JC: English Literature Poetry Study Guide

Botswana Open University

Junior Certificate Programme

Literature in English
Study Guide on
Poetry

©2018 BOU
JC: English Literature Poetry Study Guide

Acknowledgements

This unit is a product of many people who worked hard to see it ready for use by BOU
learners. BOU wishes to acknowledge contributions from the following:

Programme Development Coordinator

Lesego Ratanang Pelotona
Deborah Vimbwandu Sanoto

Writer
Amogelang Mfolo

Content Editor
Keitshepile Rebaeng

In - house Editor
Mmaserame Hannah David

DTP
Masole Otukile

Cover Illustrations
Gaolatlhe Masire

©2018 BOU
We acknowledge and thank everybody who has assisted in one way or another in the
production of this unit, particularly the publishers and authors of the anthology; Let me be a
junior anthology of poetry (1990) regarding the poems which we had to use or reproduce in
some way.All efforts were made to trace all copyight holders for the poems used.However,
in some cases we were not able to reach them. We therefore apologise for any infringement
that may have been caused and we would be pleased to make appropriate arrangements at the
earliest opportunity.

Please, address correspondences to:

The Vice Chancellor
BOU
Private Bag BO 187
Tel. 3181470/3646000
Fax: 3191089
Gaborone, Botswana

© ©2018 BOU
JC: English Literature Poetry Study Guide

Contents
Introduction to the Poetry Unit ..........................................................................................i

Lesson 1: Introduction to Poetry.........................................................................................1

Lesson 2: Poetic Analysis...................................................................................................24

Answers to Self-Assessment Exercises..............................................................................43

References...........................................................................................................................44

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JC: English Literature Poetry Study Guide

Introduction to the Poetry Unit

i Introduction

Hello again and welcome to another section of literature component of the course. This unit
introduces you to the component of poetry, which is another genre of literature that you have
to study in your junior certificate course. I do believe that you have background knowledge
of what poetry is; you have seen or heard people reciting poems or even saw poems presented
on paper. In this unit we are going to take a closer look at poetry. The unit has two lessons.
Lesson 1 will introduce you to basic information about poetry such as elements of form in
poetry and poetic devices that deal with sound effect and forms of comparison. You will
also learn how to identify some of the poetic devices from a given poem. Lesson 2 will then
introduce you to an in-depth analysis of poetry using form and the poetic devices learnt in
Lesson 1. To seek deeper understanding of the meaning and theme of the poem. The unit
will take you through an analysis of the six poems that have been selected for your Junior
Certificate studies.

Aims of the Unit

On completion of this unit the learner should have more appreciation of poetry.

Assessment
Throughout the unit you will be assessed in different ways. These will include in-text
activities, Self-assessment exercises after each lesson and a unit assignment.

Feedback
There will be answers immediately after each in-text activity. You are advised not to look at
the answers before you finish writing or doing the activity or exercise.

Resources
You will need a good English dictionary and a copy of Let me be:A Junior anthology of
Poetry, compiled by D. Dawson to refer to as you go through this Unit.

Unit Structure
This unit is divided into 2 Lessons as follows:
Lesson 1: Introduction to poetry
Lesson 2: Poetic analysis

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JC: English Literature Poetry Study Guide

Lesson 1
Introduction To Poetry

i Introduction

Welcome to the first lesson of poetry. I hope that the Literature lessons you have had so far
have been enjoyable and have opened your mind to the joys of reading. Please continue
working hard. This lesson will introduce you to what poetry involves. You will learn about
the elements of form in poetry. These are: lines, stanzas, rhyme, rhythm and sound effects.
You will also be introduced to some poetic techniques or poetic devices used by poets, and
then learn how these techniques are used to bring out meanings and messages in poetry.
You will be tested on the following six poems during the examination, but you will also study
other poems to have more practice on poetry. Below is a list of poems that you should study
from an anthology of poetry entitled Let Me Be by D. Dawson:

1. Upside down cake by Choonara (page 3)

2. Dreams by Langston Hughes (page 28)
3. Heads bent low by Anon (page 40)
4. Blue town blues by Barolong Seboni (page 42)
5. The wind is angry by Adrienne Brady (page 78)
6. Why should love be so hard on the heart? By Fran Landesman (page 93)

In Lesson 2, we will use the poems listed above to study the poetic devices I have just
mentioned.

Learning Objectives
At the end of the lesson you should be able to:
• explain what poetry is
• recognise poetic devices, explain them and their function
• identify elements of form in poetry
• compose sentences with poetic devices
• compose a poem
• analyse word choice in a poem
• identify the poet’s tone
• differentiate between forms of comparison and sound effects.

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Lesson Contents
1.0 What is poetry? 2
2.0 The Elements of form in poetry 2
3.0 Poetic devices 6
4.0 Sound Effects 16
Summary 21
Self-assessment Exercise 1 22
Glossary 23

Time
You will need to spare about 3 hours to spend in this lesson.

1.0 What is Poetry?

Poetry is another form or genre of literature. You must have seen a written poem or heard a
poem being recited before. Have you ever asked yourself what a poem really is? Now let us
look at how poetry can be defined.
Poetry means different things to different people. You will soon realise that it is very different
from novels and plays. Some people think of poetry as an expression of ideas and emotions
in concise, imaginative and musical language. Others think of poetry as any written or spoken
use of words which seeks to express the full capacity of language through a combination
of sounds meanings, music, emotions and ideas. What is important to remember is that
poetry is written and recited for various reasons. Poetry can be written and recited at special
occasions like when a chief is ascending to the throne, during ceremonies such as funerals
or marriages. Poetry can be used as a commentary on behaviour, attitudes and society. It can
be an argument or an expression of one’s sense of humour. Poems discuss things; objects,
themes and many other things discussed by other genres of literature but differs in structure
and the beautification of language it uses. While novels and short stories are written in the
form known as prose, (paragraphs) poems are written in verse, also known as stanza.

2.0 The Elements of Form in Poetry

Learner, when you see a poem how do you tell it is a poem before you read it? You might
have realised that poems have a special form that you can see just by looking at them. The
form of a poem is made from stanzas, lines and punctuation marks.

2.1 Line and stanza

A stanza or verse, line and punctuation give us form in poetry. The smallest unit in a poem
is a line. A line may be just one word. A line will not always give much sense on its own or
be a complete sentence or idea but it is able to give sense or be complete with the help of its
co-lines. The length of lines in poem may capture the mood, action or the structure of the
subject of the poem. A group of lines or even a line on its own makes up a stanza also known

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as verse. A stanza or verse is what you would call a paragraph in prose.

