1.

Sleeping Black Boy by Mongane Wally Serote

2. Shantytown by Anonymous

3. At a Snail’s Pace, Please by Oswald Mbuyiseni

Mtshali

4. The Call by Gabeba Baderoon

5. The Chimney Sweeper by William Blake

2
■ A young boy is lying face down on the grass next to a city street. He is clearly neglected and
in need of help. He is addicted to sniffing glue as a drug. People notice him but pass by,
trying to ignore him and pretend he isn’t there. Nobody stops to help. The poet predicts
that the boy will eventually die a drug addict.
■ We cannot see the boy’s face as he is lying face-down on the grass. His head is covered by
a large jacket. He must be feeling smothered (suffocated) by the heat under the jacket. He
is perhaps too drugged to notice. The boy is filthy, and the smell of his body is overpowering
(‘screams’) to others.The word ‘screams’ also tells us that he desperately needs help.
■ However, people walk past the boy, ignoring him. The speaker hears the sound of the water
in the small pool nearby, and the loud noise of the traffic passing his body. (Children who
live at home may fall asleep to the sound of someone singing them a ‘lullaby’.) It seems as
if these sounds are the only ‘lullaby’ the young boy heard before he fell asleep. The adults
who walk past pretend not to see him and quickly look away.
■ The speaker predicts that this boy will eventually die from his addiction to sniffing glue.
Recent statistics from ‘South African Missing and Exploited Children’ estimate that there are
over 60,000 ‘street children’ in South Africa. The majority of these children are black boys
who have run away from home or who have been orphaned or abandoned. Many come from
poverty-stricken or abusive backgrounds. They end up begging for food and are easily
exploited (taken advantage of) by criminals. Virtually all of the children on the streets of
South Africa are black, a reflection of the poverty that still affects black people far more
than other races. Because they are hungry, frightened and bored, many become addicted to
alcohol and drugs. The cheapest and easiest drug available to these children is glue. The
glue is often placed in a bag which is then held over the mouth and nose and the fumes are
breathed in. It brings a quick ‘high’ and dizziness. This drug also makes feelings of hunger
go away. The sniffer feels happy and cut off from the world but only for a very short time. In
order to keep this feeling going, the sniffer has to inhale glue more often. Glue-sniffing is
highly addictive and causes serious damage to the brain, heart, lungs and nerves. If used
for a long time, it affects thinking, sight, hearing and the ability to move properly. It can
cause the heart to suddenly stop beating or the lungs to suffocate.
 simile: an indirect
alliteration: comparison, using
repeated initial 1 he lay flat the words ‘like’ or
consonant 2 face deep into green grass ‘as’
sounds. 3 the huge jacket covered his head, the heat onto his ears repetition: saying the
same thing again
4 he is dirty (called Anaphora),
oxymoron: two used to emphasise
seemingly opposite 5 the dirt screams from his flesh like a rotten smell
words next to each 6 he is pinned down by the throbbing footsteps passing by
other. Steel is solid onomatopoeia: the
and a river flows, 7 lullaby is the hiss of the water from the pond and the
thus these two word and the
words contrast one 8 roaring steel river; sound are the
another.
9 and the eyes of adults passing by same
10 dart around like bubbles of boiling water – irony: a statement
simile: an
indirect 11 this small boy will die one day or situation that
comparison, 12 his lips stuck together, glued by the glue he smokes has an underlying
meaning that is
using the words different from the
‘like’ or ‘as’ literal meaning.
TYPE OF POEM
■ This poem is a highly descriptive poem with a strong social message. The poet wants
us, as readers, to ‘see’ the sleeping street child that we usually ignore so easily.
CHARACTERISTICS
■ The images are very evocative (creating clear pictures that create strong emotional
responses).
■ The poem exposes a social problem with a hope that society will do something to
change it.
taste smell feel see hear
SPEAKER / VOICE / ADDRESSEE
■ SPEAKER: The speaker uses the third person, describing the boy from
an observer’s point of view.
■ VOICE: The speaker seems to be an adult who feels strong
compassion for the suffering of street children.
■ ADDRESSEE: The speaker addresses society as a whole, criticising the
way it ignores vulnerable and desperate children, and appears to do
nothing to change their suffering. In particular, in South Africa, black
children suffer .
THEME 1
►► Addiction
The abuse of easily-available drugs is powerful. They
provide temporary escape from
troubles, but can lead to addiction and possible death.
►► Evidence of theme in text
Glue-sniffing is the central addiction in the poem. The
speaker describes in detail the effect it
has on the child: he is able to cut himself off from his
surroundings (‘face deep into the green
grass/the huge jacket covered his head’). If this continues
‘this small boy will die one day’.
Child neglect and abuse
‘Street children’ who are abandoned or have run away
from home are very vulnerable. They have no adults to
protect them and they can easily be abused by criminals.
They may have to commit crimes or beg for money or food.
They are not safe at night because they have to sleep in
the open. They seem to be ignored by society, and are in
desperate need of help.
► Evidence of theme in text
The boy in this poem is ignored by those who pass by him:
‘the eyes of the adults passing by’ look away, as if they do
not care about him. He is clearly in desperate need of help
(‘the dirt screams from his flesh’). He is in danger of dying
from this effects of his addiction and neglect. Society does
not seem to care: he is completely neglected (‘the dirt
screams’).
CONTRAST AND CONTRADICTION:
The poet uses images that do not usually
belong together and usually have opposite
meanings. They appear to contradict
themselves. He does this for a reason – the
differences (contrasts) make us stop to think
more carefully about the meaning.
a. Line 5: ‘the dirt screams from his flesh like a
rotten smell’. Here the poet uses two different
senses to describe the smell of the boy’s body.
Normally we do not talk about hearing a smell.
The his dirty and unwashed ‘rotten’ body is so
powerful that it cannot be ignored. It ‘screams’
at us. In this line, the speaker reminds us that
this boy desperately needs help.
b. Line 8: ‘steel river’ A river is made of flowing
water, whereas steel is hard and solid. The cars
in the heavy traffic are made of metal but are
moving by as steadily as a stream or river. This
reminds us that no one seems to care for this
young boy. There is no gentleness from the rest
of the world passing him by. It is cold and
unfeeling like steel.
 and the eyes of adults passing by
dart around like bubbles of boiling water –

A simile is a comparison using like or as. In lines 9-

10, the poet writes ‘and the eyes of adults passing by
/ dart around like bubbles of boiling water’.

