POETRY NOTES

Grade 12
 INDEX:

Introduction to poetry p3
Tone words p 11

1. The Zulu Girl p 13

2. First Day after the War p 18

3. An African Elegy p 21

4. somewhere i have never travelled p 25

5. Remember p 30

6. Funeral Blues p 35

7. The Garden of Love p 41

8. Vultures p 47

9. Motho ke motho ka batho babang p 53

10. Felix Randall p 56

11. A Hard Frost p 60

12. An African Thunderstorm p 64

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 INTRODUCTION TO POETRY

Terms you must be familiar with:

➢ Theme
➢ Intention
➢ Style
➢ Diction
➢ Tone
➢ Mood
➢ Form
➢ Rhythm
➢ Rhyme
➢ Imagery
➢ Symbolism

Theme:
It is the subject, central idea or underlying thought. It is sometimes also equated with the
meaning or sense of piece of writing.

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 manner in which a poet or writer expresses himself, his distinctive traits or the individual
manner in which he uses the language at his disposal. It includes many aspects but sometimes
it helps to look at the period in which the poem or work was written to determine the poet’s 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 refers to the poet’s vocabulary or choice of words. The choice of words and the order
thereof, is intention to suit the poet’s purpose. Remember that words do not always have a
fixed meaning: their exact meaning depends of their context. The sound of words may be
important as well. Every word used by poet must be seen as a way to enhance his intention.

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. (tone words from page 11)

Mood:
Mood or feeling is a term used to refer to the atmosphere the poet creates within his particular
work. It is related to the tone and in some ways mood may also be said to reflect the poet’s
attitude towards his subject matter.

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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 one Entertains the readers by
generation to the next. Characteristics: * fast moving telling a dramatic story.
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.

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

IAMBIC: unstressed syllable followed by a stressed

syllable.

TROCHIAC: stressed syllable followed by an unstressed

syllable.

ODE: Expresses the speaker’s

Poem often in the form of an address and in exalted style, admiration.
in praise of something/one. It is exalted in both feelings
and expression, written in rhymed stanzas.

ELEGY: Expresses the speaker’s

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

LYRIC POETRY: Expresses the speaker’s

Originates also in songs. It is much more emotive that feelings.
usually conveys feelings. It is typically a short poem that
deals with a single theme or idea.

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”

SONNET
A sonnet consists of 14 lines, usually iambic pentameters, with the exception of Gerhard Manley
Hopkins’ curtail sonnets (e.g. Pied Beauty) which were cut (or curtailed) to 10 lines in stanzas of
6 and 4 lines. They do however display a noticeable variation in rhyme scheme, the majority
falling into either of two basic categories:
(i) Shakespearian, Elizabethan or English sonnet, rhyming abab cdcd efef gg (i.e. three
quatrains with a gathering together or focalisation of the three aspects of the theme
expressed in each of the quatrains in the concluding couplet)

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 (ii) Italian or Petrarchan sonnet, rhyming abbaabba and, with variations, cdecde (i.e. an
octave which presents the main thrust or thesis of the poem, followed by the volta or
resolution of the thesis in the sestet.
In a sonnet the poet has to express a SINGLE theme: a single idea, thought, emotion,
experience, etc. English sonnets (written by English poets) into FOUR groups.

A) THE ITALIAN OR PETRARCHAN TYPE

It was named after the Italian, Petrarch who lived in the 14th century at the beginning of the
Renaissance. He did not invent the verse form, but was the first to use it extensively to express
his deep love for his beloved.

The Italian sonnet consists of TWO parts.

1. The first EIGHT lines (octave) in which the main theme is presented.

LINE Rhyme
scheme
1 ...... soon, A Only TWO rhymes used in
2 ...... powers; B the octave.
3 ...... ours; B (1) the 4th, 5th and 8th lines
THE OCTAVE

4 ...... boon! A rhyme the FIRST line

5 ...... moon, A
6 ...... hours B (2) the 3rd, 6th and 7th rhyme
7 ...... flowers B with the SECOND line
8 ...... tune; A

THE BREAK

There is a definite break in the thought, arrangement, etc. between the octave
and the second part: the sestet

2. The last SIX lines (sestet) in which the poet presents the conclusion he has drawn from
the theme presented in the octave.

B) THE ENGLISH OR SHAKESPEARIAN TYPE

During the Renaissance everything Italian was fashionable in England (and in most other
European countries) and so, quite naturally, Petrarch’s sonnet form was copied by many
English poets.

Some of them, however, found the Italian sonnet form unsuitable and so they adapted it to suit
their purpose.

This was done before Shakespeare’s time, but because he used this new sonnet so
magnificently it is sometimes called the Shakespearian sonnet.

In its typical form, the Shakespearian sonnet consists of:

(1) Three quatrains (four lines) in which its theme (an emotion, a thought, an idea, etc.) is
presented and developed;
(2) and of a rhyming couplet (two lines) in which the poet states the conclusion he has drawn
from the theme which is presented in the first twelve lines.

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But there are many variations of this form, the most important being the sonnet where the first
TWO quatrains are used as an octave; the last quatrain and the rhyming couplet are used as
the sestet. In this variation there is NOT such a sharp break (marked division) between the
octave and sestet, although it does have a PAUSE there.
The layout of the TYPICAL Shakespearian sonnet.

LINE Rhyme There are SEVEN rhymes

scheme There are TWO rhymes in
1 .... sea a each quatrain:
QUATRAIN

2 .... power, b
FIRST

3 .... plea, a (1) the FIRST line rhymes with

4 .... flowers, b the THIRD line

5 .... cut c
QUATRAIN
SECOND

6 .... days, d (2) The SECOND line rhymes

7 .... stout c with the FOUTH line.
8 .... decays? d

9 .... alack! e (3) The FIRST and THIRD

QUATRAIN

10 .... hid? f lines rhyme; so do the

THIRD

11 .... back, e SECOND and FOURTH

12 .... forbid? f lines.

13 .... might, g (4)The Shakespearian sonnet

COUPLET

14 .... bright. g is always concluded with

RHYMED couplet

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 of
the 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: It may serve to emphasize a certain aspect of

Substitution of the name of something for that of the person or object concerned.
the thing meant, e.g.
“And ploughs down palaces, and thrones,
and towers.”

SYNECDOCHE: It may serve to emphasize the aspect which

A part is named but the whole is meant/ is selected, but often it is just a case of
understood, OR the whole is named but only part common usage.
is meant/understood, e.g.
“ … his back to the five
thin healthy head grazing.”

HYPERBOLE: It expresses intense emotion and

Exaggerated statement. Not meant to be taken emphasizes the fact stated.
literally,

LITOTES: It emphasizes the statement.

Ironical understatement, esp. expressing an
affirmative by the negative of its contrary.

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

Other useful terminology

RHETORICAL QUESTION: It emphasizes the fact stated. It draws

Asked not for information but to produce effect. attention to the statement and makes the
reader stop and think.

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

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

PATHOS: Excites pity or sadness.

Quality in writing that excites pity or sadness.

ENJAMBMENT: It suggests continuation, so strengthens the

Continuation of sentence beyond end of line, e.g. meaning of lines which state that something
“His state is going on without stopping; it creates a
Is kingly; thousands at his bidding speed fluent movement or helps create a restful

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 And post o’er land and ocean without rest:..” 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

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

SATIRE: Causes amusement/makes fun of people/

Ridiculing prevalent vices or follies e.g. shows things or people up as fools/influences
“Tis with our judgments as our watches, none the reader’s response.
Go 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 events or themes.
speaker is 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 by
the 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 suggested feeling of disappointment / dissatisfaction.
climax.

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

ELISION:
Letter(s) left out to intensify the rhythm.

EPIGRAM: Creates the atmosphere before a poem.

It is a short, concise statement but has a deeper
meaning

Figures of speech based on comparison or resemblance.

PERSONIFICATION: It makes the scene more vivid or the action

Attribute human qualities to thing or quality. more forceful.

SIMILE: Makes the picture more vivid and helps to

Comparison between two things, using like or as. convey more accurately how the writer
experienced a sensation.
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 METAPHOR: Makes the writer’s experience clearer and
Calling something by a name to an object/person more vivid and conveys a depth of meaning
which is not literally applicable to it. by calling up numerous 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 be
kind.”
Punishing a child who plays with the electric socket may seem cruel, but is kind, because if you
don’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

Bitter or wounding remark, ironically worded speaker’s attitudes or feelings towards the
taunt. person meant/addressed.

IRONY: It expresses the speaker’s feelings and

Expression of meaning by language of opposite attitude towards the person/thing he is
or different tendency. discussing. It is usually used to create
humour.

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

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

ALLITERATION: Links important words and emphasizes them.

Repetition of beginning consonant sounds, at Imitates sounds mentioned in the poem.
short intervals, of different words, e.g. Influences the rhythm, either slowing down
“ … my dongas the tempo, or increasing it, depending on

Grade 12 Poetry Notes Page 9

 and my ever-whirling dust, whether the words are long or short and
My death …” whether the sounds are clipped or drawn-out.

ASSONANCE: Creates vivid aural images by imitating the

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

ONOMATOPOEIA: Imitates the sounds referred to. Helps to

Forming words from sounds that resemble create a vivid aural picture and make the
those associated with the object or scene more immediate and real to the reader.
suggestive of its qualities, 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.

Hints for analysing a poem:

• Regard every poem as a masterpiece! Instead of finding fault, look for positive aspects.
• Keep an open mind and allow yourself to be influenced by the poet’s voice.
• Read a poem at least three times before analysing it in depth.
• It is the WHOLE poem that counts. Begin with the poem as a whole, move to its individual
parts, then return to the poem as a whole again.

Useful method of analysing a poem: (there are other ways as well)

✓ Read the poem a number of times, aloud, if possible.
✓ Ask yourself what the poet is saying to the reader. Try to identify the subject and the theme.
✓ Consider what the poet’s intention was when writing the particular poem.
✓ Analyse carefully the poet’s diction. Ask yourself what type of language and style has been
used. Look up any words you do not know/understand.
✓ Establish what feelings the poet evokes in the reader and then assess the mood of the
poem.
✓ Look at the form of the poem as part of the poet’s method of getting his message across.
✓ See what poetic devices (rhyme, rhythm, figures of speech, sound devices) the poet has
used. Analyse them individually and assess what they contribute to the success of the
poem.
✓ Identify any other outstanding or unusual features.
✓ Decide whether the poet has succeeded in is aim.

Poetry literary essay:

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

REMEMBER:
❖ Write in the third (objective) person.
❖ Write in the present tense. (you are analysing the set work today)
❖ Every argument MUST be supported from the poem.
❖ Introduction and conclusion paragraph briefly rephrases question to show your point of view.
(do you agree or not)

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❖ Create a mind-map that contains the key aspects of the question. Under each aspect,
identify examples from the poem to support aspect.
❖ Do not pass judgement (good/bad poem), only state whether the poet was successful as
stated in question.
❖ Do not just retell what the poem is about or the historic background thereof, stick to the
question.
❖ Incorporate your knowledge of poetic devices. (so learn them and know them well!!!!)
❖ Write in paragraphs and logically.
❖ Stick to the word count, so avoid repetition and unnecessary examples.
__________________________________________________________________________

TONE VOCABULARY

Tone: Conveys the emotional message of a text. In a written 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-media texts.

Theme: the central idea or ideas in text; a text may contain several themes and these may not
be explicit or obvious.

Positive Tone / Attitude Words

Amiable Consoling Friendly Playful

Amused Content Happy Pleasant
Appreciative Dreamy Hopeful Proud
Authoritative Ecstatic Impassioned Relaxed
Benevolent Elated Jovial Reverent
Brave Elevated Joyful Romantic
Calm Encouraging Jubilant Soothing
Cheerful Energetic Lighthearted Surprised
Cheery Enthusiastic Loving Sweet
Compassionate Excited Optimistic Sympathetic
Complimentary Exuberant Passionate Vibrant
Confident Fanciful Peaceful Whimsical

Negative Tone / Attitude Words

Accusing Aggravated Agitated Angry

Apathetic Arrogant Artificial Audacious
Belligerent Bitter Boring Brash
Childish Coarse Cold Condemnatory
Disappointed Disgruntled Disgusted Disinterested
Choleric Harsh Haughty Hateful
Condescending Contradictory Critical Insulting
Hurtful Indignant Inflammatory Outraged
Irritated Superficial Desperate Passive
Facetious Shameful Smooth Snooty
Furious Surly Testy Threatening
Quarrelsome Wrathful
Humour-Irony-Sarcasm Tone / Attitude Words

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 Amused Bantering Bitter Caustic
Comical Condescending Contemptuous Critical
Cynical Disdainful Droll Giddy
Flippant Mocking Mock-serious Irrelevant
Humorous Insolent Ironic Quizzical
Joking Malicious Patronizing Sarcastic
Pompous Mock-heroic Scornful Whimsical
Ribald Ridiculing Teasing Wry
Sardonic Satiric Silly Taunting

Sorrow-Fear-Worry Tone / Attitude Words

Aggravated Despairing Hopeless Paranoid

Apprehensive Disturbed Horror Pessimistic
Agitated Embarrassed Melancholy Poignant
Anxious Fearful Miserable Pitiful
Apologetic Foreboding Morose Regretful
Concerned Gloomy Mournful Remorseful
Confused Grave Nervous Resigned
Dejected Horrific Numb Sad
Depressed Hollow Ominous Serious
Sober

Neutral Tone / Attitude Words

Admonitory Allusive Apathetic Authoritative

Baffled Callous Candid Ceremonial
Clinical Consoling Contemplative Conventional
Detached Didactic Disbelieving Factual
Dramatic Earnest Expectant Frivolous
Fervent Formal Forthright Incredulous
Haughty Histrionic Humble Loud
Informative Inquisitive Instructive Nostalgic
Intimate Judgemental Learned Urgent
Lyrical Matter-of-fact Meditative Vexed
Objective Obsequious Patriotic Wistful
Pleading Pretentious Persuasive Zealous
Questioning Reflective Reminiscent
Restrained Sincere Resigned
Shocking Seductive Serious

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 THE ZULU GIRL
Roy Campbell

When in the sun the hot red acres smoulder,

Down where the sweating gang its labours plies,

A girl flings down her hoe, and from her shoulder

Unslings her child tormented by the flies.

She takes him to a ring of shadow pooled 5

By thorn-trees: purpled with the blood of ticks,

While her sharp nails, in slow caress ruled,

Prowl through his hair with sharp electric clicks.

His sleepy mouth plugged by the heavy nipple,

Tugs like a puppy, grunting as he feeds: 10

Through his frail nerves her own deep languor’s ripple

Like a broad river sighing through its reeds.

Yet in that drowsy stream his flesh imbibes

And old unquenched unsmotherable heat –

The curbed ferocity of beaten tribes, 15

The sullen dignity of their defeat.

Her body looms above him like a hill

Within whose shade a village lies at rest.

Or the first cloud so terrible and still

That bears the coming harvest in its breast. 20

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Background notes of poet
Roy Campbell was born in Durban in South Africa, in 1901. He was educated in Durban and
then spent a year at Oxford before returning home, where he established a satirical literary
magazine, entitled Voorslag. Campbell used irony and humour to expose and criticise people,
often targeting Afrikaners. He lived in France and Spain and served in the English army in
World War II. Campbell eventually settled in Portugal, where he died in a vehicle accident in
1957.

Title
The title is a basic reference to the subject of the poem: A young Zulu ‘girl’.
- ‘girl’ has a derogatory connotation as it was common practice for whites to refer to black
people as ‘ boy’ or ‘girl’.
- This young woman is however old enough to have borne a child and do adult work in the
fields.
The title does however not hint at the deeper/ underlying, complex themes found in the poem.

Theme
• The poem contrasts the dramatic history of struggle and defeat of the Zulu people with their
peaceful life.
• The Zulu people still have a great sense of pride and will rise up against their oppressors.
• The poem Zulu Girl is a powerful recreation of the hardship and endurance of the Zulu
people. Roy Campbell makes the masculinist equation i.e. male equals culture and female
equals nature. It poses an immediate problem of how the poor Zulu people are forced to
work on the farm.

Content
• On the surface, this poem is simply an observation of a Zulu woman feeding her child.
However, it becomes clear that the poem is about oppression, specifically of women.

• The poem has a four line stanza. The speaker provides us a detail of the plight of the Zulu
girl. The observation made by the speaker is minute and influential.

• The act of breastfeeding the baby not only provides sustenance/nourishment for the child,
but also transmits to him the mother’s feelings and attitude about his ancestors’ tragic and
violent history.

• The mother not only provides the baby with her motherly protection, but transmits her
strength/ desire to correct the injustices of the past to the child so that he will be able to
free his people from oppression.

• The mother represents two visions of the oppressed people of South Africa.