It is important to note that whereas the writer of a novel is called an author, and that of a play
is called playwright, a writer of a poem is called a Poet. A poet therefore is a person who
writes, recites or composes a poem. In some of the poems you will study, the poet may not be
known or his name withheld hence you will find the word Anon. This word is a short form of
the word Anonymous meaning unknown by name. It is therefore important that where you
are asked to name the poet in a poem that has anon instead of the name of the poet you should
be mindful of the fact that the poet’s name is not known or is withheld.
Read at the following poem and activity to enhance your understanding of the concepts of line
and stanza or verse in poetry:

Blue Town Blues - Barolong Seboni

This little boy

Six years poor
waits
in Khakhi shorts
on a dusty path
for
a
wind
to
blow

His kite
a discoloured wrapper
from Cash – bazaar – where the people shop
tied to yellow reeds from the banks of the Shashe
drags now in a low trail of ash
as he runs
hope blows in the hesitant breeze
and the kite rises
reluctantly
as the boy’s feet stamp
faster, faster, faster.
The kite wings up
steadily
to fall again now at the bare feet of
this little boy
waiting

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in dusty despair
for
a
wind
to
blow

Activity 1

(a) Give an example of a line from the above poem.

____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
(b) How many lines are there in Stanza 2?
_ ___________________________________________
___________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________
(c) How many stanzas are there in this poem?

___________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________
Feedback to Activity 1
a) This little boy
b) 22
c) 2
In your study of poetry you will come across the question on the structure of a poem quite
often. When talking of structure, we are talking about the make-up of a poem. That is how
many lines and stanzas does the poem consist of.
2.2 Punctuation Marks
Punctuation also forms part of form in poetry. The punctuation marks as you know them
may be used differently in poetry to get a particular meaning or effect that the poet is looking
for. Punctuation can be used to establish the pace at which the poem should be read thereby
impacting on the rhythm of the poem. Punctuation in poetry is always a poet’s choice; that is
to say that the poet is free to use them they way he or she likes. When reading a poem, always
be aware of where an idea starts and ends, as it will help you make sense of the stanza.
Read the poem below carefully:
Inside My Zulu hut: by Oswald Mbuyiseni Mtshali
It is a hive
without any bees

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to build the walls

with golden bricks of honey.
A cave cluttered
with a millstone,
calabashes of sour milk
clay pots of foaming beer
sleeping grass mats
wooden head rest
tanned goatskins
tied with riempies
to wattle rafters
blackened by the smoke
of kneaded cow dung
burning under
the three legged pot
on the earthen floor
to cook my porridge.

(a) What do you think the word clutter means as used in the poem?
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________

(b) How does the punctuation of the poem add to your understanding of the inside of the
hut?
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
Just as in prose (novels, drama, short stories) where there are characters/people who act out
the story, a poem has characters too- a voice that transports/ conveys the intended message,
this character/ voice is called the “Persona”
Refer to the poem ‘Blue town Blues’ in Activity 1 to answer the following questions:
(a) Who is the poet in this poem?
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
(b) Who is speaking in the poem?
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________

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Feedback to Activity 2
(a) Barolong Seboni
(b) The person observing the little boy as he tries to fly his kite.

3.0 Poetic Devices

Poets always use a few words to say all that they have to say. The language used in poetry
is always termed unique because it is contracted in form and does not follow the normal
sentence patterns followed in prose and other forms of writing. Poets use lines and words that
are loaded with meaning to express their ideas. Poets then use figurative language or poetic
devices for a language that is loaded that then has to be made simple for a deeper meaning.
To achieve the figurative language, poets produce writings that appeal to the five senses
through the use of sound and visual images.
The following are some of the poetic devices you will meet in your study of poetry:
• Personification
• Simile
• Metaphor
• Exaggeration
• Rhythm
• Rhyme
• Paradox
• Onomatopoeia
• Assonance
• Alliteration
• Symbolism
• Contrast
The above poetic devices are divided into forms of comparison and sound effects.

3.1 Forms of comparison

Forms of comparison are poetic devices that seek to describe the subject of the poem through
association or the subject of the poem is likened or compared to another thing. This is done
looking at how the subject of the poem and the thing it is compared to have similar (charac-
teristics/attributes). The following poetic devices are forms of comparison:
• Personification
• Simile
• Metaphor
• Symbolism
• Paradox
• Imagery
• Exaggeration

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(a) Personification
This is a comparison between things in which human characteristics are given to non-human
things. For example, objects or animals. The non-human things are given human capabilities
or are said to behave like human beings.
Example:
The Kgale hill stood watching over Gaborone.
In the above example, the Kgale hill is given human qualities of watching over (protecting)
the city of Gaborone.

Activity 3

Give your own example of personification and explain it:

_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________

Feedback to Activity 3
You can provide any example like the above. Non humans given human qualities.

Activity 4

Read the following poem and answer the questions that follow it:
The Wind
The wind stood up and gave a shout;
He whistled on his fingers, and
Kicked the withered leaves about,
And thumbed the branches with his hand,
And said he’d kill and kill and kill;
And so he will! And so he will.
By James Stephens
(a) Identify the examples of personification from the above poem?
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________

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(b) Explain your examples (how they are seen to be acting like human beings)
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________

Feedback to Activity 4
(a) The wind stood up and gave a shout/ most lines are examples of
personification.
(b) The wind is given human capabilities of standing up and shouting.

(b) Simile
Simile is a form of comparison in which two things are likened to one another through the use
of words /like/ or /as/.

Example
(i) She is like a hippo.
(ii) She is as fat as a hippo
In the above comparison the main thing compared or likened between the girl and the hippo
is the size of the two. That is the two (that is the hippo and the girl) are similar in terms of
size. They are then likened through the use of the word “like”. In the other example the two
are compared through the word “as”. Note that where the word as is used to compare, it
appears twice in the sentence.
i.e. She is as fat as a hippo.
Read the following poem and use it to answer the questions that follow:.
Lament for a dead cow - F. C Slater

Siyalila, siyalila, inkomo yetu ifile!