The adults are trying to ignore the sight of the boy

lying on the grass, and pretending not to see him.
The movement of their eyes is compared to bubbles
(which move around very quickly) on the surface of
water that is boiling.

This line tells us that the adults’ eyes move all around
so that they do not need to look at the boy.
 lullaby is the hiss of the water from the pond and the
roaring steel river;

Onomatopoeia is when the word has the same

sound as what it describes. In line 7, the
speaker uses two examples of onomatopoeia:
‘his lullaby is the hiss of the water from the
pond and the roaring steel river’. Even though
the boy seems completely unaware of what is
happening around him, the noises are powerful
and echoed in the words chosen by the
speaker. The water in the pool is ‘hissing’ softly
like a snake and the traffic is ‘roaring’ loudly
like a lion. A lullaby is a song sung to help
children fall asleep. It should be gentle and
calming, but these sounds are frightening.
 lullaby is the hiss of the water from the pond and the
roaring steel river;

b. A metaphor is a direct
comparison between two things.
This line gives living
characteristics to the water and
the traffic. The water sounds like
a snake and the traffic sounds
like a lion. Both are threatening
and dangerous. This is not
personification as ‘hissing’ and
‘roaring’ are not human traits.
 ‘this small boy will die one day
his lips stuck together, glued by the glue he smokes’.

IRONY:

Irony is when the poet intends the opposite of what is said. Glue addicts may
eventually die of suffocation because one of the effects is that their lungs stop
working properly. The intended purpose of glue is to seal (stick) things together so that
they do not come apart. The irony is that this child has not been using glue for its real
purpose, but his addiction will eventually ‘seal’ his lips when he dies.
 Details or statements from the poem What I know from reading or experience Inference
he is dirty (line 4)

he is pinned down (line 6)

Refer to ‘his lullaby is the hiss of the water from the pond and the’ (line 7):
1.1 What is a lullaby? (1)
1.2 Give TWO reasons why poet chooses ‘lullaby’ to describe the sounds around the boy. (2)
2 Refer to ‘roaring steel’ (line 8):
2.1 Identify the sound device used in this line. Refer to page 48. (1)
2.2 Using your own words, describe the sound. (3)
3 Refer to ‘glued by the glue he smokes’ (line 12):
3.1 Explain the irony present in this line. (2)
4 Refer to the poem as a whole:
4.1 Explain why the poet repeats the phrase ‘passing by’ in the poem. (1)
5. Fill in the table below by making inference from the text, try to draw conclusions from the
hints given in the text. (2)
/13
Details or statements from the poem What I know from reading or experience
Inference
he is dirty (line 4) People don’t usually choose to be dirty
The boy is unable to wash because he is homeless or because he
doesn’t care because of
the effects of the drugs
he is pinned down When someone is being pinned down, he/she is
(line 6) being held down.
The boy is not physically being held down but is
probably too drugged to get up by himself. He needs help.

B: Answers
1.1 A song sung (usually by parents) to help children fall asleep. (1)
1.2 • To remind us that that boy has no parents/has no one to care for him. (1)
• Because he is fast asleep/unconscious. (1)
2.1 Onomatopoeia (1)
2.2 The traffic/cars (1) are very loud (1) like the growl/snarl of a lion/wild animal. (1) (3)
3.1 • Glue is used to stick/seal things together. (1)
• He will die one day from his addiction to glue and his lips will be sealed. (1)
4.1 • To emphasise that no one out of all the people who pass the boy, stop to help him. (1)
2. SHANTYTOWN
-ANONYMOUS
A shanty town or squatter
area is a settlement of
plywood, corrugated metal,
sheets of plastic, and
cardboard boxes. Such
settlements are usually
found on the periphery of
cities, in public parks, or
near railroad tracks, rivers,
lagoons or city trash dump
sites.
Shantytowns often lack …
 proper sanitation
 safe water supply
 electricity
 hygienic streets
 or other basic
human necessities.
 Protest means objection, complaint or revolt.
Protest poems or protest literature refers to
works that address to real socio-political issues
and express objection against them. This kind of
poetry often focusses on the misdeeds performed
by a government upon its people. It can also be a
reaction to some overriding societal ill, like war or
racism.

During Apartheid, the majority of black people near towns and cities lived under
harsh conditions without proper housing or basic services. The living conditions
were very unhealthy, especially for children. The poet describes the emptiness
of the area and the extreme cold in the winter. The author hopes that someday
Jabavu (and other townships) will become a better place to live.
High on the veld upon that plain
And far from streets and lights and cars
And bare of trees, and bare of grass,
Jabavu sleeps beneath the stars.

Jabavu sleeps.
The children cough.
Cold creeps up, the hard night cold,
The earth is tight within its grasp.
The high veld cold without soft rain,
Dry as the sand, rough as a rasp,
The frost-rimmed night invades the shacks
Through dusty ground
Through freezing ground the night cold creeps
In cotton blankets, rags and sacks
Beneath the stars Jabavu sleeps.

