes is there more delight
8 Than in the breath that from my mistress reeks.
9 I love to hear her speak, yet well I know
10 That music hath a far more pleasing sound:
11 I grant I never saw a goddess go,
12 My mistress, when she walks, treads on the ground:
13 And yet by heaven, I think my love as rare,
14 As any she belied with false compare.

Glossary:
Coral: a hard stony substance, typically forming large reefs in warm seas. Known for its bright red or pink colour.
Dun: a dull, greyish-brown colour
Damasked: patterned in pinks and red Grant: admit
Rare: precious, unique
Belied: falsely portrayed

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SUMMARY
Shakespeare deals with the conventional way of glorifying his beloved. Their love exists on a plane. This sonnet taps on the
themes of love and perception vs reality. * The primary purpose of "Sonnet 130" is to criticize poets who overuse hyperbole to
describe their romantic relationships. The speaker believes that his love is not as beautiful as natural objects and makes
comparisons between the lover and several other attractive women, never in her favour. This sonnet's main topics are
admiration, love, and outward
appearances. The poet's definition of beauty and the accepted standard of beauty are both presented in the poem. He makes
reference to his mistress's physical characteristics throughout the poem, which is why he does not judge his love according to
external criteria of beauty.

William Shakespeare introduces the reader to a person who is being described as the key of one's heart, in a criticizing
society. Shakespeare's Sonnet 130 conveys a need to revolt against society beauty norms in order to free oneself from
pressuring traditional views of attractiveness.

Like many other sonnets from the same period, Shakespeare's poem wrestles with beauty, love, and desire. He tries to find a
more authentic, realistic way to talk about these things in the sonnet, and gleefully dismisses the highly artificial poems of
praise his peers were writing. Shakespeare's poem also departs from his contemporaries in terms of formal structure — it is a
new kind of sonnet—the "Shakespearean" sonnet.
 Here we are introduced for the first time to the main character in this poem, the speaker's "mistress."
 Today, when we use the word "mistress," it's usually to refer to a woman who is dating a married man. In
Shakespeare, though, it was more general, like "my love" or "my darling."
 The speaker jumps right into his anti-love poem, letting us know that this lady's eyes aren't like the sun. Well, so
what? We wouldn't really expect them to be, would we?
 As we read the next few lines though, we see that the comparison is a standard way of praising a beautiful woman in
a poem. It's like saying, "her eyes are like sapphires."
 Our speaker is refusing to fall back on clichés though, instead telling us that this simile doesn't apply at all.

LINE BY LINE ANALYSIS AND EXPLANATION

Line 1
My mistress’ eyes are nothing like the sun;
Mistress – This was not how we would use the phrase today; rather, it was a more broad allusion that meant
"my love" or "my sweetheart." .When we say a woman is a mistress, we often mean that she is dating a
married man.

Shakespeare thoroughly refutes the popular comparison of a lover's eyes to the sun and sunlight in this sonnet by
emphasizing that this woman's eyes are not brilliant and utilizing the words "nothing like" to do so. The mistress's eyes are
being compared to the sun in this metaphor. The sun gives off the impression of something sparkling and brilliant. The
mistress's eyes, on the other hand, are the antithesis of brilliant and bright since they are "nothing" like the sun. The
comparison used by the speaker suggests that the woman's eyes are nothing exceptional or out of the norm.

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Line 2
Coral is far more red than her lips' red;
 If you imagined a stereotypically beautiful woman, like a model in a magazine, she'd probably have red lips, right?
 Certain kinds of very red coral are polished and used to make jewelry so if you compared lips to coral, you'd be
thinking of the most beautiful, shiny red thing you could imagine.
 Nope, says the speaker, that doesn't sound like my girlfriend's lips at all.

Line 3
If snow be white, why then her breasts are dun;
 Next come the mistress's breasts.
 They get pretty much the same treatment as her lips.
 If the reddest red is like coral, then the whitest white is the colour of snow. A poet could praise a woman for having
skin as white as snow.
 Not here, though. This woman's skin isn't white, or even cream coloured. Instead, the speaker calls it "dun," a sort of
grayish-brown colour.
 Be sure to notice the little changes here. In the first two lines, we hear only that the woman isn't like these other things
(the sun, coral).
 Now we get an actual description, an adjective ("dun") that applies to her. Unfortunately, it just makes her sound
uglier. Dun is a word often used to describe the colour of a horse, and definitely not the kind of thing a woman would
be thrilled to hear about her breasts.

Line 4
If hairs be wires, black wires grow on her head.
 Now things just get worse.
 If a poet wanted to be sentimental and sweet, he might compare his lover's hair to something soft, smooth, and shiny,
like silk. Here though, the mistress's hair is compared to black wires sticking out of the top of her head.
 Keep in mind that the whole point of this poem is to push back against standard ways of talking about women in
poems. So it's not necessarily bad that she has frizzy black hair.

Lines 5-6
I have seen roses damasked, red and white,
But no such roses see I in her cheeks;
 There's a tricky word here: damasked. Basically it just means a pattern of mixed colours woven into expensive fabric.
 So imagine a rose with a white and red pattern on it, or maybe a bouquet of red and white roses. Our speaker has
seen beautiful roses like that, but his mistress's cheeks don't remind him of them at all.
 Maybe some perfectly beautiful woman has cheeks that are white with just a little blush of red, but that's not the
woman he's talking about.
Lines 7-8
And in some perfumes is there more delight
Than in the breath that from my mistress reeks.
 By now we've got the idea, right?
 The speaker tells us that some perfumes smell better (give more "delight") than this woman's lover's breath.
 Apparently she stinks, too.
 Let's recap quickly: so far the speaker said that his mistress's eyes aren't that great, that her lips aren't that red, that
her skin is yellowish, that her hair is like wires, that her cheeks are nothing like roses, and that her breath reeks.
 What a way to start a love poem.

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Line 9-10
I love to hear her speak, yet well I know
That music hath a far more pleasing sound;
 Now, after all of that criticism, the speaker starts to get a little bit nicer.
 He admits that he really does "love to hear her speak." Seems like she was due for a compliment, doesn't it?
 The speaker can't just let it go at that, though, and immediately he starts to back up a little.
 Basically, that "yet" in the middle of line 9 gets us ready for a negative comparison. It's like saying, "You're really
great, but…"
 Then, in line 10, we get the negative half of that thought: he thinks that music is "more pleasing" than the sound of her
voice.
 Well, maybe that's not so bad after all. If your boyfriend or girlfriend said, "I like music more than the sound of your
voice," you might not exactly be thrilled, but it sure beats having him or her tell you that your breath stinks.
 Maybe the speaker is softening up a little bit.

Line 11-12
I grant I never saw a goddess go;
My mistress when she walks treads on the ground.
 Here's another thought that is split over two lines. In line 11, the speaker essentially tells us that he's willing to admit
that he's never seen a goddess move. (See why Shakespeare's the poet and not us? Listen to how smoothly those
words flow together: grant…goddess…go. Nice, huh?)
 Now, when the speaker finishes his thought on line 12, he's not actually being mean at all, just stating the facts. His
mistress isn't a goddess, she doesn't fly or soar or float along. She just walks (treads) like a normal person, on the
ground.
 A pretentious poet might say: "My love walks like a goddess," but we would know that it isn't true. Has he ever seen a
goddess? Maybe the best way to tell someone you love him or her in a poem is to be simple, honest and
straightforward.

Lines 13-14
And yet, by heaven, I think my love as rare
As any she belied with false compare.
 Now, at long last, we get to the sweet part, but it might take a little bit of translating.
 Here are two lines in plain English: the speaker thinks that his lover is as wonderful ("rare") as any woman ("any she")
who was ever misrepresented ("belied") by an exaggerated comparison ("false compare").
 These last two lines are the payoff for the whole poem. They serve as the punch-line for the joke. They drive home
the speaker's main point, that unlike other people who write sonnets, he doesn't need flowery terms or fancy
comparisons. He can just tell his mistress, plainly and simply, that he loves her for who she is.

"Sonnet 130" opens with a simile—or, at least, something like a simile. The speaker uses the word "like" to compare two
unlike things: his mistress' eyes and the sun. But he says that her eyes are nothing like the sun, blocking the connection
between the two things at the same moment he suggests it. This sets up a pattern that applies to both metaphor and simile
throughout the poem. The speaker is not interested in finding clever ways of saying what his mistress looks like. Rather, he
insists, repeatedly, that certain metaphors and similes do not capture his mistress' appearance. The poem, then, can be read
as a rejection of simile. The speaker loves his mistress for herself, for being "rare," and the entire poem stands against all
forms of "false compare" — essentially the speaker is insisting that similes are lies that do a disservice when used to describe
people.

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TONE AND MOOD

The difference between the Fair Youth and the Dark Lady sonnets is not merely in address, but also in tone and mood: while
the Fair Youth sequence use mostly romantic and tender words, the Dark Lady sonnets are characterized by their overt
references to sex and bawdiness. Scholars have attempted to illustrate the difference of tone and mood between them by
stating that the Fair Youth sequence refers to spiritual love, while the Dark Lady sequence refers to sexual passion. There
have been a number of attempts to identify the Dark Lady, however, none have come to fruition.

What is the parody in Shakespeare’s ‘Sonnet 130’?

In this sonnet, Shakespeare parodies the convention of contemporary sonnets and satirizes the attempt of glorifying one’s
beloved to an unrealistic height.

What is unusual about the mistress in ‘Sonnet 130’?

In this sonnet, the mistress’ description is unusual in respect to the convention of flowery, courtly sonnets. Her eyes are unlike
the sun and she does not have red lips. Besides, her skin is dun and her hairs are like black wires. According to Shakespeare,
her mistress reeks and she has a dull voice. When she walks, her footfall makes sounds.

THEMES

The main theme of this piece deals with the conventional way of glorifying a speaker’s beloved and how Shakespeare looks at
her lady love. It is a matter of seeing a human by her worth in one’s life. Using far-fetched comparisons to elevate a lady
actually elongates the distance between two souls. Shakespeare says they are at a similar level. Their love exists on this
plane. He loves the lady as she already is. She does not have anything sparkling or glorious in her looks, yet the speaker
treats his relationship as rare. This sonnet also taps on the themes of love and perception vs reality.

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 THE CHILD WHO WAS SHOT DEAD BY SOLDIERS AT NYANGA – INGRID JONKER

1 The child is not dead

2 the child raises his fists against his mother
3 who screams Africa screams the smell
4 of freedom and heather
5 in the locations of the heart under siege
6 The child raises his fists against his father
7 in the march of the generations
8 who scream Africa scream the smell
9 of justice and blood
10 in the streets of his armed pride

11 The child is not dead

12 neither at Langa nor at Nyanga
13 nor at Orlando nor at Sharpeville
14 nor at the police station in Philippi
15 where he lies with a bullet in his head

16 The child is the shadow of the soldiers

17 on guard with guns saracens and batons
18 the child is present at all meetings and legislations
19 the child peeps through the windows of houses and into the hearts of mothers
20 the child who just wanted to play in the sun at Nyanga is everywhere
21 the child who became a man treks through all of Africa
22 the child who became a giant travels through the whole world
23 Without a pass

Glossary
*cordoned – enclosed, closed off as if with a line of police or soldiers, or with fences
*saracens – armoured military vehicles *pass – permit for moving around (as a non-white person) during Apartheid *heather - flowers

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BACKGROUND:
Written in around 1933 – 1965 in South Africa
The child who was shot dead by soldiers at Nyanga” is a poem of protest, written by the South African poet Ingrid Jonker.
Jonker wrote this piece in response to the Sharpeville massacre of 21 March 1960. The poem was written in Afrikaans - by the
title Die kind (“The child”). This piece speaks on the brutal massacres occurring across South Africa during the Apartheid
regime - system of institutionalized racial segregation that existed from 1948 to the early 1990s.

SUMMARY :
The poem centres on a child who was killed by the police during the anti-pass-laws protests across South Africa. Especially,
the Sharpeville massacre stirred Ingrid Jonker to pen down this poem in resistance of the blatant brutality and barbarism
against the innocents. This piece describes how the child who was killed during the protest is still alive. He raises his fists
against the injustice happening in his country. His scream resembles the tone of freedom, identity, and protest. According to
the speaker, the metaphorical child has grown bigger than the oppressors ever thought of. He is present everywhere,
regulating the unequal terms that cause South African’s pain. Ironically, now he does not need a pass to roam in his own land.

POETIC DEVICES AND FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE:

Repetition
* repetition of the line “The child is not dead” at the beginning of the first and third stanzas.
*In the first two stanzas, “the child raises his fists against” and “who screams Africa screams the smell” are repeated.
The poet creates a resonance of ideas and emphasizes her idea present in the quoted lines.

Anaphora:
The consecutive lines that begin with similar words - used for emphasis - found in:
Lines 1-2 (beginning with “The child”)
Lines 13-14 (beginning with “nor at”)
Last stanza (all the lines begin with the phrase “The child”)

Metaphor:
“The child is not dead”: Firstly, the child is a symbol of the growing sense of freedom in the South African’s hearts against the
Apartheid system. Here, the comparison is made between a “child” to a thought of freedom.
“the smell/ of freedom and heather”: It metaphorically hints at the feeling associated with freedom. Jonker connects it with the
“smell” of “heather”.
“the locations of the heart under siege”: In this phrase, individual confinement or segregation is described as the “heart under
siege”.
“the smell/ of justice and blood”: Like the phrase “the smell/ of freedom and heather”, here the comparison is made between
the “smell” of blood and the feeling associated with freedom.
“the shadow of the soldiers”: Here, Jonker refers to the child as a soldier. He follows a similar path of violence shown by the
brutal soldiers.
“a giant travels through the whole world”: Jonker compares the child to a “giant” in order to portray the growing sense of
freedom, justice, and resistance among the Africans.

Allusion:
In the third stanza, Jonker alludes to the massacre at Sharpeville. She protests against the brutality of the armed forces on the
peaceful protestors who were demonstrating against the draconian pass laws. Besides, the poet alludes to the protests that

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occurred in other townships including Langa, Nyanga, Orlando, and Philippi. She describes how innocent children were killed
across her country.

Irony:
The last line of the poem “Without a pass” contains irony. Refers to the child that does not require any pass (a form of internal
passport for the coloured citizen) to travel in his own country. However, in reality, natives required such a pass needed for
employment and living.
In this line “the child who just wanted to play in the sun at Nyanga is everywhere”, the speaker ironically talks about the fate of
children living in the Apartheid regime. If they were alive, they could play in their own land. But, the white minorities made their
families leave their own land and live elsewhere. If they protested, they were brutally oppressed or killed.

Paradox:
Stanza 3 line 1 “The child is not dead”. While, in the last line, the speaker remarks, “where he lies with a bullet in his head”. It
is a use of paradox where two ideas are in conflict. Using this device, Jonker tries to convey that the child died physically, but
he is still alive in her heart and the hearts of the Africans.