(We weep, we weep, because our cow is dead
Beautiful was Wet as a blue shadow,
That nests on the grey rocks
About a sun-baked hilltop:
Her coat was black and shiny
Like an isipingo berry;
Her horns were sharp as the horns of the new moon
That tosses aloft the evening star;
Her round eyes were as clear and dark
A mountain pool,
Where shadows dive from the high rocks.
No more will Wetu banish teasing flies

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With her whistling tail;

No more will she face yapping curs
With lowered horns and bewildered eyes;
No more will her slow shadow
Comfort the sunburnt veld, and her sweet lowing
Delight the hills in the evening.
The fountain that filled our calabashes
Has been drained by the thirsty sun;
The black cloud that brought us white rain
Has vanished…the sky is empty;
Our kraal is desolate;
Our calabashes are dry:
And we weep.

Activity 5

Questions
(a) Identify a simile that uses the word “like”.
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
(b) Identify a simile that uses the word “as.”
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
(c) In each of the examples you gave above, explain how the two things
compared are similar:
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________

Feedback to Activity 5
(a) Her coat was black and shiny like an isipingo berry.
(b) Her horns were sharp as the horns of the new moon
(c) Her coat was black and shiny like an isipingo berry – The colour of the cow’s

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skin (coat) which is black is compared to that of an isipingo berry which is

apparently black and shiny too.
Her horns were sharp as the horns of the new moon- The sharpness of the
cow’s horns is compared to that of a crescent moon (the moon in its first or
last quarter)

(c) Metaphor
Metaphor is a comparison between things without using like or as. In such a comparison one
thing is said to be another.

Example
She is a hippo.
In the above example, the girl (she) is said to be another thing (hippo). Normally there will be
very little similarities between a hippo and a girl, but in this case the two are likened by their
size. This implies that the girl may be fat. Note that it does not say she is fat like a hippo. It
says she is a hippo. That is what differentiates it from a simile which we talked about earlier.

Activity 6

Give your own example of a metaphor and explain it:

_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________

Feedback to Activity 6
Any example of a direct comparison .e.g he is a lion.

Activity 7

Read the following poem and use it to answer the questions that follow it:
Dreams -Langston Hughes
Hold fast to dreams
For if dreams die
Life is a broken – winged bird
That cannot fly.

Hold fast to dreams

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For when dreams go

Life is a barren field
Frozen with snow.

Questions
(a) Identify 2 metaphors from the above poems:
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________

(b) Explain the metaphors you gave above:

(i) ______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
(ii) ______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________

Feedback to Activity 7
Compare your answers to mine below:
(a) i. Life is a broken winged bird that cannot fly.
ii. Life is a barren field frozen with snow.
(b) i. Life without ambitions and aspiration will be stagnant- there will be no
progress/ ho pe for betterment. Just like the broken winged bird that
cannot fly our lives without dreams will not take off.
ii. Life without ambitions or aspirations is not productive.

(d) Symbolism
It refers to a thing (could be an object, person, situation or action), which stands for
something else more abstract. For example, our Flag is the symbol of our country.
Example of a symbolic poem:
The healthy tree
The healthy tree
Swayed in the wind
A life lived many years with the glass half full

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But, eventually it came to its death

Now, in the after life, its on a marble gravestone
The poem above symbolises the life of a person. The tree lived such a blissful life as did the
person.

(e) Paradox
It is a statement whose two parts seem contradictory yet make sense with more thought. For
example Christ used paradox in his teachings. For example he would say ‘ they have ears
but hear not’ or in ordinary conversation one can say ‘ deep down he is really very shallow.’
Paradox attracts the reader’s or the listener’s attention and gives emphasis. Let us look at the
example below to see how paradox is used in a poem.

Example of a paradox poem by Paul Laurence: (From; The complete Power of Paul L.
Danbar)

I am the mother of sorrows

I am the ender of grief,
I am the bud and the blossom,
I am the late-falling leaf.

I am thy priest and thy poet,

I am thy serf and thy king
I cure the tears of the heartsick,
When I come near they shall sing.
White are my hands as the snowdrop,
Swart are my fingers as clay,
Dark is my frown as the midnight,
Fair is my brow as the day.

Battle and war are my minions,

Bang my will as divine,
I am the calmer of passions,
Peace is a nursling of mine.

Speak to me gently or curse me,

Seek me or fly from my sight
I am thy fool in the morning,
Thou art my slave in the night.

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Down to the grave I will take thee,

Out from the noise of the strife,
Then shalt thou see me and know me...
Death, then, no longer, but life

Then shall thou sing at my coming,

Kiss me with passionate breath,
Clasp me and smile to have thought me
Aught save the foeman of death.
Come to me, brother, when weary
Come when thy lonely heart swells,
I’ll guide thy footsteps and lead thee
Down where the dream woman dwells.

The paradox above defines something that is absurd, but in reality can be possible. This is
representing the African Americans freedom. (Look at the paradox in the bold words0.
The 3rd stanza is all about comparing white and black people saying that they are all the
same.

(e) Imagery
The poet uses imagery to appeal to the reader’s senses. The writer creates a picture in the
readers’ imagination by using sharp and vivid descriptions using figurative language. Many
poets appeal to our senses. They describe things or situations in such a way that we, as
readers can either see, hear, taste, feel or smell what they are writing about. They engage
our five senses. When you read a poem ask yourself, “What can I see?” “What can I hear?”
“What can I smell?” “What can I feel?” “What can I taste?” By using imagery, the poet wants
to arouse a particular response or emotion in the reader’s imagination. The following activity
will enable you to appreciate imagery. Spend about 15 minutes on this activity.
Read the following poem and answer the questions that follow it:
Lament for a dead cow (from Slate Dark Folk and other poems)

Siyalila, siyalila, inkomo yetu ifile

( we weep, we weep, because our cow is dead)
Beautiful was Wetu as a blue shadow,
That nests on the grey rocks
About a sun-baked hilltop:
Her coat was black and shiny
Like an isipingo-berry;
Her horns were sharp as the horns of the new moon.

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That tosses aloft the evening star;

Her round eyes were as clear and soft
As a mountain pool;
Where shadows dive from the high rocks.
No more will Wetu banish teasing flies
With her whistling tail;
No more will she face yapping curs
With lowered horns and bewildered eyes;
No more will her slow shadow
Comfort the sunburnt veld, and her sweet lowing

Delight the hills in the evening.

The fountain that filled our calabashes
Has been drained by the thirsty sun;
The black cloud that brought us white rain
Has vanished-the sky is empty;
Our kraal is desolate;
Our calabashes are dry;
And we weep.