• First stanza
Gives a description of a hot landscape where the labourers work.

Tone: Neutral with an underlying hint of conflict

Mood: Ominous and disturbing – diction ► ‘smoulder’ / ‘tormented’
oppressive/unforgiving/foreboding/unbearable/stifling
➢ It is during the daytime that the sun sheds its hot rays on the ground/ the labourers
experience extreme heat and discomfort

➢ In the field is the “gang”

(connotation = its members have no individuality and identity

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 = are treated rather like prisoners, or forced labourers:
= no personal pride or pleasure in their work.)

➢ Conditions are harsh and the girl is tired. NOTE THE DICTION!

➢ Now the observation is focused on the girl who flings down her hoe which can be seen
as an act of defiance of authority, which exacts her subjection, a turning from mass
production to the responsibilities of reproduction.

➢ It is significant perhaps that the mother is referred to as a ‘girl’: this may suggest that
she is not a wife and belongs to the vast number of black South Africans who have lost
their traditional ways of life and have been caught up in the chaos of the modern
world.

➢ The soil of the fields are compared to hot coals – Metaphor

• Second stanza
Illustrates the care that the mother shows for her child: she is looking for ticks and lice on
him, which emphasises the poor conditions in which they are forced to live.

Tone: There is a suggestion of calm/relaxed/ sleepiness but there is still an underlying

threat
Mood: Underlying threatening ► diction ► ‘blood of ticks’ / ‘sharp nails’ / ‘prowl’
➢ Metaphor – the shade of the thorn trees are compared to a pool of water providing a cool
place for the mother to feed her baby
➢ The shade is also ‘purpled by the blood of ticks’ – there is a contrast here between the
smouldering hot soil and sun and the cool dark shade of the trees.
➢ Lines 7 – 8: The mother’s nails are compared to a living creature that prowls through the
child’s hair – the diction here creates an unpleasant feeling IN CONTRAST with ►
the feeling of calm/coolness/relaxation ► ‘slow caresses’ give the impression of
motherliness and gentleness.

• Third Stanza
This stanza describes the baby feeding

Tone: Calm intimacy as the mother’s calm, sleepy relaxation is transferred to the baby.

➢ The poet gives his impression of the relationship and feeling between mother and the
child in more than a merely physical sense.

➢ The poem admirably suggests the strong intimate mother-and- child relationship
developed by breast-feeding (often, of course, lost or destroyed in more ‘advanced’
cultures). ► her inner emotions conveyed by the intimacy of feeding her child.

➢ Breastfeeding provides the child with nourishment and transfers the mother’s feelings
and attitude.

➢ ‘langours’ suggests that the mother is tired/weary and despairing of her situation

➢ ‘frail nerves’ ► disturbing ► suggests that the child is frail

➢ Nevertheless, even in her mood of hopelessness, her motherhood and the latent
satisfaction she has in feeding her child, seems to arouse in her a kind of pride.

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 ➢ Similes: ‘Tugs … puppy’ / ‘her own … its reeds’

➢ Perhaps she has a feeling that her life has some value, that she is taking part in an
important life process; that she is not alone and abandoned; she belongs to an old
enduring tradition of human struggle and survival.

• Fourth stanza
A strong indication of the suffering and violence that is lurking beneath the surface ►
diction► ’unquenched, unsmotherable heat’ / ‘curbed ferocity’ / ‘sullen dignity’
Tone: A contrast takes place as the tone changes to one of hidden menace
➢ The underlying message becomes clear.
➢ The young child is a symbol of the might of the Zulu nation.
➢ The strength of the Zulu still exists in the Zulu people in spite of the oppression that
they experience.

• Fifth stanza
The mother metaphorically becomes a hill that overshadows a whole village. She is no
longer just the mother of one child; she represents all the mother of all the children of
oppressed people.

➢ As the poem develops, we seem to move gradually closer to the mother, until in the
final stanza we are looking up at her, almost as though thorough the eyes of the
child himself; and she appears as an impressive, statuesque figure, shielding and
protecting her helpless infant.

➢ Without appealing to our emotions are directly or blatantly the poet arouses our
sympathy for the Zulu Girl in the hardships of the existence; this leads on to an
admiration for the endurance and for the strength of life that is seen in her.

➢ This hope is not conveyed by plain, prose statement, as a matter of fact: it is

glimpsed imaginatively by the poet’s intuition and conveyed in the form of this
indirect suggestion.

➢ She is ‘the cloud’, bringing the ‘terrible storm’ which will result in the ‘coming
harvest’ ► which implies the rising up of the people against their oppressors.

➢ Diction that describes safety and protection is used ► ‘shade’ and ‘lies at rest’
►POSITIVE TONE

➢ BUT there is also diction that warns of violence and destruction in the future ►
‘looms’ / ‘terrible and still’ ► NEGATIVE TONE

Form and structure

✓ Campbell makes use of a regulated form to structure his message. The five stanzas of
four lines each follow the same rhyme pattern.

✓ The first stanza uses a-b-a-b, the second c-d-c-d, and so on.

Poetic / language devices

❖ The poet uses imagery, symbol, metaphor and diction to add meaning to the poem
throughout.

Grade 12 Poetry Notes Page 16

 ❖ Stanza 1: metaphor (line 1), highlights the intense heat of the land

The first strong impression given in the poem is of the heat which scorches the landscape
where the girl is working: the acres are red, which is the predominant colour of the African
earth, but ‘hot red’, and something similar- ‘red hot’ the epithet usually applied to heated
iron. This together with the metaphor of ‘smoulder’ gives the impression that the land is
almost too hot to bear and could almost burst into flames.

Other details that emphasize the unpleasant nature of the ‘gang’s’ work: they are
‘sweating’; the child is ‘tormented by the flies’. An interesting point to notice in the first
stanza is the way in which the rhythmic and rhyming pattern emphasizes the physical
effort made by the girl when she takes the child from her back.

❖ Stanza 2: metaphor (line 1), highlights the intense heat of the land
metaphor (line 5), implies a place of retreat and peace
s-alliteration (line 7), ‘scratching’ sound created
onomatopoeia (line 8), hard, sharp sound
metaphor (line 8), implies an animal on the hunt

The mother, in the meagre shade of the thorn trees, is searching the hair of her child for
ticks – again a detail which suggests the poverty and unsanitary conditions under which
these labourers live.

Her sharp nails are ‘purpled with the blood” of the parasites. Our attention is held by the
metaphor ‘prowled’. The sharp electric clicks are produced when she finds a tick and
cracks it between her fingernails. Not only does the metaphor give this impression but the
sounds of the word sequence ‘ticks’, ‘electric’, ‘clicks’ intensify it.

❖ Stanza 3: Simile (line 10), implies an innocent, harmless and natural activity.
Simile (line 12), implies more than nutritional substance.

The baby’s mouth is ‘plugged’; he tugs at the nipple: grunting as he feeds. The sequence
of ugly vowel sounds suggest the greediness (and hunger) of the baby as he feeds, and
this is intensified in the animal simile, in which the same vowel sound appears.

like a ‘puppy’ (line 10) points out the way in which the people in the poem are viewed: if a
child is viewed as a puppy, his mother is viewed as a dog. The mother, however, does not
see her child in this way, and feels an overwhelming tenderness for her child.

Then the poet goes on to describe the deep strong feelings which pass in a steady,
inevitable flow from the mother to the child and here the simile of the broad river is very
suitable.

❖ Stanza 4: Metaphor (line 14), implies hopelessness

Dash – tells us what more this child is absorbing.
‘b’ and ‘d’- alliteration (lines 15 – 16)

It is almost a paradox. In the physical sense it is obviously the child who is drinking from
its mother; in another sense her flesh is, in a deeper sense, imbibing something from the
drowsy stream.

Grade 12 Poetry Notes Page 17

 To make the sudden change of thought from the reflective to the aggressive, there is a
sudden change in the rhythmic and sound qualities of this stanza, and comes to a
vigorous climax on the energetic multi-syllabic word ‘unsmotherable’.

Line 14 as a whole is an emphatic statement of the unquenchable vigour and spirit of the
African people: nothing can blot out or obliterate their primal energy (heat – one of the
basic essentials of life).

❖ Stanza 5: simile (line 17), implies grand, imposing

metaphor (line 19), implies hope, life

The poem now moves to its prophetic climax and the Zulu Girl takes on the significance of
a symbol. She is no longer just a single, stray, exploited, hardworking individual in some
remote part of the veldt: she represents the potentiality of her race for suffering, survival,
and triumph.

The shade, unlike that of the thorn trees (a mere ‘pool’) is unbroken and extensive, and in
it the village lies in peace and tranquillity. The ‘looming hill’ leads to the second simile of
the great thunder cloud which suggests violent storms to come in the near future but with
the prospect of a welcome harvest in the fullness of time.

Sound devices
▪ The rhyme of the stanzas provides the poem with regular rhythm.

▪ Sound is also employed to add riches to the image of the ‘grunting’ (line 10) child, the
sound of the mother’s nails rustling through the child’s hair with onomatopoeic ‘clicks’ (line
8), and the personified ‘sighing’ (line 12) of the river as the mother’s milk passes to her
child.

Vocabulary:

smoulder - burn slowly without a flame

languors - tenderness
imbibes - absorbs or soaks up
unquenched - unsatisfied
unsmotherable - inextinguishable; cannot be put out
ferocity - fierceness
sullen - gloomy silence
looms - rises before

Questions:

1. What does the inclusion of the colour ‘red’ in line 1 tell us about the scene?

2. List all the words in the poem that suggest heat, and provide short definitions for each of
them.

3. What is your understanding of ‘curbed ferocity’, and who are the ‘beaten tribes’ (line 15)?

4. Explain what the child ‘imbibes’ (line 13) on both a literal and figurative level?

5. Explore how the poet uses tone in the poem. Note how and where it changes over the
course of the poem, and quote from the poem to give substance to your response.

Grade 12 Poetry Notes Page 18

 FIRST DAY AFTER THE WAR
Mazisi Kunene

We heard the songs of a wedding party

We saw a soft light

Coiling round the young blades of grass

At first we hesitated, then we saw her footprints,

Her face emerged, then her eyes of freedom! 5

She woke us up with a smile saying,

‘What day is this that comes suddenly?’

We said, ‘It is the first day after the war’.

Then without waiting we ran to the open space

Ululating to the mountains and the pathways 10

Calling people from all the circles of the earth.

We shook up the old man demanding a festival

We asked for all the first fruits of the season.

We held hands with a stranger

We shouted across the waterfalls 15

People came from all lands

It was the first day of peace.

We saw our Ancestors travelling tall on the horizon.

Grade 12 Poetry Notes Page 19

Background notes of poet
Mazisi Kunene was born in South Africa, in 1938. He studied in South Africa and in the United
Kingdom, and worked as an academic in the United States of America before returning to South
Africa. His best known work is the poem, ‘Emperor Shaka the Great’, which was originally
written in isiZulu and translated into English. He died in 2006.

Title:
There is a sense of a new beginning ► ‘First Day’.
This shows/signals hope and change after the suffering and the struggle of the apartheid
period/war.

Theme:
➢ The poem carries a message of renewal and hope to the people who suffered and
struggled during apartheid and announces a new beginning, joy and peace that it will
bring.
➢ The poem is a celebration of the end of apartheid and of new beginnings.
➢ In the last line of the poem there is a reference to the ancestors, who symbolise the past
and the roots of the community.
➢ ‘We saw our ancestors travelling tall on the horizon’ suggests that people should take
their direction from the past and build something new.

Tone / Mood:
Tone: Upbeat
Mood: excitement and jubilation
The tone is initially one of disbelief that oppression has come to an end, then restrained joy,
followed by ecstatic jubilance and pride.
It can also be described as celebratory, enthusiastic and excited.

➢ In the first lines the first suggestions of a new beginning is heard by the people ► gentle
tone
➢ As the poem progresses the poet picks up the pace and it increases in excitement ►
celebratory mood.
➢ Lines 14 – 18 ► emphatic tone created ► peace has arrived
➢ Last line ► serious tone ► poet puts forward his message in the narrative.

Content – Focus DICTION

• Mazisi Kunene wrote much of his poetry in South Africa, in the time of apartheid, a period
in which black people were discriminated against and oppressed. His poem describes the
joy that people felt at the ending of this system of government.

• The poem lists a number of ways in which the people celebrate the news. Notice the
variety of the actions and the jubilation this shows. The news is so wonderful that we see
how people of all types celebrate together and ‘held hands with a stranger’ (line 14)

• This poem is a reminder of history and the need to look back and take direction from the
ancestors before moving into the future.

• The allusion to freedom illustrates the lifting of the restrictions and oppression of the
apartheid era. This is cause for jubilation.

• ‘Then without waiting we ran to the open space’ conveys the people’s excitement. Their
joy is spontaneous, unrestrained and boundless. They erupt in celebration.

Grade 12 Poetry Notes Page 20

 • ‘suddenly’ suggests the ending of oppression and the subsequent unification are
unexpected pleasures to be celebrated.

• The end of the war and the eradication of suffering is met with great festivity and jubilation.

• ‘calling’, ‘shook’, ‘demanding’ and ‘shouted’ are forceful. They convey people’s enthusiasm
and determination to enjoy the occasion. They are unable to contain their joy, which is
expressed in wild actions.

• The repetition of ‘we’ emphasises the coming together of people who were previously
divided. This is reinforced by the holding of hands – a gesture of intimacy and comfort.

• There is a sense of harmony, ubuntu and accord. A common humanity is celebrated.

• ‘first fruits of the season’. The occasion is so great that only the best will do. It is also n
expression of gratitude of blessings bestowed.

• The announcement of the advent of democracy is shared with all. The spirit is infectious
and people come from all over the world to celebrate the unification.

• The ancestors join the celebration and are proud – ‘travelling tall’.

Form and structure

➢ This poem uses free verse which seems appropriate for its theme.

➢ Notice the repetitive form of the line structure of lines 12 to 15, perhaps implying
that the overwhelming joy prompted an unrestrained physical response, and that
the people ran around responding impulsively to the situation.

➢ The poem is written in the past tense although it is a vision of the future.

➢ The poem appeals to our sense of hearing which is a clear description of the joy
felt. ► Diction ► ‘the songs’ / ‘ululating’ and the people who ‘shouted’

➢ The two lines of dialogue follow the African tradition of storytelling.

➢ The poem is paced like a story with a slow beginning / climax and a concluding
message.

Poetic / language devices/Diction/Imagery

➢ Kunene uses simple but effective diction to capture the scene. This seems to add
to the spontaneous nature of the excitement displayed – the actions speak for
themselves.

➢ ‘wedding party’ – the wedding metaphor suggests that this is a day of celebration. It
is the beginning of a new life and a time of peace and harmony. The reference to
‘songs’ at the ‘wedding party’ conveys joyous celebration.

➢ The ‘soft light’ (line 2)/ ‘young blades of grass’ / ‘the mountains and pathways’ / ‘first
fruits of the season’ / ‘waterfalls’ / ‘horizon’ creates an image of contained optimism
and hope/ beauty, which are images of nature that have to do with aspects of the
arrival of peace.

Grade 12 Poetry Notes Page 21

 ➢ These images of nature also remind people of their links to nature and their
rootedness in the land

➢ The images of growth in nature: ‘young blades of grass’ / ‘first fruits of the season’
symbolise the new and optimistic vision of peace as something that will grow and
flourish.

➢ Metaphor (lines 2 – 3) ‘soft light coiling’ is a juxtaposition of the softness of the light
with the tightness or sinewy strength of a coiling spring or snake.
► This comparison suggests strength and power of the poets vision for the future.

➢ Lines 4 – 7: freedom personified as a woman ► suggests the nurturing nature of

freedom ► associated with women ► this is in contrast to the aggression of war
which is associated with men.

➢ ‘ululating’ – onomatopoeia --- conveys the sound of the people’s spontaneity and
expression of ecstasy and elation. The word is associated with traditional forms of
African celebration.

➢ The alliteration of ‘first fruits’ (line 13) alerts the reader to the significance of the
moment, while the use of this device in the final line lends the ‘Ancestors’ renewed
stature as they are ‘travelling tall’ (line 18) in response to the event.

➢ Alliteration (line 18) ‘travelling tall’ ► creates rhythm and liveliness which is a
reminder of the importance of the ancestors.

➢ A strong sense of movement is created:

- a gentle start ► the people are passive receivers of good news ► diction: ‘heard’/
‘saw’ (lines 1 - 2 )
- Followed by the slow movement of the ‘coiling’ light, and the slight uncertainty
when they ‘hesitated’ in line 4.
- Pace picks up dramatically in line 9 ► People ‘without waiting’, ‘ran’.
– They had become impatient for their freedom when they ‘shook up’ the man,
‘demanding a festival’.
- Pace is calmer from line 13 ► people ‘asked’ and ‘held hands’ (line 14) which
leads to the arrival of ‘the first day of peace’ (line 17).