Poetic Diction:
Diction is that of an enraged protestor who adamantly wants an answer for the child’s death. Specific terms, poetic devices,
and tone cumulatively make this piece a manifesto of protest. For example, in line 1 “The child is not dead” contains litotes. It
portrays that the child is still alive by using double negatives. Besides, this line contains a metaphor. Here, the sense of
freedom is compared to a “child”, growing inside one’s mind. Besides, the terms such as “fists”, “freedom”, “blood” and
“scream” are meant for infusing the spirit of nationalism.

Structure:
four stanzas and ends with a one-line coda (concluding remark). The first three stanzas contain five lines each and the fourth
stanza has seven lines. It is written in free verse, meaning it does not have a regular rhyme scheme or meter. This poem is
written from the third-person point of view. Jonker specifically uses the iambic rhythm (daa-dum) that resonates with the
footsteps of protest. Each line contains this rising rhythm that depicts the anger in the child’s heart as well as of those who
were oppressed. Apart from that, there are repetitions of similar sounds that create internal rhymings.

LINE BY LINE ANALYSIS AND EXPLANATION

Lines 1-2
allusion - their children cannot die. They are still alive in their hearts
The child raises both his fists against his mother. It shows this innocent kid’s keen desire for freedom and justice. Besides, the
“fist” is a symbol of resistance and revolution. So, through this image, the poet seeks a revolution that can end the pain of
Africans.

Lines 3-5
The child screams Africa. He shouts the “smell of freedom” and the “heather”. It means one can sense the growing sense of
freedom in everyone’s heart from his scream. His voice resonates with the demand of those who reside in the heather or veld.
His shrill voice demanding freedom reaches the nooks and corners of the continent. It breaks through the fences set up
against his fathers, mothers, brothers, and sisters. The “heart under siege” is a reference to a person who is oppressed or
segregated from the mainstream. Here, Jonker uses synecdoche in the usage of the word “heart”.

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Lines 6-10
The second stanza begins with a repetition of the second line of the poem. This time, the child raises his fists against his
father. His father is present in the march of generations. It portrays the march of South Africans against the “pass laws”. In one
of these demonstrations at Sharpeville, several children were killed. The incident moved Jonker to pen down this piece.
There is another repetition in the third line. Here, the poetic persona talks about the child’s scream that depicts his desire for
justice and blood. The term “blood” symbolizes the anger of all those who were oppressed and denied their rights. It is also a
reference to the bloodshed of the demonstrators.
In the last line, Jonker uses another synecdoche. Here, the term “armed pride” is an abstract idea that depicts the concrete
term “proud soldiers”. Besides, it is also a personal metaphor. Through this line, the speaker talks about the streets where the
proud soldiers were armed against the peacefully protesting Africans. According to Jonker, the child is also there and he
voices his people’s demands.

Lines 11-12
The third stanza begins with a repetition of the first line that acts as a refrain. It is meant for the sake of emphasizing the idea
concerning the child’s death. He is not dead. The brutal forces cannot kill him or others like him present in the
coloured townships such as Langa, Nyanga, Orlando, and Philippi.
Langa township is located in Cape Town, South Africa. On 21 March 1960, several anti-pass protestors were killed there, the
same day as the Sharpeville massacre. Nyanga is a township in the Western Cape, South Africa. The residents of Nyanga
also joined the national call to protest against the Apartheid laws passed in 1960. The title of the poem refers to a child of
Nyanga who was killed by the soldiers.
Langa township is located in Cape Town, South Africa. On 21 March 1960, several anti-pass protestors were killed there, the
same day as the Sharpeville massacre. Nyanga is a township in the Western Cape, South Africa. The residents of Nyanga
also joined the national call to protest against the Apartheid laws passed in 1960. The title of the poem refers to a child of
Nyanga who was killed by the soldiers.

Lines 13-15
In the third line, Jonker refers to Orlando, which is a township in the urban area of Soweto, South Africa. Some of the most
important events of the fight against the apartheid system occurred there. Sharpeville is a township in Transvaal, today part of
Gauteng. On 21 March 1960, South African police opened fire on the protestors, killing 69 people, including 8 women and 10
children, and injuring 180, including 31 women and 19 children.
In the following line, Jonker says that the children who were killed at the police station in Philippi were not dead. Philippi is one
of the larger townships of Cape Town. In the Apartheid era, it was designated for Coloureds, Black Africans, and whites.
The last line tells readers that the child lies with a bullet in his head at the Philippi police station. This image depicts the horrific
rule of the apartheid regime. They were so heartless that they killed innocent children who could not even understand what
Apartheid really meant!

Lines 16-19
All the lines of the fourth stanza begin with the phrase “The child”. Jonker uses this device for the sake of emphasizing her
ideas. According to her, the dead child is now the “shadow of soldiers”. It means he is walking the same brutal path to avenge
the deaths of others like him.
Enjambment - first two lines. These lines are joined together by using this device. In the second line, the poet shows readers
the image of soldiers on guard with guns, Saracen tanks, and batons. It depicts the soldiers’ preparedness in stopping the
anti-pass protests. After reading this line, it seems as if they were preparing for war. Ironically, they used these instruments
against thousands of peaceful protestors. According to the poet, the child is omnipresent. He can easily slip into all the
meetings and legislations. It seems as if he is overseeing everything and informing his countrymen about the things they were
unaware of. He peeps through the windows and into the hearts of mothers. The child does so in order to infuse the spirit of
anger inside the mothers who were silent. They cannot remain silent

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Lines 20-23
The child conveys to his people that he wants nothing bigger than their demands. He just wanted to play in the sun of Nyanga,
nothing else. But, after his death, the whole country has become his playground. Now, he has transformed into a man and
treks through Africa. There are no forces that can stop him or demand a pass to verify his identity. This metaphorical child of
anger has grown to the size of a giant. Now it can roam easily wherever he wishes to. His protest can rage through the world.
The coda at the end is an important part of the poem. It refers to the pass laws which were a form of internal passport system
designed to segregate the population, manage urbanization, and allocate migrant labour. According to the poet, the dead does
not require a pass. Does it implicitly highlight the fact that one has to die in order to move across his own country? The irony is
that the coloured population could not in the apartheid era. Only the dead could.

TONE AND MOOD:

Throughout this piece, the tone is bold and expressive of firm determination. In the first three stanzas of the poem, the tone is
emotive, nationalistic, and firm. Using it, Jonker highlights the fact that even an innocent child understood the value of freedom
and equality. After his death, he realized that the long silence had to end. Hence, through the poet’s voice, he harks to his
countrymen to end their suffering by standing together for the sake of saving other kids like him.
This uncompromising tone changes to an ironic one in the following lines. Here, Jonker satirically comments on the lawmakers
and their apartheid maneuvers such as pass laws and Group Areas Act. The mood of the text is angry, protesting, and
unrelenting.

IMAGERY:
Visual Imagery: In the first two stanzas, Jonker uses the image of a child who raises his fists in order to show his resistance
towards apartheid. The line “in the march of generations” depicts a group of protesters’ march. By this line “on guard with guns
saracens and barons” Jonker presents an image of armed soldiers with guns, batons, and tanks.
Auditory Imagery: The line “who screams Africa screams the smell” resonates with the screaming of a child demanding
freedom and revenge.
Organic Imagery: Throughout this poem, Jonker uses this imagery to infuse her anger in readers’ minds. After reading the
lines such as “where he lies with a bullet in his head” readers feel angry and at the same time sorry for the innocent child.

THEMES:
protest and resistance - a child who was shot dead at Nyanga during the anti-pass demonstration. Jonker was moved by the
death toll at Sharpeville and Nyanga. She could imagine how several innocent children were killed at the peaceful
demonstrations. In this poem, she presents one such dead child. He voices the anger and agony of his countrymen through
his clenched fist. His heart-piercing scream reveals the growing sense of nationalism, freedom, and resistance in the hearts of
many. Besides, this poem also showcases the themes of brutality, horrors of apartheid, and freedom.

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 AT A FUNERAL – DENNIS BRUTUS

1 Black, green and gold at sunset: pageantry

2 And stubbled graves: expectant, of eternity,
3 In bride’s-white, nun’s-white veils the nurses gush their bounty
4 Of red-wine cloaks, frothing the bugled dirging slopes
5 Salute! "hen ponder all this hollow panoply
6 For one whose gifts the mud devours, with our hopes.

7 Oh all you frustrate ones, powers tombed in dirt,

8 Aborted, not by Death but carrion books of birth
9 Arise! The brassy shout of freedom stirs our earth;
10 Not death but death’s-head tyranny scythes our ground
11 And plots our narrow cells of pain defeat and dearth:
12 Better that we should die, than that we should lie down

GLOSSARY
1. pageantry : Display that is elaborate
2. dirging : play a funeral song
3. panoply : a collection that is impressive.
4. carrion : rotting flesh
5. scythes : to cut down
6: something that is scarce

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SUMMARY
The poet describes the funeral of Valencia Majombozi who qualified as a doctor. Her parents experienced many hardships and sacrifice
to ensure she became a doctor however as soon as she completed her internship
She was killed in the Sharpville protests. The poet highlights that this young person had wasted her talent. She is a symbol of
resistance to apartheid. The poet then commits to fight for a free South Africa.

LINE BY LINE ANALYSIS AND EXPLANATION

STANZA ONE :
LINE 1 : Black, green and gold is a reference to the colours of the African National Congress party. These colours represent
the ANC flag. The death of the young lady would motivate others to build their resistance to apartheid. Pageantry is a
reference to the elaborate funeral given to her as she was seen as heroic. The poem also has political overtones, which I'll
touch on briefly. Its colours are black, green, and gold. In South Africa, the resistance movement has its own flag in contrast to
the State flag; it is black, green, and gold. It was not a mistake to use those colours for the poem's opening. Many of the
doctor's co-workers who attended her funeral were dressed in their academic regalia, which typically included a black cap and
gown with a gold hood signifying an arts degree and a green hood signifying a science degree. This is another example of
how black, green, and gold were worn together.
LINE 2 : Stubbled refers to a surface that is unkempt, not taken care of. The government showed no respect to the resting
places for the dead. The term "stubbled graves" refers to the crop stalks that are still visible after harvesting them or the facial
hair that lingers after shaving. The fact that the tombs are covered with dead grass stalks suggests that they were neglected
and appeared unsightly.
Either the idea that the afterlife will never come to an end, or that the dead will stay in their graves for all eternity.
“expectant” is an example of personification. The grave is made to seem as if it is a mother waiting for her child. The grave is
actually for the dead. Expectant, because death is inescapable, the cemetery is personified as being ravenous for more
corpses. This emphasizes the fact that everyone must die.

LINES 3 and 4 .
She is an innocent victim of the system. The nurses are prepared to go the extra mile to assist the number of nurses. The
nurses pour out their abundance of red-wine cloaks, frothing the bugled dirging slopes, in bride's-white and nun's-white veils.
The nurses shower their abundance of red-wine cloaks on the world in bride's-white and nun's-white veils. The funeral was
attended by hospital nurses. The nurses in South Africa dress in vivid crimson "red-wine"-lined cloaks. At the burial, other
nurses donned white, matching the nuns' attire. "In nun's-white and bride's-white veils."
The vintage nurse wore a white dress with a little white veil and a crimson cloak as part of her costume. "Brides" and "nuns"
have associations with innocence, purity, sanctity, and a fresh life.
gush - flow quickly out
A bounty is anything that is plentiful. A lot of individuals are expressing their sorrow.
The nurses in the film said, "Bounty of red-wine cloaks foaming."
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Line 4 : “red wine “ reference to the colour of the nurses clothes. The bugle is played at the funeral.
Frothing the bugled dirging slopes - A Boy Scout with a trumpet is blowing the final Post, "the bugled dirging," back behind the
hill at the cemetery on the outskirts of the ghetto. This signifies that it was a funeral for a soldier.
To foam is to burst into a bubble.
Dirge is the name of a funeral song. Frothing the bugled dirging slopes - A Boy Scout with a trumpet is blowing the final Post,
"the bugled dirging," back behind the hill at the cemetery on the outskirts of the ghetto. This signifies that it was a funeral for a
soldier.

LINE 5 : “hallow panoply “ reference to the flags and speeches that are futile as they have no meaning . Nothing can change
the death of the lady.
Salute! "hen ponder all this hollow panoply

Salute! – means to honour, or literally salute the dead, as one would a soldier.
The ‘!’ emphasises that this is a command.

Ponder – to think about something deeply. Also an instruction.

Hollow – literally empty but implies meaninglessness;

Panoply – a splendid display.

The speaker asks the reader to contemplate the implications of this funeral, and death in general. He encourages the reader
to look further than the display (funeral flowers, all the people, the sad music etc), which lacks sincerity

LINE 6 : As a doctor her skills would have benefitted the country. Her life was wasted .
With our hopes, for someone whose gifts the dirt devours.
Valencia Majombozi is the "one" who has her goods devoured by the dirt. The term "gifts" alludes to her capacity as a doctor
to cure and console people.
Devour means to devour hastily, swiftly, or with eagerness. Graveyard mud is characterized to a ravenous mouth. The
personification emphasizes how the ground has now swallowed up all of her and her people's dreams. dejected or depressed
mood.
STANZA TWO :
LINE 7 : There is a shift from the deceased to the youth . Their potential is buried.
Oh all you irritated ones, powers tombed in dirt—The poet used an apostrophe (figure of speech) to address the deceased
specifically.Frustrate: to stop anything from succeeding or to irritate and enrage someone by stopping things from happening.
Because the dead are capable of actively frustrating the government rather than just being passively irritated, they are referred
to as "powers tombed in dirt" and as "frustrate" (a verb, not an adjective).