Originally written in (Xhosa, translated by F.C Slater)

Activity 8

1. Explain one image used in this poem:

____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
2. Write sentences which show sense of touch:
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
3. Sense of hearing:
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________

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4. Sense of sight:
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
5. What is the mood of the poem?
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________

Feedback to Activity 8
1. The fountain that filled our calabashes- it shows that the cow provided milk
continuously like a fountain flowing
2. Sentences that show sense of touch are:
Her coat was black and shiny- it appeals to the sense of touching of that
beautiful fur that is shiny .
3. Sentence that shows sense of hearing:
- we weep. We weep, we can imagine the noise of people crying for
losing the loved Wetu.
4. Sense of sight – her horns were sharp as the horns of the new moon- we can
imagine the beauty of Wetu’s horns .
5. The mood of the poem is a sad one
As you went through the poem above, you should have realised that to create images or
pictures, a poet can use descriptive language. Many images in poems come from simple
descriptions of things or actions of what can be seen.

(f) Exaggeration
This is a comparison/ description in which something is given a description that makes it
more than it really is/ unbelievable. It is also known as hyperbole. Metaphors are examples of
exaggeration.

For example:
(i) My dad’s thumb can stick pins in wood without flinching.
(Taken from ‘My dad’s thumb by Michael Rosen’)
In this example, the poet seemed awed by the strength of his dad’s thumb such that he makes
it do things that an ordinary thumb cannot do. The deeds of his dad’s thumb are described in a
way that makes it seem like it has super powers; it is exaggerated.

Can you think of your own examples of exaggeration?

__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________

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4.0 Sound Effects

These are poetic devices that use sound to bring a certain effect on the reader. Sound effects
refer to the way poets use sound for a number of reasons. It is used to add to the feel, the
meaning or the tone of the poem. In poetry the most commonly used techniques that are used
to bring out sound effects are alliteration, assonance and onomatopoeia, rhyme, rhythm.

(a) Alliteration
Alliteration is a repetition of a consonant sound at the beginning of words in the same line:
• The rough rugged rocks
• The silent sea stood still
Learner, notice the repeated consonants ‘r’ in the first example as well as ‘s’ in the
second example are examples of alliteration. Note that the words must follow each other
consecutively. Tongue twisters may also be used as examples of alliteration. Read the
following example and note the repeated consonants in both lines:
A tutor who tooted the flute
Tried to tutor two tooter to toot.

Activity 9

Identify alliteration in the following poem:

In the play ground he pushes, pinches and pulls people’
He’s always naughty and nasty- not nice to know.
He bounces boys back and forth
And burps and belches at bell-time

Feedback to Activity 9
Compare your answer to mine below:
In the playground he pushes, pinches and pulls people.
Now that you have learnt about alliteration, you may be more creative to form your own
alliterated lines to come up with the same technique.
Let us go on and learn about another sound effect of assonance.

(b) Assonance
Assonance as opposed to alliteration, is the repetition of the same vowel-sounds followed by
different consonant-sounds in nearby words. Look at the following example.
And so, all the night-tide I lie by the side
Of my darling, my darling, my life and my bride
In the above example the vowel ‘i’ is repeated and it is followed by different consonants.

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Activity 10

Identifying assonance in a poem and underline examples of assonance in the

following poem:
The bows glided down, and the coast
Blackened with birds took a last look
At his thrashing hair and whale-blue eye
The trodden town rang its cobbles for luck

Feedback to Activity 10
The bows glided down, and the coast
Blackened with birds took a last look
At his thrashing hair and whale-blue eye
The trodden town rang its cobbles for luck
In the last line, there is a repetition of the vowel sound o in the words trodden and
cobbles and o in town and that in luck though it’s a u, it is the same vowel sound.

(c) Onomatopoeia
is another technique of poetry that deals with sound. Onomatopoeia is the use of words
that seem to imitate the sounds they refer to. Study the example below:
Examples: boom,’ thump’ and drip’

Activity 11

Read the following stanza and see how the poet has used onomatopoeia for
sound effects to describe the excitement of a Christmas morning:
The pitter-patter crept tiny feet
down the creaky stairs
Tick- tock went the clock
in the hallway clear.
Small gasps of delight
from tiny mouths escaped.
As boxes shook, and thumped
rustling papers tore and shred.
Joys laughter did erupt
ohhhs and ahhs exclaimed!
Silently the parents stood

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watching the glee filled scene.

Happy are the sounds they hear
this morning, every year.

To practise identifying onomatopoeia in poetry, quickly go through the following

activity.
From the poem above write down the words that sound like their meanings:

1. _____________________ 2 ____________________________
3. _____________________ 4 ____________________________

Feedback to Activity 11
(a) 1 Pitter-patter 2 Tick-tock
(b) 3 Thump 4 Ohhhs and ahhhs

I hope you have noted that onomatopoeia also helps you to get the meaning of the poem. This
is because in most cases the words sound like their meanings.

(d) Rhyme
The other sound technique that you will be introduced to is Rhyme. The lines of a poem are
said to rhyme if they end with words that have the same sound. Study the poem below:

Henry Suntton
Made his wife
Serve him mutton
All his life.

When going to sleep,

His mind was rested
By counting the sheep
That he’d digested!

In the above poem the words wife and life in the first stanza rhyme together. Note that
the other rhyming pairs are sleep and sheep as well as rested and digested. It is equally
important to note that rhyme is based on sound and not spelling, so it is the end sound that
has to resemble the sound of the consecutive word to form a rhyming pattern.

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Activity 12

Read the following poem by Leslie Norris and against each stanza write down
the pairs of rhyming words:
The Rebel Child by Leslie Norris

Most days when I

Go school to school
I’m perfectly content
To follow the rule
i) _________________ and __________________

Enjoy history
My music, my sums
Feel a little sorry
When home times comes.

ii)_______________ and ________________

Feedback to Activity 12
i) School and rule
ii) Sums and comes

(e) Rhythm
The word ‘rhythm’ describes how we stress the words in a line differently; in other words
how we say the poem aloud. One may say normally when people dance, their movements
follow the beat in a song when a person can dance to the beat, we say he or she has got
rhythm. Rhythm is very important because it enhances the poet’s message by contributing to
the atmosphere, the tone and the mood of the poem. Let us try to work out the activity below
to find out if we can feel the rhythm:
The song of the old mother by W.B Yeats (From; The collected Songs of W. B Yeasts)
I rise in the dawn, and I kneel and blow
Till the seeds of the fire flicker and glow;
And then I must scrub and bake and sweep
Till stars are beginning to blink and peep;
And the young lie long an dream in the bed;
Of the matching of ribbons for bosom and head,

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And their day goes over in idleness,

And they sigh in the wind but lift a tress;
While I must work because I am old;
And the seeds of the fire, go feeble and cold

Did you feel and hear the rhythm in the stanza? When you read the words in bold with much
stress you will feel it. The rhythm in this poem helps the reader to see how hard the old
woman has to work. The lighter rhythm used in the lines referring to young people enables
the reader to see the difference in how the two spend their time. The rhythm makes it possible
for the reader to see that the poem is actually a complaint about the behaviour of young
people.
Learner if you are taking Setswana, please note that these sound effects are also discussed
on your Setswana poetry unit, Mothama 11, so if you read it might help you understand the
sound effects better.