One day Jabavu will awake

To greet a new and shining day:
The sounds of coughing will become
The children’s laughter as they play
In parks with flowers where dust now swirls
In strong-walled homes with warmth and light.
But for tonight Jabavu sleeps,
Jabavu sleeps. The stars are bright.
The people in the township live
under difficult circumstances.
Many people live in one shack.
■ Illness and poverty
■ The children get sick easily.
■ We can assume that it is
winter on the highveld.
People also make use of
fires to keep warm.
■ The children might be
coughing due to illness (flu)
or because of the smoke
caused by the fires to keep
warm.
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Symbolism:
Light symbolises hope. The
streets, lights and cars could
also symbolise society, as
these people are segregated
from the rest of society.
Trees and grass as elements
of nature represent life.
: Repetition of
consonant sound ‘b’.
Repetition of “ ”:
Emphasizes emptiness
 personification
 night time
 also spiritually
area
High on the veld upon that plain
Cast aside & removed:
forgotten/ neglected.Not
Symbolism situated near a town/city
And far from streets and lights and cars
No gardens/parks
Symbolism exposed to the elements
Void, empty Void of life
And of trees, and of grass,
Summary:
Part of Soweto
Symbolism Jabavu is on the Highveld
(part of Soweto), where
Jabavu sleeps beneath the stars. winters are cold. The
place is described as
where it’s not; it’s far from
Stars are potential a city, it has no trees or
hope/light – a bright grass; a barren place. It is
Lines 1-4 future. night.
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Notice the negative words:
‘tight’, ‘without’, ‘creeps’.
Cold and night are personified
in that night creeps and
invades, unwanted, like a thief.
This stanza is about the
effects of the harsh elements
on the inhabitants. Details of
the cold winter nights are
given. Children cough because
they are sick and don’t have
enough to keep them warm.
Highveld: A region of veld
situated at a high altitude
:
The hard sounds depict
the relentlessness of the
elements in the shanty
town.
Cold creeps
Rough as a rasp
Jabavu sleeps. Rain symbolises – life,
Sickness/despair healing, hope. The
shantytown is void of all
The children cough. this
Discomfort. To hold something very
Stone-cold reality tightly without letting go
The winter cold grasps the
Cold creeps up, the hard night cold, earth tightly.
no escape
victim
The earth is tight within its grasp.
The highveld cold without soft rain, Simile & Alliteration
The alliteration of the r
Simile alliteration sound, ‘rough as a rasp’
sounds like a file being
Dry as the sand, rough as a rasp, scraped against
something, so conveys
Lines 5-10 Simile meaning. 27
This poem is written in free
verse with no rhyme pattern.
Repetition used extensively to
underline the harsh conditions
of life in Jabuvu. Repetition
for emphasis is called
Anaphora. The cold keeps
creeping and sneaking into
the shacks, unwelcome.
Notice the negative words:
‘invades’, ‘dusty’, ‘rocky’,
‘freezing’, ‘creeps’, ‘rags’ and
‘sacks’.
 Inhabitants are exposed to
the elements.
 They are poor.
 The poet makes a value
judgment that it is immoral
to let or make people live in
shacks where they are
exposed to the elements.
Night is personified as an
Vocabulary Personification enemy against whom
The frost-rimmed night invades the shacks there is no defence.
The people of Jabavu do
Through dusty ground not have the necessary
“luxuries” to keep them
warm at night. No heaters
Through rocky ground Repetition or warm blankets. They
use whatever they can to
Personification try to keep warm, thin
cotton blankets, rags or
Through freezing ground the night cold creeps pieces of material and
sacks (material bags) as
Poverty protection from the cold.
In cotton blankets, rags and sacks
The words “Jabavu
Personification sleeps” start and end this
stanza.
Beneath the stars Jabavu sleeps. Notice the word order of
the last line and compare
it to that of the first
Lines 11-16 stanza.
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A declaration. A deep
knowing change will come…
Foreshadowing: Things will
change, a prophecy of the coming
democratic change that came in
1994.
 The shining day represents
enlightenment and
goodness.The fact that it is
new means that things will
change.
 The poet describes the future
in simple terms: health and
laughter,
TONE CHANGES
COMPLETELY
Personification
 It promises a better
One day Jabavu will awake life at some time in
the future.
Symbolism Days free of apartheid
 Jabavu will awake to
To greet a new and shining day: a new, bright future.
 Keeping people poor
and subservient may
one day end in an
The sounds of coughing will become uprising against such
treatment.
Contrast
The poet’s desire…
The children’s laughter as they play. The children will have
space to play. Children
Cough: Laugh: will be able to be children.
Pain and Joy and
Lines 17-20 suffering Innocence. Theme:
The hardship experienced
by the urban black people
during apartheid.
Passive – will rise
eventually…
The poet’s desire…
The 3 short phrases in the last
two lines emphasise both the
present situation and the
promise of a bright future.
Mood: The mood is grim, but it changes towards the end to one of hope.
Vocabulary
In parks with flowers where dust now swirls
Symbolism New life – things will grow
In strong-walled homes with warmth and light. A better life
Summary:
Personification
The idea of Jabavu being
But for tonight Jabavu sleeps, asleep takes on a deeper
meaning. The people have
Symbolism not yet risen to fight
against their
Jabavu sleeps. The stars are bright. circumstances under
apartheid, but the time
A bright future will come. The poet
describes the future in
simple terms: health and
Lines 21-24 laughter, homes, flowers,
warmth; a better life. The
bright stars symbolise
that there is hope for this
future to come.
■ Anonymous, in other words, we do not know who
the poet is. He/she has chosen to remain
anonymous.
Why do you think this is?
■ Maybe the poet was black and did not have
freedom of speech?
■ Maybe he/she knew that they would possibly not
even have their poem published?

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Soweto has a population of over 2 million people therefore, it is divided into many
sub-sections. Jabavu is one of these sections.
Jabavu becomes a symbol …
 It represents the physical hardships people suffered during apartheid when
people were settled in bare, outlying areas, far from the towns and cities
where they worked.
 This is a protest poem, reflecting the hardship of the black majority
oppressed by the apartheid, the lives they were forced to live.
 The poet describes what life in a shantytown is like, he also attacks the
apartheid system.
 Keeping people poor and subservient may one day end in an uprising
against such treatment.
 Jabavu is a symbol of the physical hardship people suffered during the
apartheid.
 Jabavu also represents the new society that would arise as a result.
Genre: Free verse
Characteristics: 3 stanzas; some rhyming words
Main theme or message of this poem: Poverty in
South African townships.
There are three stanzas, clearly divided into three
descriptions of the township:

Stanza 1: The first stanza talks about how isolated Jabavu is from the city (‘far from streets and
lights and cars’). There are no trees or grass in Jabavu – it is not protected (‘beneath the stars’).
Stanza 2: The second stanza goes into deeper detail about the suffering the people experience
during winter. They are freezing and sick.
Stanza 3: The last stanza takes us into the hopeful future of a Jabavu that has been developed and
cared for. It has become a place where healthy children play in beautiful parks. People live with
dignity in proper houses with electricity. They are all safe and warm. The speaker paints a positive
picture of what he wishes for the future of Jabavu. Until that day, Jabavu will continue to ‘sleep’.
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1. Makes the reader feel pity and anger.
2. Expresses admiration for their courage, optimism and patient hope.
The poet repeats certain words or phrases in the poem:
■ ‘And bare of trees, and bare of grass’ (line 3) stresses the fact that there is absolutely nothing growing in the
area
■ The word ‘cold’ is used four times throughout the poem and emphasises the extreme cold. Trying to keep
warm is all that the people can think about at night.
■ In lines 12 to 14, the poet repeats ‘through’ and ‘ground’. The cold is so intense and powerful that nothing
stops it, not even dust or rocks.
■ Line 16: Repetition of the word ‘stars’ to emphasise the fact that he is sleeping in an open sky –when
ironically he shouldn’t be able to see the stars from the inside of his house.
■ ‘Jabavu sleeps’ is a very important repetition in the poem. It is repeated five times at the beginning and end
of stanzas. The first two stanzas describe the township at night during winter. People are desperately trying
to sleep but struggle because it is so cold. In reality, Jabavu and its people are not sleeping. It is only in
stanza three that we understand that the poet is using ‘sleeps’ symbolically. The speaker believes that
Jabavu’s future will be a great improvement on its past. When that happens, it will be as if the township will
have ‘woken up’ from its long sleep of poverty and suffering. These harsh conditions are temporary, only ‘for
tonight’ (line 23). The final line expresses this hope by repeating ‘Jabavu sleeps’, but we now know that the
stars above are ‘bright’ symbols of hope.
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■ Poverty in South African townships: During Apartheid, the majority of black people near
towns and cities lived under harsh conditions without proper housing or basic services.
The living conditions were very unhealthy, especially for children.
■ The poet describes the emptiness of the area and the extreme cold in the winter. The
author hopes that someday Jabavu (and other townships) will become a better place to
live.
■ This is a satirical poem as the poet makes light of a serious situation.

35
There is no particular rhyme scheme, and varying lengths of
stanzas. This lack of rhyme is referred to as free verse.
Why do you think this is? Maybe because the poet decided to
write his own poem, without following the normal rules of
poetry. Maybe he did this because he was forced to follow
the strict rules of apartheid in his every day life. His poetry
might have been an escape for him.
Certain words that rhyme have been used in the poem.By
linking certain words, he makes us think about the meaning
they share.
■ ‘shacks’ and ‘sacks’ rhyme to remind us of their poverty.
■ ‘grasp’ and ‘rasp’ are very harsh words describing the
toughness of winter.
■ ‘day’ and ‘play’ are words which remind us of happiness
and new beginnings.
■ ‘light’ and ‘bright’ are both words communicating hope for
the future.

36
■ PERSONIFICATION: Personification is when a non-living thing is given human qualities. Note
the amount of personification. It is almost as if the poet is referring to Jabavu as a living
being.
■ Line 4: Jabavu, the shantytown, is compared to a person who is asleep and will wake up. The
township sleeps (people of the township) beneath the stars. There is no electricity thus no
lights blocking out the stars.
■ Line 7:The cold is compared to a living being sneaking up on the sleeping people. There is no
warmth or comfort. Hard, cold, tough circumstances.
■ Line 8: The cold winter night has the township in its tight grip, holding onto it. There is no
release or relief from the cold.
■ Line 17:‘One day’ (line 17) Jabavu will be able to ‘greet’ everyone just as people say ‘good
morning’ to each other at the start of a ‘new and shining day’ (line 18). Jabavu will be able to
‘greet’ everyone just as people say ‘good morning’ to each other at the start of a ‘new and
shining day’ (line 18).
■ The sleep is temporary and the poet is absolutely sure that Jabavu will be able to ‘awake’ to a
better world in the future. The people will awake, not only meaning the people of Jabavu, but
the people of South Africa
■ Line 18: The township will wake up from the cold, harsh night to meet a new and shining day.
Think of Dreaming of Light. What connotations are associated with a “new day”? Hope,
happiness, relief, a new beginning.
■ The winter cold is also personified by the poet. It is described as unstoppable because it
‘creeps’ or crawls into everything. It is like an enemy that attacks and ‘invades’ (line 11) a
town and its houses.
■ Line 11: “frost-rimmed” means very cold, the windows are covered in frost/ice. The night is
referred to as someone, very cold and icy, invading the shacks. The word ‘invade’ tells us that
the night is not welcome. It is uninvited and yet it invades their space. Creeps up on them and
enters their shacks without warning like a thief.
■ Line 23: Currently, at the present moment, Jabavu still sleeps. It is still dark and cold BUT,
37
there is a glimmer of hope in the final line…
■ SIMILE: A simile is when two things are described
and have something in common. The words ‘like’
or ‘as’ are used.
■ Line 10 has two similes:
■ ‘Dry as the sand’ compares the harsh dryness of
the cold winter to sand because there is no rain.
The township is being compared to dusty sand
because it is so dry there. And when one walks on
the dry sand, it makes a scratchy sound Rasp =
Scratchy.
■ ‘Rough as a rasp’ compares the cold to a metal
tool rubbing against the skin. In other words, the
cold of winter is so severe that it feels painful.

38
■ ALLITERATION: Alliteration is the repetition of
initial consonant sounds. Think of reasons
why the author would use alliteration.
Sometimes it creates a harsh sound other
times alliteration is soft and soothing (see
what I did there?).
■ In Stanza 2, the c sound is repeated in the
first two lines: ‘The children cough./Cold
creeps up’. This hard sound emphasises the
harshness of the conditions in Jabavu.
Notice that ‘ch’ of children is a different
sound to the ‘c’ of cold, thus it is not part of
the alliteration as it is a different sound.
■ In lines 14 and 15, the poet emphasises the
cold again: ‘the night cold creeps./In cotton
blankets’.
■ The repeated ‘c’ sound could indicate
shivering.