26
LINE 8 : References to the pass that people were obligated to carry. This stopped their livelihood.
I refer to "carrion books of birth," claiming that the Black people's existence actually begins as a form of death. You are
granted this Pass Book upon birth, which means that at that time you stop being a human being. You are being eaten. You
turn into carrion. dead tissue. And this relates to the idea of abortion.
The poet sees Black people as having passed away—not because they have died, but because oppression and pass books
have revoked their freedom. Since the passbook, often known as the "books of birth," is a metaphor for the brutal apartheid
rules, rather than death itself, it is the apartheid regime that is far more cruel and murderous. Abortion is the intentional
termination of a pregnancy by the death of the foetus. The deceased are said to have been "aborted," or slain before they had
the chance to live, but not by Death, but rather by "books of birth" (a nod or allusion to the dompas or passbooks).
Capitalizing "Death" signifies that it is personified.
The poet sees Black people as having passed away—not because they have died, but because oppression and pass books
have revoked their freedom. Since the passbook, often known as the "books of birth," is a metaphor for the brutal apartheid
rules, rather than death itself, it is the apartheid regime that is far more cruel and murderous.
LINE 9 : Arise is a reference to the call for people to join the resistance against apartheid.
Arise! is an order with a combative tone that literally means "stand up." It is also a reference to the phrase "rise up!" which
meaning "start a revolution."
Since freedom is portrayed as yelling to awaken the dead, it is capitalized to emphasize how essential it is. The bugle that was
used to play the "dirge"/Last Post is referred to in line 4 when it is said that Freedom's yell was "brassy." In this case, music
wakes the dead rather than sending them to their slumber.
LINE 10: The government is compared to the soldiers of World War 2 . they carry out similar atrocities.
Knowing the sign for "death's-head tyranny" is crucial. Death's-head tyranny scythes our ground, not death. In South Africa, I
watched the movie "Judgement in Nuremburg." Tanks bearing the Panzer Divisions' symbol of a skull and crossbones—the
death's head—roll through the streets of Berlin at the start of the film, to raucous applause from the audience. The South
African government holds the Nazis in high respect and encourages people to emulate them; if you are a white person in
South Africa, you should act like a Nazi.

LINE 11 : Reference to the evil plans of the government to get rid of people who resisted apartheid. Many people were
tortured whilst in prison. It destroyed their spirit.
Plots is a pun that refers to a tiny area of land (such as a graveyard plot) or the verb "plot," which means to plan something, us
ually something bad.

a cell is a little chamber used as a jail

Narrow cells of pain - might refer to a graveyard, a prison cell housing former apartheid inmates, or the small homes that peo
ple of color were compelled to reside in under the Group Areas Act in underprivileged neighborhoods.
27
Dearth - is a term for items that are scarce (e.g. food or basic necessities).
The poet makes the implication that the apartheid administration intentionally inflicted agony, suffering, and death.

LINE 12 : The poet states that it is better to die in the fight against apartheid than to accept it without a struggle.
When someone is attacked or taken into custody, they should "lie down" to indicate that they are giving up or submitting. The
poet suggests that it is preferable for those opposing apartheid to accept death rather giving up or submitting. " We should lie
down" comes after no full stop. This suggests that there is no surrender and no end to struggle.

This sentence also suggests that the poet has accepted the tragedy of the young doctor's passing since the poet views her
death as "better" than having to "lie down" or surrender to apartheid.

Because the poet refers to "we," it is clear that he or she supports the fight against apartheid.

TONE: Stanza 1 calm tone, stanza 2 Angry, bitter tone.

MOOD: stanza 1 sad
Stanza two : vengeance
INTENTION : to highlight the plight of the oppressed. To make readers aware of the effects of apartheid.

THEMES : Yearning for freedom

Sacrifice of human life – destruction of human life
Harmful effects of apartheid

28
 POEM OF RETURN – JOFRE ROCHA

1 When I return from the land of exile and silence

2 do not bring me flowers.

3 Bring me rather all the dews,

4 tears of dawns which witnessed dramas.
5 Bring me the immense hunger for love
6 and the plaint of tumid sexes in star-studded night.
7 Bring me the long night of sleeplessness
8 with mothers mourning, their arms bereft of sons.

9 When I return from the land of exile and silence,

10 no, do not bring me flowers ...
11 Bring me only, just this
12 the last wish of heroes fallen at day-break
13 with a wingless stone in hand
14 and a thread of anger snaking from their eyes.

Glossary
plaint of tumid sexes : arguments between lovers.
their arms bereft of sons : no sons to hug as their sons passed in the fight for freedom

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BACKGROUND OF THE POET
Jefre Rocha was born in Caxicane , Angola. He is a Lawyer and writer. He became a political activist in Luanda where he moved to
because he experienced political unrest. He was a political prisoner from 1961 – 1968.
SUMMARY
The speaker who is in exile visualises his return at the end of political unrest at the place of birth.
TYPE / FORM OF POEM
This poem is an example of an exile poem , it has theme of resistance.
The poem is a 14 line poem but it is not a sonnet.
The poet makes use of a pseudonym in order to protect his identity so he could express his feelings.

STANZA 1
The speaker speaks about his expectations returning home. He does not want flowers or symbols of a hero who returns home. He
believes if you carry mental, emotional , physical scars of the fight for freedom then you are a true hero. “silence “ in line 1 refers to the
fact that the speaker didn’t receive any news when he was in exile. He felt alone.
LINE 1 :
When - He is positive that he will travel back to his own country. Although he hasn't returned yet, it is certain that he will.
He is currently in the land of exile, the nation from which he escaped the land of exile and silence. a faraway location with no means of
contact . He doesn't communicate with his loved ones or pals. This highlights the anguish and pain he had to go through while in exile
since he was alone.
LINE 2 :
He does not desire the traditional presents and festivities that are often linked with an exile's return.
This emphasizes the speaker's sense of shame for leaving his nation while others remained to challenge the regime.
He doesn't believe that he is a hero deserving of praise. He feels that this is most definitely not a time to celebrate, and as flowers are
typically connected with celebrations, he ran and left the others to battle. He consequently feels bad.
STANZA 2
He wants an update of what has happened when he was away. He wants to be updated on “dramas witnesses” by those who stayed at
home. He wants to experience the pain and hardship that the people experienced. Line 4 “tears of dawns which witnessed dramas –
figure of speech personification , reference to problems experienced when he was away.
LINES 3 AND 4 :
Bring me - in an orderly or demanding manner.
This is an impossible request: all the dews. He is aware that his abandoning his people cannot be made up for.
Dawn is represented as a crying witness to the tragedy that occurred as a result of colonization, exile, and loss. Dawns which saw
tragedies.
D-alliteration emphasizes how shocked and saddened Nature was by the subjugation of her people.

30
LINES 5 AND 6
Bring me – Anaphora(repetition)
Immense – huge
hunger for love – natural human connection that he has missed

Plaint – plea
Tumid – large / swollen
Tumid sexes in start-studded night – romance / intimacy

In these lines, the speaker emphasises the sense of separation from loved ones and the need for companionship; the poet highlights the
losses experienced due to oppression.

LINES 7 AND 8
Long - emphasizes that their sorrow and pain persisted for a considerable amount of time.
Bereft means to be deficient. Many of the sons' young men were either slain or imprisoned. Another group of young guys fled into exile.
Their mothers had missed them.
Night of sleeplessness - People were worried/concerned for the safety of their loved ones throughout the wakeful night. The loss of their
kids and other family members upset mothers. They were unable to sleep as a result.
He wants to share the sorrow of the moms who have lost sons in the fighting.

STANZA 3
The speaker stresses that those who passed on while fighting in the war are important however they did not live to experience
Independence Day.
LINES 9 AND 10
The poem's opening two words are repeated to emphasize the idea that his homecoming should not be celebrated. He did not enjoy
being exiled, but he did not suffer as much as others who were left behind.
The strong tone of the double negative emphasizes that he does not see himself as a hero. "No, do not," he says. He feels bad and has
to apologize for not understanding their hardship.
LINE 11
Bring me – another command (imperative mood) shows his insistence.
only, just this – the redundancy is used to emphasize that he wants just one thing. Also emphasises his insistence.

LINE 12
The last wish would have been to witness a transformed South Africa.
Day-break marks the beginning of a new day. This is the change that the public want. In the political climate of the day, those who had
been battling against an oppressive regime were put to death in the early hours of the morning. According to him, these warriors "fall at
day-break," or at the start of their lives, and are heroes for the cause.
These heroes passed away just as change was about to occur, thus they were unable to witness it.

31
LINES 13 AND 14
wingless stone - a paradox. A stone cannot fly because of its weight. Rocha wishes to honor these soldiers as well as the missed
possibilities of others who were sent into exile. Although these guys never had the chance to "cast their stone," they made the greatest
sacrifice by dying in the struggle for independence.
"Snaking" has the meaning of being toxic and harmful. This adds to the atmosphere of rage and hatred.
He wants justice for all the downtrodden people, and there is a thread of rage emanating from their eyes.
Their eyes - only a little portion of the rage they felt for the colonists who had taken their country is seen in their eyes. Instead of receiving
flowers as a prize, he would prefer to receive what he fought for.
We should never forget the sacrifice they made. The only "gift" he desires upon his return, because he is capable of returning, is that
which caused them to get enraged enough to fight.

TONE :
Nostalgic tone : He wants to hear from people instead of being given flowers.
Humble tone : speaker does not want to seen as hero when he returns , he wants to be updated.
MOOD
Pensive : speaker reflects about political issues.

IINTENTION:
The speaker wishes to highlight that the real heroes are the people that stayed behind and not those who went into exile

THEMES :
Theme of isolation, loneliness as the speaker wants to be updated about what happened at home when he was way in exile.
Theme of patriotism and sacrifice

32
TALK TO THE PEACH TREE – SIPHO SEPAMLA

Let's talk to the swallows visiting us in summer

ask how it is in other countries

Let's talk to the afternoon shadow

ask how the day has been so far

Let's raise our pets to our level 5

ask them what they don't know of us

words have lost meaning

like all notations they've been misused

most people will admit

a whining woman can overstate her case 10

Talk to the paralysing heat in the air

inquire how long the mercilessness will last

Let's pick out items from the rubbish heap

ask how the stench is like down there

Let's talk to the peach tree 15

find out how it feels to be in the ground

Let's talk to the moon going down

ask if it isn't enough eyeing what's been going on

come on
let's talk to the devil himself 20
it's about time

33
BACKGROUND
Sydney Sipho Sepamla (22 September 1932 – 9 January 2007) was a contemporary South African poet and novelist. He was
born in a township near Krugersdorp but lived most of his life in Soweto. He studied teaching. He published his first volume of
poetry Hurry Up to it! in 1975. He was very much involved in the Black Consciousness movement. Sipho was the founder of
the Federated Union of Black Artists.
THE TITLE
The peach tree is mentioned in several of his poems. It is one of his prized possessions which he bequeaths to his children in
the poem The Will. The peach tree can symbolize the strength of a family structure – strong roots give rise to strong stems.
The values and morals that are rooted in them should be as steadfast as the peach tree and how to uproot the peach tree is
like uprooting black people during the apartheid era. The peach tree is fixed in the ground, it has land, a place to call it’s own
unlike black people during apartheid.
FORM / STRUCTURE
The poem is written in free verse i.e no recognizable poetic form.
SUMMARY
The speaker is witty. Initially the speaker seems to be absurd by suggesting that politics should be discussed with just about
anything or anyone – from the birds, shadows, pets, the peach tree and the air itself. Finally, the speaker reveals the serious
nature of the poem and who should be addressed about the inequalities and oppression. He refers to the ‘devil himself’ – the
apartheid government who should be confronted.

LINE BY LINE ANALYSIS AND EXPLANATION

Lines 1 -6
These lines highlight the absurdity of the speaker. It is amusing to raise our pets to our cognitive level and expect them to give
us a critical comment about what they know about the human race. It is also important to take note of the symbolic meaning of
line 1. Why should we talk to these migratory birds who themselves have the freedom to fly wherever they want to across
many lands.
Even though the absurdity creates humour we must not lose sight of the serious underlying message that communication was
not easy between blacks and whites during the apartheid era. Whites were the supreme race and could control the powerless
black majority.
Black people had no voice and had to remain silent.
Lines 7 – 10
The lines are indented to show that these stanzas are commentaries. The casual repetitive ‘let’s talk’ has also been dropped
in these lines. The focus is serious. ‘words have lost their meaning’ – this means that talking has become useless / futile.
Attempts to negotiate and address the apartheid government has failed.

34
‘Misused notations’ – a deep level of mistrust. Words have been twisted to convey propaganda and lies in other words
communication tools have become so warped that their original intentions have become lost. (Language barrier / incorrect
translation?) What does the word notation mean?
‘Whining’ – has negative connotations, high – pitched complaining without a valid reason. The words of line 10 lends itself to
the saying ‘the lady doth protest too much’. By emotionally overdoing a statement the real meaning and sincerity of these
words are lost.
Lines 11- 12
Paralyzing refers to the oppression(heat) that hampers a person’s ability to act or do anything.
‘Merciless’ emphasizes the effects of apartheid – a lack of empathy / mercy / compassion for the suffering of the oppressed.
This is a reminder that the black people were prisoners in a harsh and unforgiving environment.
Lines 13 – 14
The diction in these lines lends to the imagery that black people were regarded as rubbish to the white government – rubbish
that is unwanted and needs to be tossed aside. The stench refers to a bad smell that needs to be rid off. The tone is serious
and captures the situation and treatment of black people.
Lines 15 – 16
The peach tree is rooted in a permanent place in the garden. Unlike the other items or things he proposed to have a
conversation with the peach tree is the only one that is fixed. It is rooted to the ground. It belongs to the land. A place it can
call its own. The tree can also symbolize growth and success. It can symbolize strength and abundance. Unlike the peach tree
black people have no land or home to call their own. They were uprooted from their ancestral land( group areas act). They are
not even referred to as citizens.
Lines 17 – 18
The idea of the moon going down means that light is being lost. This implies that they are losing hope. The moon is
personified. It is ‘eyeing’ the situation / witness to what is going on. The whole world can see what is happening but as visible
as it is no person has done anything to intervene or change the situation. As the moon goes down daylight will soon be felt – a
new day should bring new hope / new possibilities / new chances but for them it is hopeless.
Lines 19 – 21
These lines have also been indented as in lines 7 -10. This makes the lines stand out. These lines alerts the reader to the fact
that they are a commentary to the overall situation.
‘come on’ he is edging them on/ encouraging them to take action
‘devil’ this refers to the authorities / the apartheid government.
‘it’s about time’ – (release of Nelson Mandela) the time has come to speak directly to the powers that be.
There is a change in the tone in these last three lines. No more walking on egg shells and being afraid. The time is now, it has
been too long. Action needs to be implemented and an end to oppression must finally happen.

35
TONE :
 Cynical
 Absurd
 Despair
 Conversational
 Frustration
THEMES :
 Proper communication without physical injury
 Harsh realities of apartheid
 The burning desire for change
 Walking in another person’s shoes

36
 PRAYER TO MASKS – LÉOPOLD SÉDAR SENGHOR
1 Masks! Oh Masks!
2 Black mask, red mask, you black and white masks,
3 Rectangular masks through whom the spirit breathes,
4 I greet you in silence!
5 And you too, my lionheaded ancestor.
6 You guard this place, that is closed to any feminine laughter, to any mortal smile.
7 You purify the air of eternity, here where I breathe the air of my fathers.
8 Masks of maskless faces, free from dimples and wrinkles.
9 You have composed this image, this my face that bends over the altar of white paper.
10 In the name of your image, listen to me!
11 Now while the Africa of despotism is dying – it is the agony of a pitiable princess,
12 Like that of Europe to whom she is connected through the navel –
13 Now fix your immobile eyes upon your children who have been called
14 And who sacrifice their lives like the poor man his last garment
15 So that hereafter we may cry ‘here’ at the rebirth of the world being the leaven that the
white flour needs.
16 For who else would teach rhythm to the world that has died of machines and cannons?
17 For who else should ejaculate the cry of joy, that arouses the dead and the wise in a new
dawn?
18 Say, who else could return the memory of life to men with a torn hope?
19 They call us cotton heads, and coffee men, and oily men.
20 They call us men of death.
21 But we are the men of the dance whose feet only gain power when they beat the hard
soil.