(f) The Poet’s Tone

Tone means the writer’s attitude towards the material and/or readers. Tone may be playful,
formal, intimate, angry, serious, ironic, depressed etc. When poet speaks, his tone of
voice suggest his/her attitude. In fact, it suggests two attitudes. One concerning the people
addressed and one concerning the thing the poet is talking (about the subject) That is what the
term ‘Tone’ means when it is used in poetry.
Sometimes the tone is fairly obvious. You can for example, find poems that are absolutely
furious or angry or sad. For example the poem you studied in Activity 6 entitled ‘ Blue Town
Blues’ by Barolong Seboni is a good example of a sad poem because it talks about poverty. It
is also very easy to pick the tone of the writer from the choice of words he uses. For example,
“This little boy six years poor…” “The kite wings up steadily to fall again now at the bare
feet…”

(g) The mood of the poem

Mood is the emotions you feel while reading the poem. Some poems will make you joyful,
angry, or even sad. When reading the poem Blue Town Blues, the reader imagining a six
year old boy, bare footed, poor and is frustrated because there is not enough air to fly his kite.
Because the tone of the poem is a sad one, it is likely to make the reader sad. The mood of the
poem therefore is a sad.

Activity 13

Read the following stanza and then answer the questions that follow it:
The Loner by Julie Holder
He leans against the playground wall,
Smacks his hands against the bricks,
And other boredom-beating tricks,
Traces patterns with his feet,

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Scuffs to make the tarmac squeak,

Back against the wall he stays-
And never plays
Questions
1. What is the mood of this poem? __________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________

2. What shows you the mood of the poem ? __________________________

____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________

Feedback to Activity 13
You can now compare your answer with mine below:
1. the mood of the poem is sad.
2. It is describing a loner who is bored and leans against the playground wall
not playing.
Those are the different poetic devices that you need to know at this stage. What you have
learnt so far should put you in a position to be able to compose your own poem as you are
now aware of the form and devices that are used. I would encourage you to start composing
your own small poems which you can discuss with your tutor.

Summary
You have come to the end of Lesson 1 of the Poetry unit. I hope you have learnt a lot in this
lesson even though it was just an introductory lesson or an eye opener to poetry. Most of the
poetic techniques or devices together with sound and effect should help you to be able work
out the meaning of a poem. I hope that the lesson has shown you how enjoyable poetry can
be and that you will become a keen reader of poetry and maybe even become a poet yourself.
Now I would like you to test your understanding of this lesson by doing the following self
-assessment exercise. Spend about 30 minutes on this activity. Good luck!

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Self-assessment Exercise 1

Section A
1. Classify the following poetic devices into forms of comparison and sound effects?
Metaphor, rhyme, alliteration onomatopoeia and simile:
[3 marks]
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________

2. What is the difference between a metaphor and a simile? [2 marks]

______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________

Section B
Read the following poem and answer the questions that follow it:
Let me be an apple by Leonard Koza

Hanging like a ball of flame,

The beautiful red apple glows
between the cool shade of the
curly green leaves
Nursed like a baby and duly wet,
the apple grows from beauty to
export maturity.
Freely he hangs until ripeness sheds her from her
Mother’s womb.
Neatly wrapped and packed,
she leaves the sunny
shores of Africa for Europe
without the fears and frustrations
of an exit permit.

In banquets and at royal tables she becomes the

Apple of everybody’s eye.
So, rather let me be an apple than a slave on an apple Farm.
1. How many lines does the poem have? [1 mark]
______________________________________________________________________

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2. Identify simile from this poem. [1 mark]

______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________

3. What does the phrase ‘ Like a ball of flame’ in line one suggest about the apple?
[2 marks]
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________

4. How is the apple treated on the apple farm? [2 marks]

______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________

5. What poetic device is ‘she becomes the apple of everybody’s eyes?

What does this mean? [2 marks]
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
6. How does the writer feel about the apple? Why does she feel that way? [2 marks]
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________

Glossary
Alliteration : repetition of a consonant sound at the beginning of words in the same line:

Assonance: as opposed to alliteration, is the repetition of the same vowel-sounds

followed by different consonant-sounds in nearby words.
Metaphor: a figure of speech in which two things are compared, usually by saying one
thing is another.
Simile: a figure of speech in which two things are compared using the word “like”
or “as.”
Personification: a figure of speech in which things or abstract ideas are given human
attributes
Rhyme: the occurrence of the same or similar sounds at the end of two or more
words.
Onomatopoeia: a figure of speech in which words are used to imitate sounds.

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Lesson 2
Poetic Analysis

i Introduction
In Lesson 1, I introduced you to poetic language and how poets achieve such language. We
discussed poetic devices and their classification into forms of comparison and sound effects.
You then identified poetic devices in poems. Now it is time to show your understanding of
poems by breaking down the loaded lines and words of the poems that we are going to use to
interpret the deeper meaning the poet is trying to communicate to you. Breaking down poems
and unpacking the deeper meaning is called analysing poems. In doing this we will use some
of the poems that have been recommended for practice and others that have poetic aspects
that we want. In other words this lesson is mainly used to give you a practice lesson on what
you learnt in Lesson 1.