39
1. Refer to line 2 : “And far from the streets and lights and cars”.
Using your own words, identify the three amenities that the people of Jabavu do not have.
1. Refer to stanza 2: ‘Cold creeps up, the hard night cold …’
2.1 Identify the figure of speech used to describe the cold weather. (1)
2.2 Explain how this figure of speech is effective.
3. Refer to the third stanza:
3.1 Explain if the words ‘awake’ and ‘sleeps’ are being used literally or figuratively.
3.2 Provide reasons for your answer.
4. Refer to line 10 (“Dry as the sand ...”).
4.1 Identify the figure of speech used in the above quoted line.
4.2 Briefly discuss the effectiveness of the figure of speech identified above
highlighting the suffering that the people of Javabu go through.
5. Refer to ‘Jabavu sleeps. The stars are bright’ (line 24):
5.1 Identify the tone in this line.
6. Study the poem carefully and then discuss how the theme of poverty and deprivation is revealed
in the poem.
7. Give a reason why you think the poem has a good ending.
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1. Jabavu is in the highveld and on the outskirts of the city of JHB. It does not have
tarred streets and roads but dusty, dirt roads. There is no electricity so there are
no street lights. People here also do not own their own personal cars. They have to
make use of public transport. They are far from city life, progress and luxury.
2.1 Personification
2.2 The cold is a non-living thing which is given human characteristics. It ‘creeps’ up
which implies it is unexpected. It ‘grasps’ the earth which emphasises the tight
grip it has on the earth. The frosty night ‘invades’ the shakes. This shows us that
the frost is not wanted as it is viewed in such a negative way
3.1 Figuratively
3.2 The township of Jabavu is like a person who is just sleeping for a short period of
time. One day Jabavu will wake up to a better future.
4.1 Simile
4.2 The poet emphasizes that their harsh and cruel living conditions. There is no water,
it is dusty, uninhabitable and cold.
5.1 Optimistic/hopeful/positive
6. Poverty and sickness is evident throughout the poem. There is sickness, cold and
discomfort in the shacks due to the lack of essential amenities.
7. The ending speaks of hope / there is hope for their future - a hope that things will .
get better
41
Two small creatures in nature – a chameleon and a
snail – are contrasted with cars driven extremely
fast by reckless drivers. Both creatures are known
for their slow speed.
The speaker appeals to (asks) these
speeding drivers to reduce their speed.
He tries to remind
them of the peace
and safety
these slower creatures enjoy.
Six stanzas of uneven
length, each with a
different main idea
• Rhyme pattern
= free verse
• Tone
= pleading, cautionary
46
Description of how a
chameleon eats and At the tip
moves contrasts with Tip of tongue = some kind of
the tongue’s fast mechanism (stove, fire –
movement. of the chameleon’s tongue heats glue)to cook flies in)

there is a pot of boiling glue

Slow careful movements like
to cook flies for breakfast
walking carefully on tightrope.
a circus performer on high
wires and swings
before he sets off Their skill relies on balance
and very careful movements
to prevent them falling to the
on a slow tightwire walk ground.
The chameleon moves
carefully to keep its balance
like a trapeze artist. like a trapeze artist.
Lines 1-7
 Under the belly of every snail
The snail is described
in terms of a car
(something Small,
mechanical) with a therefore slow.
fuel tank and an lies a tankful of low-octane petrol
engine to make it
move. Admiring Tone: The poet’s
descriptions of the
As opposed to high- to propel the miniscule engine chameleon and the snail
octane which is better indicate that he admires
for environment and them. He does not see them
provides the car with
less power.The lower as fragile creatures but as
the octane level of to the destination of a juicy cabbage leaf. built for purpose. They
petrol a motor car can achieve what they need to
use, the less energy is achieve.
wasted. Snails move
very slowly like cars
that need only low-
octane petrol. Lines 8-11

Emphasises ‘m’ in monsters, in
this case speeding cars that kill.
The ‘m’ sound echoes the sound
of speeding. Alliteration of the
letter ‘g’ emphasises the amount
of fuel and the sound of fuel
sloshing or glugging as it moves.
The alliteration of the letter ‘c’
emphasises the amount of bodies.
Confetti is usually found at a
wedding; here it is used in contrast
with “corpses” to emphasise how
gruesome/horrible such deaths
are. The corpses are those of
humans, animals and bugs. There
is contrast between slow and fast.
Slow is overtaken or run over by
drunk speeding monsters.
Tiny pieces of coloured paper
often thrown over a couple who
have just been married or at a
It is overtaken birthday party. The confetti
then scatters all over the
ground.
In the poem, dead insects and
by American echanical onsters, animals are scattered on the
road like confetti.
Cars described as monsters
with allons of asoline, Fast and big American cars are
compared to monsters that kill;
this emphasises the danger of
speeding and alcohol abuse
that leave highways strewn as cause of accidents
of cars
with gory onfetti of orpses. which are drunk on fuel.
Metaphor: Bodies strewn on road like
confetti at a wedding = also hyperbole to
emphasise gruesomeness of road accidents
+ number of lives lost
Lines 12-16
The crash and the
reaction

of the The loud Bang!

letter ‘b’ emphasises Onomatopoeia
loudness of crash.
rings rawny farmers
There is a description
of the chameleon and
snail at peace in their running from homesteads to render help.
environment. They are
then disturbed by the Lines 17-19 The snail and the
noise of the cars and chameleon move at a
the accident.
slow and careful speed.
Dismissive Tone: The poet’s description of Nature has a way of
cars and the effects they have are not achieving what it needs
positive. He sees them as ‘mechanical to at its own pace. In
monsters’ (line 13) that are ‘drunk’ (line contrast, the reckless
14) and ‘leave highways strewn with gory speed of the drivers
confetti of corpses’ (line 16). causes disturbance,
destruction and death.
In Stanza 1 to 5 the
narrator describes The rural country homes
the things he is are compared to beehives
observing, such as because of their rounded
the chameleon, the From tumble black bumpkins shape.
snail, the cars and
the accident, from an
outsider’s People come for the
perspective. to gawk at twisted wrecks spectacle, they cannot
really assist medically as
The ‘farmers running stare they are uneducated.
from homesteads’
(line 18 and19) and amid cries of ‘Help!’
‘beehive huts’ (line Lines 20-22 blood covers cars
20) indicate that this like a coat of paint.
could be in a rural
area away from the
city.