➢ The poet creates an inclusive, generous vision of the future where everyone
embraces one another ► ‘we held hands with a stranger’ (line 14) / ‘people came
from all lands’ (line 16)

Vocabulary:

ululating - wailing or howling

Grade 12 Poetry Notes Page 22

Questions:

1. What clues suggest the rural setting of the poem? Quote from the poem to support your
answer.

2. Why do you think the people ‘ran to the open space’ (line 9)?

3. Discuss the possible literal and figurative meanings of the ‘footprints’ (line 4) and the ‘young
blades’ (line 3).

4. (a) What does the expression ‘shook up’ (line 12) mean?

(b) How do you interpret it in this context?

(c) Who might the ‘old man’ (line 12) be?

5. Critically comment on the effectiveness of the final line of Kunene’s poem.

Grade 12 Poetry Notes Page 23

 AN AFRICAN ELEGY
Ben Okri

We are the miracles that God made

To taste the bitter fruit of Time.

We are precious.

And one day our suffering

Will turn into the wonders of the earth. 5

There are things that burn me now

Which turn golden when I am happy.

Do you see the mystery of our pain?

That we bear poverty

And are able to sing and dream sweet things 10

And that we never curse the air when it is warm

Or the fruit when it tastes so good

Or the lights that bounce gently on the waters?

We bless things even in our pain.

We bless them in silence. 15

That is why our music is so sweet.

It makes the air remember.

There are secret miracles at work

That only Time will bring forth.

I too have heard the dead singing. 20

And they tell me that

This life is good

Grade 12 Poetry Notes Page 24

 They tell me to live it gently

With fire, and always with hope.

There is wonder here. 25

And here is surprise

In everything the unseen moves.

The ocean is full of songs.

The sky is not an enemy.

Destiny is our friend. 30

Background notes of poet

Ben Okri was born in a small town in Nigeria, in 1959. He studied in Nigeria and the United
Kingdom, and has worked for the British Broadcasting Corporation as well as being a poetry
editor and a poet. His short story collection, Incidents at the Shrine, was awarded the
Commonwealth Writer’s Prize for Africa, and his third novel, The Famished Road, won the
Booker Prize for Africa, the United Kingdom’s top award for fiction. Much of his work looks at
the relationship between African mysticism and modern Western culture.

Title:
➢An elegy is usually a mournful poem written to marks a person’s death.
➢It may also be a serious, thoughtful poem.
➢This poem is about serious matters of grief and pain
➢This poem is not a traditional elegy although there is the mention of ‘suffering’ and ‘pain’
of the Africans.
➢ The poem describes their ability to enjoy life in spite of the troubles they encounter and to
keep their optimism about life’s possibilities.
➢ This ‘elegy’ shows that Africans have a unique way of dealing with grief and pain and find
joy in the small pleasures of life and have hope for the future.

Theme:
➢ The ability of African people to find joy and wonder in life in spite of difficult
circumstances, and to celebrate life’s possibilities and mysteries.
➢ Hope, miracles, poverty, pain, destiny, time, suffering.

One who forgets their suffering no longer suffers.

Tone:
➢ The tone is optimistic, rewarding, pleasurable and harmonious. The speaker is in awe of
the magical quality of nature and life. He focuses on the promise of a better life and the
need to be in harmony with our world. The speaker’s tone reflects his amazement at the
people’s faith and endurance. The message of the poem is that Africans are eternally
hopeful in spite of hardship. They are able to find positives even in difficult situations.
➢ In general the tone is optimistic/ positive and full of wonder.
➢ In the final stanza there is a tone of celebration and triumph.

Grade 12 Poetry Notes Page 25

 ➢ In spite of difficulties, nature is ‘full of songs’ and ‘not an enemy’ our future is not hostile
and our fate and future are ‘our friend’

Content
• Traditionally, an elegy is a mournful poem usually written in response to death.
• It has no rhyme scheme.
• It is written in three stages
→ grief
→ sorrow
→ praise
• Okri’s elegy, however, is not mournful; rather it is reflective and thoughtful.

• The poet is speaking about his African culture – ‘we’ and ‘our’ – the people of Africa.

• The speaker asks the unique African spirit for answers to life’s paradoxes. He explores
the miracle of what being African means to him: the endurance for suffering, the ability to
find joy and beauty in the midst of pain, a spiritual union with nature’s bounty, and an
irrepressible sense of optimism despite all indicators pointing in the opposite direction.

• The speaker seems to believe that the tendency to hope and the sensitivity to recognise
wonder is a shared trait of Africa’s people.

• Line 8 : ‘Do you see the mystery of our pain?’ – RHETORICAL QUESTION –
emphasises the inexplicable nature of the people’s reaction to their suffering. The
mystery lies in the ability to ‘sing and dream sweet things’ despite their hardship. The
speaker is puzzled by their magnanimous reaction.

• The reaction of the people is paradoxical as they are able to express their joy despite
their pain.

• Line 9: ‘bear’ implies that the local people’s problems are a burden which they put up
with without anger. They endure and tolerate their hardship without distress or
annoyance. They are accepting of their suffering and are prepared to live with it. The
word conveys the extent and relentlessness of their suffering. African people have
resilient and strong characters. Despite what they have to ‘bear’ they still remain hopeful
and don’t lose their joy.

• Lines 16 – 17: ‘…our music is so sweet/ It makes the air remember’

These lines are figurative in meaning.
The air represents the spirit of the ancestors. The music is gratifying, rewarding,
pleasurable and harmonious. The significance lies in the fact that it is an expression of
the people’s optimistic attitude to life. The air ‘remembers’ because people are aware
of the music even after it has ended. Its impact on the surroundings resonates and the
feeling of upliftment endures. There is a mystical, spiritual feel to these lines.

Imagery/ Sound / Diction

Stanza 1:
➢ Africans are compared to ‘miracles that God made/ To taste the bitter fruit of Time’ (lines
1 – 2)
➢ ‘taste the bitter fruit of Time’ → metaphor: this includes sensory imagery and symbolism
that points to the trials and hardships of life.

Grade 12 Poetry Notes Page 26

 ➢ Suggests that Africans are in some way chosen by God to bear suffering, and then
eventually be celebrated as ‘the wonders of the earth’ (line 5)
➢ The metaphor introduces the idea that the African way of life/ experience/ dealing with
situations is unique/ astonishing.
➢ The tone in this stanza is bitter but optimistic.

Stanza 2:
➢ ‘things that burn me now’ : suffering/ pain/ leaves scars
➢ ‘Which turn golden’ : rare/ memorable/ precious
➢ ‘sing and dream sweet things’: there is still hope through all the pain and suffering.
➢ Tone becomes one of joyful amazement.

Stanza 3:
➢ They don’t take things for granted. They cherish all the things they have.
➢ ‘never curse the air when it is warm’ → sensory imagery: they picture and feel the
positive things they have in life.
➢ ‘We bless things even in our pain’ → Contrast (Bless/ pain): believing even though it is
difficult.
➢ Reinforcement of the positive/optimistic tone.

Stanza 4:
➢ ‘It makes the air remember’ / ‘I too have heard the dead singing’ → Personification
➢ ‘Time’ → capitalised → personification
➢ Idea of joy and mystery is brought up again.

Stanza 5:
➢ Live life happily despite the situations you encounter. Then there will always be
something to look forward to in the future.
➢ The dead has told the speaker about living life to the full.
➢ ‘fire’ → live life with passion, warmth and hope, even during the bad times.
➢ Tone: satisfying / friendly / hopeful / optimistic

Stanza 6:
➢ The universe is not a hostile place but full of miraculous possibilities.
➢ ‘The … songs’ – Metaphor
➢ ‘The sky is not our enemy’ / ‘Destiny our friend’ – Personification.

Form and structure

✓ Okri has made use of a structure where each stanza is of equal five line length, giving the
form of regularity and a distinct pattern.

✓ There are a variety of line lengths within each stanza; the short lines are somewhat
isolated from the enclosing lines, and for this reason they tend to ‘stand out’ for being
short.

✓ The line breaks add an additional dimension to the interpretation of the poem as this
promotes multiple interpretations.

Sound devices
▪ This is a poem that demands to be read aloud. The pauses, bound by the punctuation
and line breaks, create a rhythm that contributes significantly to the reader’s appreciation
and understanding of the poem.

Grade 12 Poetry Notes Page 27

 Vocabulary:

elegy - mournful poem

miracles - acts of God
destiny - inescapable fate

Questions:

1. Make a list of all the positive things that Okri says about Africa and being African.

2. What do you think the speaker means by the line ‘We are precious’ (line 3)?

3. Does the speaker respect the dead? What makes you say this?

4. How does the poet connect each negative aspect in the poem with something positive?

5. Explain how one can live life ‘gently/ With fire’ (lines 23-24).

6. Do you think Okri is being overly idealistic, or do you agree with what he is saying about
Africa and Africans? Motivate your answer.

Grade 12 Poetry Notes Page 28

 somewhere i have never travelled, gladly beyond
ee cummings

somewhere i have never travelled, gladly beyond

any experience, your eyes have their silence:

in your most frail gesture are things which enclose me,

or which i cannot touch because they are too near

your slightest look easily will unclose me 5

though i have closed myself as fingers,

you open always petal by petal myself as spring opens

(touching skilfully, mysteriously)her first rose

or if your wish be to close me, i and

my life will shut very beautifully, suddenly, 10

as when the heart of this flower imagines

the snow carefully everywhere descending;

nothing which we are to perceive in this world equals

the power of your intense fragility: whose texture

compels me what the colour of its countries, 15

rendering death and forever with each breathing

(i do not know what it is about you that closes

and opens; only something in me understands

the voice of your eyes is deeper than all roses)

nobody, not even the rain, has such small hands 20

Grade 12 Poetry Notes Page 29

Background notes of poet
ee cummings was born in 1894, in Massachusetts, in the United States of America. He served
as an ambulance driver in World War I, and was detained in France for several months. After
the war he lived in France, studying art, and finally settled in New York. Cummings was one of
the most experimental poets of the twentieth century, and the style of his poetry is unusual: he
uses distorted syntax, unusual punctuation, new words and slang words. These elements make
his poems look complicated, but the ideas contain in them are generally quiet simple.

Title
➢ Like many poets, Cummings never gave his poems titles, so editors just use the first line
as the title of each poem.
➢ That said, "somewhere i have never travelled, gladly beyond" seems like a fitting title,
because the poem takes on such a surreal, yet strangely happy voyage into the weird
world of the speaker and his lover.
➢ The unusual word order, unfinished sentence and the missing space after the comma
alert us to the unusual language use throughout the poem.

Theme
➢ The poem deals with the mysterious and incomprehensible nature of love, while also
emphasising its overwhelming force and intensity.

Tone:
➢ This poem combines bewilderment at love’s mysterious power with a joyful acceptance of
his love.
➢ The speaker’s tone is one of admiration, awe, wonder and reverence. He finds it amazing
that the mere presence can overwhelm his senses, thoughts and emotions. The
expression in her eyes conveys the intensity of her love for him. The usual connection
the speaker makes between the senses suggests that even without words, there is
communication an understanding between the lovers. There is the idea of love’s being
inexplicable, mysterious and spiritual. There is no logic to explain why his beloved is able
to exert absolute power over him yet instinctively he is willing to accede to her.

Content

• The poem is similar to many traditional love poems in that the speaker spends a lot of
time talking about his lover's eyes, and in that the poem uses the well-worn symbol of a
rose.
• The speaker is a total slave to his lover. He goes on and on about how she has total
control over his emotions and there's nothing he can do about it. Rather than this being a
bad thing, though, the speaker is really seems to love her more the more power she has.
She manages all this with subtlety and a mysterious grace.
• The use of the word ‘gladly’ shows that the speaker is enthusiastic about and open to
new possibilities in his life. Although it is the unknown, the anticipation fills him with
excitement. He welcomes the thought of the adventure and looks forward to the
experience.
• This love poem takes it to a whole other level. The speaker isn't just kind of infatuated, or
even in the throes of violent passion, his love is transcendent. He's so in love with this
girl that it's like he's going through a religious conversion of some kind. His feelings for
her connect him to something bigger than both of them, something that's infinite and
ultimately unknowable.
• The poem is full of images of the natural world: flowers, rain, references to the seasons.
"somewhere i have never travelled, gladly beyond" shows man and nature in a kind of
harmony. The speaker actually describes himself as a flower, opening and closing with

Grade 12 Poetry Notes Page 30

 the seasons. So you could say that this isn't a poem about man and nature; it's a poem
about man as nature.
• Cummings uses unusual words, punctuation and sentence structure. Once the reader
adjusts to the strange language use and relaxes, the emotional associations are not
difficult to understand.
• This is a love poem, although it is quite an unconventional one. The speaker seems to
be attempting to understand his beloved’s power over him but he admits that her appeal
is intangible and difficult to pinpoint. He cannot work out why she has this ability to move
him but he welcomes it nonetheless.
• The poet makes use of images of nature and the concept of travel to develop his ideas.
• The capitalisation of the word ‘Spring’ recognises the importance and the power of
Spring. Spring is the giver of life and transforms the winter landscape into something of
beauty. Like Spring, his beloved has transformed him by bringing love into his life.

Form and structure

✓ Given all the unusual features of Cummings’ writing, it might be surprising to see a
definite form being used. The poem is composed of regular four line stanzas and each
stanza deals with a new, separate point.

Poetic / language devices

❖ The idea of closing and opening recurs in this poem. The first stanza hints at this with
the use of the word ‘enclose’ (line 3), which becomes more significant in the light of the
later reference to ‘unclose’ (line 5), ‘closed’ (line 6), ‘open’ (line 7), ‘close’ (line 9), ‘shut’
(line 10) and ‘closes/ and opens (lines 17-18)

❖ The paradox in line 4: ‘i cannot touch because they are too near’. The speaker’s inability
to touch something despite its nearness is contradictory. His feelings for his beloved are
‘too near’ to his heart and an intimate part of him and he is reluctant to expose himself as
he is afraid that his love makes him vulnerable and defenceless to potential heartbreak
and pain. The mystery of the depth of the power of this love scares him.

❖ The poem often uses run-on lines, or enjambment. In one instance the line could even
be said to ‘jump over’ words to complete the thought, as in line 7 where ‘Spring’ skips
over the content in brackets to find its object, ‘her first rose’ (line 8).

❖ The poet skilfully makes use of imagery, and expresses the images through the use of
similes and vivid personification. This can be seen in the capitalisation of ‘Spring’ (line
7), and the rain’s ‘hands’ in the final line.

Sound devices
▪ Notice the alliteration of the hard ‘c’ sound repeated in line 15 which gives extra power to
the words and draws the reader’s attention.

▪ The sound of the word ‘enclose’ (line 3) is echoed by its opposite ‘unclose’ (line 5).
Perhaps Cummings is saying that in the context of his love’s power over him, both
actions and equally wondrous.

▪ The fact that there is little rhyme used in the first four stanzas makes the use of rhyme in
the final stanza all the more noticeable.

Grade 12 Poetry Notes Page 31

 ▪ This trek deep into the mysteries of the universe—and the human heart—is helped by
Cummings's constant use of the long ‘O’ sound. It reminds us a whole lot of the "omm"
sound people make when they're meditating. Throughout the poem, Cummings rhymes
words like "enclose", "unclose", and "rose". He also connects it all with assonance by
using "open" and "opens". So, all the way through our journey, we hear the meditative
"ohh" sound, which is also a subtle sonic reminder of the sense of awe in our speaker,
too.

Symbol Analysis
Touch
There is a lot of touch imagery in this poem. You'll find mentions of fingers, hands, mysterious
touches, and textures. This motif is knit tightly with some others, like flowers and nature, with
Cummings blending the images so well that it's hard to pull them apart. The motif also fits neatly
with the poem's overall use of paradoxical images. Translation: you get a bunch of references to
the speaker being touched by things that are untouchable. At first, it might not make sense, but
then if you think of a time you were truly, madly in love, it totally does.

Lines 3-4: We spot touch imagery early on when the speaker describes his lover's "most frail
gesture." Whatever this tiny flick of the hand is, the speaker is totally awestruck by it. The
speaker is so enraptured by all the things in his love's "frail gesture" that he isn't sure if it they
"enclose him," or if there are things in them that he "cannot touch because they are too near."
First of all, how can a tiny gesture totally enclose somebody? And secondly, why can't he touch
something that's so close to him? These are deliberate paradoxes. This touch imagery
conjures contradictions that place us in the love-dazzled mind of the speaker.