Learning Objectives
At the end of the lesson you are expected to be able to:
• explain the title of the poem
• discuss the poet’s choice of words
• work out the meaning of the poem
• work out the theme of the poem

Lesson Contents
1.0 Analysis of poems 24
2.0 Working out the theme and other poetic aspects 31
3.0 Determining the mood and tone of the poem 34
Summary 40
Self-assessment Exercise 2 41

1.0 Analysis of Poems

In Lesson 1 you dealt with form in the poem “Dreams” but never got to look at its meaning.
Let us now discuss one of the poems and show how we arrive at its deeper meaning. When
you hear the word “dreams” what do you think of? The most common answer will be
the dreams you have when you are asleep. In another usage the word dreams may mean
aspirations or ambitions. In other words what one hopes to achieve in their lifetime.
Now read the poem again.

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Activity 1

Dreams by Langston Hughes

Hold fast to dreams
For if dreams die
Life is a broken – winged bird
That cannot fly.

Hold fast to dreams

For when dreams go
Life is a barren field
Frozen with snow
1. In your own words what is the poem about?
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________

2. Comment on the structure of the above poem:

____________________________________________________________
3. What type of dreams is the poet talking about? Support your answer:
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
_______________________________________

4. Identify the comparison found in Stanza 1:

____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________

5. Give an example of the comparison you gave above which is in the poem/.
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________

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Feedback to Activity 1
Activity 1
1. The poem is a piece of advice about holding on to our ambitions and
aspirations for they are what ultimately shape what becomes of our life
for without them our lives become stagnant and hopeless.
2. Ambitions, hopes or aspirations.
3. Two stanzas with four lines each.
4. Metaphor
5. Life is a broken winged bird that cannot fly/ Life is barren field frozen with
snow
I hope that what we have done with the first poem has given you an idea of what you have
to do when you are asked to analyse a poem. Now let us take another example and see how
the title helps us in getting the deeper meaning of the poem. Like in the first poem, we will
identify other poetic devices found in it.

1.1 Upside Down Cake

Before reading the poem below, convince yourself that you understand what upside down
means.
What do you think the phrase up side down means? The phrase means to be inverted. The
understanding of this phrase will help you determine how serious this poem is. In reality
there is indeed an upside down cake. The poem is an example of what is ‘nonsense’ poetry.
This is the kind of poems that have all the forms of poetry but do not relay any message at all.

Activity 2

Read the following poem and use it to answer the questions that follow it:
Upside down cake by I. Choorona

I am going to make
An upside down cake.
I know I ‘ll need some flour,
But I am going to wait
At least half an hour
Before I begin to bake

I’ll need some fat

And eggs, and water
Sugar in an upside down bowl.

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And mix all of that

Before I can really begin
I’ll need an upside down tin,
And an upside down oven
To fit everything in.

I know you, you will say

I will have to stand on my head
To eat an upside down cake.
But I have thought of that:
I will choke and be dead.

So I will change my mind

And bake instead
A sideways cake
And eat it
Sideways in bed

Questions
1. Who is the poet in the above poem?
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________

2. Comment on the structure of this poem:

____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________

3. Identify a pair of rhyming words in verse three:

____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________

4. Identify another pair of rhyming words in stanza four.

____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________

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5. Do you think this is a serious poem? Why?

____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________

Feedback to Activity 2

1. I. Choonara
2. 5 Stanzas, 24 lines
3. Begin – tin/in
4. Head – dead
5. No. It is a humorous (nonsense) poem that carries no serious meaning or
message for the reader.

1.2 Analysing the poem “the wind is angry”

In this poem it is important for you to understand the words angry and anger. I hope you
understand that the emotion of ‘anger’ is displayed when a person is angry. Note that we are
talking about a person, but in this poem the wind is said to be angry. Think of what happens
when you are angry, your mood, your actions and your thoughts. The wind is also angry and
it is therefore personified or made to act like a human being. The house also displays human
character.

Activity 3

Now read the poem and answer the questions that follow to demonstrate your
understanding of the emotions of a poet:
The Wind is Angry by Adrienne Bradly
The wind is angry-
he’s been in a rage all night,
stamping his feet, bellowing
and finally breaking out.
In morning light he gallops,
At full tilt, round the house,
Charging at the walls,
Pulling at the thatch
And beating with clenched fists

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Against the windows.

Even now he’s thrusting
Icy fingers through crevices
And under doors.
The house is tired
And slightly bored.
She watches with listless eyes,
Sighs, settles on her hunches
And entrenches herself still more.

Answer the following questions:

1. What do you think this poem is about?
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________

2. Comment on the structure of the poem:____________________________

___________________________________________________________

3. Identify a poetic device that runs through the poem:___________________

____________________________________________________________

4. Give an example of the poetic device from the poem:

____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________

5. Give three examples from the poem that suggests the wind has the mood
of a person:
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________

6. Choose five verbs, which tell us about the fierce action of the wind:
(i) ______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________

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(ii) ______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
(iii) ______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
(iv) ______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
(v) ______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________

7. Explain the last three lines of the second stanza:

____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________

8. Who is the ‘she’ in the final verse?

____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________

9. Describe the mood of this poem:

____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________

10. Explain why the last stanza is shorter than the first one:
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________

Feedback to Activity 3
1. It is describing the mood of an angry person
2. 2 stanzas, 18 lines
3. Personification
4. ‘The wind is angry’ ‘The house is tired’
5. i. The wind is angry
ii. He is stamping his feet
iii. Beating with clenched fists

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6. i. Stamping
ii. Charging
iii. Beating
iv. Thrusting
v. Bellowing/ pulling
7. The house is tired, bruised and defeated from the encounter with the wind
tries to settle after battle with the raging wind.
8. The house
9. Angry
10. To capture the fact that the wind subsides gradually and its rage dies out.

2.0 Working out the theme and other poetic aspects

In this section, the will mainly focus on the theme but we will also identify other aspect that
we will find in the poems that we will be dealing with. In most cases the title of the poem
is used to show what the poem is about and sometimes it can direct us to what theme of the
poem is about. This is why it is very important for you to try to understand what the title of
the poem is saying before you read the poem itself. Now let us look at the title of this poem.
Have you ever heard of the expression ‘head bent low?’ What does it mean? The phrase is
used to refer to a situation where someone is ashamed, defeated or embarrassed. So when
one’s head is bent low, they are ashamed, defeated or embarrassed. With this understanding
of the phrase heads bent low, read the poem and answer the question that follow it:

Activity 4

Heads Bent Low - Anon

A stooped old man and young man
Chanced to meet one day.
The young one said to the elder
In his usual braggart way,
‘Why don’t you walk up straight like me?
That’s no way to grow old;
It’s all a form of habit;
At least that’s what I’m told.’