37
OVERVIEW :

Published in 1945. Senghor often used his work to illuminate African history and contemplate the consequences of
colonialism. Member of political movement Négritude, which emphasized pride in African and Black identity and history,
which he practiced through his poetry. With “Prayer to the Masks,” Senghor looks back on the history of his people and its
troubled state. Turmoil and exploitation dominate sections of the poem, but Senghor ends with an optimistic message.
Despite hardship, and the prejudices to which they’re subjected, his people are strong and capable, able to create new
beauty and prosperity.

SUMMARY :
A narrator calls out to various masks—black, red, white—and the rectangular masks, which spirits breathe through. The
narrator is exclamatory, yelling, but also greets the masks silently. The narrator calls out to other ancestors, who stand
guard, shielding the afterlife from femininity, joy, and mortality. The ancestors cleanse the eternal air, and the narrator
breathes in the air of past fathers. The masks can be found on maskless faces, and the masks are free of impurities and
wrinkles. The masks have helped compose the narrator’s own face, which hovers over a page of paper, writing.

LINE BY LINE ANALYSIS

Lines 1-4
The poem begins with an "apostrophe," - an address to an object or spirit - this address is a prayer to the masks, which
appear in the poem both as works of African art and as more general spirits of African culture, society, and history. The
colours of the masks here are black, red, black-and-white, = also suggesting the masks as symbols of race and skin colour.
L3 these masks are also spirits of nature, linked to the winds that blow from the four directions of north, south, east, and west.
As spirits that blow, they also imply that the masks are related to the poet's breath and poetic inspiration.
L4 he greets them with silence, as if listening to what the mask-spirits will whisper to him on the wind.

Lines 5-7
The poet introduces his family's guardian animal, the lion, symbol of aristocratic virtue and courage. Traditionally these
animals were thought to be the first ancestor and the protector of the family line. In mentioning his lion-headed ancestor,
Senghor refers to the name of his father, Diogoye, which in his native Serer language means lion. In ceremonies where masks
would be used, the family might be represented by a lion mask.
L6 reinforces the implications of long tradition and patriarchal power. The lion guards the ground that is forbidden to women
and to passing things, in favour of values, memories, and customs that stretch back into mythic antiquity.

Lines 8-10
These lines develop a complex relation between the faces of the ancestors, the poet's face, and the masks.
L8 masks as idealized representations of previously living faces. The masks eliminate the mobile features and signs of age in
the faces of the living ancestors, but in doing so outlive their death. In turn, they are able to give shape to the face of the poet
writing his prayer to the masks. He appeals to them to listen to him, for he is the living image of those masks to whom he is
writing a prayer.

Lines 11-12
These lines contrast the glorious past of Africa, when vast black-ruled empires spanned the continent, and the present, in
which the peoples of Africa have been subjugated by the imperial conquests of European nations. The "pitiable princess"
symbolizes the nobility of traditional Africa, and her death represents both the general suffering and decline of traditional
38
African culture and the loss of political power of blacks to rule themselves. Yet the relation to Europe is not presented solely in
a negative way. The image of the umbilical cord suggests that the European conquest has nourished a new Africa soon to be
born, but one that will eventually have to sever its ties with its European "mother" if it is to live and grow.

Lines 13-14
The masks are called to witness the sad history of modern Africa, and they look on, god-like with their changeless faces. Yet
Senghor also suggests that the traditional customs and values have apparently not been able to respond to the great changes
that history has brought about. The poem implicitly comes to a question and a turning point: do the masks represent a
valuable long view from which the present can be seen in its proper perspective, or are they merely relics of a past that have
nothing to say to those who are exploited and suffering in the present?

Lines 15-16
The poet prays to the magic spirits of the masks to help speed the rebirth suggested by the image of the umbilical cord
connecting Africa to Europe in line 12. Implicitly, reviving the ancestral spirits of the masks will help sever the ties of
dependence. In turn, a reborn African creativity can help Europe to a more life-affirming use of its material and scientific
wealth, just as the brown yeast is necessary for making bread from white flour.

Lines 17-19
These lines further develop the idea that Africa will provide the life-impulse to a Europe that is oriented toward mechanical
values, materialist gain, and war. It is the rhythm of African music and dance that can change the thud of machines into
something better. A reborn Africa will lend its youthful energy to a senile Europe, bringing joy and hope where there has been
isolation, exhaustion, despair, and death.

Lines 20-21
In the imagery of "men of cotton, of coffee, of oil," Senghor refers to the exploitation of Africa for its raw materials and to
European conceptions of black Africans as merely a source of cheap labor and economic profit. Looking back to the figures of
death and rebirth in the previous lines, he ironically notes how "they," the Europeans, view the black African as a fearful image
of death, "the waking dead."

Line 22
But rather than allowing their humanity to be reduced to the economic value of the agricultural goods listed in line 20, the
African of the future will have a different, creative relation to the soil and the natural world. Like the participants in a traditional
ceremony in which masks are used, these new Africans absorb the powers of the natural spirits through the rhythm of dance,
music, and poetry.

TONE :
“Prayer to the Masks” was published in 1945, as World War II was ending, and the narrator pities the damaged state of the
world, adding a sense of grief and melancholy to the poem's tone.

SYMBOL OF THE MASK :

The mask referred to in the poem is an actual West African style mask. In the poem the mask represents the permanence of
the past in the present.
Masks are symbols of change, Senghor seems to be speaking broadly on the mix of peoples on the earth, it does seem that
cultural attributes flow from history, geography and experience and so there is a swirl of wonderful things- like currents in a
sea - from African cultures mixed into the world as a whole.

39
Masks usually represent supernatural beings, ancestors, and fanciful or imagined figures, and they can also be portraits.
The localization of a particular spirit in a specific mask must be considered a highly significant reason for its existence.

He also notes that the masks are the way that he can access the "breath of my fathers," that is, the living spirit of the
ancestors who will inspire the poet to his song. His own face, he writes, resembles the face of the masks, because the masks
bear the idealized features of the real faces of the poet's ancestors.

Who is being addressed in the poem Prayer?

The poem is addressed to Almighty Allah. In the poem, the poet prayer to Allah to lead him on the right path and give him
knowledge. He also prays to Him to save him from bad things.

THEME :

Honouring Our Ancestors Strengthens Us. Senghor uses “Prayer to the Masks” to look back at his ancestors and history. The
poem concludes with a renewed sense of vigour, signifying that honouring the past helps us in the present.
are criticism of Western civilization and its attendant colonialism, nostalgia for and glorification of Africa, and a firm belief in a
future Africa which is prosperous, united and strong

is the poem of a young man seeking to connect with a past he senses will give him inspiration to struggle past the damaged
life of the present to forge a better future for himself and his people.

40
THIS WINTER COMING – KAREN PRESS

walking in the thick rain

of this winter we have only just entered,
who is not frightened?

the sea is swollen, churning in broken waves (violent continual motion)

around the rocks, the sand is sinking away 5
the seagulls will not land
under this sky, this shroud falling (something that covers or conceals)
who is not frightened?

in every part of the city, sad women climbing onto buses,

dogs barking in the street, and the children 10
in every doorway crying,
the world is so hungry, madam’s house is clean
and the women return with slow steps
to the children, the street, the sky tolling like a black bell;
these women are a tide of sadness 15
they will drown the world,
who is not frightened?

on every corner men standing

old stumps in the rain, tombstones
engraved with open eyes 20
watching the bright cars full of sated faces (more than satisfied)
pass them, pass them, pass them,
who is not frightened?

into the rain the children are running

thin as the barest twigs they kindle a fire 25
to fight the winter, the bare bodies
a raging fire of dead children
and the sky collapsing under centuries of rain
the wind like a mountain crying,
who is not frightened of this winter 30
coming upon us now?

41
GLOSSARY
-sea is swollen - sea is rough
-shroud – a cloth that is mainly white in colour that is used to cover dead bodies.
-State of Emergency :
During the era of apartheid the government had free reign to suspend any activities that were seen to be a threat to the
government. Police could detain anybody for reasons of “public safety”.

SUMMARY
The speaker in this poem is concerned about the world she occupies and believes that she is justified to feel fear for how
matters will evolve. She states that we have “only just entered”, implying that worse times are to come.

STRUCTURE OF THE POEM

-Poem is a protest poem : a protest poem is written to make a stand at injustices that are occurring at a particular time. Lack of
punctuation, capital letters and break from the conventions of writing poetry is a characteristic of protest poetry.
-poem is written as a poem of nature and the effects of nature of the environment however the poet addresses the issue of the
social, economic and political effects of the system of apartheid through the use of imagery of nature.
-Enjambment throughout the poem.
-Rhetorical question at the end of each stanza. This obligates the reader to reflect on the content / ideas of the poem.

LINE BY LINE ANALYSIS AND EXPLANATION

-“This” reference to a specific time.
“Winter” is a season that is drab, dry. gloomy . Normally associated with death.

STANZA 1
Focus is on the weather and its effects on people.
Line 1 : “walking ” reference to lack of protection from the elements of nature. The rain is thick and heavy. The weather
creates a dull, gloomy mood.
Line 2 : “we have only just entered “ – times ahead will be difficult and challenging, harsh times are expected and nobody will
escape it.
Line 3 : Rhetorical question: emphasis that everybody is fearful as there is an expectation of difficult times.

STANZA 2
Is on the sea
Lines 4-6 : “sea swollen” alliteration , reference to the rough , stormy seas.
-“broken waves” –waves that are crashing on the rocks.
-“sand is sinking away”- land is unsafe/ unstable, so much of chaos. Nature is in disharmony.
“Line 7 “ shroud is falling” metaphor. The clouds are compared to a cloth that is used to cover dead bodies. This implies
possible death, harsh times ahead.
Line 8 : Repetition –emphasis on the fear that will be felt by all people.

STANZA 3
Focus on people the women, men, children
Line 9 – 11: Atmosphere of unhappiness, gloom
Line 12 : Hyperbole – “world is hungry” - reference to people who had to neglect their own families to take care of other
reference to people.
42
Lines 13 – 14 : “slow steps” –women return to their homes exhausted, fatigued. Their children are on the streets unprotected,
neglected, exposed to danger.
“sky is tolling like black bell” – Simile. The sounds of the storm is compared to the bell that rings when a person has passed
away.
Lines 15 – 16 - Metaphor . the movement of the women are compared to the movement of the sea. Their mood is similar to
the weather conditions. Reference to their strength, power and influence which has been underestimated.
Line 17 : Repetition emphasis on all people will be fearful. A sense of no escape.

STANZA 4
Focus is on men
Lines 18 -20 : The men are devoid of feelings. They seem to be oblivious. They “see” but do not feel. Metaphor – “stumps of
trees”
Lines 21 – 23 : Reference to the cars that pass by . Some people are privileged to have luxuries as compared to others.

STANZA 5
Focus on the children
Line 24 – children are not afraid of the storm , ready to confront it.
Line 25 – Simile –children are thin, probably undernourished. Compared to twigs which are thin and fragile. The children start
a fire , on a deeper level reference to their resistance to apartheid.
Line 26 -27 : Children will sacrifice their lives in the fight against apartheid.
Lines 28 – 29 : The sky will be seen after years of oppression. Children are compared to winds of change as they are seen
as catalyst to changes in society.
Lines 30 -31 : The children are the ones that will end the Winter meaning that they will rise up and fight for freedom. There will
be now no need to be afraid.

TONE
Solemn, sad tone

MOOD
Fearful, anxious

INTENTION
To expose the difficulties experienced by people during apartheid.
To expose the social, political, economic effects of apartheid.

THEMES
- The effects of the Apartheid rule on people economically, socially, politically.
- Resistance to build a better society
- Hope to a new, better life

43
SOLITUDE – ELLA WHEELER WILCOX

Laugh, and the world laughs with you;

Weep, and you weep alone.
For the sad old earth must borrow its mirth,
But has trouble enough of its own.
Sing, and the hills will answer; 5
Sigh, it is lost on the air.
The echoes bound to a joyful sound,
But shrink from voicing care.

Rejoice, and men will seek you;

Grieve, and they turn and go. 10
They want full measure of all your pleasure,
But they do not need your woe.
Be glad, and your friends are many;
Be sad, and you lose them all.
There are none to decline your nectared wine, 15
But alone you must drink life's gall.

Feast, and your halls are crowded;

Fast, and the world goes by.
Succeed and give, and it helps you live,
But no man can help you die. 20
There is room in the halls of pleasure
For a long and lordly train,
But one by one we must all file on
Through the narrow aisles of pain.

44
 ABOUT THE TITLE
 Solitude means loneliness and it is the hard reality of life that a man has to live alone and diealone.
 In this poem, the Poetess reveals the real face of the people.

ABOUT THE POET

 Ella Wheeler Wilcox was an American author and poet. (5th November 1850 - 30th October1919)
 Ella Wheeler Wilcox was poet all her life. She started to write poems at a very young age.
 Ella became a well- known poet in her state by the time she finished high school.
 She is well known for her works that are full of social criticism.
 In her poems she expresses sentiments of cheer and optimism in plainly written, rhymingverse.
 Her popular works include Poems of Passion (1883)
 Solitude (1883) is among her most famous poems

BACKGROUND

Ella Wheeler Wilcox’s “Solitude” is about the relationship between the individual and the outside world. Wilcox describes
the connection between one’s outlook on life and the friends and communityone attracts.

Wilcox wrote this poem after encountering a grieving woman on her way to Madison, Wisconsin. Despite her efforts, Wilcox
was not able to comfort the woman over her loss. Distraught, Wilcox returned to her hotel and after looking at her lonely face
in the mirror, began to write this poem. Even though Wilcox might have felt sympathy when she was with the women, she did
not continue to sharethe grief.

AUTHOR’S PURPOSE

The author’s purpose was to make people aware of how they treat people. Most of the time when a person is feeling
depressed or miserable is when they need others the most. If you push away people they will tend to shut down even more.
So when someone is feeling defeated you need to be there for them and not push them away.