Lines 5-6: The speaker says, "your slightest look easily will unclose me/ though i have closed
myself as fingers." The digits on our hands are probably the parts of our body we most often
associate with our sense of touch. Here, the speaker uses a simile to compare the feeling of
being closed off emotionally to the image of the closed fingers. He can't manage to stay closed
off around his love. All she has to do is give him the "slightest look," and he opens up again.
Notice that she doesn't even have to touch him to make this happen.

Lines 7-8: The touch imagery continues when the speaker describes his love as "touching
skilfully, mysteriously." For one, we definitely get a sensual feeling from this line: skilful and
mysterious. Notice, though, that the lines equate this mysterious touching the way "Spring
opens/ [...] her first rose." - It's with sunlight and rain. Again an image of him being opened
without any literal hands being put on him.

Lines 13-14: Once again we hear about the speaker's love's "fragility," and once again it's
related to touch. This time, the speaker says its "texture/ compels [him] with the colour of its
countries."
Many paradoxes are found here. First, how can fragility have a texture? It's a quality of a
person, not something that's tangible. Also, how can a texture have colours? A texture is
something you can feel, not something you see. Not in the world of Cummings, where senses
mingle in a phenomenon called synaesthesia. Here again, we see the speaker being touched
by things you wouldn't be able to feel in a literal sense.

Line 17: Personification is found in the last line of the poem, saying "nobody, not even the rain,
has such small hands." Once again, the speaker describes himself as being opened by some
intangible thing about his love. He compares himself to a flower being opened again, but notice
that it isn't the rain that opens him. It's some mysterious, subtle thing with even smaller hands
than the rain.

Grade 12 Poetry Notes Page 32

Eyes
Lines 1-2: Cummings opens up the poem with the lines, "somewhere i have never travelled,
gladly beyond/ any experience, your eyes have their silence." This could be interpreted to
mean that the unexplored place the speaker is heading into is the depths of his lover's eyes.
The fact that her "eyes have their silence" makes them seem even more mysterious and
unknowable.
However, aren't all eyes silent? In a way they can: "the eyes are windows to the soul." You can
look into a person's eyes and see what they're feeling and thinking, which could be described as
a way of talking without words. If the speaker's eyes are silent at times, it can mean that she
can be really hard to read, which only makes her more exciting to the speaker.

Line 5: At the top of the next stanza, the speaker says that his lady's "slightest look will unclose
[him]." Notice that we've gone from inscrutable, silent eyes that don't seem to be paying much
attention to him to ones that are at least sparing him a glance. Smitten, he goes crazy for this
and opens right up to his illusive lady. The speaker gives his lover's eyes power by giving them
power over the physical world. Metaphorically at least, she can open his tightly closed fingers
with the smallest of glances.

Line 19: "the voice of your eyes is deeper than all roses", first of all, is cool how this line brings
us back to the silent eyes from line 2. Here, the eyes have a "voice," but it's not any typical
voice. It's "deeper than all roses."
Roses wordplay conjures the image of a lady whose eyes are deep and mysterious. When the
speaker looks into them, he can't quite read what's there, but he is mesmerized.

Roses
Lines 7-8: The flower of love gets its first mention in the second stanza, where the speaker
uses a simile to compare the way his lover opens him emotionally to the way spring opens
roses. The already obvious love symbolism is taken to an erotic place with all this talk of spring
"touching skilfully, mysteriously." Cummings also describes the speaker, presumably a male, as
the flower.

Lines 9-12: The third stanza carries the image of the rose through, but this time uses another
simile to compare the way the speaker's lover can close him down emotionally to the way a rose
shuts in winter. All the connotations from the previous line apply here, too. What's interesting is
that this doesn't come off as a sad image at all. Instead, it's described as being beautiful. The
act of it closing itself against the cold is celebrated.

Lines 17-20: The speaker ties up this extended metaphor of his lover being able to open and
close him like a rose in the final stanza by saying that he has no idea how she has this
mysterious power. He goes on to say that whatever this power is, it's "deeper than all roses."
There's some deep natural force that makes roses grow and if you stare into the folds of a
rose's petals, it really can seem like you're staring into another dimension. You can get lost in
the patterns of its design. The speaker says, "the voice of [his lover's] eyes is deeper than all
roses [our emphasis]." So she's even more powerful and more mysterious than a rose.

Vocabulary:

frail - physically weak

gesture - movement made to communicate
descending - act of moving downwards
rendering - causing; making

Grade 12 Poetry Notes Page 33

Questions:

1. (a) List the elements of nature that are referred to in the poem.

(b) Quote the word that tells us that the snow is not wilfully destructive.

2. Identify the figure of speech in ‘though i have closed myself as fingers’ (line 6).

3. (a) Explain how ‘fragility’ can have ‘power’ (line 14).

(b) Describe the extent and ability of this power.

4. (a) Describe the atmosphere or mood of this poem.

(b) How does the poet create this mood?

5. Explore the metaphor of travel as it is used in the poem, and evaluate its effectiveness.

6. Comment critically on Cummings’ unusual use of punctuation and sentence structure.

Grade 12 Poetry Notes Page 34

 REMEMBER
Christina Rossetti

Remember me when I am gone’

Gone far away into the silent land;

When you can no more hold me by the hand,

Nor I half turn to go yet turning stay.

Remember me when no more day by day 5

You tell me of our future that you planned:

Only remember me; understand

It will be late to counsel then or pray.

Yet if you should forget me for a while

And afterwards remember, do not grieve: 10

For if the darkness and corruption leave

A vestige of the thought that once I had,

Better by far you should forget and smile

Than you should remember and be sad.

Grade 12 Poetry Notes Page 35

Background notes of poet
Christina Rossetti was born in London in 1830. Her work covers a wide range of styles and
forms, and she wrote ballads, sonnets, love lyrics, nonsense rhymes and children’s books. She
died in 1894.

Being remembered after death—it's just what makes the speaker of "Remember" tick. She
keeps telling her beloved to remember her, because she's clearly somebody who is really
thinking a lot about death.
This poem was written in the middle of the nineteenth century. People died much more
suddenly, and much more frequently, than nowadays. Another reason may be because this
speaker has a few hang ups. The speaker can be seen as realistic.
She's definitely a very caring person. The whole "remember me remember me remember me"
might seem a tad selfish but, by the end of the poem, the speaker shows us how selfless she
actually is. In the poem's final lines, she essentially says "On second thought, it's actually better
if you forget about me, because remembering me will only cause you sadness." - the ultimate
gesture of selflessness.

Title:
"Remember" - one word that summarizes the poem's major theme: remembrance. This is a
poem spoken by a woman who is thinking about her death and wants to make sure that her
beloved never forgets her. She's obsessed with making sure her beloved doesn't forget her.
It's almost like she's worried that he might do exactly that.
It is a command, an order. The fact that an imperative introduces the poem, and that keeps
popping up, confirms that the speaker is worried that her beloved will forget her, and is
overcompensating.
Theme
“Remember” is an elegiac poem, focusing on the themes of death, remembrance,
relinquishment, and forgiveness. The speaker is Rossetti pondering her impending death and
releasing her lover from the responsibility of enshrining her in his memory because she fears it
will cause him pain.

Tone:
➢ At first the speaker is distraught as she wants to be remembered, but from the volta the
tone begins to change and the speaker’s tone indicates that she has thoroughly
confronted her feelings and fears about not being remembered, and came to the
conclusion that forgetting is both necessary and good.
➢ In lines 13 – 14 a reconciliatory and comforting tone is used. The speaker is at peace
with her impending death and separation from the physical world.
➢ The two contrasting ideas ‘forget and smile’ and ‘remember and be sad’ help to reinforce
the tone of acceptance. The speaker wants her lover to live a fulfilled life and not be
melancholic when he remembers her.

Content
• The poem could be interpreted as the speaker addressing a loved one directly, seen in
the use of “you” (line 3) and “our” (line 6), in the form of a letter to be read after her
death.
• The speaker focuses on memories of moments of their time spent together, revealing her
concern that she wants to be remembered. This is highlighted by the repetition of the
word “remember” throughout the poem.

Grade 12 Poetry Notes Page 36

 • The couple anticipated that they would share a future together, but this was not to be.
The speaker succumbed to some disease or “corruption” (line 11) that eventually led to
her death. Neither prayers nor “counsel” (line 8) could change the outcome.

• The tone and focus shift over the course of the poem, signified by the word “yet” (line 9 -
VOLTA). Where the first part of the poem looks back and clings to memories, the
second part seeks to find a way to move forward.

• The speaker seems to be giving her partner permission to let go of the memories and his
sorrow in order to “smile” (line 13) and live positively after her passing. She
demonstrates the selfless depth of her love, as she is able to suppress the human need
to be remembered so that her beloved has a chance at a happy life after her death,
unburdened by guilt.

Form and structure

✓ Rossetti uses the form of a Petrarchan or Italian sonnet to convey her message. The first
two quatrains of this sonnet start with the word “remember” (lines 1 and 5), and the tone
is mournful.

✓ The c-d-d-e-c-e rhyme scheme used in the sestet of lines 9-14 establishes a break from
the octave. This break is also seen in the tone (now accepting / content) and content of
the poem.

✓ Rossetti uses the octave to address memories and remembering, while the sestet
focuses on the process of forgetting and moving forward.

Poetic / language devices

❖ Rossetti uses euphemism to discuss difficult subject matter: Death becomes “gone away”
(line 1), while the afterlife is expressed as “the silent land” (line 2).

❖ The simple imagery of the physical linking of hands in line 3, as well as the speaker’s
reluctance to be separated, underlines the strong connection between the speaker and
her beloved.

❖ Notice that despite the use of words with negative connotations in the sestet, for example
“grieve” (line 10), “darkness” and “corruption” (line 11), Rossetti establishes a lingering
mood of positive acceptance. What might have been a depressing poem with sad
content becomes a poem that ultimately celebrates life.

Sound devices
▪ The long syllables used in the opening lines force a slow, mournful reading of the sonnet.
This is contrasted by the pace of lines 9 and 13, for example, which is more “upbeat” and
positive.

▪ If we had to describe the sound of "Remember" in two words, those two words would be
"commanding" and "consoling.

Symbol Analysis
It's only natural that a poem about death would have something to say about going away
forever. The speaker seems to be saying something about going away, leaving, or not being
around anymore.

Grade 12 Poetry Notes Page 37

Lines 1-2:
➢ In the first two lines the speaker says "gone away" and "gone far away."
➢ Clearly this is a metaphor for death.
➢ The speaker never really says she will be gone forever, so the metaphor makes death
seem less permanent.
➢ The simple words she uses to describe death shows how she is trying to express in an
uncomplicated way something that is impossible to fully understand.

Line 3:
➢ Holding hands symbolizes physical presence and life—the very things that death
eliminates.

Line 4:

➢ The speaker notes how she used to half turn to go, but also half stay. While just a
narration of a past event, this little snippet is practically a metaphor for the speaker's
feelings about death as well.
➢ This image signifies the speaker’s suspended state ► a state of limbo
➢ She knows that she is going to die, yet she tries to prolong her life for as long as
possible.
➢ For her death is merely a half turn away
➢ BUT her innate strength/ determination enable her to turn toward life in order to remain
with her beloved for as long as she can.

Lines 5-8:

➢ Again, the speaker talks about death without talking about death.
➢ When she talks about not being around to hear her beloved tell him about his plans for
the future, it isn't because they've broken up.

Lines 11-12:

➢ "Darkness and corruption"

* ‘darkness’ suggests death and the unknown. It conveys her fear of death and the sense
of foreboding of the desolation and despair that her passing might bring.
* ‘corruption’ refers to the dreadful physical effects of illness which may alter the body
after death; it also refers to the decay of the body after death. The speaker is concerned
that witnessing the harsh physical manifestations of the illness will leave a sad memory
of what she used to be. This might lead to a distorted image of her that would bring pain
to her loved one. It is for this reason that she eventually says that he must rather forget
her.
➢ The word "vestige" is key, as it refers to something left over after the speaker has gone
away.
➢ Here, it is more or less a symbol of life, or of anything that defies death.
➢ "Remember" has something to do with memory.
➢ The speaker of this poem tells her beloved no less than three times to remember her.
➢ In a poem where death is a total separation, remembrance becomes a way of keeping
somebody metaphorically alive.
➢ The words ‘darkness’ and corruption have negative connotations and refers only to the
physical side of death ► death and decay of the body.

Grade 12 Poetry Notes Page 38

Lines 1-2:

➢ "Remember me" is juxtaposed with "gone away," which suggests that remembrance
may be a metaphor for life.

Lines 5-6:

➢ The speaker repeats the same command as line 1 ("remember me"), and memory again
appears to be a metaphor for life.
➢ It comes across as an antidote or compensation for the fact that she and her beloved
can no longer hold hands and discuss a future together.

Lines 7-8:

➢ The speaker says "remember me" (metaphor) . A small ambiguity is worth noting.
➢ The "only" in "only remember" me could mean either "I only ask that you remember me"
or "the only thing you should do is remember me."

Lines 9-10:

LINE 9 holds the change – VOLTA – in this poem

➢ Forgetting is a big part of "Remember." The speaker is obsessed with being

remembered, except towards the end, where she changes her mind.
➢ At first she's all "Well, I guess it's okay if you forget me, as long as you remember me
later," but then she essentially says, "Actually it's better that you forget me."
➢ Remembrance is associated with sadness and pain, and the speaker doesn't want this
for her lover. So, she decides that she will deal with being forgotten, as long as her lover
will remain happy.
➢ The speaker starts to change her mind a little bit here in line 9, a crucial point in any
sonnet that is sometimes called the turn..
➢ Forgetfulness here is a metaphor for death, in some ways. If the beloved doesn't
remember the speaker, she will be totally and completely dead.
➢ The speaker’s concern with ‘self’ is evident when she commands her beloved to
remember her after she dies ► ‘I’ indicates self absorption
BUT in the sestet her focus shifts from her selfish need to be remembered to a concern
for her beloved’s happiness.
➢ The use of ‘you’ and the transitional ‘Yet’ reflects the change in attitude

Lines 13-14: Now she says it's better for her beloved to forget her because remembering her
will cause him too much pain. This change of heart symbolizes the speaker's love, as she
would rather sacrifice her memory, or rather metaphorically kill herself, than ask her lover to
endure any pain.

Imagery
Two contrasting groups of imagery:

First group:
About death and the unknown quality of death which is only described in terms of silence and
darkness.
► ‘the silent land’ (line 2) which is ‘far away’
► ‘the darkness and corruption’ of death (line 11) which may/ may not allow any ‘vestige’ of her
to remain (line 12)

Grade 12 Poetry Notes Page 39

Second group: Simple everyday experiences which express what someone might miss
most about someone who has passed away.
► physical contact: ‘hold me by the hand’ (line 3)
► making decisions: ‘half turn … turning stay) (line 4)
► the discussions she had with her beloved: ‘tell me … you planned’ (line 6)
► The comfort they could bring to each other: ‘to counsel … or pray’ (line 8)

‘Turning’ image creates unity between the two ideas of life and death:
► Speaker describes in line 4 how she would sometimes begin to turn away from her loved one
– to go – but then turn to stay with him, and then turn back again
► In contrast to the literal image of turning away, death can be seen as figurative ‘turning-away’
from life and the living.
► By remembering those who have passed on it could be a way of keeping them alive –
allowing them to ‘stay’ in some way, whereas ‘turning’ might represent forgetting.

Vocabulary:

vestige - remnant

Questions:

1. Provide a different euphemism that Rossetti could have used in place of “gone away”
(line 1).

2. Which line of the poem shows that the couple expected to share many years of life
together?

3. What does “to counsel” (line 8) mean in the context of the poem?

4. What can you infer about the character of the speaker’s beloved? Support your answer
with evidence from the poem.

5. Suggest how the form of the poem contributes to its content.

6. Which of the following descriptions best fit the speaker: egocentric; self-sacrificing;
thoughtful? Use evidence from the poem to motivate your choice.

7. Rossetti was a deeply religious person. Can you tell just by looking at this poem? What
parts of the poem support your answer?

8. The speaker seems worried. Critically discuss this statement.

9. The speaker has commands in this poem ("remember," "remember," "remember," "do not
grieve"). Critically discuss the tone of these commands.

Grade 12 Poetry Notes Page 40

 FUNERAL BLUES
W H Auden

Stop all the clocks, cut off the telephone,

Prevent the dog from barking with a juicy bone,

Silence the pianos and with muffled drum

Bring out the coffin, let the mourners come.

Let aeroplanes circle moaning overhead 5

Scribbling on the sky the message He Is Dead

Put crêpe bows round the white necks of the public doves,

Let the traffic policemen wear black cotton gloves.

He was my North, my South, my East and West,

My working week and my Sunday rest, 10

My noon, my midnight, my talk, my song:

I thought that love would last forever: I was wrong.