Direct speech
emphasises
helplessness and
pain
 Contrast: speed freak/devil
vs Safe/warm/comfortable
The ‘s’sound emphasises
high-pitched sound of siren,
cuts into silence/the
peacefulness of night which
indicates horror. Alliteration
of the ‘s’ or ‘sh sound is also
called Sibilance.
Emotive language = warns
speeding/drunk motorists
against danger of their
mistakes. Pleads with them
to follow example of the snail
and the chameleon.
In the final stanza, the
writer addresses the drivers
of the fast cars directly by
using the imperative mood
(command): ‘look’, ‘see’.
He is addressing the
speeding motorists directly.
The consequences
Night
compared to quiet,
Ambulances ound shrill irens, peaceful woman with
tearing the ilky shawl of the night’s ilence. silk wrap round her
shoulders
O! speed fiend
:
whose Knelling is the sound of a
bell, normally rung at a
look at the snail funeral. The bell of death.
A reference to the bible. Thus the knelling bell is
slumbering compared to death.
This section references
in his shell. Proverbs 6:6, “ Go to the
ant, thou sluggard!”
See the chameleon
cosy under her
: Skin of
chameleon fits safely
and snugly like a soft
warm bedspread –
image of peace and
Lines 23-31 comfort.
Stanza 1: The poet describes the
way a chameleon thoughtfully
catches its prey for its next meal,
and carefully takes each step
forward.
Stanza 2: We are reminded that
a snail needs very little power to
move towards its food.
Stanza 3: Powerful motor cars
speed past the snail, using up
huge amounts of fuel and
leaving behind the dead bodies
of insects they have killed.
Stanza 4: The noise of a motor
car accident in the countryside
alerts the farmers who rush to
help.
Stanza 5: Villagers are shocked
by the scene and stare even
though people are calling for
help.
Stanza 6: Ambulances arrive noisily
in the dark. The speaker appeals
directly to speeding motorists to
slow down and prevent death on
the roads. Both the chameleon and
the snail are safely asleep
53
Nature vs machine
There is a struggle between modern technology and the
natural world. People often believe that modern machinery
brings speed and improvements and that natural life is old-
fashioned. However, with these advances come death and
destruction. We should be careful of accepting everything that
is new and ‘improved’.

Emphasises that the poem directly addresses reckless

motorists. The speaker is also talking to people in general. We
need to understand that modern technology (like fast cars)
brings danger. We need to remember where we came from. We
should follow the example of nature because we have forgotten Nature
how to live a slower, more peaceful life. The poet wants us to Old-fashioned
come to the same conclusion as him: slow down and be more
in tune with nature. Nature has its own quiet and slow way and Peaceful
the harshness of modern technology is destructive. Slow paced natural
growth
54
A metaphor directly compares two things, showing what
they have in common.
a. Lines 8–9:
‘Under the belly of every snail/lies a tankful of low-octane
petrol’.
Here, the snail is compared to a slow-moving car that
does not need expensive petrol to move. A snail uses
little energy to move. It does not waste its energy like the
cars
that need ‘gallons of gasoline’ to move fast. ■ Alliteration is the repetition of consonants
b. Lines 15–16: (usually initial consonants) to create
In the metaphor, ‘that leave highways strewn/with gory special sounds. In stanza 6 the/s/and/sh/
confetti of corpses’, dead insects are compared to sounds are repeated: ‘sound shrill sirens’,
confetti at a party. The bodies of dead insects (‘corpses’)
killed by fast cars seem like ‘confetti’. They are bright
‘silky shawl of the night’s silence‘ and
spots of colour scattered on the road. This description is ‘snail slumbering in his shell’. This reminds
also ironic because confetti is usually a sign that a us of the frightening and harsh sounds
marriage or birthday has been celebrated. Death is not made by tearing metal in car accidents,
something that is usually celebrated, and a birthday is
the opposite of a death.
and the warning alarms of ambulances.

55
A simile is an indirect comparison of two things. It
usually uses a clue word, ‘like’ or ‘as’.

In stanza 1 the chameleon moves ‘like a trapeze

artist’ (Line 7). The chameleon moves carefully, step
by step like a person balancing carefully on a wire
high above the ground.

Personification is when a non-living thing is

described as if it were alive. Fast cars are
described as ‘drunk’ ‘mechanical monsters’. Just
like monsters, fast cars leave death (‘corpses’)
behind them. They used up lots of petrol in order
to drive so recklessly. It is as if they are intoxicated
(‘drunk’) and out of control.
56
 Imagery How is the piece How is the idea developed? What is the rhyme and

Structure
organised? rhythm in the poem?
What pictures do
you get in your How many What words or phrases give the Narrative perspective – 1st
mind when you stanzas/verses images or theme emphasis or clarity or 3rd person?
read the poem?
Meaning
What sounds do
you hear in your What is the
mind when you poem
read the poem? about?

Why do you think Does it

the poet has have a
included these message?
images in the What is the
poem? poet
discussing?
Is there an
overall
theme and
idea in the
poem?

What Are there Is the Does the poem What is What What What tone or
Language

examples any language contain similes/ the does the opinion mood is there

Effect
of literary complicate simple to metaphors or effect poem does it in each
devices d words? understand? personification? of the make you show stanza? Does
can you poem? feel/think about the it change?
find? about? subject? 57
1. Analyse the title of the poem. (2)
Refer to stanza 1:
2. Refer to ‘there is a pot of boiling glue/to cook flies for breakfast (lines 3–4).
Identify the figure of speech and explain how this figure of speech is appropriate. (3)
3. Explain what stanza 1 (quoted below) is about, and what issue it contrasts with.
“At the tip of the chameleon’s tongue there is a pot of boiling glue to cook flies for
breakfast before he sets off on a slow tight-wire walk like a trapeze artist.” (3)
Refer to stanza 6:
4. Refer to ‘Ambulances sound shrill sirens,/tearing the silky shawl of the night’s
silence.’ (lines 23–24):
5. Who is this poem addressing in the following lines? (lines 25-26)
‘O! speed fiend whose knell has sounded…’ (1)
6. Identify the biblical allusion in the last stanza and explain the message that the poet
wishes to convey. (2)

58
1. Apostrophe in literature is when a specific person or thing is addressed. In the title of this
poem, drivers of cars, but in particular those who drive too fast, are addressed.
2. Metaphor: there is a pot of boiling glue The stickiness of the chameleon’s tongue, utilized to
catch food . The chameleon’s tongue it sticky and flies stick to it like they would stick to
glue. It is also compared to a pot of glue which is boiling as if to cook its food.
3. The Stanza 1 describes a chameleon who, despite walking slowly, still gets its food. The
poem addresses the issue of how speeding kills, preventing people from carrying on with
their lives, symbolized by eating.
4.1 Alliteration of the “s” sound.
4.2 To emphasize the shrillness of the sirens; the intrusiveness of a fatal collision or injuries in
the lives of people.
5. The driver of the car that went too fast and caused a collision is addressed. There is
condemnation of his actions in the word “fiend”.
6. Just like the Bible refers man to go and learn from the ant not to be lazy , the poet refers the
reader to the chameleon and the snail to learn to drive slowly and to actually reach his
destination. Allusion
 There was a time before cellphones existed. To make a phone call, you had to have a
landline or use a public phone. Unless you had a cordless phone, you had to stay in one
spot to have a conversation.