The old man gave him a knowing look,

And said, ‘My dear young friend,

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Have you ever examined your wheat field,

And noticed the heads that bent?
If not, just look them over
As harvest time draws nigh;
You’ll find the heads that are empty
Are standing tall and high.
But the heads that count in the harvest
Are filled and bending low,
Awaiting the reaper’s sickle;
Their time is short, they know;

And as the young man passed on by,

He slowly bowed his head,
No doubt he pondered many a day
On the things that old man said.

Questions
1. Who is the poet for the above poem? ______________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________

2. In your own words briefly sum up what the poem is about:___________

____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________

3. Identify the persona/character in the poem?_________________________

____________________________________________________________

4. Describe the young man’s character at the beginning of the poem:

____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________

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5. What are “the heads that are empty” in line 15? What do they represent?
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________

6. What are “the heads that count in the harvest” in line 17? What do they
represent?
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________

7. Do you think the old man’s story impresses the young man? How do you
know?
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________

8. Identify two pairs of rhyming words from first stanza:

____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________

9. The word friend rhymes with: ____________________________________

____________________________________________________________

10. What does young man learn in the poem?__________________________

____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________

Feedback to Activity 4
1. The poet is not known or his/her name has been withheld.
2. The poem depicts that older people are wiser than the younger ones. Young
children can learn a lot from the wiser and the older
3. The old man and the young man.
4. Boastful and full of himself
5. Heads of wheat, which are not yet ripe and represent immature minds/ young
people who are not wise.
6. These are fully ripe heads of wheat that are ready for harvest and look heavy.

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These symbolise wisdom as is found in elderly people.

7. Yes. He was embarrassed at the amount of wisdom or lack of it in himself.
8. i. Day – way
ii. Old – told
9. The word friend rhymes with bend.
10. Old people are wise and have accumulated a lot of experience.

3.0 Determining the mood and the tone of the poem

Another important poetic aspect that we learnt about in Lesson 1 is the mood and tone of
the poem. We will use the poem below to learn more about how to identify the above two
aspects. Another poem you will be expected to study for your examination is Barolong
Seboni’s “Blue Town Blues.” Have you ever heard about him? Mr Seboni is a Motswana poet
who was born in Molepolole, but grew up in Kanye. He has written numerous poems among
them Blue Town Blues. Apart from being a published poet, Mr Seboni is a senior lecturer in
the department of English at the University of Botswana.
To understand the poem, think about the words “Blue Town.” Have you ever heard about a
place called by the name “Blue Town.” Blue Town is place in Francistown in north eastern
Botswana. From the title of the poem, we get the place setting of the poem(where the events
take place). The poem is set in Blue Town – a place in Francistown. The next thing to
consider now is the word ‘Blues’ that is attached to the name of the place setting Blue Town.
Have you ever come across the word? Do you know what the word means? In pop culture,
blue is the colour of sadness. It is a feeling of depression or deep unhappiness. There is also a
type of music originating among the black Americans called Blues. This is music popularised
by Ray Charles and Nat king Cole among others. So when one is said to ‘have the blues’,
then it means they are sad or depressed. The title of the poem would then mean ‘Blue Town
Sadness or depression’ or sadness experienced in Blue Town. This pre-reading activity should
help you prepare for the poem you are about to read.

Activity 5

Bluetown Blues
This little boy
six years poor
waits
in Khakhi shorts
on a dusty path
for
a
wind

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to
blow
His kite
a discoloured wrapper
from Cash – bazaar – where the people shop
tied to yellow reeds from the banks of the shashe
drags now in a low trail of ash
as he runs
hope blows in the hesitant breeze
and the kite rises
reluctantly
as the boy’s feet stamp
faster, faster, faster.

The kite wings up

Steadily
to fall again now at the bare feet of
this little boy
waiting
in dusty despair
for
a
wind
to
blow
(By: Barolong Seboni in let me be by Dawson)

Questions
1. Write down the complete sentences found in the poem:
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________

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2. Explain the sentences you identified in Question 1:

____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________

3. What do you think the shape of the poem represents?

____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________

4. How does the poet feel about the subject of his poem?
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________

5. What evidence in the poem depicts or shows the boy’s poverty?

____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________

6. What does the movement of the boy’s kite represent?

____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________

7. What words in the poem suggest sadness or failure?

____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________

8. Do you think this is an optimistic poem? Why?

____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________

Feedback to Activity 5
1. i. This little boy six years poor waits in khakhi shorts on a dusty path for a
wind to blow.

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ii. His kite a discoloured wrapper from cash bazaar- where the people
shop tied to yellow reeds from the banks of the Shashe drags now in
a low trail of ash as he runs hope blows in the hesitant breeze and the
kite rises reluctantly as the boy’s feet stamps faster, faster, faster.
iii. The kite wings up steadily to fall again now at the bare feet of this little boy
waiting in dusty despair for a wind to blow.
2. i. A poor six-year-old boy is waiting on a dusty path for the wind to blow.
ii.
He holds a kite made from a cash bazaar wrapper and reed. The kite
seems to take off at the promise of the wind and the boy runs to aid it
(Kite)
iii. The kite rises only to fall again adding to the sadness of the boy who
has to live with the despair of being from a disadvantaged family.
3. The boys hopes and ambitions
4. Despair/ hopelessness
5. The boy is wearing khakhi shorts and is barefooted
6. It symbolises a lot of hardship and the boy’s hopes die with the fall of the kite.
(check this sentence)
7. Words that suggest sadness or failure:
8. • ‘This little boy….poor’
• ‘on a dusty path
• ’‘hope blows in the hesitant breeze’ (does this also show failure)
• ‘kite rises reluctantly’
• ‘ waiting in dusty despair
9. Answer will depend on your understanding of the poem, but support your
answer with evidence from the poem.

The next poem to look at in your preparation for your JC final examinations is; “Why
should love be so hard on the heart?” Think about the title for a little while. What is
obvious is that the title is a question but on what background is this question asked? What
comes to your mind when you think about love? Could love cause pain? Answering these
questions will help channel your mind into what to expect from the poem.