The stars are not wanted now; put out every one;

Pack up the moon and dismantle the sun;

Pour away the ocean and sweep up the wood; 15

For nothing now can ever come to any good.

Grade 12 Poetry Notes Page 41

Background notes of poet
Wystan Hugh Auden was born in York, in the United Kingdom. At Oxford, he became
associated with a number of radical poets and authors, including Stephen Spender. Many of his
poems focus on social ills, as well as concern with the workings of the mind. He lived and
worked for many years in the United States of America and returned to the United Kingdom in
1972, where he died a year later.

Title
The poem is called "Funeral Blues". It's a sad song (blues) about a dead man (funeral).

Theme
• The main theme is grief/mourning for a lost loved one, and the impulse to spread the
news far and wide.
• It demonstrates how shocking it can be to realise that love may not, actually, last
forever.

Content
• This poem is an expression of grief and heartache. The speaker describes his pain and
links his overwhelming emotion of despair to the world around him. The reference to
‘clocks’, ‘telephone’ (line 1), ‘dog’ (line 2) and ‘pianos’ (line 3) examines the mourner’s
reaction to his immediate, domestic surroundings through the lens of loss. The poem
then expands the surroundings to the public arena with ‘aeroplanes’ (line 5), ‘doves’ (line
7) and ‘traffic policemen’ (line 8), and finally ends in the universal sphere of ‘stars’ (line
13), ‘moon’, ‘sun’ (line 14), ‘ocean’ and ‘wood’ (line 15). The third stanza describes their
special relationship, and gives a personal account of what the dead man meant to the
speaker.

• It is clear from the outset what the subject of the poem will be with the title ‘Funeral
Blues’. The choice of the word ‘Blues’ is an effective one as this could refer to a
depressed mood, and also describes a slow, sad musical piece. The reader immediately
understands the call for everything to cease – time, noise, music – as soon as the
reference is made to the ‘coffin’ and ‘mourners’ (line 4). The stark message ‘He Is Dead’,
to be written on the sky for all to see, implies the speaker’s need for the world around him
to register the passing of his beloved.

Line-by-line analysis
Lines 1-2
• The poem begins with a series of harsh commands: stop the clocks! Cut off the
telephones!
• The speaker sounds forceful, even angry.
• Whoever the speaker is, he sounds angry, and issues harsh commands. In the first line,
he wants to stop the clocks and the telephone. These seem like physical representations
of time and communication to us. He wants everything to just stop.
• In the next line, he asks for silence. He wants dogs to stop barking, too.

Lines 3-4
• This is not a time for pianos. It's a time for muffled drums. Now that he's asked the dog
and the phone to hush, he has no problem extending that request to musical instruments.
• Except he's not opposed to the drum which matches the title. If this is a funeral we're
dealing with, drums are much more solemn and fitting for the occasion.
• In the next line, he wants the coffin to be brought out and for mourners to come see it.
Maybe the "muffled drum," then, is the sound of mourners walking, or of pallbearers
carrying a coffin. Or maybe it is a slow and stately drumming that the speaker wants, the
kind of drumming that happens at military funerals.
Grade 12 Poetry Notes Page 42
 • The interesting thing about the first four lines, is that they are all commands, also known
as imperatives. The speaker is making a big pronouncement to the world: someone has
died, and we must acknowledge it in dramatic ways.
• These lines might even seem a little exaggerated. The speaker's using a hyperbole or
exaggeration to convey just how important all this mourning business is.
• Line 3 has eleven syllables, and line 4 has ten - iambic pentameter.
• And by the end of stanza 1, we've also got a clear rhyme scheme at work. "Telephone"
rhymes with "bone," and "drum" rhymes with "come."
• Whenever you see a four-line stanza, or quatrain that has an aabb rhyme scheme in a
poem about a funeral, you're reading an elegiac stanza.

Lines 5-6
• As if stopping the clocks weren't enough, the speaker would like an airplane to write "He
is Dead" in skywriting to commemorate his grief. If a funeral is a public acknowledgment
of death, then this is a super public acknowledgement of death.
• While earlier he asked for quiet, and for people to cut off their telephones (which are
private communication devices), he wants the whole world to know that "He Is Dead."
• It's interesting that the speaker doesn't provide a name. Maybe he wants more privacy
after all. Or maybe he assumes that everyone already knows "his" name. Either way,
there's an interesting mixture between private and public acknowledgments of death.

Lines 7-8
• More public demands, as the speaker wants even the "public doves"— probably
pigeons—to honour the dead man. He wants the traffic police to acknowledge him, too.
• Does the speaker really want us to put bows on pigeons? It seems our man is getting
hyperbolic again.
• He suggests impossible ways of marking this death that means so much to him.

Lines 9-10
• This speaker is so broken up about stuff (and wants everyone else to be broke up about
it, too) because he really loved the dead man. It doesn't seem like the dead man was
important world- wide. The dead man is someone the speaker knew and loved in daily
life.
• These lines are incredibly personal, especially when compared to the earlier lines that
are mostly about public mourning. The dead man meant everything to the speaker, so
it's no wonder he'd like all the world around him to reflect the fact that the man is dead.
• Metaphor. Here, the speaker describes the dead man by saying that he was like a
compass for him, and also like every day of the week for him. He provided direction, and
filled his time.

Lines 11-12
• More metaphors. These lines seem to imply that the dead man filled every hour of the
speaker's day. He brought conversation and joy into the speaker's life.
• While the previous lines were lovely and metaphorical, this one is harsh. Your loved
ones will die. No love lasts forever.
• In line 12 Í … wrong’ is an antitheses demonstrates the shock of the sudden and
unexpected loss of his love.

Lines 13-14
• The speaker grows even more depressed in these lines. He demands that someone,
whomever he's talking to, put out the stars, pack up the moon, and take apart the sun.
Now his grief is so extreme, it's affecting the way he sees the cosmos.
• His extreme, hyperbolic commands are his expressions of his extreme grief.

Grade 12 Poetry Notes Page 43

 • Even though no one could ever "dismantle the sun," the speaker's grief is so intense that
he wishes that we could. All of these romantic and natural images—the stars, the moon,
the sun- are too painful for him. It's almost as if he wants to blot out everything in the
world except his own mourning.

Lines 15-16
• In these final lines, the speaker continues his hyperbolic thinking and asks us to get rid of
the ocean and the wood (by "wood," he probably means the forests). He doesn't want to
see any sign of the wonders of nature.
• In the last line of the poem he is totally hopeless, the speaker says that nothing will ever
be good again.
• In a lot of elegies (poems that commemorate a person's death), the speaker will offer
some hope for the future, or will talk about how the dead person will live on in memories
and poetry. There's usually a small moment of optimism buried somewhere in them, but
not in Auden's "Funeral Blues." This is just a really sad poem about death. There is no
light at the end of the tunnel for anyone in "Funeral Blues."

Symbol Analysis
Silence
The speaker spends the first stanza of "Funeral Blues" complaining about how much he wants
everyone and everything to be silent. Maybe he wants some peace and quiet to deal with his
thoughts. Maybe he wants to make sure that everyone can hear his lament. Maybe he wants
silence out of respect for the dead man.
• Line 1: The speaker wants to cut off personal communication with the world: he wants to
stop the telephone lines from running. He's looking for isolation. He's probably being
hyperbolic here, which means that he's exaggerating his feelings and desires to show
just how sad and hopeless he is.
• Line 2: He also wants to stop dogs from barking.
• Line 3: Now he'd like people to quit playing the piano.
• Lines 3-4: He wants to hear the "muffled drum" of the funeral march. The speaker wants
to hear this and this only. It's like all other noise is a distraction from what really matters,
which is his pain.

The Public
The speaker is not just concerned with his own reaction to the man's death he wants the
acknowledgment of the public, too. Even though the dead person might not be famous,
perhaps his grief is so consuming, that he wants it to be reflected in all the world around him.
• Lines 1-4: The speaker wants quiet so that the drum of the funeral march can be heard
by the mourners of the dead man. Once again, he's being hyperbolic.
• Lines 5-6: The speaker asks airplanes to proclaim the man's death though skywriting. It's
like he wants the whole world to know what he's going through.
• Lines 7-8: He even wants policemen and pigeons to acknowledge the man's death.
Once again, hyperbole.
• Lines 9-12: Compared to the previous lines that deal with the public, these lines seem
quiet and intimate, and we realize what the dead man meant to the speaker. He wants a
public acknowledgment of the man with whom he's spent his private life.

Nature
He wants all these lovely things (sun, moon, stars) - and everything else in nature, it seems - to
leave him alone. The grief he feels seems to have interfered with his ability to appreciate
nature.
• Line 11: Here, the speaker says that the dead man was everything to him. Even times of
the day. Even midnight itself. These metaphors are hyperbolic.

Grade 12 Poetry Notes Page 44

 • Lines 13-16: The speaker calls for us to "put out" the stars, "pack up the moon and
dismantle the sun." He wants every beautiful thing that nature provides to go away. No
more ocean, no more forests. This guy is so sad that he doesn't even want the stars
around to remind him of his dead beloved. He's being hyperbolic, and he yearns for this
isolation from the natural world anyway.

Analysis
Speaker
Let's list what we know about the speaker.
1. We don't actually know if the speaker is male or female.
2. He likes issuing commands and telling people what to do.
3. He's sad.
The speaker is so sad that he can't imagine any good or happiness in the future. He's so
overwhelmed by grief that he's driven to speak in crazy hyperboles. It's as if his sadness has
completely changed the way he sees the world around him, and he wants that sadness to be
reflected back to him by everything he sees. The problem is, he exaggerates so consistently
that we may even have trouble taking him seriously sometimes.

Setting
This poem's set at a funeral. The setting, in many ways, is the whole wide world. The speaker
wants that sadness to be reflected in everything - from the pigeons in the street to the stars in
the sky. The true setting of "Funeral Blues" includes all of those things.

Poetic / language devices

❖ Auden effectively captures the speaker’s sense of devastation and grief with his images
in the first stanza. The speaker’s world has ended, and he feels that life has changed
forever. It seems wrong for the world to continue on with the telephone ringing or dogs
barking in the face of his loss.

❖ The personification of the aeroplanes ‘moaning’ (line 5) shows the speaker’s projection of
his grief to his broader surroundings, as is the powerful image of the words scribbled on
the sky for all to see (line 6).

❖ Describing the loved one as the points of a compass suggests that he, the departed,
provided a sense of direction and grounding for the speaker, as well as being his entire
world. The impact of the loss is further emphasised with the explanation that ‘he’ was
there for the daily grind of work as well as the moments of ‘Sunday rest’ (line 10). We
see the depth of the relationship as it gave meaning to the various times of the day – with
their implications, and through ‘my talk, my song’ (line 11) was one that thrived through
both ordinary conversation and companionship, as well as moments of joy.

❖ Line 12 achieves its emotive impact through its simplicity, coupled with the use of the
colon to state its devastating realisation.

❖ The final stanza plays on images often associated with romantic love: the starlit night
sky, the shining moon, romantic walks along a beach or picnics in the wood. These
conventions are destroyed as the speaker calls for all these symbols to be stripped of
their meaning as ‘nothing now can ever come to any good’ (line 16).

❖ Auden achieves a remarkable balance of tone. The speaker’s grief is starkly evident and
his sorrow, confusion and even anger or bitterness at his loss is readily apparent. But
Auden never allows the tone to become overly sentimental. As a result, the grief seems
real and moving as we share and understand the speaker’s bereavement.

Grade 12 Poetry Notes Page 45

Sound devices
▪ The rhythm of the poem is regular, and the rhyme scheme contributes to this.
▪ This is fitting for a ‘Blues’ musical piece of the title.
▪ Notice how the regularity of the rhythm breaks down in the last line: This echoes the
meaning as the speaker expresses his utter despair at his beloved’s death.

▪ Auden allows the aeroplanes to ‘moan’: The onomatopoeia here encourages us to hear
the low hum of a light aircraft in the sky overhead. References to sound are effectively
used in the opening stanza with the contrast crated between ordinary household noises
and the call for silence, only to be broken by the solemn, ‘muffled drum’ (line 3) of the
funeral procession.

Tone/Mood:
Stanza 1:
• Speaker’s tone is curt (short/ almost angry)
Stanza 2:
• Tone is almost hysterical
• The speaker has a desire to share his loss with everyone
Stanza 3:
• Sadder, calmer mood / nostalgic
• Speaker describes what the person meant to him
Stanza 4:
• A return to a tone of near-hysterical grief
• The depth of his grief is demonstrated and reinforced by the’ bleak statement final line:
‘nothing … good’.

Questions:

1. State the possible meanings for the word ‘Blues’ in the title, and relate this to the poem
itself.

2. Identify the colour contrast found in the second stanza, and show how this reflects the
speaker’s mood.

3. Discuss the nature of the relationship described in the third stanza, and comment on how
this information is conveyed.

4. Critically evaluate the impact of this poem as an expression of loss and grief. Support your
response with evidence from the poem

5. Identify the symbols of death that can be found in this verse.

6. What is the purpose of stopping the clocks?

7. Why must the dog be offered a “juicy bone” and not just a bone?

8. Why does the poet use the upper case?

Grade 12 Poetry Notes Page 46

 THE GARDEN OF LOVE
William Blake

I went to the Garden of Love

And saw what I never had seen:

A Chapel was built in the midst,

Where I used to play on the green.

And the gates of this Chapel were shut, 5

and Thou shalt not. writ over the door;

So I turn’d to the Garden of Love,

That so many sweet flowers bore,

And I saw it was filled with graves,

And tomb-stones where flowers should be: 10

And Priests in black gowns were walking their rounds,

And binding with briars my joys & desires.

Grade 12 Poetry Notes Page 47

Background notes of poet
William Blake was born in London, in the United Kingdom, in 1757. He was a poet, artist and
mystic, and his poetry is amongst the most lyrical and prophetic in the English tradition. Blake
was a non-conformist and a radical who was concerned with many of the social injustices of the
day, as well as being profoundly spiritual. Both aspects are reflected in his works. He died in
poverty in 1827, and his genius was only truly recognised after his death.

The Romantic poem The Garden of Love by William Blake, published in 1794 as part of the
Songs of Experience, consists of three quatrains, i.e. three stanzas having four lines each. ...
One can, however, find a couple of internal rhymes in stanza two (shut - not) and three
(“gowns“ - “rounds“; “briars“ - “desires“).

Title:
• ‘The garden of Love’ refers to an actual garden that the speaker visited BUT
• It also represents a state of innocent joyfulness.
• The capital letters used in the title for ‘Garden’ and ‘Love’ indicate the symbolism.

Themes
The distortion of Christian belief about the future life
Blake attacks the approach of some forms of contemporary Christianity which encouraged the
denial of sexuality and other powers in the present, in the hope of future reward and bliss .
He felt that this led to permanent failure to attain human fulfilment.

The effects of ‘fallenness' on repression of sexuality and other emotions

Blake believed that inhibitions lie primarily within the mind, rather than in external factors.
Society makes its fears, guilt and shame into rules and laws which are then enshrined in social
institutions such as the authority of parents, the Church and the State or Monarchy.

The poem deals with the way in which our natural instincts and capacity for joy are restricted or
even destroyed by institutions such as the Church. The Church teaches that worldly joys and
pleasures are evil and that we should focus on the possibility of life after death.

Content
• In this poem, the speaker describes revisiting a place he remembers from his childhood,
only to find that it has been taken over by a chapel or church. He is prevented from
entering so he attempts to explore the surrounding garden instead. Here he finds that
the place which used to be full of ‘sweet flowers’ (line 8) has been filled with graves and
tombstones instead. In addition, patrolling priests, in their dark robes, prevent him from
experiencing or reliving his ‘joys & desires’ (line 12).

• This poem could be interpreted in different ways. On one level it is simply a mark of the
passage of time, and that as a result of human expansion, an open area of his childhood
no longer exists. While this is cause for dismay for the speaker, it is surely not
particularly surprising.

• However, the fact that it is a religious building that has usurped this land could imply a
broader comment on organised religion and its influence on ‘innocent’ pleasures and
freedom.

Summary

Grade 12 Poetry Notes Page 48

 • The speaker visits a garden that he had frequented in his youth, only to find it overrun with
briars, symbols of death in the form of tombstones, and close-minded clergy.

• "The Garden of Love" is a deceptively simple three-stanza poem made up of quatrains.

The first two quatrains follow Blake's typical ABCB rhyme scheme, with the final stanza
breaking the rhyme to ABCD. The lack of rhyme in the last stanza, which also contains
the longest lines, serves to emphasize the death and decay that have overtaken a place
that once used to hold such life and beauty for the speaker.