ABOUT THE POEM

 The comparison of how society treats somebody when they are sad and when they are happy.
 Describes how an individual receives a lot of support when they succeed but none when they struggle. e.g. Laugh, and the
world laughs with you / Weep, and you weep alone. (Stanza 1,Line 1)

This poem is a great satire on us, our thoughts, and our level of thinking. Wilcox points out a social evil. We cannot decline
what she says to us in this poem. We should think deeply about this poem. It is an invitation to move through the world with
practicality and self-reliance.

45
 SUMMARY
 The poem overall describes the gain of support in times of happiness, and the loss of support in times of sorrow.
 It is a view of humanity as glory-seeking and selfish, only willing to help others when there is something to gain.
 The poem begins with the speaker making five statements regarding how the “world” will react depending on
whether you “Laugh” or “Weep.” Someone who is happy and upbeat is going to attract friends while someone who
“Sigh[s]” and weeps will not.

 Through the next two stanzas, the speaker tries to make clear that one should do whatever possible to maintain
a happy life surrounded by those who increase that happiness. Sadnesswill breed nothing but solitude.

 The poem concludes with the speaker adding that pain and death happen to everyone, butthey will always be
faced alone.

LINE BY LINE ANALYSIS AND EXPLANATION

STANZA ONE :

Lines 1 Laugh, and the world laughs with you;

2 Weep, and you weep alone;

Wilcox begins what came to be known as her most popular poem, with two very striking lines. Her speaker is making a
pronouncement about how the world either accepts or pushes away, human emotions. The first line tells a reader that if one
were to laugh then the world would “laugh with you.” -the world is after pleasure and joy and does not want to listen to sad
stories.

The second line adds a more complicated dimension to the relationship between humans and society. Here she describes
the opposite emotion, sadness displayed through weeping. If one were to“Weep,” it would happen alone. People do not
flock to the side of someone who is upset, human beings are not attracted to negativity, perhaps for fear it too may be
shared.

In the next set of eight lines of ‘Solitude,’ the speaker presents another five statements that outline how the world at large
reacts to positivity and negativity. The first line says that if you are to spend your days rejoicing then others will seek you
out and want to spend time with you. She once againpresents a contrast, that if you Grieve then the same men will turn
and go.

Lines 3 For the sad old earth must borrow its mirth,
4 But has trouble enough of its own.

In the next two lines of ‘Solitude’ the speaker rearranges the two previous statements to show how the “world,” meaning
the rest of humanity, deals with emotion. The earth is described as being “sadand old.” It does not have a well of
happiness to draw from so it must seek “mirth” (joy) somewhereelse. This is why it “laughs with you.” In regards to
sadness, the speaker says that the earth has enough sadness without taking in other people’s troubles. This is a very
perceptive generalized statement about how many people view the problems of others. No one wants the burden of
someone else’s unhappiness if it can be avoided.

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Lines 5 Sing, and the hills will answer;
6 Sigh, it is lost on the air;

The following statement acts in the same way as the previous one. First, the speaker says that if youwere to “sing” then the
“hills” would “answer.” One would receive a response from the world or society, and happiness would be multiplied. In
contrast, if you were to “Sigh” it would be “lost on the air.”

Lines 7 The echoes bound to a joyful sound,

8 But shrink from voicing care.

The first stanza concludes with the two emotions being translated into sounds. The sound of singingwill “bound” like a joyful
echo while the sigh will be ignored.

STANZA TWO :
In the next set of eight lines of ‘Solitude’ the speaker presents another five statements that outline how the world at
large reacts to positivity and negativity.

Lines 9 Rejoice, and men will seek you;

10 Grieve, and they turn and go;

The first line says that if you are to spend your days “Rejoic[ing]” then others will “seek you” out andwant to spend time with
you. She once again presents a contrast, that if you “Grieve” then the same men will “turn and go.”

Lines 11 They want full measure of all your pleasure,

12 But they do not need your woe.

These people do not want “your woe” but are happy to take on “your pleasure.”

Lines 13 Be glad, and your friends are many;

14 Be sad, and you lose them all,—

The speaker gives the reader some advice in the next lines that if you want to have friends, then youneed to be “glad.” If you
are not, then you are going to “lose them all.”
These people do not want your woe but are happy to take on your pleasure.

Lines 15 There are none to decline your nectared wine,

16 But alone you must drink life’s gall.

In the last two lines of this stanza, the speaker describes how if you are happy and drink “nectared wine” then you are never
going to be short on a friend to drink it with. Continuing the metaphor of drinking, she states that “life’s gall,” must be
consumed alone.

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 STANZA THREE :
In the final stanza of ‘Solitude’ the speaker presents her final set of comparisons between what ahappy life and a sad
one are like, and the reactions they provoke

Lines 17 Feast, and your halls are crowded;

18 Fast, and the world goes by.

She begins by utilizing another comparison to the way meals can bring people together. If one was tohold a “Feast” then
their halls would be “crowded.” Just as if one “Fast[ed]” then the whole world would pass by. These two examples are
meant as metaphors for a larger way of being in everyday life. Welcoming community, companionship, and happiness are
going to inspire even more of the same.

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The following lines are different than those which proceeded them. In the last section, she makeslarger
statements about life and death and the way that humans deal with pain.

Lines 19 Succeed and give, and it helps you live

20 But no man can help you die.

She describes how success and a willingness to “give” will help one live a longer life but there will beno
one there when you “die.” Similarly, pain has to be faced alone.

Lines 21 There is room in the halls of pleasure

22 For a large and lordly train,

No one wants to pile onto a “train” that is headed for that kind of unhappiness. The world would much
rather gather in a “hall…of pleasure.”

Lines 23 But one by one we must all file on

24 Through the narrow aisles of pain.

The poem in this connection says:” But one by one we must all file on through the narrow aisles of pain”.
That is to say that in difficulties we have to suffer alone. Prosperity brings friends but adversityseparates
them from us. The author ends with summarizing the main point that during pleasurable times there’s
room for many friends, but we must go through pain alone.
One can say that the picture of human life as drawn in this poem is almost real. It may not be encouraging
as there is little hope. But sorrows and sufferings are a reality in life. Pleasures are illusory. This is
everyone’s realization.But people forget realities.

POETIC DEVICES:

STRUCTURE
 ‘Solitude’ by Ella Wheeler Wilcox is a three-stanza poem
 It is separated into sets of eight lines or octaves.
 Each stanza begins with two lines that compares and contrasts positive and negative
emotions. The next two lines provide a commentary. The second half of each stanza then
repeats this pattern.
 Each of these octaves follows a consistent rhyme scheme of ABCBDEFE.
 While the scheme remains the same, the end sounds alternate.
 A reader should also take note of the repeating moments in which Wilcox makes use
o of internal rhymes. A perfect example appears in line 3, of the first stanza with the
words“earth” and “mirth.”
 The same kind of rhyme also appears in line 7, with “bound” and “sound.” These rhymes can
also be found in the lines 3 & 7 of Stanza 2 and in line 3 of Stanza 3.
 Wilcox uses the rhymes to add emphasis on the lines that talk about loneliness and solitude.

The poem is built on PAIRS OF OPPOSITES:

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Laugh & weep / sing & sigh / mirth & trouble / joyful sound & voicing care / rejoice & grieve
Pleasure & woe / glad & sad / nectared wine & life’s gall / feast & fast / succeed & die Halls
of pleasure & narrow aisles of pain

RHYTHM & RHYME

 Regular movement through constant number of lines and rhyming words
 Creates a smooth and coherent poem
 Short, individual sentences slow the pace of the poem which effectively leads to an
atmosphere of dreariness and loneliness
 Every second line rhymes with the line two before it.
o e.g. alone, own / air, care / go, woe / all, gall

 Third and seventh lines of the first two stanzas contain rhyming words
o e.g. earth, mirth / bound, sound / measure, pleasure / decline, wine

 Creates a rhythmic pattern which helps the poem flow.

MOOD

 The poem has an atmosphere of sorrow and depression.

 Hopelessness
 Loneliness

e.g. "Weep, and you weep alone" (Stanza 1, Line 2)

This implies that an individual is condemned to loneliness in times of sadness.

e.g. "But alone you must drink life's gall" (Stanza 3, Line 8)

This describes the loneliness of a person when enduring the unpleasant things that one is forced to
overcome in life.

e.g. "But no man can help you die" (Stanza 3, Line 4)

Implies that nobody can help a person through times of suffering and difficulty.

PERSONIFICATION

The world cannot literally laugh, experience emotions, borrow its mirth, or have trouble. The
purpose is to show that the world is not always a happy place. Ella Wheeler Wilcox uses
personification to show that if you are happy, you will not be alone.
Personification- Hills cannot answer and echoes can’t bound.

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 ALLITERATION

“Large and lordly train” - both start with L sounds.

Alludes to the view that spaces and places of pleasure attract people in numbers, whilst those who
suffer and endure pain and bitterness, will do so in Solitude.

ENJAMBMENT

Creates a flow and fluidity in these lines, building momentum with a prose-like quality. Wilcox remindsus
that the journey through pain must ultimately be experienced alone.

L 19-20 -- Succeed and give, and it helps

you liveBut no man can help
you die.
L 21-22 -- There is room in the halls of
pleasureFor a large and
lordly train,
L 23-24-- But one by one we must
all file onThrough the
narrow aisles of pain.

METAPHOR - e.g. "Nectared wine" means pleasant things in life, such as rewards and
happiness. This is because nectar is sweet, and wine is known as an enjoyable beverage.
(Stanza 2, Line 7)
Comparing sweet wine to optimism. Ella uses this phrase to show that people will accept your
ideas if you look at the better side of situations.

Metaphor- e.g. "Life's gall" describes all that is unpleasant and negative in life. Gall refers to
bitter things, such as bile. This also means metaphorical bitterness, such as grief and
sadness. Whatever life throws at you, you take it and deal with it. (Stanza 2, Line 8)

Comparing life's gall to pessimism. Wilcox is showing that if you think negatively of a situation,you
will have to face it alone. Gall- bitterness

Metaphor- Wilcox is showing that there is a lot of room for happiness in life by saying that a
large and lordly train can fit into the halls of pleasure. Comparing the feeling of pleasure to halls.
Ella is displaying that many people can be joyful at the same time. This connects to halls
because they hold many people at a time, often for parties or meetings.
Metaphor- in the last stanza it talks a lot about halls and rooms. The house or buildings could
compare to all your feelings together and each room represents a different feeling.

Metaphor- Ella Wheeler Wilcox is describing pain as a narrow isle which are hard to get
through. Therefore, pain is difficult to overcome. Comparing pain to narrow aisles. Wilcox is
using this comparison to explain how pain is a difficult and strenuous obstacle that we all must
conquer.

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THEMES

 The theme of “Solitude” is that no one should have to go through anything by themselves.
They should always be surrounded by people that love them. Sometimes though you have to
be the “surrounder” to make people feel better.
 Happiness & Pain
 Positive actions result in positive returns / Negative actions result in negative returns.
 Man vs. Society"
 Pessimistic view of society
 The belief that people only want to accompany somebody who has happiness or prizes to
share, but avoid being impacted by others' negative situations
 People only seeking self-benefit and being unsupportive towards those in need
 "Having good things to share will attract many, but dealing with unpleasantness will repel those
around you."
 Stay positive and you will have many friends.

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 THE MORNING SUN IS SHINING – OLIVE SCHREINER

The morning sun is shining on

The green, green willow tree,
And sends a golden sunbeam
To dance upon my knee.
The fountain bubbles merrily, 5
The yellow locusts spring,
Of life and light and sunshine
The happy brown birds sing.
The earth is clothed with beauty,
The air is filled with song, 10
The yellow thorn trees load the wind
With odours sweet and strong.
There is a hand I never touch
And a face I never see;
Now what is sunshine, what is song, 15
Now what is light to me?

GLOSSARY
1. Willow trees : a tree that grows near water , has long thin leaves
2. sunbeam : rays of the sun

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FORM/TYPE OF POEM
-Romantic poem
-Focus is on the contrast between the permanence of beauty and nature.

FORM/STRUCTURE
A 16-line poem made up of 4 distinct parts. In line 1-4 she discusses the sense of sight, 5-8 hearing and 9-
12 smell. All these senses enjoy the morning with the sun shining. There is a regular rhyme scheme and
rhythm throughout lines 1-12. The last four lines deviate from this pattern. This ‘break’ in pattern increases
the impact of the unexpected contents of the last four lines.

THE TITLE :
The title introduces a positive image – we associate a bright, sunny morning with warmth and happiness.
However, there is a figurative irony: Her sun (child) is no longer shining (has died).
The title and the first 12 lines, invites the reader to see the beauty of Olive Schreiner’s Karoo, blessed with
green willow trees, golden sunshine, bubbling fountains, springing locusts, birdsong and the scent of the
thorn trees’ yellow flowers.
We realise in line 13, however, that the speaker is mourning someone’s death: ‘There is a hand I never
touch/And a face I never see’. Because of this, she writes, ‘Now what is sunshine, what is song, /Now what
is light to me’. What begins as a lyrical celebration of nature ends up as a lament for the loss of a loved
one.
SUMMARY
The speaker extols the splendour of the natural world around her. To captivate the reader, she discusses
many features and makes extensive use of aural "images." The natural scene is abandoned in the final four
lines. Given the tone and subject of the words that came before, the melancholy in these lines (which deal
with loss) is unexpected. The poet makes a statement on how lovely a morning with the sun is. She
describes the numerous aspects of the morning that make it so lovely, then she abruptly changes her tone
and asks, in a rhetorical manner, what good is a lovely morning if it cannot be shared with anybody.
Despite highlighting her loneliness due to the fact that she is alone, a nature poetry underlines the beauty
of nature.

LINE BY LINE ANALYSIS AND EXPLANATION

Line 1 : The sun rises and the poet is sitting in the sun during the morning and enjoys the “world
awakening”.
Line 2 : Repetition of “green “ places emphasis on the colour and the purity of nature.
The opening lines establish the scene: it's a lovely morning, and the speaker muses on how lovely it is.