61
■ The speaker receives a telephone call from her mother just as she is
about to leave her flat to move somewhere else. She stops to answer the
phone and we realise that her mother lives very far away in another
country. The speaker gives us very little background to help us
understand what is said between mother and daughter. The conversation
appears to be awkward and uncomfortable.
■ Stanza 1: The speaker is half-way down the stairs on her way out of the
flat, when she hears the phone ring in another room. She puts down her
heavy suitcase with difficulty, bruising herself at the same time. She
finds her old telephone handset among the box of things she is leaving
behind. She plugs it into the wall socket to connect to the call. She sits
down on a pile of telephone directories, then greets her mother.
■ Stanza 2: The speaker tells us that she is leaving yet again for another
place far from home. Her mother lives in another country. She is scared
that she will not see her mother again. She wants to tell her mother of
her fear of never returning home, but does not.
■ Stanza 3: Her mother seems disappointed, but does not say more. She
tells her to travel safely.

62
■ The title of this poem (‘The Call’) has both a literal meaning and a figurative
meaning.
■ The speaker is literally receiving a telephone call from her mother. A ‘call’ or ‘calling’
can also mean something we feel we should or must do, even though it is not said
out loud.
■ The speaker also misses home and feels guilty about not going back. She has a
‘calling’ to go back home. In other words, it is as if she is figuratively being ‘called
back home’ by her desire to return.
■ South African poet Gabeba Baderoon writes a narrative poem (narrative poems tell
a story), telling a story of the speaker, whom receives a phone call from her mother.
The poem is full of examples of inference. In other words, read between the lines
e.g. we can assume the speaker lives with someone, line 2: “my flatmate’s room”).
The title is very self-explanatory. The poem tells the story of a situation revolving
around a phone call.

63
The sound of the phone
From my flatmate’s room catches
Me on the landing halfway
Down the stairs, my palm on the handle
Not enough to still
The impetus of the suitcase.
It takes a bruise on my hip to stop it.
From the box of things to give away –
Signs I was once here –
I grab my phone, plug it in
In the passage, and sit
On the stack of phonebooks against the wall.
Hello, Mama, I answer.

I am leaving for a new place,

Each further from where I started.
Across the seven-hour time difference I fear
I will never see her again.
I want to say out loud ‘I am losing
A center to which I can return’,
But do not.

She speaks too in a way flattened

By what is not said, coming only so close
To the parting between us by telling me
To leave safely.
64
The ringing of the phone makes
her stop in her tracks as she is on
her way down the stairs.
The lines in stanza 1 hesitate and
jerk forward just as the speaker
does: she is caught on the
landing; she has her hand on the
handle; her suitcase keeps
moving; she bruises herself; she
finds her phone; she plugs it into
the socket. Each movement is
described in its own line to show
her panic and rush. However,
everything happens in only a few
seconds, so the lines also run on
to show the sequence of events
and their pace.
the flat area between
one set of stairs and the next. The
speaker is on the landing of the
staircase when her mother
phones.
with another person. We can
therefore assume/infer
(inference) that she is still
reasonably young. Maybe in
her 20’s? She can’t afford to
The sound of the phone live on her own yet. She is
busy moving out. There are
boxes and a few loose things
standing around but most of
From my catches the moving has been done.
Me on the halfway
Down the stairs, my palm on the handle
The suitcase is heavy; her
hand is not strong enough to
stop the swaying.
Not enough to still
the force of
something as it moves. The
impetus of the suitcase
The of the suitcase. makes it hit the speaker’s leg
Lines 1-6 and bruise it.
65

The stanza ends when the
speaker finally sits down and we
catch our breath with her (‘sit’
at the end of line 11) and relax.
Her rush ends with the full stop
at the end of line 11. Line 12 is
the first line that moves more
slowly as she rests before
greeting her mother.
In the passage there is a box of
random things. Odds and ends
left behind after a big move.
Things she doesn’t want
anymore.
She grabs her phone charger,
plugs it in in the passage and
she sits. Notice the awkward
public setting of the phone call.
She sits on a pile/stack of old
telephone books, against the
wall, which now serves as a
chair. And she answers her
phone. She greets her mother.
It takes a bruise on hip to stop it.
From the box of things to give away
grab my phone, plug it in
In the passage, and sit
On the stack of phonebooks against the wall.
Hello, Mama, answer.
The suitcase hits her as she
swings it, leaving a bruise on
her hip. She turns around
and runs back upstairs to
answer the phone.
The poet uses
throughout the
poem. This point of view is
very intimate and personal.
The speaker addresses the
person phoning as ‘Mama’.
indicates extra
information added. Two
dashes are used to indicate
this. This box full of random
objects is a reminder of the
fact that she once lived in
Lines 7-13 this apartment.
66
There is already
Maybe she lives abroad? Or she
just lives too far to be able to
visit regularly.
Why will
she not see her mother again?
Maybe because she already
lives too far. Maybe het mother
is ill and can’t travel? Maybe
they have had a bad argument
and the chances of seeing
each other again is unlikely?
and tell her mother that she
feels as if she is losing a piece
of herself / ‘center’. To lose
your center is to lose a piece
of who you are. Your core. She
wants to share this with her
mother because there is so
much left unsaid between
them, but she chooses not to.
Instead she keeps quiet.
I am leaving for a new place,
She tells her mother that
Across the I she is moving. This is
probably not the first time
that she has moved. The
first time was probably out
of her mother’s
house/family home. This is
indicated by the words
‘I am She finds herself
moving further away from
her mother.
A center to which I can return’,
The enjambment in lines 16
and 18 makes us pause on
the last words of each line.
But do not. The emphasis is on her ‘fear’
Lines 14-20 and loss (‘losing’).
67
 Eventually her mother replies
The last thing her mother says
but she also speaks in a
before parting ways, is for her
tone. Meaning there
daughter to travel safe, before
is no real emotion in her
the call probably ends.
mother’s voice. Why not? Maybe
There are so many things that they have grown apart?
they would like to say to one Emotionally distant as well as
another but they never do. It is She speaks too in a way physically distant. They do not
easier/more convenient to rather say what they really want/need
be polite and say nothing of to. Her mother only shows a bit
importance. It almost feels as if of emotion by coming very close
this was their final goodbye. to saying something meaningful
By what is not said, coming only so close but instead tells her daughter to
leave safely.
refers to
the separation
between them To the between us by telling me
as well as
The parting as in The last stanza is one sentence,
underlying saying goodbye. broken up into four separate
emotion here lines. Her mother comes ‘only so
is frustration To leave safely.
and an close’ to expressing her feelings,
overwhelming but hesitates (stops before she
sense of speaks). This hesitation is
sadness and shown in the breaks between
loss lines.