• Following the specific examples of flowers representing types of love, this poem paints a
broader picture of flowers in a garden as the joys and desires of youth. When the speaker
returns to the Garden of Love, he finds a chapel built there with the words, “Thou shalt
not,” written overhead. The implication is that organized religion is intentionally forbidding
people from enjoying their natural desires and pleasures.

• The speaker also finds the garden given over to the graves of his pleasures while a black-
clad priest binds his “joys and desires” in thorns. This not-so-subtle critique shows Blake’s
frustration at a religious system that would deny men the pleasures of nature and their own
instinctive desires. He sees religion as an arm of modern society in general, with its
demand that human beings reject their created selves to conform to a more mechanistic
and materialistic world.

Imagery and symbolism

• The garden of love - The dominant image evokes two gardens in the Old Testament.
Firstly, it evokes the Garden of Eden before the Fall of humankind. When Adam and Eve
were in the garden, they were able to love without shame and self-consciousness. It was a
place, therefore, of innocent, uninhibited sexual expression. The state of the garden
discovered by the speaker is therefore akin to Eden after the Fall, when sexuality is
surrounded by shame, repression and prohibitions.

• The second garden is found in the Old Testament poem, the Song of Songs. This is an
unashamedly erotic poem in which garden imagery is used as a metaphor for sexual
enjoyment. However, the contemporary Christian reading reinterpreted the original
eroticism of the poem, to make it a symbol of a ‘purer' spiritual love, implicitly demoting the
worth of sexuality.

THE GREEN
The colour green is associated with growth, fertility and spring
Village greens were places of play and freedom. They represented the importance of play, and
therefore of imagination, in human life.
Village greens were not owned by anyone, so represented freedom from the rule or demands of
an authority figure.

In the Songs of Innocence, the green is a place of play and freedom for children. It evokes a
time of innocence in which ‘play' could include innocent, unselfconscious sexuality. Here it has
been taken over by repressiveness.

THE CHAPEL
It is bounded by ‘gates' which are ‘shut'
It is a place where people are not free to act (‘Thou shalt not')
It is associated with the loss of life (‘graves')
Its priests wear uniforms (they are all ‘in black') and patrol the grounds like warders
They confine any initiative toward freedom (‘binding… desires'), in a potentially painful way
(using ‘briars').
Grade 12 Poetry Notes Page 49
For Blake, each prohibition created repression, therefore in The Garden of Love, we see a
bleak, unproductive landscape of unfulfilled yearning where sterile resentment, fear, guilt and
joylessness replace the open freedom of innocence.

Analysis

Stanza 1
• The twelve lines of the William Blake’s poem ‘The Garden of Love’ belong to the state of
Experience that characterizes the present day world. Experience stands in total contrast
to the state of Innocence.

• The poet revisited the Garden of Love, open green piece of land where he used to play
with boys and girls together. He was dismayed to see there what he had never seen
earlier. He found that in the green open place, a Chapel (church) had been erected in the
middle of the place where boys and girls together used to play. Institutionalized religion
thus destroyed the Garden of Love. In the world of Experience, the harmony between
man and nature no longer existed. Earlier the ‘Garden of Love’ seemed to be in state of
idyllic beauty, but the present day scenario of the place is one of utter sadness and
gloom.

Stanza 2
• In the second stanza, the poet gives further description of the place of his revisit. The
gates of the Chapel were closed. The closed door had got written on it ‘Thou Shalt Not.’
So, the visitor (the poet) turned his attention to the place of the Garden of Love where it
used to bloom a number of flowers but found them missing. In fact, the very idea of
chapel and the negative “Thou Shalt Not” suggests the concept of private property, which
is the source of all inequality and helplessness in society. The gate is closed to the
passerby and on it is inscribed the warning ‘Thou Shalt Not’. The warning is emblematic
of the classic dictum of the Old Testament God-Jehovah who is seen as a prohibitive and
a vindictive tyrant.

Stanza 3
• The lines of the third stanza depict he adverse changes that have enveloped the Garden
of Love during the present time. The Garden portrays an aura of total unease and
misery. At present, the garden seems to be filled with graves and tombstones which are
images of death, and so horrendous and undesirable. Even the priests wrapped in black
gowns forebode an ill-omen and an act of mourning and despair. The priests depict a
total official manner devoid of any compassion or even forgiveness. This seems to be
the basic factor that binds the narrator’s desires and joy.

• It could be that earlier, the Garden presented the state of innocence where an
environment of gaiety and mirth prevailed and everybody could enter the place without
any discrimination whatsoever. However, now it seems that the Garden has been lent or
sold out to a private individual who exerts the sole authority and hence, the others are
devoid of any joyous moment. The present day scene looks quite dismal where even
such a simple resort as the garden is unable to escape the evils of industrialization and
subsequent phenomenon of private ownership.

Grade 12 Poetry Notes Page 50

Form and structure
✓ This poem consists of three stanzas of four lines each. The stanzas are used to focus
attention on different issues: The first stanza tells us of the speaker’s discovery; the
second reveals the speaker’s feelings about the building but expresses hope for
consolation to be found in the garden; the third stanza describes the speaker’s
disappointment that this, too, has undergone drastic change.

✓ The rhyme scheme makes use of end-rhymes in the first two stanzas, using the pattern
of a—b-c-b, d-e-f-e. The poet uses internal rhyme with ‘gowns’ and ‘rounds’ in line 11,
and ‘briars’ and ‘desires’ in line 12.

Poetic / language devices

❖ Blake makes use of punctuation to add emphasis to his content: ‘Garden of Love’ (lines
1 and 7) is capitalised as the proper noun to name a special place, one that had a
specific name. The word ‘Chapel’ (lines 3 and 5) is also capitalised, which given that
‘chapel’ means a ‘small church’, seems to underline the importance of its position to the
speaker. This is echoed by the capital letter for ‘Priests’ (line 11), as if these members of
the church loom large in this place. The capital letter and full stop are used to highlight
the sign ‘Thou shalt not’ (line 6), making the command forbidding and hostile.

❖ The poem’s diction is simple and straightforward, capturing the natural expression of the
speaker’s experience. The use of innuendo is apparent as the speaker does not express
his anger, disappointment or outrage explicitly, but implies it in the phrase ‘where flowers
should be’ (line 10) and ‘binding with briars’ his ‘joys & desires’ (line 12).

❖ The reference to the ‘Priests in black gowns’ (line 11) who are ‘walking their rounds’ (line
11) is not a positive image. A perfectly acceptable situation where priest are perhaps
saying prayers in the chapel grounds is given rather sinister overtones. The ‘black
gowns’ seem somewhat threatening, while the action of the priests suggests they are like
guards or sentinels to keep out ‘undesirables’.

❖ The use of tense in ‘never had seen’ (line 2) and the garden that ‘bore’ (line 8) flowers in
the past suggests the passage of time. In a figurative interpretation, it could be implying
that this experience amounts to a sudden realisation of what has been in front of the
speaker for some time, but he was unable to ‘see’ the reality clearly before.

Sound devices
▪ The rhythm in the poem is mostly regular, due to the steady meter and rhyming.
However, the change in rhyme, pace and rhyme structures of the final two lines draws
the reader’s attention.

▪ Perhaps the speaker suggests that his world is now out of balance with his realisation,
and this new reality requires a different form of expression.

Vocabulary:

the green - a common or public park

shalt - shall, will
binding - restricting
briars - thorny branches

Grade 12 Poetry Notes Page 51

Questions:

1. How do we know that the speaker had positive memories of the place the poem describes?

2. What does the word ‘midst’ (line 30) mean in the context of the stanza?

3. The speaker seems to paint a negative picture of what the garden has become. Without
changing the ‘facts’, discuss how a different impression could have been created.

4. Comment on the effectiveness of the description ‘binding with briars’ (line 12).

5. What view of organised religion could Blake be presenting in this poem? Find evidence in
the poem to support your answer.

Grade 12 Poetry Notes Page 52

 VULTURES
Chinua Achebe

In the greyness

and drizzle of one despondent

dawn unstirred by harbingers

of sunbreak a vulture

perching high on broken 5

bone of a dead tree

nestled close to his

mate his smooth

bashed-in head, a pebble

on a stem rooted in 10

a dump of gross

feathers, inclined affectionately

to hers. Yesterday they picked

the eyes of a swollen

corpse in a water-logged 15

trench and ate the

things in its bowel. Full

gorged they chose their roost

keeping the hollowed remnant

in easy range of cold 20

telescopic eyes …

Strange

indeed how love in other

ways so particular

Grade 12 Poetry Notes Page 53

 will pick a corner 25

in that charnel-house

tidy it and coil up there, perhaps

even fall asleep – her face

turned to the wall!

… Thus the Commandant at Belsen 30

Camp going home for

the day with fumes of

human roast clinging

rebelliously to his hairy

nostrils will stop 35

at the wayside sweet-shop

and pick up some chocolate

for his tender offspring

waiting at home for Daddy’s

return … 40

Praise bounteous

providence if you will

that grants even an ogre

a tiny glow-worm

tenderness encapsulated 45

in icy caverns of a cruel

heart or else despair

for in the very germ

of that kindred love is

lodged the perpetuity 50

of evil.

Grade 12 Poetry Notes Page 54

Background notes of poet
Chinua Achebe was born in Nigeria, in 1930. He studied at the University of Ibadan in Nigeria,
and taught at various universities in Nigeria and the United States of America. Achebe wrote
novels and essays, as well as poetry. His novels trace Africa’s transition from traditional to
modern ways. Achebe believed that a good work of art should have a purpose, an idea that
originates in the oral tradition of storytelling in Africa. He died in 2013.
work looks at the relationship between African mysticism and modern Western culture.

Title:
• The title is a literal reference to the scavenging bird species described in the first section
of the poem BUT
• It is also a metaphorical reference to the people who commit evil deeds.

Theme:
• The theme is the strange co-existence of gross evil and tender love.

Content
• The poem begins with a description of the vultures that makes them seem repulsive and
gory. However, they are also portrayed as showing affection, which only makes their
behaviour more revolting.

• The second section of the poem describes the Commandant of Belsen, which was a Nazi
concentration camp where thousands of Jewish people were murdered and their bodies
burned during World War II. As with the vultures, the Commandant’s love for his family
makes his evil deeds in being responsible for thousands of deaths seem even worse.

• The description of the vultures is in the past tense, while the Belsen Commandant is
described in the present tense. This seems to suggest that evil is always present. The
use of ‘perpetuity’ (line 50) reinforces this idea.

• Of course there is a huge difference between the behaviour of the vultures and that of
the Nazis. The vultures perform a vital ecological service, and act on instinct. The
humans, who have the ability to make moral decisions, are where the real evil resides.

• The poem appears to offer us two different conclusions. This leaves the reader with a
sense of both hope and despair.

First Section
➢ This first stanza begins with a relentlessly long sentence filled with dark, sullen/
miserable descriptions.
➢ He uses alliteration in the second and third line “drizzle of one despondent dawn” but this
is an enjambment line and so doesn’t give the ebb and flow usually associated with
alliteration.
➢ This helps to emphasize the bleak tone Achebe is trying to achieve.
➢ He uses the description of the vultures seating position “perching high on broken bones
of a dead tree”. It is unclear whether he is describing the tree as being bone-like or if the
vultures are actually perched upon a mound of bones.
➢ birds themselves are described and paints a grim image of them, having already
described them as harbingers (Omen – warning that something bad is going to happen),
a word closely associated with the brining of death he describes them as having “bashed
in heads” and “gross feathers” and later in the final line he describes them as having
“cold telescopic eyes” giving the birds an almost mechanical feel, suggesting they
shouldn’t even really be classed as animal.

Grade 12 Poetry Notes Page 55

 ➢ He then continues to describe their actions, again this is very grim as they peck at the
eye of a corpse. He further describes the vultures eating the corpse’s bowel.

Second Section
➢ Achebe skilfully contrasts the “light” of love with the “dark” of death by mentioning that in
this darkest of environments, the “charnel-house”, a storage place for corpses, there is
the presence of love.
➢ He personifies love itself.
➢ He uses an exclamation point on the phrase “her face turned to the wall” because love
can’t stand to look at the atrocities contained within

Third Section
➢ This section cleverly constructs the character of the Commandant.
➢ His description is not particularly flattering.
➢ His only physical description describes his “hairy nostrils” but his actions are kind and
very human. He brings chocolate home for his child. A kind gesture and not actions you
would probably associate with a war criminal.
➢ Achebe makes us see that even this horrible man has a soft side and that is represented
by the description of his interactions with his child. It is almost as if his child represents
his “good side” and the vultures represent his “bad side”.
➢ Achebe also produces the harrowing image of the smell produced by Belsen, the smell
that lingers on the Commandant himself being described as “human roast” considering
the man smelling this way and then hugging his “tender offspring” this is a very powerful
piece of imagery.

Fourth Section
➢ In this final section Achebe brings the poem to a close by describing how even the “ogre”
that is the commandant has a soft side, which was shown in the preceding stanza.
➢ He emphasises the solace that should be taken in this small mercy “praise bounteous
providence” his language here is particularly emphatic and evokes fantastic contrasts,
describing the Commandant’s humanity as a “tiny glow worm” which is encapsulated in a
“cruel, icy cavern” even the word encapsulated isn’t accidental, suggesting that his
warmth is trapped.
➢ It gives a picture of an evil man that would be rid of that warmth if possible.
➢ This is further emphasised by the line “the very germ of that kindred love” this is not the
voice of the narrator but rather a peak into the psyche of the Commandant and showing
the narrators omniscience.
➢ This is a chilling thought, the idea that the Commandant views his softer side as a curse,
or a “germ” Achebe closes by using the phrase “perpetuity of evil” suggesting that
evilness is enduring, everlasting.
➢ This leaves the poem on a very bleak note.

Form and structure

The poem is written in four stanzas, in free verse with no rhyming pattern. It contains lots of
enjambment lines giving the poem a fast pace, but with a jarring rhythm that mirrors the dark tone
of the poem. The first stanza is considerably larger than the other three taking up twenty three
lines that are all very short. The other three stanzas are eight, eleven and eleven lines
respectively.
✓ Each section of the poem is marked by a line indentation rather than a new stanza.
This could possibly indicate how one idea flows to the next as the poem develops.

✓ The arrangement of lines appears to be almost like a list, a building up of evidence.

The short lines running on to the next could suggest a continuous flow of content that
supports the poet’s theme.

Grade 12 Poetry Notes Page 56

Poetic / language devices
❖ The poet establishes a depressing mood in the poem through the ‘greyness’ (line 1) and
‘drizzle’ (line 2) of the pre-dawn setting where even the dawn is ‘despondent’ (line 2).

❖ The opening scene continues with evocative imagery, prompting an emotional response
from the reader. Consider the description of the vultures’ appearance perched on
‘broken/bone’ (line 5-6) and the ‘bashed-in head’ (line 9) that is grotesquely prominent
above the ‘gross’ (line 11) feathers. The strong imagery of their picking at the
‘swollen/corpse’ (line 14-15) to devour the ‘things in its bowel’ (line 17) effectively
disgusts the reader.

❖ Yet we are also told that the scavengers ‘nestled’ (line 7) ‘affectionately’ (line 12), which
would normally generate a positive response. However, in this instance, the contrast
established between the birds’ warmth towards each other and their revolting practises,
makes their ‘cold/telescopic eyes’ (lines 20-21) all the more disturbing.

❖ The shift to focus on human behaviour in the second section of the poem is even more
disturbing. The jarring images of the Commandant, with ‘fumes of/human roast clinging/
rebelliously to his hair/nostrils’ (line 32-35) who then buys a chocolate for his ‘tender
offspring’ (line 38) is alarming and makes the reader feel uncomfortable.

❖ Achebe expresses his theme powerfully due to his choice of diction, the disturbing
imagery created, and the use of contrast.

Sound devices
▪ The ‘d’ alliteration (lines 1 – 2) contributes to the heavy and depressing mood.
▪ Notice the use of alliteration in the final section where the providence ‘grants’ an ‘ogre’ a
‘glow-worm/tenderness’ (lines 43-45), while the harsh ‘c’ use in ‘caverns’ and ‘cruel’ (line
46) refer back to the ‘cold’ (line 20) eyes of the vultures.

Tone:
Section1: (Lines 1 – 21)
▪ Tone of disgust and revulsion

Section 2: (Lines 22 – 29)

▪ Tone of puzzlement as the speaker marvels that love could find a place in the heart of
such an ugly creature, with such disgusting habits.

Section 3: (Lines 30 – 40)

▪ Almost horror as the speaker contrasts the unimaginable evil that the Commandant is
guilty of with his feelings of tender kindness for his children, who wait for their dear daddy
to come home.

Section 4: (Lines 41 – 51)

▪ The tone becomes resigned and pessimistic as the speaker offers a choice of being
thankful/ grateful for this capacity for love, or feeling ‘despair’ because the capacity for
evil seems to go together with it – both are an integral part of human nature.