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The word "green" is used often to emphasize the intensity of the willow tree's colour and to further
emphasize the beauty of nature. Green is a colour that represents life and is connected with health,
freshness, and lush flora. The sun also represents life.
Lines 3-4 : Possibility of allusion to her child. From biographical details of the poet one learns that her child
passed on a few hours after birth due to a cot death.
The personification of how the sun bestows blessings on the planet and brings joy and amusement
emphasizes the beauty of the morning and contributes to the development of a
joyful/enjoyable/happy/cheerful attitude.
It is a kind of "golden" sun that brings enjoyment and is associated with riches, money, and beauty.
Line 5 : Onomatopoeia is used to describe the action of the fountain as water splurts out—a carefree
mood is evident. The personification in line 5 accentuates the happy/cheerful feeling by giving the fountain
a human character of delight. The personification is successful in conveying a picture-perfect scene of the
lovely morning that highlights the sensation of enjoyment and well-being.
Line 6 : Locust jumps , it is energetic early in the morning. The "yellow locust" continues the many shades
of yellow, precisely as the "golden sun" in line 3.
Line 7 : Movement of the locusts are compared to the movement of the light through trees. The locusts are
the same colour as the beams. Alliteration of “l” – emphasis on movement. The word "and" is repeated in
line 7, which both emphasizes the beauty of the speaker's surroundings and alludes to the speaker's
impromptu emotional response. The recurrence of the letter "l" in lines 7 (life and light) creates an air of
freedom and an unburdened life in the joyful dawn.
Line 8 : Birds are singing : atmosphere of joy, happiness
These lines further develop the sensual beauty of nature. The term "spring" refers to the energy that
permeates and gives life to natural components. The description of "brown birds" in line 8 strengthens this
impression. “Bubbles”, an onomatopoeic word, has a cheery sound. The bird's joyful song may be heard.
Happy brown bird singing, etc. The birds were singing incessantly about "life, light, and sunlight." This
supports the notion that nature is a celebration of life. The birds, insects, and plants appear to be
celebrating the early sun.
Line 9 : Personification : The earth is dressed in all her beauty and adornments. The earth is personified
and is dressed in lovely garments. Every area of the universe is "clothed" and "filled" with a beauty that the
poet finds to be delightful. Fill the air with smells. Schreiner, a South African poet, framed the poem with her
allusion to the "thorn trees" by describing them as "sweet and robust." In order to demonstrate how
ubiquitous their scent is, the trees are also covered in blossoms. The golden thorn trees flood the breeze
with sweet and potent aromas, the soil is covered with beauty, and the air is filled with melody.
Line 10 : Sounds of birds add to a cheerful atmosphere.
Line 11 : The trees are in full bloom and the wind finds it difficult to move through it.

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Line 12 ; Alliteration of “s” - wonderful smells of the morning. The alliteration is employed to emphasize
how powerful and pleasant the fragrance is. The sibilant "s" sounds in "song," "sweet," and "strong" add to
the poem's lyrical charm.
Lines 13 – 14 : The speaker makes reference to someone who is not with her due to death – this is an
assumption that it is her child who has passed on. There is a face I've never seen and a hand I've never
touched. What, to me, is light right now? What is song? What is sunshine? In these lines, the poet's
demeanour and tone alter. Compared to the preceding three quatrains, this one exhibits a sharp shift in
tone and mood.
“Never” implies that there is never a chance that she will be able to touch or see her kid. When the speaker
considers the loss she has experienced, her tone becomes to one of melancholy, sadness, grief, dejection,
and hopelessness. The loss of a significant person to the speaker has left her feeling hopeless. The word
"touch" implies a very intimate bond with this individual. She fears she won't ever see them again.

Lines 15 – 16 Change in tone . In these lines there is a tone of bitterness/ sorrow evident. The speaker
questions the meaning of this beauty I that she is unable to share it with the person she loves. What is
the sense of witnessing a lovely, natural morning if there is no one to share it with? she asks rhetorically as
she closes the poem. The hypothetical question challenges the reader to think about her predicament: a
lovely day spent alone with no prospect of companionship. She does not find comfort in her lovely
surroundings.

TONE : lines 1 -12 : peaceful , happy tone describes nature. The last four lines of the poem changes to a
resentful, bitter tone, sorrow and regret “ a hand I never touched” (line 13 )
‘… a face I never see “ (line 14)
MOOD :
In lines 1- 12 : joyous celebratory mood, last 4 lines change in mood: sombre, solemn mood,
INTENTION :
The speaker intends to contrast the beauty of nature with the actual sufferings of human beings.
THEMES :
Permanence of nature
Despair. loneliness
Futility of human relations
The transience (brief) nature of human life

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 IT IS A BEAUTEOUS EVENING, CALM AND FREE – WILLIAM WORDSWORTH

It is a beauteous evening, calm and free,

The holy time is quiet as a Nun
Breathless with adoration; the broad sun
Is sinking down in its tranquility;
The gentleness of heaven broods o'er the Sea; 5
Listen! the mighty Being is awake,
And doth with his eternal motion make
A sound like thunder—everlastingly.
Dear child! dear Girl! that walkest with me here,
If thou appear untouched by solemn thought, 10
Thy nature is not therefore less divine:
Thou liest in Abraham's bosom all the year;
And worshipp'st at the Temple's inner shrine,
God being with thee when we know it not. 14

GLOSSARY

Beauteous (Line 1) - Beautiful.

Holy time (Line 2) - Refers to the time of evening prayer service, or vespers, in certain Christian
denominations. Vespers generally occurs around sunset. Adoration (Line 3) - Profound love. Here, the
word has religious connotations, as it's often associated with religious art depicting reverent love for Christ.
Tranquility (Line 4) - Peacefulness; calm.
Broods o'er (Line 5) - Contemplates deeply. Here used to suggest that the evening sky over the water looks
solemn, and to suggest that "heaven" or God is watching over the world.
O'er (Line 5) - An archaic contraction of "over."
The mighty Being (Line 6) - Basically a reference to God, although Wordsworth may be using this indirect
phrase to suggest a non-traditional conception of God.
Doth (Line 7) - An archaic variant of the word "does."
Everlastingly (Line 8) - Eternally.
Liest (Line 12) - An archaic second-person form of the verb "lie."
Abraham's bosom (Line 12) - The "bosom of Abraham" is a term from the Judeo-Christian tradition, usually
referring to the afterlife realm where virtuous souls await the Last Judgment. (Abraham is a patriarch and
prophet in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam; closeness to his "bosom" or body is a metaphor for closeness
to God.) Here, the phrase suggests the presence of God in life rather than the afterlife.
Worshipp'st (Line 13) - An archaic second-person form of the verb "worship." The Temple (Line 13) - An
allusion to the Holy of Holies: the inner sanctuary of the Tabernacle (or Temple in Jerusalem), the holiest
site in Judaism. Only the High Priest was allowed to enter this sanctuary (shrine), once a year, on Yom
Kippur. Here, the allusion implies that the child is a high priest of sorts, with special access to the divine.

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SETTING

The poem takes place beside (or near) the "Sea" on a beautiful "evening." The speaker remarks on the
loveliness of this setting, pointing out its seemingly "Breathless" hush, tranquil "sun[set]," and gentle sky
over ocean waters. The speaker also urges an accompanying "Girl" (and/or the reader) to "Listen" to a
"sound like thunder"—probably the crashing of the ocean waves, which the speaker attributes to the
"eternal motion" of God. The setting is, in fact, the inspiration for the whole poem. The scenic atmosphere
stirs the speaker's reverence toward God and nature, and it also prompts the speaker's reflections about
the "Girl" coming along for this evening stroll.

SUMMARY
The speaker is struck by the physical beauty of the evening and the mood it creates. The speaker views the
scene through a spiritual lens and assures his young companion (believed to be his daughter, Caroline)
that God’s presence is everywhere, even if we are not fully conscious of it. Whether or not the companion
knows it, the speaker feels that God is with her.

STRUCTURE AND RHYME SCHEME

Sonnet

Octave: Lines 1-8 describing how reverent the "beauteous evening" makes them feel.
Sestet: Lines 9-14
the turn in line 9 (the moment in a sonnet when the speaker switches gears) seem less sharp. Now the
speaker suggests that the "Girl"—thanks to her own personality and/or the fact that she's a child, with
childlike faith and wonder—feels this same kind of reverence all the time, even when the world doesn't look
beautiful. She may not be a poet, but her spirituality is that much more impressive.

L1-8 Wordsworth's sonnet, the first eight lines rhyme ABBA ACCA, while the last six lines use an unusual
DEF DFE variation.
Iambic pentameter (meaning each line has five iambs, with an unstressed-stressed syllable pattern) - have
an expressive effect.

ALLUSION

draws on Christian imagery,

lines 12-13 make two specific allusions: the Judeo-Christian tradition, "the bosom of Abraham" refers to the
home of virtuous souls in the afterlife. (Abraham is an important patriarch so closeness to Abraham is
closeness to God.) Here, however, the term refers to the comforting presence of God in life, not the
afterlife. The speaker is saying that the daughter ("Thou") carries a kind of heaven with her all the time
("year"-round) - praising the daughter's spirituality
Wordsworth's belief that children, have a special connection to God because they've recently come from
Heaven.
In line 13, "the Temple's inner shrine" probably alludes to the Holy of Holies: the inner sanctuary of the
Tabernacle (a.k.a. Solomon's Temple or the Temple in Jerusalem). This is considered the most sacred site

58
in Judaism. Some sects of Christianity identify their own versions of the Holy of Holies. Here, again, the
allusion implies that the daughter has a close connection to God or a special spiritual authority, perhaps
simply by virtue of being a child.

LINE BY LINE ANALYSIS AND EXPLANATION

Lines 1-4
setting: a calm, beautiful evening, lovely sunset.
speaker's feelings: peace and reverence
"Beauteous" = synonym for "beautiful"
"The holy time” = time of evening worship in some Christian denominations (i.e., around sunset).
Simile -L 2-3 – compares the "quiet" of this hour to “a Nun / Breathless with adoration." - the atmosphere is
so windless and peaceful, it's like a religious woman whose worshipful love has taken her breath away.
Personification - "holy time" - a projection of the speaker's own feelings he is entranced by the beauty of the
evening.
The setting sun looks "broad" and "tranquil" as it "sink[s]" in the sky, reflecting the calm, expansive mood of
the speaker.
L3 -alliteration L1, L4, L5 - assonance

LINES 5-8
continues describing their beautiful surroundings, points out the "Sea," the mild sky, and the sound of
crashing waves. In keeping with the worshipful mood of the opening lines, the speaker imagines the sound
of the sea in quasi-religious terms:
L5 Personification. "The gentleness of heaven" could refer simply to the calm sky, which seems to "brood
o'er," - watch over, the waves below.
Word choice suggests a religious vision of Heaven, in which God watches over the world from a perch in
the clouds.
L6 directs the listener's attention—"Listen!"—to "the mighty Being" at work behind the scenes of this
beautiful evening. "Being" - must be God, it's the "eternal motion" of this "Being" that makes the "sound like
thunder" roaring around them. That is the sound of the "Sea," so the speaker seems to be imagining that
God's movements are orchestrating the crash of waves—and, by extension, creating and sustaining the
whole surrounding scene.
L7 - Alliteration ("motion make") helps evoke the resonant "thunder" of the sea.
L8 God makes this thunderous sound "everlastingly." - God, the sea, and nature go on forever. (Simile)
L7-8 = enjambment
L9 (Listen! L6) addressing a "dear Girl," (alliteration) - walking alongside – maybe his daughter. However,
"Listen!" seems to be directed more at the reader. It's as though the poem is instructing its audience to pay
close attention, not only to the majesty of the scene it's describing but to the divine power behind it.
L 9-11 suddenly introduce the person the poem has been addressing: a "Dear child! dear Girl!" who
appears to be the speaker's daughter. (Wordsworth based the poem on an actual seaside walk he took with
his daughter Caroline. Addresses her using the pronouns "thou," "thee," and "thy": second-person singular
pronouns.
L10 The speaker acknowledges that the girl doesn't seem "solemn[ly]" awed by the "beauteous evening."
Maybe her mood is carefree and light-hearted, or maybe it's just detached.
L9-10 - assonance

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L11 they don't hold it against her: Even if you don't seem inspired (by this holy scene), it doesn't mean
you're any less spiritual - in fact, her "nature" is "divine": that she has some kind of innate spirituality or
connection with God. The following lines will expand on this idea. (“th” – alliteration)
L12-14 because her youthful spirituality is a constant. She always feels God's presence, so she's not
bowled over right now.
L12-13 Allusion: "Abraham's bosom" - Judeo-Christian term for a place of comfort in the afterlife; here, the
speaker suggests that the girl feels God's comfort in her ordinary life, all the time.
L13 sacred site in the Judeo-Christian tradition, accessible only to the highest priests, and only during
certain ceremonies. The speaker suggests that, metaphorically, the child has access to this special
sanctuary; that is, she has the highest and closest possible connection with God.
L14 the child experiences the presence of the "divine" even when adults ("we") don't feel it at all. These last
observations help tie the two parts of the sonnet together
The assonance and internal rhyme in the last line ("being"/"thee"/"we") add an extra touch of musicality to
this melodious poem. They also help highlight the crucial contrast between "thee" (the girl) and "we"
(grown-ups). God is with you, the speaker declares, even when we are none the wiser.

PUNCTUATION
L6 dramatic punctuation, the speaker's command to "Listen" (line 6) is followed by an urgent exclamation
point.
L8 dramatic punctuation -caesura marked by a dash ("thunder—"),

TONE
Amazed / awe / tranquillity /respect

THEMES
THE HOLINESS OF NATURE
*Celebrates the majestic, even holy beauty of the natural world.
*Appreciation for the beauty and power of nature, and also for the divine "Being" that makes such beauty possible.
*Speaker is struck by the world’s peace and quiet during an evening stroll by the sea.
*The speaker’s descriptions of nature are, filled with religious imagery that links the beauty of the evening,
and of nature more generally, to God (and thus presents this beauty as worthy of reverence).
*Language portrays the natural world as a divine creation capable of admiring its own handiwork. Struck by
this spectacle, the speaker encourages greater awareness of, and appreciation for, both nature and the
divine spirit behind it.
*Also the "divine" element present in the girl's own "nature." This language implies that human beings are
themselves a part of nature and thus part of the divine. As such, the poem implies that people should tune
in more closely to both

CHILDHOOD AND FAITH

*Children, feeling close to God is an everyday occurrence. That is, kids maintain a natural sense of faith
and wonder at all times, so they don’t necessarily react with solemn awe to what adults would consider
sacred moments.
*Speaker believes that children feel God's presence in moments that might not seem especially sacred to
adults
*Children are the most holy and reverent of God's creatures and have a kind of access to a divinity that
adults have lost. Children are perpetually in God's presence. Her childlike faith and wonder are a constant.

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Moreover, she has special, direct access to. Thus, the reverence that the speaker feels (and wants to share
with the reader) during the "beauteous evening" represents a kind of tuning back into the wavelength that
kids are always on. The girl may not seem especially full of faith and wonder now, but that's only because
she's full of faith and wonder all the time—including in moments when it's much harder for adults to feel
these things.

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 FERN HILL – DYLAN THOMAS

1 Now as I was young and easy under the apple boughs

2 About the lilting house and happy as the grass was green,
3 The night above the dingle starry,
4 Time let me hail and climb
5 Golden in the heydays of his eyes,
6 And honoured among wagons I was prince of the apple towns
7 And once below a time I lordly had the trees and leaves
8 Trail with daisies and barley
9 Down the rivers of the windfall light.