Activity 6

Now read the poem and attempt the questions that follow it:
Why should love be so hard on the heart? by Fran Landesman
Why should love be so hard on the heart

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Why does it caress you and tear you apart

Why does it fool you, why does it tease you
Why does it scare you, why does it please you

Why should love be so loaded with pain

Why does it betray you again and again
Why does the promise fade so unfairly
Why does the magic happen so rarely

Why should love be so tied up in knots

Well, either its that or it’s making cheap shots
It gives us a kick and inspires our art
But why should love be so hard on the heart

Time are changing they tell us

There must be a new way to live
Alongside a new love, a tender and true love
Who’ll gladly return what we give

Why should love be so much on the mind

It staggers our senses and makes us all blind
There must be an answer, we’re all so damn smart
So why should love be so hard on the heart

Questions
1. Briefly sum up the poem in your own wods:_________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________

2. Looking at the title of the poem what do you think are the experiences of
the poet?
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________

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3. Comment on the structure of the poem:____________________________

____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________

4. What poetic device is used in the second line of the first stanza?
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________

5. Identify a pair of rhyming words in Stanza 1:

____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________

6. Do you think the poet understands love? Explain your answer:

____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________

7. Identify two ways in which love can hurtful:

____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________

8. Explain the fourth stanza:

____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________

9. What lesson has the poet learnt about love?

____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________

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Feedback to Activity 6
1. The poem is a loud expression of the confusion brought about by love that has
gone bad as one cannot understand how something that promised to be that
good died out.
2. The poet was hurt in a love relationship.
3. 5 Stanzas of four lines each (a total of 20 lines)
4. Paradox
5. Stanza1 heart – apart
Stanza 2 Pain – again/unfairly - rarely
Stanza 3 Knots – shorts/art - heart
Stanza 4 live – give
Stanza 5 Mind – blind/ smart – heart
6. No. She Seems to be confused by love that is why he/she is asking questions
about love. The whole poem is a set of questions.
7. Its promises fade
It betrays
8. Love has to be reciprocal – one has to give as much as his or her partner
gives.
9. Love is not always what we hope it will be and is complicated/ in love we
should give as much as we get.

Summary
You have come to the end of Lesson 2. I hope you were able to understand the contents of
this lesson. You have also been given some insights into how elements of form add to the
theme and meaning in poetry. We examined the meaning in the poem heads bent low. We also
dealt with mood and tone of the poem and how the poet shows these using the poem Bluetown
blues. In the poem the wind is angry we basically examined how the poet brings about the
mood of the poem by examining his choice of words.
Hopefully, you have gathered a lot of information on poetry analysis that you can use
personally or you can pass on to those who need it. You also had practice on the kind of
questions you will answer in the examination.

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JC: English Literature Poetry Study Guide

Self-assessment Exercise 2

Read the poem below and answer the questions that follow it:

African Thunderstorm
From the west
clouds come hurrying with the wind
turning sharply
here and there
like a plague of locusts
whirling
tossing up things on its tail
like a mad man chasing nothing.
pregnant clouds
ride stately on its back
gathering to perch on hills
like sinister dark wings;
the wind whistles by
and trees bend to let it pass.
in the village
screams of delighted children
toss and turn
in the din of the whirling wind,
women-
babies clinging to their backs-
dart about
in and out
madly;
The wind whirls by
whilst trees bend to let it pass.
Clothes wave like tattered flags
flying off
to expose dangling breasts
as jagged blinding flashes
rumble, tremble and crack
amidst the smell of fired smoke
and the pelting march of the storm.
By: David Rubadiri

41 ©2018 BOU
JC: English Literature Poetry Study Guide

Questions
1. What is being compared to a madman chasing nothing? What impression does the
simile convey?
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
2. Find two other similes in the poem. In each case explain in what way the things
compared are similar:
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________

3. Why does the poet call the clouds pregnant?

______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________

4. What does the uneven length of lines suggest about the subject of the poem?
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________

5. What is the mood of the poem?

______________________________________________________________________

6. What is the attitude of the children to the approaching storm?

______________________________________________________________________

7. Give an example of assonance from the first verse:

______________________________________________________________________

8. Explain the following lines:

(i) jagged blinding flashes
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
(ii) Rumble, tremble and crack
____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________

42 ©2018 BOU
JC: English Literature Poetry Study Guide

Answers to Self Assessment Exercises

Self-Assessment Exercise 1
Section A
1. (a) Sound Effect Forms of comparison
• rhyme metaphor
• alliteration simile
• onomatopoeia
•
2. A Metaphor is when two unconnected objects are described in terms of another while in
simile two unlike things are being compared using the words ‘ Like ‘ or ‘ As’

Section B
1. The poem has 18 lines
2. The line that shows simile is ‘nursed like a baby and duly wet’
3. It is being loved by a lot of people
4. It is being taken good care of, washed and neatly packed
5. She becomes the apple of everybody’s eye’ it is a metaphor that tells it is everybody’s
favourite
6. The writer likes the apple and she wants to be as beautiful as the apple because its
being given attention that it deserves so that it grows beautifully and is smart.

Self-Assessment Exercise 2
1 The wind – it tosses and throws things about like a madman
2. (i) Gathering to perch on hills like sinister dark wings-The frightening approach
of the wind resembles the danger shown by a bird of prey when its just about to
pounce on something.
(ii) Clothes wave like tattered flags – the lose way in which the clothes waved
resembled the old flags
3. To emphasise how heavy the clouds are with water.
4. It suggests that things are upside down e.g. people are running to different directions
and even the wind itself changes directions
5. Fearful-because of anticipation of destruction/delightful-children are happy
6. They are happy about it since they are joyful.
7. Tossing up things on its tail
8. (i) Lightening
(ii) Thunder

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JC: English Literature Poetry Study Guide

References
Addis, I (1992) What the matter be: and other stories: David Fulten Publishers
Dawson D, (1990). Let me be: A junior Anthology of Poetry. Manzini: Macmillan Boleswa
Publishers.
Danban, P H (1965) The complete poems of Paul Lawrence Danban
Sandler R.K. T.A.S. Hayler and C.J. Powel (1981). Enjoying Poetry. Manzini: Macmillan
Boleswa Publishers (Pty) Ltd.
Ginn and Company (2004) Kaleidscope Anthology Tree Oxford: Harcout Education Limited.
Slater, F.c. (1993) Dark Folk and others Poems edinburgh: Blackwood.
Pubadin, D (2004) An African Thunderstorm and other Poems. East African Publishers
Yeats, W. B (1964) Poems of W. B Yeasts.
Ibid (2010) The collected Poems of W. B Yeats. Simon and Schuster.
Stoodt-Hill Barbra,Amspaugh-Corson L. (1996) Children’s Literature: A Discovery of a Life-
time. New Jersey: Merril Prentice Hall.

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