Grade 12 Poetry Notes Page 57

 Vocabulary:

drizzle - steady, light rain

despondent- miserable
harbingers - messengers
gross - unpleasant
gorged - overate
remnant - remains
telescopic - able to see far
charnel-house - place where bodies are placed
coil - curl
offspring - children
bounteous - plentiful
providence - fate or God
grants - gives
ogre - monster
kindred - family
perpetuity - everlasting

Questions:

1. What does the word ‘nestled’ (line 7) mean?

2. Is the ‘bashed-in’ head (Line 9) of the vulture meant to be understood literally or

figuratively? Explain your answer.

3. The word ‘harbingers’ (line 5) is often used in the expression ‘harbingers of doom’. How
does this inversion of this expression link to the message of the poem?

4. The poet seems to be drawing a parallel between the vulture and the Commandant at
Belsen. Do you think that this is an appropriate comparison? Discuss.

5. Critically discuss the concept of evil as explored by Achebe in this poem. Can an animal be
considered evil? Do you agree with Achebe’s comment of human nature?

Grade 12 Poetry Notes Page 58

 MOTHO KE MOTHO KA BATHO BABANG
Jeremy Cronin

(A Person is a Person Because of Other People)

By holding my mirror out of the window I see

Clear to the end of the passage.
There’s a person down there.
A prisoner polishing a doorhandle.
In the mirror I see him see 5
My face in the mirror,
I see the fingertips of his free hand
Bunch together, as if to make
An object the size of a badge
Which travels up to his forehead 10
The place of an imaginary cap.
(This means: A warder)
Two fingers are extended in a vee
And wiggle like two antennae.
(He’s being watched.) 15
A finger of his free hand makes a watch-hand’s arc
On the wrist of his polishing arm without
Disrupting the slow-slow rhythm of his work.
(Later. Maybe later we can speak.)
Hey! Wat maak jy daar? 20
- a voice from around the corner.
No. Just polishing baas.
He turns back to me, now watch
His free hand, the talkative on,
Slips quietly behind 25
- Strength brother, it says,
In my mirror,
A black fist

Grade 12 Poetry Notes Page 59

Background notes of poet
Jeremy Cronin was born in Cape Town, in South Africa, in 1949. He became active in the
South African Communist Party, and was arrested and sentenced to seven years’ imprisonment
for being active in the struggle against apartheid. After he was released, and South Africa
became a democracy, he became a member of parliament.

Title
➢ Refers to Ubuntu
➢ At first the connection with the title and poem are not clear
➢ Then we realise that the prisoners, who are isolated from each other in their cells, find
ways to communicate with and support each other in order to maintain their humanity in
an inhumane situation.

Theme
➢ The title suggests that we can only live a truly human life if we are connected to and
interacting with other humans.
➢ It is important to have contact with like-minded humans – prisoners got support / strength
from fellow prisoners – not from warders.
➢ Any human endeavour, whether it is political struggle or everyday activity is made easier
and more meaningful by support and encouragement of others.

Content
• This poem captures the scene of one prisoner communicating discreetly with another,
under the watchful eye of a warder. The cleverness of the participants is shown as they
find ways to maintain human contact, communicating with sign language in defiance of
the deprivation of imprisonment.

• As readers, we are invited to imagine how the human connection described in the scene
would have provided the speaker with considerable comfort, strength and
encouragement. This scene demonstrates ubuntu in action.

Form and structure

✓ A noticeable feature of this poem is its visual layout. The narrative is provided on the left,
while a ‘translation’ is provided in brackets on the right.

✓ The format of this translation or explanation is varied as the poem progresses. The first
insertion in line 12 announces itself as an explanation, the second (line 15) and third (line
19) give the explanation directly, while the last insertions lose the brackets, as if the
reader has now learned the poem’s language and no longer needs them.

Poetic / language devices

❖ This poem uses punctuation and typography (the way in which it is printed or set out) to
convey the poet’s message.

❖ Notice the poet’s use of italics for different purposes, as well as the use of dashes. The
use of italics in lines 20 and 22 seems to indicate direct speech. It is most effective that
‘Strength brother’ (line 26) is also written this way, as the two prisoners are
communicating so effectively they may as well be using direct speech.

❖ The use of the present tense makes the content feel immediate, and in the last stages of
the poem, as we are instructed to watch, we feel as though we are sharing the cell and
watching the signals with the speaker.

Sound devices

Grade 12 Poetry Notes Page 60

 ▪ It could be considered ironic that although this is a poem without formal ‘sound devices’’,
it is centred on sound and the lack of it. Cronin refers to a ‘talkative’ (line 24) hand
which, of course, is completely silent.

▪ The poem is commenting on sound by emphasising its absence.

Tone:
▪ The message between the prisoners is conveyed secretly and in silence
▪ The tone is secretive and intimate
▪ There is a sense of intimacy as the speaker invites the reader in on this secret
communication/ gestures
▪ The prisoner’s names are not mentioned but they have a shared opposition to apartheid
▪ Their comradeship and intimacy is based on their shared beliefs and values.

Questions:

1. Provide an explanation for the prisoner’s use of the mirror.

2. Find evidence in the poem that prisoners are kept occupied with time-wasting chores.

3. Explain the link between an ‘imaginary cap’ (line 11) and a guard.

4. Discuss Cronin’s use of different languages in the poem.

5. The poem is written in an informal style. How does the style contribute to the meaning of
the poem?

6. This poem illustrates truths about the human condition. Explore how the poem shows
the cruelty of isolation as a form of punishment, and why it was a favoured treatment of
political prisoners.

7. Assess whether the poem is an appropriate demonstration of the concept of ubuntu.

8. How does the prison setting contribute to the message of this poem?

9. What kind of prisoners do we assume these are? Why?

10. Appearance and reality differ in this poem; explain how.

11. Comment on the fact that his work is ‘slow-slow’.

Grade 12 Poetry Notes Page 61

 FELIX RANDAL
Gerard Manley Hopkins

Felix Randal the farrier, O he is dead then? my duty all ended,

Who have watched his mould of man, big-boned and hardy-handsome

Pining, pining, till time when reason rambled in it and some

Fatal four disorders, fleshed there, all contended?

Sickness broke him. Impatient he cursed at first, but mended 5

Being anointed and all; though a heavenlier heart began some

Months earlier, since I had our sweet reprieve and ransom

Tendered to him. Ah well, God rest him all road ever he offended!

This seeing the sick endear them to us, us too it endears

My tongue had taught my thee comfort, touch had quenched thy tears 10

My tears that touched my heart, child, Felix, poor Felix Randal;

How far from then forethought of, all thy more boisterous years,

Whe thou at the random grim forge, powerful amidst peers,

Didst fettle for the great grey drayhorse his bright and battering sandal!

Grade 12 Poetry Notes Page 62

Background notes of poet
Gerard Manley Hopkins was born in Essex, near London, in 1844 and studied at Oxford, where
he converted to Roman Catholicism. He was ordained as a Jesuit priest in 1877, and some of
his poems reflect the conflict he felt between his religious vocation and the attraction of the
sensory world. Hopkins experimented with poetic techniques, and he attempted to capture the
natural world through his original use of rhythm, alliteration and internal rhyme. Hopkins died in
1889 of typhoid fever.

Title
➢ The poem describes Felix Randall who was a farrier (blacksmith/ shoed horses) and died
after a long illness.
➢ He was a member of Hopkins’ church.

Theme
• The poem deals with the fact that even the strongest die.
• There is a suggestion that religious faith heals and has a comforting power.
• The poem is also about the bond of friendship and love which grows between those who
care for the sick, and who are cared for.

Content

• This is an Italian/ Petrarchan sonnet.

• Hopkins reflects on the long illness and death of Felix Randal, and comments on his
own role (as priest) in caring for the dying man.
• Hopkins has, in ministering to Felix Randal’s soul, developed a sense of compassion and
connection with the dying man.
• Hopkins recalls the big fellow who was equal to the most physically demanding job of
showing the largest horses, and describes his decline as he became sick: ‘Sickness
broke him’ (line 5) as he began to lose his hold on ‘reason’ (line 3).
• Hopkins makes a distinction between the physical and spiritual health of Randal, and
takes some comfort or ‘sweet reprieve’ (line 7) to prepare his soul for the afterlife.
• Though the title is “Felix Randal”, the poem is just as much and perhaps even more
about Hopkins’ ministry. Note that Hopkins’ reaction to the news that Felix is dead is
neither sorrow nor joy but a comment that Hopkins own duty toward Felix is “all-ended”.
• He does not go on to speak of the good times in the man’s life, but rather how his
greatness diminished. He describes how he has watched the physical decline of this
man, “…his mould of man, big-boned and hardy handsome/pining, pining, till time when
reason rambled in it and some/Fatal four disorders, fleshed there, all contended”. Felix
• Randal was a “farrier”, a blacksmith. It is interesting that his decline suits his profession;
he loses his shape like a piece of metal in the forge, becoming amorphous.
• The second stanza concentrates on Felix as the object of Hopkins’ ministries. Hopkins
gives Felix Extreme Unction, “Sickness broke him. Impatient he cursed at first, but
mended/Being anointed and all;…”.
• Extreme Unction is the final sacrament in the Catholic Church, meant to prepare one’s
soul to enter heaven.
• Felix’s attempt to skirt Hell began before the Anointing of the Sick near his deathbed,
“though a heavenlier heart began some/Months earlier, since I had our sweet reprieve
and ransom/Tendered to him”.
• The next stanza is explicitly about Hopkins’ specific ministry to Felix. Hopkins describes
the connection between the two of them, “This seeing the sick endears them to us, us too
it endears./My tongue had taught thee comfort, touch had quenched thy tears,/Thy tears
that touched my heart, child, Felix, poor Felix Randal”. It is interesting that Hopkins
portrays the relationship as reciprocal.

Grade 12 Poetry Notes Page 63

 • Hopkins and Felix are both endeared to each other. Felix’s tears which he wipes away
touch his heart. That a whole stanza is given to the mutual aspect of the relationship
rather than just Hopkins’ one-sided ministry to the man is significant
• The final stanza highlights the difference between the Felix Randal of life versus on his
deathbed. In life, Felix Randal was a productive citizen, lively and “boisterous”. His work
as a blacksmith garnered him respect, as he was “powerful amidst peers”.
• As he approached death, he seemed the exact opposite: weak, cursing, and unlikeable.
Hopkins notes the distinct difference, “How far from then forethought of, ‘all thy more
boisterous years’.

Form and structure

✓ This sonnet consist of two a-b-b-a rhymed quatrains (the octave) followed by two rhymed
c-c-d stanzas making up the sestet.

✓ Each section has a particular function, allowing Hopkins to develop his theme. The
octave states the situation and establishes the background leading up to Randal’s death.
The sestet allows the speaker’s emotional state to find voice as he addresses the dead
man directly, and expresses his regard for him. His own sense of loss and sorrow is
made explicit in this sestet of the poem.

Poetic / language devices

❖ A notable feature of this sonnet is the shift in tone. The opening line comes across as
matter-of-fact, whereas the sestet provides a stark contrast as the raw feelings of the
speaker become clear. The tone changes to one of loss and grief.

❖ Hopkins uses his structure to establish some distinct contrast. He shows us the
strapping healthy Randal who once was ‘powerful amidst peers’ (line 13) and we can
then draw the contrast with eh ‘pining, pining’ (line 3) man who was broken by ‘some/
Fatal four disorders’ (line 3-4).

❖ A contrast is also provided by describing the spiritual state of Randal who acquires a
‘heavenlier heart’ (line 6) after time spent with the speaker. This time spent together also
causes the development of their relationship from perhaps one of mutual tolerance to a
close one where each genuinely cared for the other.

❖ Hopkins’ use of compound adjectives like ‘hardy-handsome’ (line 2) gives his poem a
liveliness and freshness. The diction of the last stanza lends power to the content, as the
reader can visualise Felix Randal ‘at the random grim forge’ (line 13) performing
impressive physical feats.

Sound devices

▪ In the first line, three points are made, separated by the commas and the question mark.
The use of alliteration in ‘hardy-handsome’ (line 2), ‘reason rambled’ (line 3) and ‘Fatal
four’ (line 4) not only increases the impact of the words due to their sound, but also due
to the linking of these words.

▪ The final two lines of the poem create a strong rhythm as the short phrases ‘random grim
forge’, ‘powerful amidst peers’ (line 13), ‘great grey drayhorse’ and ‘bright and battering
sandal’ (line 14) balance each other and cumulatively build the image of strength.

Grade 12 Poetry Notes Page 64

 Vocabulary:

farrier - blacksmith who specialises in shoeing horses

mould - shape; type
rambled - talked aimlessly
anointed - blessed by a priest
reprieve - a temporary improvement
ransom - deliverance; being saved
endears them to us - makes us like them
quenched - stopped
forethought of - predicted
boisterous - lively
fettle - trim the horse shoe
drayhorse - a large working horse

Questions:

1. Quote the phrase form the poem that tells us of the speaker’s belief that Felix Randal’s soul
had been saved.

2. Relate the physical decline of Felix Randal.

3. Discuss the connotations of the word ‘mould’ (line 2) and its application in this context.

4. Comment on the poet’s use of tone in the poem. Provide evidence from the text to support
your answer.

5. Ministering to the sick and dying forms an integral aspect of the function of a priest. Given
the clues provided in this poem, do you think Hopkins was effective in this function? Motivate
your answer.

Grade 12 Poetry Notes Page 65

 A HARD FROST
Cecil Day Lewis

A frost came in the night and stole my world

And left this changeling for it – a precocious

Image of spring, too brilliant to be true;

White lilac on the windowpane, each grass-blade

Furred like a catkin, maydrift loading the hedge 5

The elms behind the house are elms no longer

But blossomers in crystal, stems of the mist

That hangs yet in the valley below, amorphous

As the blind tissue whence creation formed.

The sun looks out, and the fields blaze with diamonds. 10

Mockery spring, to lend this bridal gear

For a few hours to a raw country maid,

Then leave her all disconsolate with old fairings

Of aconite and snowdrop! No, not here

Amid this flounce and filigree of death 15

Is the real transformation scene in progress

But deep below where frost

Worrying the stiff clods unclenches their

Grip on the seed and lets our future breathe.

Grade 12 Poetry Notes Page 66

Background notes of poet
Cecil Day Lewis was born in Ballintubber, in Ireland, in 1904 and died in 1972. He was
educated at Wadham College, in Oxford, and later became a lecturer at the University of
Cambridge. He also taught poetry at Oxford and Harvard universities. Lewis was named Poet
Laureate of the United Kingdom in 1968. His poetry is characterised by the introduction of
modern diction and often addresses relevant social issues of the time, as well as the nature of
relationships.

Title
➢ Hard frost occurs when temperatures drop below freezing ( -2 degrees celcius) and
everything is coated in crystals, overnight.
➢ This is very beautiful, but also damaging to plants

Theme
▪ The beautiful, frosty, spring-like appearance is deceptive, as it will soon melt away and
the frost-damaged landscape will appear.
▪ The actual approach of spring is happening underground.
▪ This is less glamorous, but more meaningful.
▪ However, much of what we see as beautiful and worthy is actually an illusion, and truly
important things in life are often things that are unseen and unappreciated.

Content
• This poem describes the appearance of a hard frost that formed overnight. Think of the
patterns that frost forms on glass, and how it sparkles in the early morning sunlight.

• The speaker comments on how the world’s appearance has been radically altered by the
layer of frost, and in such a way that suddenly the surroundings seem almost spring-like
(although the absolute opposite is the case). The glittering and sparkling of the reflected
frost creates a bright image but, as the speaker admits, this is ‘too brilliant to be true’ (line
3). The speaker notes that as opposed to this fake appearance of spring, the ‘real’ spring
is beginning to make itself felt unnoticeably underground.

• This poem was a poem describing the beautiful scene the poet saw one day he woke up
in winter morning. Besides portraying the stunning scenery, the poet also wanted to
relate the transformation in nature to human life cycle.
• The most prominent imagery used was snow, for example, ‘brilliant’, ’white’, ’diamonds’,
’bridal gear’.…
• Things used to describe the hard frost were beautiful, shiny and bright. These were used
to portray a beautiful scene of white snow spreading all over the forest. Usually the forest
in winter gave people a sense of cruelty, harshness and lifeless, but after having a white
frost coating on the dead trees, mountains, everything seemed to become glamorous and
attractive.
• Also, personification was used, like ’the dry’ and ‘dead’ forest coating with shiny, white
‘frost’ was personified as a raw country maid wearing a borrowed bridal gear for a few
hours. As a raw country maid wasn’t that beautiful, but, after she wore the white bridal
gear, she shined brightly.
• The poet wanted to show the contrast between the forest before and after coating with
the frost by personifying it, to make the shape contrast stood out from the poem to get
readers’ attention. At the same time, he conveyed that this beautiful scene didn’t last
long.