10 And as I was green and carefree, famous among the barns

11 About the happy yard and singing as the farm was home,
12 In the sun that is young once only,
13 Time let me play and be
14 Golden in the mercy of his means,
15 And green and golden I was huntsman and herdsman, the calves
16 Sang to my horn, the foxes on the hills barked clear and cold,
17 And the sabbath rang slowly
18 In the pebbles of the holy streams.

19 All the sun long it was running, it was lovely, the hay
20 Fields high as the house, the tunes from the chimneys, it was air
21 And playing, lovely and watery
22 And fire green as grass.
23 And nightly under the simple stars
24 As I rode to sleep the owls were bearing the farm away,
25 All the moon long I heard, blessed among stables, the nightjars
26 Flying with the ricks, and the horses
27 Flashing into the dark.

28 And then to awake, and the farm, like a wanderer white

29 With the dew, come back, the cock on his shoulder: it was all
30 Shining, it was Adam and maiden,
31 The sky gathered again
32 And the sun grew round that very day.
33 So it must have been after the birth of the simple light
34 In the first, spinning place, the spellbound horses walking warm

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35 Out of the whinnying green stable
36 On to the fields of praise.

37 And honoured among foxes and pheasants by the gay house

38 Under the new made clouds and happy as the heart was long,
39 In the sun born over and over,
40 I ran my heedless ways,
41 My wishes raced through the house high hay
42 And nothing I cared, at my sky blue trades, that time allows
43 In all his tuneful turning so few and such morning songs
44 Before the children green and golden
45 Follow him out of grace,

46 Nothing I cared, in the lamb white days, that time would take me
47 Up to the swallow thronged loft by the shadow of my hand,
48 In the moon that is always rising,
49 Nor that riding to sleep
50 I should hear him fly with the high fields
51 And wake to the farm forever fled from the childless land.
52 Oh as I was young and easy in the mercy of his means,
53 Time held me green and dying
54 Though I sang in my chains like the sea.

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THE TITLE
This poem speaks of the beauty of an actual place named Fern Hill, where Thomas spent time as a child. It
is essentially a reflection on his happy times at this place. It is certainly an autobiographical poem.
SUMMARY
The speaker reflects on and celebrates the joy he experienced during his youth in the countryside. He
reflects on the freedom he felt and the beauty that surrounded him. It is a nostalgic poem – the speaker,
once an innocent child, is aware of his loss of innocence and fantasy freedom.
In “Fern Hill,” Thomas presents an idyllic view of childhood on a farm, filled with vivid imagery which
presents a child’s view of the world. This is contrasted in the final stanzas with the regret of the adult as he
recalls the loss of the innocence and splendour of childhood.
FORM/STRUCTURE
This poem consists of six stanzas, each comprising nine lines. There is a strict syllabic count in each line
which is repeated in each stanza: 14,14,9,6,9,14,14,7,9. Despite the strict syllabic count/rhythm, there is no
specific form to this poem. The poem is song-like in its rhythm. The poem can be divided into two parts: the
first 3 stanzas are related to the poet’s experience as a child and the last 3 stanzas focus on the awakening
in the child which signifies the loss of innocence.

LINE BY LINE ANALYSIS AND EXPLANATION

[STANZA 1: young and carefree]

1 Present tense-poem is about past. Young & free. Allusion-apple-Eden

2 Simile, happiness compared to intensity of green colour
Now – The speaker is, as an adult, reflecting on his youth.
bough – branch
easy – carefree
lilting – singing merrily
green – associated with youth, innocence, inexperience and naivety, the child had no worries and no cares,
hence the freedom he felt. The speaker describes his blissful delight when he was a child who enjoyed nature.
He recalls how he enjoyed living in the arms of wild nature, playing under the apple trees.

3 He is as happy as the sky with stars

4 Personification, childhood was a great time
dingle – valley with forests
starry – the night sky was filled with stars. He focuses on its beauty as he is captured by its charm.
Time is personified as a parent that allows him to do things. The reason for this freedom and
happiness is that the child was not yet worried about time. Time is personified as the friend and ally of a
child, unlike adults who are constantly pressed and tormented by time.

5 Time captures the joys of childhood

6 Special to all. Allusion – Adam in Eden
Gold has connotations of wealth and beauty and Autumn – leaves turning and sunlight and yellow
flowers. Golden also has connotations of glory.

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 heydays – Prime/best days. These precious childhood days are the golden times during which time was
merciful and kind.
honoured among wagons – he was honoured by all the inhabitants of the area
He was the "prince of the apple towns" and the world of that farm was his dominion.
Metaphor – compares himself to a prince. The metaphor continues in line 7.

7 Preposition “below”(digging up past -“upon”

8 Enjambment-smooth trail of life when young
9 Apples gleaming in the light rolling down a hill – like a river

Metaphor – Compares himself to a lord. This place made him feel like royalty.
Windfall – an apple blown down from a tree or a large amount of money arriving unexpectedly
(fortune/luck).
Metaphor – Light is compared to a river filled with riches.
The landscape around him is rich with flowers, fields of barley and rivers of light. It is indeed a paradise
and he felt like he was a prince and a lord ruling this paradise.

[STANZA 2: Carefree, time takes its course]

10 Well known to all

11 personification “happy yard”
He continues to revisit his happy childhood in a series of flashbacks. He recalls how naïve, innocent
and inexperienced he was then, but also how he lived without any worries or cares. As an adult, he
thinks he was "green" as a child. Being naive or green is a small cost of being happy and carefree.
Unlike children, adults are care- worn, unhappy and struggle daily to make ends meet.
Instead of being famous world-wide, the child was famous among the barns where animals are kept
and rural festivities were held. He is famous among country people and he is master of the animal
world. farm was home – he had a sense of belonging. Also, he was oblivious of the adult world.

12 time in your life when you are young

13 personification: allowed to be young once

In the sun that is young once only, / Time let me play and be / Golden in the mercy of his means,
the sun that is young once only – Time is personified. We are all at the mercy of time because we
cannot stop time. And as he was young, he felt everything around him was just as young including the
sun under which he played freely and merrily. These times are a golden and precious gift that Time
gave him out of its kindness and mercy.

14 at the mercy of time to be young only once

15-16 Alliteration. Engaged with the wilderness among calves & foxes

Metaphor – compares himself to a hunter and herdsman. The child imagines that he was the hero.
Sometimes he was a huntsman blowing his horn, going after wild animals and foxes and hunting them
the way first human beings did; other times he was a herdsman/ shepherd tending his cattle.

17 Metaphor. Didn’t have to go to church – sees God in nature.

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18 that ringing sound (church bells) seems to come from the tiny stones at the bottoms of streams.

sabbath – Biblical allusion creates a mood of reverence (deep respect).

rang – refers to church bells.
pebbles of the holy streams – It is as if the very streams sing a song of praise to God (in the sound of
the water running over the pebbles) in the beauty and glory of this rural childhood. He felt like
worshipping in the temple of nature and the holy altar was the water stream whose pebbles noise felt
like hymns in his ears.

[STANZA 3 : still fun on the farm and nature is still alive at night]

19 enjoying - outside all day. repetition "it was" emphasises the fun
20 running in the tall-grown hay. Metaphor - smoke from chimneys = music "tunes”.
21 air seems like a kind of water full of wonderful things. “water” flows freely

Sun – represents the passing of time. Note the unusual word order in line 19 which creates a
personification
The child is still speaking, gushing on his past memories. He is still that playing, innocent child who has
no cares and no worries. The lovely sun is now running as autumn days are shorter.
The harvest is done. The hay stacks stand in piles as high as house (Simile). The chimneys do not send
smoke out in the air, but music that he liked.

22 fire is as green as the grass = surreal – shows childhood is about vivid memories and not always logical
23-24 rides (falls off) to sleep -as owls take flight, they carry him to fly with them. Owls carry the night away.

His playing is never interrupted even when he was all drenched in rain and the days are cold. Even the
fire looked green his eyes, like the green grass.

25-27All night. He can hear horses -imagery evokes light gleaming on horses' hair, they retreat into their
stable to sleep. "blessed" religious undertones.
As the child drifts off to sleep, he imagines that the entire farm is carried away into ‘dreamland’ by the owls
whose call is heard in the night.
He heard the singing of birds like the nightjars which made of the stable their homes. In the darkness, the
farm is no less noisy than in the day and no less bright as he can see the eyes of horses flashing in the
darkness and hear the singing and noises of night life. In short, he felt blessed, happy and free.

T the end of Stanza 3, the child's symbolic sleep ends in a flashing light in the dark. This flash is the light of
awareness and signals the loss of paradise, freedom, and innocent bliss.

[STANZA 4 : day returns, farm is the garden of Eden]

28-29 Day returns. Dawn = simile - Day reappears - light shines on it. Dew = farm gleams. Personifies - farm
= a traveller suddenly appearing after the night with a rooster(farm begins with a rooster crowing at dawn).
30 Biblical allusion implies - Fern Hill = Garden of Eden, a paradise where a child feels at one with the

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 natural surroundings.
31 sky - suggests the beginning of the world as it might have been witnessed in Eden- as if he is
witnessing the creation of the sky.

And – introduces a change. The waking child in Stanza 4 is symbolic of maturity.

the farm, like a wanderer white – Personification. He wakes up to the sound of the rooster crowing.
With the dew – time has passed. It is now winter. Winter is symbolic of the end of his childhood and
innocence.
Shining – the light of the morning sun reflects off the dew has settled on the leaves and ground.
He feels that Time has betrayed him. This betrayal is indicated by the placing of the cock on his
shoulder. A cock is another name for a rooster and is an allusion to the betrayal of Jesus in the
Christian faith. A rooster crows when Jesus is betrayed in the Bible.

32-33 it's just another morning on the farm; the sun rises. But as a child, even regular mornings felt as
special as the beginning of the world.

The sun rises up in the sky.

sun grew round – the sun was shining brightly.
that very day – he remembers this day as it was of great significance to him. Also symbolic of his
growing up; he was no longer a child.
the birth of the simple light – Birth of the world/the first light in Eden.

34-35 blurs images from the farm with those of Eden. Imagines the horses as the first horses in the world
walking out of the stables in the beginning of creation.

spinning place – The Earth

the whinnying green stable – Onomatopoeia – sound of horse. Brings the scene to life.
As the sun shines, all creatures wake up to glorify nature and praise its beauty and abundance. The
farm horses leave their stable with the birth of light and go to the fields to join the rest of the natural
world in a prayer or hymn addressed to the farm. This creates a mood of reverence.

[STANZA 5 : Still enjoying childhood but hints of it coming to a close]

37-38 Still enjoying the farm. simile: “heart was long” = big heart and full of happiness, echoes "All the
sun long" (L19). Continues allusion - Garden of Eden and its metaphorical comparison to Fern Hill.

He felt honoured/like royalty

pheasants – a large bird with a rounded body and long tail, that spends a lot of time on the ground
and is often shot for sport and food
He felt as if the foxes, the pheasants and other animals were his friends and they loved him and
honoured him as they wandered around the happy and merry house of Fern Hill.
Gay – happy/playful. The house is personified to reflect how the child felt about the house. It was
lively and happy and filled with merriment and joys.
new – the birth of the world

39 every day at Fern Hill was like the first day of the world.

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41 last three stressed syllables capture a feeling of elation.

The speaker recalls with a sense of regret and intense nostalgia that he was "in the sun born over
and over / I ran my heedless ways" when he was young. He admits that he was “ heedless” as a
child and how the farm gave him all that he needed and made him feel complete.

Hyperbolic image. Alliteration - adds to feeling of exaggerated joy.

42-45 personified time. "trades"=skilled work, here "sky blue trades" suggests imaginative things that
children get up to – and didn’t realise how time would pass so quickly.
43 turning of the planet - cycles of night and day, is the music or "tune" of time. Time only allows a
"few morning songs." "morning songs" = metaphor for childhood, which, if a whole life is
compared to a day, is like the morning.

His wishes seem to be fulfilled as quickly as the stacks of hay grew high in the house. The sun
bathed him with its warmth and light and he felt free looking at the blue sky.
sky blue trades – activities. He was too occupied to care that time was passing by and did not
realise that his childhood paradise would end.
He felt time is kind and loving and he could hear its morning music and singing.

44-45 After a brief childhood he loses his grace (closeness to God) –

Like Adam and Eve. He has to "Follow" time out of childhood. Children give up their "green and
golden" state, their innocence and joy.

children green and golden – children who were still young and naïve. They did not have any worry
and were in complete harmony with time. The child-speaker talks proudly and happily about his
adventures in Fern Hill farm.
grace – indicates a fall from grace or innocence and suggests he has moved from a state of perfect
union to an awareness of reality. The embrace of reality brings with it regret and a loss of freedom.
Follow him – This is symbolic of Adam and Eve leaving Eden. His carefree world has been left
behind.

FINAL STANZA - strong shift in tone, speaker goes from the ecstatic joy of the previous stanzas to a
devastating lament for the end of childhood and innocence.

46 metaphor -Lambs, and their white wool, symbolize innocence in Christianity.

47 rip to the "loft" ( attic full of birds), suggests initiation that leads the speaker into the world of adulthood
(sexual experience/secret meeting) Being led by the shadow of the hand - figurative.

The speaker returns to the present. The child becomes and adult and leaves behind the innocence of
his past.
Nothing I cared – emphasises his complete freedom in his childhood.
lamb white days – symbol of innocence and purity. Emphasises his carefree attitude as a child.
time would take me – Time is personified. He is aware of Time even though he is unaware of anything
else. Time is guiding him and leading him until he loses the carefree attitude of the child.
Up to the swallow thronged loft – A high place full of swallows (birds).
shadow – something negative/unpleasant is introduced.

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50-51 Previously the owls carried the farm away at night and it returned at dawn. Now, it doesn't return.
The farm has "forever fled." All the children are gone. The speaker wakes up one morning and all the
joy has been sucked out of the world.
He felt that all nights are bright with the moon, which is always rising.
Nor that riding to sleep / I should hear him fly with the high fields – Literally, even when he is going
home after nightfall, he could hear the swallows flying high over the fields which are also high as
they sit on the hill.
Figuratively – How he goes to sleep without worries and without cares. All he thinks of is to wait for
the morning so that he would have another playful and joyful day.
And wake to the farm forever fled – Maturity and the "chains" of adulthood came all too quickly for
the speaker and the speaker laments the lost days of his youth. He accepts that once childhood is
left behind there is no going back unless the tool of creating is used. Only then can an individual tap
into the joy and freedom experienced in childhood and even then, the joy is brief.

52-54 offers a lamentation for the end of childhood.