Grade 12 Poetry Notes Page 67

 • After using the imagery to show how beautiful the scene was, the poet also indicated that
this scene had only lasted for a short period of time, because after the sun rose, the frost
melted. Though the poet was a bit disappointed that the frost melted so quickly, but he
found out that after the frost melted, it was also the time for new seeds to grow, it was
shown by ‘grip on the seed’ and ‘lets our future breathe’’.

Form and structure

✓ The poet arranges his content into two stanzas, of similar length. He does not use
traditional rhyme scheme, and the line and stanza arrangement is set up to support the
content. The first stanza describes the scene, while the second stanza comments on it
and exposes the ‘truth’ of the first.

Poetic / language devices

❖ Lewis uses an extended metaphor to compare the image of frost on a window to different
features of spring. This is an intriguing choice of comparison, as he describes how the
effects of frost can remind the viewer of its opposite, spring.

❖ The imagery suggests spring flowers and the freshness of new growth, such as ‘maydrift
loading the hedge’ (line 5) or ‘blossomers in crystal’ (line 7). Despite the glittering
beauty, from the outset the speaker points out that this appearance is deceiving. He
accuses the frost of theft as it has stolen away the expected scene and replaced it with a
fake. The frost is given almost magical, mystical powers in its ability to accomplish this
transformation.

❖ The metaphor comparing the white frost blanket to a wedding dress (line 11-13) contains
quite a disapproving tone. The wedding dress is being lent to a country maid for a few
hours, but she will be left terribly sad when she has to return it and resume her usual,
boring appearance.

❖ The personification of the last two lines crates an image of a contest of strength taking
place beneath the ground where the earth is surrendering its frozen hold to the power of
spring. This allows the seeds the chance to sprout, grow and break out of the soil to
promise future life and growth.

Imagery
✓ Personification - frost came and stole my world’ – described in negative terms. (Line 1)
✓ Metaphor – Brilliant, frosty scene described as a ‘changeling’ – a beautiful scene that
cannot be trusted. (Line 2)
✓ Metaphors and similes – the shapes and patterns made by the frost are compared to
flowers, (Lines 4 – 5)
✓ Metaphor – Elm trees are described as ‘blossomers in crystal’ serving as ‘stems’ for the
clouds of mist, Trunks of trees become the stalks which support the shapeless clouds
formed by the mist. (Line 7)
✓ Simile – Mist is compared to ‘blind tissue whence creation formed’ – this refers to the
unformed, primitive matter that existed before ‘creation’ and from which the natural world
grew, or was made. (Lines 7 – 9)
✓ Personification – ‘The sun looks out’ – first appearance of the sun over the horizon.
(Line 10)
✓ Metaphor – Light reflecting off the frost is compared to the ‘blaze’/ fiery sparkle of
diamonds. (Line 10)
✓ Personification – Spring is personified – ‘Mockery spring’ (imitation spring) that cruelly
gives ‘a raw country maid’ (the landscape) bridal ‘wear’ (decorative crystals).

Grade 12 Poetry Notes Page 68

 ✓ It won’t last long and she will be left with ‘old fairings’ – the few flowers that can tough out
the extreme cold. (Lines 11 - 14)
✓ Alliteration – ‘flounce and filigree’ – refers to the beautiful patterns the frost makes on
windows and plants, although the beauty causes death to many plants. (Line 15)
✓ Personification – Frost is personified as ‘worrying’ the clods of earth to break them up.
The clods of earth are personified – they have a ‘grip’ on the seed, The frost forces them
to loosen – ‘unclenches’.
The future is personified – the seeds which are released from the hard, frozen earth,
holds the future and can ‘breathe’ – the rebirth of earth’s fertility is assured and the future
is safe for another year/season. (Lines 17 – 19)
✓ Metaphor – Arguable – the poet uses ‘frost’ as a metaphor, comparing the frost to the
superficial things of this world, which may seem attractive and the promise of something
good, but has no lasting value.
✓ True progress and value is often seen as unglamorous and is not appreciated by many.

Sound devices
▪ The poem focuses on the tension between appearance and reality. Unsurprisingly, there
is no overt reference to sound. The heavy coating of frost would blanket the world in
sharp silence, and the brittle crispness of this is implied in the mention of ‘crystal’ (line 7)
and ‘diamonds’ (line 10).

▪ The alliteration of ‘flounce and filigree’ (line 15) suggests the disapproving tone of the
speaker.

Tone
➢ The description of the mist lends itself to an uneasy tone. There is a prehistoric
substance full of the possibility of growth but without identity or intelligence.
➢ Lines 11 – 14 – the speaker becomes disapproving as he compares the frost to a
‘mockery’ that tricks that poor innocent ‘country maid’ into thinking she has been given so
much beauty that will disappear and leave her disappointed and upset.
➢ Lines 14 – 17 – the speaker becomes more empathetic/ a positive tone becomes evident
as he points out where the real work is being done – hard clumps of soil are breaking up
to release spring.
➢ The last line has a tone of satisfaction as we gather that out of sight/ underground spring
is being released.

Vocabulary:

changeling - something that has been secretly exchanged for something else
precocious - developed earlier than usual
catkin - spiky flower
amorphous - without a specific form
mockery - absurd imitation
disconsolate – without comfort; unhappy
aconite - flower similar to a buttercup
snowdrop - drooping white flower
flounce - impatient movement
filigree - ornamental and delicate
clods - lumps of earth
unclenches - loosens

Grade 12 Poetry Notes Page 69

Questions:

1. Explain the comparison of frost to a thief, used in the first line of the poem.

2. Name the plants mentioned in the first stanza that are used to describe this ‘spring’ scene.

3. Comment of the effect of the figure of speech used in lines 11-14.

4. Explore how the poet uses punctuation to convey emotion in the poem.

5. Critically evaluate the poetic technique of the extended metaphor, and how it is used in this
poem. How effective is it? What might be the potential risks of using this technique? Use
evidence from the poem to formulate your response.

Grade 12 Poetry Notes Page 70

 AN AFRICAN THUNDERSTORM
David Rubadiri

From the west

Clouds come hurrying with the wind

Turning

sharply

Here and there 5

Like a plague of locusts

Whirling

Tossing up things on its tail

Like a madman chasing nothing.

Pregnant clouds 10

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. 15

In the village

Screams of delighted children,

Toss and turn

In the din of the whirling wind,

Women - 20

Babies clinging on their backs -

Dart about

In and out

Madly

Grade 12 Poetry Notes Page 71

 The wind whistles by

Whilst trees bend to let it pass. 25

Clothes wave like tattered flags

Flying off

To expose dangling breasts

As jagged blinding flashes

Rumble, tremble and crack 30

Amidst the smell of fired smoke

And the pelting march of the storm.

Grade 12 Poetry Notes Page 72

Background notes of poet
David Rubadiri was born in 1930, in Malawi. He studied in Uganda and Cambridge. In 1964,
when Malawi gained independence, Rubadiri was appointed Malawi’s first ambassador to the
United States of America and the United Nations. He left the government in 1965 when he and
President Hastings Banda had a disagreement, but he later returned to the Washington
embassy after Banda’s removal from power.

Title
➢ The poem is about a storm in Africa
➢ ‘An’ suggests that the poem is about a generalised rather than a specific event.
➢ ‘Thunderstorm’ indicates a natural event

Theme
❖ The literal meaning focuses on the chaos and destruction of a storm and the
helplessness of the people caught in its path.
❖ The storm can also be seen as a metaphor
❖ It could imply the British and European colonialism and the destructive impact that it had
on the people of Africa.

Content
• The Poet addresses the subject of thunderstorm in Africa.
• He closely examines the onset, features, manifestation and local setting.
• The effects of the storm on its environment-animate and inanimate, people, as well as flora
and fauna, are closely outlined in free flowing subjective prose.
• The unmistakable signature of the tell-tales of the storm is repetitively spluttered in
lingering fashion.
• Rubadiri’s poem captures the looming arrival of a fierce storm.
• The anticipation of its arrival is both exciting and frightening.
• The wind is described as a mighty force, unpredictable in its direction, and carrying with it
ominous clouds.
• The strength of the wind seems to suggest that worse is to follow once the storm hits.
• The poem describes nature’s forces conspiring to bring this powerful storm, and then
narrows the focus to its effect on people in its path.
• The inhabitants of a village are seen reacting to its approach, with the contrasting
responses of children and mothers.
• The village is clearly vulnerable to the force of the storm. The poem ends with the storm
almost breaking overhead as the flashes of lightning and crack of thunder arrive.

1st Stanza
➢ The storm’s origination is identified as proceeding from the west in hurry with the
accompaniment of the clouds.
➢ Its form is also brought into the scenario with the adjectival connotations like
‘Turning sharply, Here and there’, as well as the fixated description attributed to it
by the locusts – simile – suggests destruction
➢ The wind is compared to a powerful animal ‘tossing up things on its tail’ (line 8)
➢ This reinforces the animal savagery of the locusts
➢ In line 9 the wind is compared to a ‘madman chasing nothing’ and this simile tells
us about the frightening unpredictability of the storm.

Grade 12 Poetry Notes Page 73

2nd Stanza
➢ Images reinforce the comparisons with frightening creatures, and introduce a new image
of the storm.
➢ Clouds are personified in the first three lines – they are ‘pregnant’ (line 10) – this
suggests the weight of water that they will release upon the land/ they ‘ride stately’ like
queens (line 11).
➢ Line 12 – the clouds are ‘gathering’ like a group that has strength in numbers.
➢ Line 13 – the poet continues with animal comparison – ‘Like dark sinister wings’ – this
simile suggests that the clouds are frightening birds of prey.
➢ Line 15 – the wind meets no resistance, which heightens its power.

3rd Stanza
➢ Line 17 – there is an idea/sense that the storm is fun – the reaction of the children.
➢ However this happy image is contrasted with the restlessness and uncertainty of the
women who, as they ‘Dart about/ In and out/ Madly’ are at the mercy of the storm.
(Lines 22 – 24)
➢ Line 27 – the simile of the women’s clothes being torn off them ‘like tattered flags’ is an
image of loss and underlines the sense of the storm as all-powerful and ruthless.
➢ The metaphor in the last line where the storm is compared to an army confirms the
destructive force of the storm.
➢ mortal man exemplified by the feminine extraction is seen to be harried by the onrush of
the wind
➢ Its tell-tales are seen in the last stanza with its work on the upper trunk of the feminine
anatomy which inadvertently brings about an exposure of the prized possession of the
woman.

FIGURES OF SPEECH

Simile
The use of this figure of speech is seen in line 6 ’like a plague of locusts’. The use of simile
serves to pinpoint the unrelenting force of the wind which comes noisily and often in a
discernible pattern.
Again in lines 11 and 25 ‘like dark, sinister wings’. ‘Clothes wave like littered flags.’

Metaphor
‘Trees bend to let it pass‘ (line 13) and also in line 2 ’clouds came hurrying with the wind’
The trees ordinarily do not possess a volition as to exhibit an element of will in making a
passage way for the wind. However in the flare of the author, a nascent display of trees in the
heat of the storm is rightly captured in the expressions above.

Personification
We see the use of this literary term in line 8 ‘Pregnant clouds…line 6 ’Tossing up things on its
tail’ as well as ‘Pelting march of the storm ‘ (line 32). The attribution of animate features to the
cloud and wind captures the uncanny weaving of the poet’s intuitive perception.

Alliteration
The usage of words producing similar sounds or letters is manifest in this poem…see ‘here and
there’ (line 5) as well as ‘In the din of whirling wind’ (line 17).

Cacophony
This is shown in line 29,,’ Rumble ,tremble…’
The interplay of words here produces a harsh sound.

Grade 12 Poetry Notes Page 74

Poetic Technique
The poet adopts the use of figurative language that varies from the norms of literal language, in
which words mean exactly what they say rather ''figurative language does not mean exactly
what it says but, instead, forces the reader to make an imaginative leap in order to comprehend
an author's point. It usually involves a comparison between two things that may not, at first,
seem to relate to one another. Figurative language facilitates understanding because it relates
something unfamiliar to something familiar.''

For example we see a rampant use of Juxtaposition, when the poet places two themes,
characters, phrases, words, or situations together for the purpose of comparison or contrast
E.g. ‘like a plague of locusts’,…. ‘like a mad man chasing nothing’... ‘…Here and there’.

Form and structure

✓ The poem is divided into two parts which divide the content into the general and the
specific. The first part, make up of stanzas one and two, describes the storm as it
gathers momentum, and the third stanza describes its impact on human existence.

✓ The irregular number of words on a line, with many single-word lines, captures the
unpredictable progress of the wind and the accompanying clouds. This technique is also
evident in the second part of the poem, where the frantic movement of the village women
as they ‘Dart about/in and out/ Madly’ (lines 22 – 24) is physically demonstrated by the
line divisions.

✓ The description of ‘The Wind whistles by/And trees bend to let it pass’ in the second
stanza in lines 25-26, although ‘And’ has been replaced with ‘Whilst’ (line 26). The path
of the storm has not been diminished by the trees. In fact, the trees give away to allow it
to progress unhindered.

Poetic / language devices

❖ Rubadiri makes use of vivid imagery and figures of speech to convey the various
elements of the storm. Line 6 introduces the simile of the approaching ‘plague of
locusts’, underlining the appearance and potentially destructive nature of the storm. It
also locates the setting in Africa. The further simile comparing the wind to a monster
thrashing its tail about ‘Like a madman chasing nothing’ (line 9) emphasises the
unpredictable nature of the storm, which adds to its danger. The description of the
clouds ‘Gathering to perch on hills/Like dark sinister wings’ (lines 12-13) makes the
clouds reminiscent of some bird of prey waiting for the opportune moment to strike.

❖ The third stanza continues in its depiction of noise and movement as villagers anticipate
the storm’s arrival. We notice how the children react with ‘Screams’ (line 17) of delight,
possibly because of the thrill of potential danger. The women hurriedly attempt to
prepare for the storm, although it seems that their efforts may be pointless as the
‘Clothes wave like tattered flags’ (line 27), completely at the mercy of the wind.

❖ The poem ends with the storm breaking, but stops before it actually hits. The progress of
the ‘pelting march of the storm’ (line 33) tells the reader that this storm cannot be
stopped and will be a mighty one.

Sound devices
▪ This poem utilises sound effectively. Much use is made of onomatopoeia as the wind is
‘whirling’ (lines 7 and 19) and it ‘whistles’ (lines 14 and 25). The noise in the village has
the screams of children competing with ‘the din of whirling wind’ (line 19).

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 ▪ As the storm gets closer, its imminent arrival is heralded by the onomatopoeia of the
‘Rumble, tremble, and crack’ (line 31) of the thunder, and the impact of lightning striking
the earth.

Tone and Mood

❖ The poem is dynamic and echoes the energy of the storm.
❖ The tone is ominous – suggests something bad is going to happen – diction ‘plague’ /
‘madman’ / ‘dark sinister’ / ‘madly’ / ‘jaggered blinding’/ ‘rumble, tremble and crack’ – all
contribute to an uncomfortable mood.
❖ The uncomfortable tone contributes to the idea that the storm is a metaphor. It
symbolises that the storm is a metaphor.
❖ It symbolises the destruction caused by colonialism.
❖ The storm comes like ‘a plague of locusts’ which causes starvation and tears off the
women’s clothing, taking the little that they have.
❖ The short, uneven lines, especially in Stanza 3 (climax of the storm) help create a mood
of chaos and destruction.

Vocabulary:

sinister - evil; menacing

din - loud noise
jaggered - pointy
pelting - rain falling fast and hard

Questions:

1. Compare the different reactions of the children and the adults in the village to the
approaching storm.

2. Quote an image form the poem that suggests the danger and destructive qualities of the
coming storm.

3. Contrast the different ways in which the wind and the clouds in the storm builds up.
(a) Does the speaker portray these elements as equally powerful?

(b) Do their roles change as the storm approaches? Discuss fully, supporting your answer
with evidence from the poem.

4. Comment on how the form of this poem enhances its content. Note the structure of the
stanzas and lines, particularly.

5. Do you think the poem ends effectively? Should the speaker not have described the
impact of the storm on the people and the village, or the storm’s aftermath? Evaluate the
poet’s intentions in this poem, and say whether you believe they were effectively realised
or not.

6. In short, summarise what happens in each section of the poem.

7. Name and explain the figure of speech in line 5.

8. Explain the effectiveness of

(a) “and trees bend to let it pass.”

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 (b) “and the pelting march of the storm.”

9. Give a reason for the different reactions of the people in the poem. (lines 15- 25)

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