52 from line 1, 13&14 - Combing these two phrases = gist of the poem: childhood was great but short.
53 how the speaker feels at the end of childhood, and to this day. The speaker is still "green," that is,
inexperienced, but now is also "dying." The speaker now has to confront mortality, the reality of an
eventual death. Similarly Adam and Eve- gained knowledge of death. Speaker - confronting the loss
of innocence and the reality of death.
54 metaphorical "chains" = adulthood, which the speaker experiences as a form of imprisonment. If
childhood = "easy" and "heedless," feeling like a "prince," of being at one with the natural world then
adulthood = opposite of these, period of difficulty, self-consciousness, humiliation and isolation from
the world. Poetic image of the sea in chains, singing by thrashing its waves. Metaphorically
interpreted, this image suggests that even though time forced the speaker to grow up, the speaker's
free and "lilting" spirit never fully lets go of childhood.
Oh – A cry of regret, sorrow. This is the turning point at which the child-speaker disappears and adult
steps in to tell us about the experience of waking up from the dream of childhood memories: the farm
is longer crowded with the laughter and noise of playing children. It becomes "childless"; that is,
barren and fallow.

TONE
 reflective tone throughout the poem. He indicates the transition from child to adult as well as the
interactions with Time.
 The tone is joyful/fervent/emotional/ecstatic/rhapsodic: it is a hymn of praise to youth and innocence.
 In the final stanza the tone changes to one of melancholy at the lost and irretrievable days of
childhood.
 Nostalgic

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THEMES:
CHILDHOOD'S JOY AND INNOCENCE
*celebration of childhood, happy, innocence, freedom, security
* the way children feel like a unique part of a harmonious world—a world in which everything is special yet
works together
*no friction between the speaker and the rest of world.
* harmony ( “prince of the apple towns.”) speaker felt special
*“famous among the barns,” as a child, as though the entire world itself was paying attention to him = joyful,
innocent attitude
*there was nothing to fear or dread, days were filled with excitement and wonder.
*Speaker saw only good in the surrounding world - the whole farm seemed to grant the speaker’s wishes.
Everything was sweet and fun, fulfilling all the speaker’s desires.
*free from all worries and cares, instead allowed to simply enjoy the splendour of the world.
*By recollecting childhood in such vivid terms, the speaker reveals how it shines forth in memory as a truly
wonderful time.

THE HARMONY AND WONDER OF NATURE

*connection with the natural world = peace, and harmony.
*“green” = young and inexperienced, metaphor - comparing to a young plant that didn't have a care in the
world because it was just so excited to be alive.
*“All the sun long it was running,” - the day itself would run along with him, like a friend might.
*“lovely and watery.” speaker explores and elements of that landscape seemed like his playmates; the sun,
hay, smoke, air, and water would also frolic and sing.
*“I was huntsman and herdsman, the calves / Sang to my horn, the foxes on the hills barked clear and
cold.” - had a role to play; it felt as if all these animals responded to him.
* “And nightly under the simple stars / As I rode to sleep the owls were bearing the farm away.” Night,
captures the height of the speaker’s joyful connection with the natural world. It’s clear that the speaker
remembers childhood as a time of joyful romping through nature.
*Adults are no longer able to access the sense of peace and harmony that comes from being one with
nature—they are effectively kicked out of this Eden.

THE POWER OF TIME

*Time grants the speaker a brief period of childhood happiness, yet it also ensures that nothing lasts
forever and that all joys come to an end.
*Time = unstoppable force with control over human beings.
*Time is personified as an all mighty figure which mercifully grants the speaker a brief period of childhood,
while also looming over that childhood with the threat of imminent change.
*first stanza, time = kind of god that lets speaker experience a joyful childhood
*Without time, there’d be no “heyday” to “climb” in. In fact, this personified time is merciful for allowing
childhood to exist.
* Time grants the speaker a “golden” childhood, but only has enough “mercy” to provide a short one.
The speaker has a keen sense of how time only permits people to be children for so long. Pretty soon, the
time’s up. As a result, time as a personified figure represents a looming sense of change.

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*the speaker didn’t know or didn’t care that childhood would be over so soon, that time is merciful only up to
a point.
*Presiding as an all-powerful force throughout the poem, time gives the speaker a wonderful childhood and
then takes it away.
*Both predictable and unrelenting, there’s nothing that can be done about the passage of time.

THE END OF CHILDHOOD GRACE

*When nature runs its course, children grow up, losing the “grace” of childhood, the end of childhood is thus
a painful fall from grace.
*the goodness of childhood shown as allusions to the biblical story of Adam and Eve. Speaker remembers
childhood as a paradise akin to the Garden of Eden
*For the speaker as a child, the world’s divinity can be seen even in the humblest stones; “sabbath rang
slowly / In the pebbles of the holy streams,” the speaker can see that the whole world is good, that it is all
full of God’s divinity.
*At the end of the poem, the speaker loses the grace of childhood just as Adam and Eve lost their grace,
and along with it the paradise of Eden. This experience is very painful for the speaker
*one day the speaker wakes up, no longer a child, and all the joy has been sucked out of the world. The
speaker doesn’t feel connected to the world anymore, either. Instead, all paradise and harmony has been
removed, leaving the speaker alone. Moreover, just as Adam and Even could now experience physical and
emotional pain, the speaker now knows suffering.
*poem ends on a dramatic and mysterious image that captures this suffering: “Time held me green and
dying / Though I sang in my chains like the sea.” This image of a dying, enchained sea conveys the pain of
childhood ending - feels awful, thus bleakly ends the speaker’s depiction of childhood’s grace.

SYMBOLS:
FERN HILL
*An aunt's farm that Dylan Thomas often visited as a child, represents the wonderful farm that speaker recalls.
*A symbol of childhood's joy and innocence, which has now been lost.
*Fern Hill only appears in the title. However, every line in the poem unpacks the farm's symbolic resonance -
capturing the speaker's childhood joy, or hinting at how the passage of time would eventually cause that joy to be
lost.
*Speaker has vivid memories of the wonderful elements of the farm: its plants and animals, how it felt at night and
at dawn.
*End of the poem, speaker depicts how "the farm forever fled from the childless land." —as a symbol of
childhood's joy and innocence—the farm leaves the speaker when the speaker grows up. After the speaker
becomes an adult, Fern Hill exists only in memory

GREEN AND GOLDEN

*Green symbolizes youthful inexperience and naiveté
*Green = idiom to mean inexperienced, comparing a youngster to a green sapling or sprout, captures how
inexperienced children really are like sprouts. They are just as much a part of the natural world as delicate
plants.
*As a child the speaker was "happy as the grass was green," comparing a child's happiness to the green of
grass.
* At the end of the poem, the speaker says, "Time held me green and dying," which suggests that people
begin to sense their own mortality while they're still kids—that, as the speaker implies throughout the poem,
being a child is over much too soon.

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*Gold symbolizes the joy and magic—even the "prince[liness]"—of childhood.
*"Golden," captures the majesty of childhood. It captures the specialness the speaker felt being out in the
world as a young child, of feeling like royalty amid humble things. More broadly, golden suggests the joy
and magic of childhood.
*Paired together, "green and golden" craft a picture of how naiveté and youthful imagination weave
together to create childhood's best memories.

WHITE
*White symbolizes its innocence. Line 28 - Light reveals the farm at dawn, so that it reappears like a
traveller who is covered in so much dew that he gleams white.
*western literature - white often represents innocence, and here it captures the role the farm played in the
young speaker's innocent perception of the world.
*Line 46 - white - symbolic manner: In Christianity, lambs symbolize innocence—often the innocence of
Jesus, which is ultimately sacrificed. The speaker's innocence is like that too. It is eventually sacrificed to
make way for adulthood. Here, the speaker loses that innocence by going up to the dark, shadowy,
"swallow thronged" attic

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THE SHIPWRECK – EMILY DICKINSON

Glee! The great storm is over!

Four have recovered the land;
Forty gone down together
Into the boiling sand.

Ring, for the scant salvation! 5

Toll, for the bonnie souls, --
Neighbour and friend and bridegroom,
Spinning upon the shoals!

How they will tell the shipwreck

When winter shakes the door, 10
Till the children ask, ‘But the forty?
Did they come back no more?’

Then a silence suffuses the story,

And a softness the teller's eye;
And the children no further question, 15
And only the waves reply.

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ABOUT THE POET

 Emily Dickinson was born in 1830, in the town of Amherst, Massachusetts and was one of the most
prolific and inspired American poets of her time.
 She was also one of the very few women poets of the 19th century.
 She wrote over 1,000 poems with various themes during her lifetime.

THE TITLE
‘The’ – denoting a particular shipwreck.
‘Shipwreck’– a catastrophic accident at sea where a ship is destroyed by treacherous waters and either
sinks to the sea bed or runs aground (is washed ashore). Such a disaster usually results in loss of lives,
grief and mourning. This sets the tone for the poem.

SUMMARY
This poem is about a shipwreck that had killed 40 people. When the 4 survivors returned, the town was
filled with celebration until children asked about the 40 people that had died tragically at sea. After that the
story of their return no longer lasted.

FORM AND STRUCTURE

 Comprises 4 stanzas
 Each stanza contains 4 lines each
 Rhyme scheme follows a strict pattern : abcb / defe /ghih / jklk
 Characteristic of a ballad, without the refrain between stanzas
 Stanza 1 & 2 focus on the optimistic response to the news of the survival of 4 people in a
shipwreck
 Stanzas 3 & 4 focus on grieving and mourning the loss of 40 innocent lives in the same shipwreck
 Dickinson uses rhythm and rhyme (consistent use if syllables per line) to give the poem a
regular pace, lending it a somewhat lyrical style

LINE BY LINE ANALYSIS AND EXPLANATION

STANZA 1
Line 1 : GLEE! the great storm is over!
‘GLEE!’– an exclamation (!) or statement of happiness and excitement. The word “GLEE” is capitalized,
placing emphasis on a tone of rejoicing.
‘the great storm is over!’ -- an exclamation (!) / statement that the mighty, monstrous storm has ended.
There is a sense of relief and a need for celebration.
The Tone of joy and celebration is successfully conveyed in Line 1.
Ironically, this jubilation is short-lived.

Line 2 : Four have recovered the land;

Only 4 have survived the shipwreck and made it onto the land.

Line 3 : Forty gone down together

40 have all drowned, no escape / no hope for these 40 people.
“gone down” – euphemism for died.

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Line 4 : Into the boiling sand
‘Into’ – swallowed up into the depths of the sea.
‘the boiling sand’.- the sand is churning violently in the treacherous /raging, tumultuous sea.
Line 4 increases the horror / tragedy of the situation, invokes intense grief and mourning for the lost ones.

STANZA 2
Line 5: Ring, for the scant salvation!
‘Ring’, - onomatopoeia – sound of the local town bell announces the survivors returning home.
‘for the scant salvation!’ – exclamation (!) of gratitude and thanks for the limited (few) survivors.
Only 4 – the minimal number of survivors bring even greater sorrow.

Line 6: Toll, for the bonnie souls,—

‘Toll’, denotes the ringing of the church bell. However, the reference here connotes a funeral bell sounding
slow & stately.
The comma causes the reader to pause at the impact of the senseless loss of lives.
‘for the bonnie souls,’— endearing, loving souls of the departed, indicates further devastation.
The dash (-) causes the reader to pause at the impact of the tragedy and provides an explanation of who
those ‘bonnie souls’ were.

Line 7 : Neighbour and friend and bridegroom

They are given titles (an identity) which personalises the dearly departed as members of the community,
known to all.
‘Bridegroom’ – denotes a newly married gentleman, evoking additional shock for his grieving widow.
The anticipation of a glorious future for this newly-married couple has been short-lived.

Line 8 : Spinning upon the shoals!

‘Spinning’ - Describes how the departed were swept and tossed around mercilessly, helplessly fighting their
fate in a desperate situation.
‘upon the shoals!’ - in the shallow waters.
This statement heightens our awareness at the sorrowful and tragic loss of lives.

STANZA 3
Line 9 : How they will tell the shipwreck
How will the story of this shipwreck be narrated?
What explanation will be given?

Line 10 : When winter shakes the door

‘Winter’ is personified.
Narrating the stories to children at night, when winter arrives
‘Shakes the door’– conveys the harsh, cold and cruel nature of Winter.

Line 11 : Till the children ask, “But the forty?

The children are curious and enquire what became of the 40 victims lost at sea?

Line 12 : Did they come back no more?”

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Did they all drown? Did they never return? The shock of the tragic reality weighs down heavily upon the
children. There will be no return for the 40 who drowned. Their physical presence in the town is gone forever.
STANZA 4
Line 13 : Then a silence suffuses the story,
‘Then’ -at this point ‘a silence suffuses the story’ – implies no explanation can be given. The children are
aware of the intensity of sorrow, loss and grief as depicted in these lines, as the story is recounted. The
pace slows down. A disturbing, deathly silence spreads as the tale of the shipwreck is told, as listeners
process such grave loss. The Mood is depressing . The Tone is mournful.
Silence suffuses – the use of Sibilance (letter ‘S’) heightens the sadness of the loss of innocent lives

Line 14 : And a softness the teller’s eye;

“teller’s eye” – refers to the person narrating the story to the children.
‘softness’ – refers to pathos (sense of pity)
The “teller” is deeply sorrowful and overcome with grief.
Effective use of Sibilance (letter ‘S’) again effectively evokes the deep despair and somber state of the ‘teller’.

Line 15 : And the children no further question,

No answers can be effectively given to the searching questions of the children. They too, understand and
experience the pain and difficulty of the adults, in coming to terms with tragic loss of 40 people.
Evokes a tone of mournfulness and melancholy.

Line 16 : And only the waves reply

Waves – are Personified. Reiterates the silence of the adults and children.
No one has an explanation, nor the answers to this catastrophic occurrence.
The speaker’s sorrow is evident.
No words will suffice, not even old, empty clichés can bring comfort and solace.
Anaphora --Repetition of ‘AND’ at the beginning of lines 14,15,16 –effectively conveys the sense of
hopelessness and loss; doom and depression; gloom and grief that persists

TONE
 Joyful
 Celebratory
 Sombre
 Sad
 Melancholic

MOOD
Shifts from joy (stanzas 1,2) to sorrowful and depressing (stanzas 3,4)

THEME/S
 Grief & Mourning
 Death & Loss
 Survival
 Nature
Realism

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 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

1. www.researchgate.net
2. Prezi.com
3. www.enotes.com
4. www.press.avenues.org
5. www.englishsummary.com
6. Poemanalysis.com
7. http://www.education.gov.za
8. http://www.econupf.educ
9. Http://www.vanschaiknet.com
10.http://disa,ukza.ac.za
11.http://escholarship.or
12.http://litcharts.com
13.Poems.org
14.Supersummary.com
15.Sparknotes.com
16.Poemanalysis.com
17.Comprehensive Guidelines for the setting of English HL P1,P2 and
P2 2022
18.Final JIT P2 August 2022 -KZN

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