68
■ This is a narrative poem. The narrator is about to leave the flat she shared with a
friend and is moving to a new place. She is almost halfway down the stairs when
the phone she was leaving behind rings. She had put it in a box of things she
intended to give away . She had already packed all her things and is carrying a
heavy suitcase, which bumps into her legs as she stops to take her mother’s call.
She plugs it in the passage and sits on a pile of phonebooks against the wall, and
speaks to her mother.
■ The narrator informs her mother that she is “leaving for a new place”. Another
place which is even further from home. She is already in a time zone seven hours
away from her mother’s. She fears she will never see her mother again, that her
mother will either die before she comes back home or she will never go back home
again. She wants to tell her mother how she feels about her leaving, that she feels
like she is losing something of herself, her inner being, and could go back home
again. But she fails to communicate this to her. To lose one’s centre could mean to
lose one’s identity or origin.
■ In response, her mother speaks in a flat tone voice indicating how disappointed
she is by the news. She could also be trying to control her true feelings or her
sense of loss in this regard. The absence of communication between the two is
clearly shown in this stanza. The “parting between us” seems to show a permanent
parting. However, the mother too, avoids talking about this, or fails to express her
true feelings and instead, chooses to wish her daughter a safe journey. There is
nowhere in the poem where we are told why the speaker keeps moving away from
home or why there is a lack of communication between the two.
69
 Where?
The setting is a flat that the speaker is about to leave permanently.
■ The speaker mentions a flatmate: ’my flatmate’ (line 2).
■ The suitcase and ‘the box of things to give away’ (line 8) are proof that the
speaker has packed her things and are ‘signs I was once here’ (line 9).
■ The speaker clearly states that she is moving: ‘I am leaving for a new place’ (line
14).

When?
The poem is written in the present tense. The speaker is describing the action
(receiving the phone call and leaving the flat) as it is happening. The fact that the
speaker is receiving her mother’s call on a fixed phone line rather than a cellphone
indicates that the action in this poem is set in the past. The phone books are also
evidence of a time when people looked up phone numbers in a book rather than on
the internet.
70
Structure:
■ 3 stanzas vary in length.
Rhyme pattern:
■ free verse –no fixed rhyme pattern
Rhyme scheme:
■ This poem does not have a
particular rhyme scheme (free
verse). There are 3 stanzas of
varying lengths. The poem sounds
very conversational and informal. It
has no rhyme scheme because it is
supposed to sound like a
telephone conversation.

71
■ Diction refers to the poets choice of words, the word choice in this poem lacks feeling and
emotion.
■ UNEMOTIVE LANGUAGE:
In poetry, we usually expect emotional words that force us to feel strongly. This poem does the
opposite. It uses very factual (unemotive, non-feeling) language, and seems to describe what
happens in very ordinary words: for example: ‘phone’, ‘landing’, ‘suitcase’, ‘place’. These ordinary
words, however, carry a lot of meaning in this poem.
a A ‘phone’ (mentioned three times) is the only mode (manner) of communication the mother has
with her daughter. They are far apart and therefore cannot see or touch each other. The phone
call reminds us how far away from each other they are physically, as well as emotionally.
72
b The ‘landing’ is a half-way place between the top of the staircase and
the bottom. It is a place to pause. This phone call interrupts the
speaker on the way down with herm suitcase. The call is very short as
the mother and daughter have very little to say to each other. It
reminds us that the daughter is moving again and that she does not
seem to stay in any one place for very long.
c A ‘suitcase’ is a container which holds our clothes and personal
belongings. However, a suitcase is not big enough to fit everything.
When we leave a permanent place like ‘home’, we must leave behind
anything that will be too difficult to pack. We are reminded of that by
the ‘box of things to give away’ that the speaker is leaving behind. One
of the things she has had to leave behind is her mother. She feels
guilty that she has done this. She knows she could go back but has
chosen not to – ‘I can return,/but do not’.
d The speaker describes where she is going as ‘a new place’. The word
‘place’ has no feelings attached to it and has no name. It is not like the
word ‘centre’ that she uses to describe her mother and her home.
‘Centre’ shows where her roots are, and where she is connected by
her feelings. A ‘place’ has no emotional connection for her.
73
Enjambment (or a ‘run-on line’) is when
the end of one line of poetry ‘runs on’
into the next. There is no punctuation at
the end of the line and the idea
continues in the next line. An ‘end stop’ is
when a line of poetry ends with a full stop
or a semi colon. The idea comes to an
end.

In this poem, enjambment is used to

highlight the fact that this conversation
comes in the interval between ‘leaving’
and ‘going’. The speaker is caught in
coming downstairs, on the landing, with a
heavy suitcase in her hand. She
interrupts this to take the call from her
mother.
74
The relationship between a mother and her adult child:
There is often a strain between parents and their children
who have left home for places far away. Leaving home is a
natural step in the process of becoming an adult. It is
often harder for the parent to cope with this break than it
is for the child.
Leaving and distance: There is a connection between
physical and emotional distance. We may love someone
and miss them when we are away. It is very difficult to
keep a relationship going when we are far apart. Because
we do not see each other often, we may find that talking
about feelings becomes difficult. ‘Despite the lack of
regular contact between mother and daughter and the
awkwardness of the conversation, they are family and care
for each other. The daughter cannot express her fears that
she will never see her mother again.’
Parting is not easy. Especially between estranged(no
longer close or affectionate to someone) family members.
75
When you infer, you figure out something that was not completely explained in the text.
You make an inference when you use clues from the text and your own background
knowledge to figure out something that the author does not directly tell you.

Details or What I know from Inference

statements from reading or experience
the poem
Across the seven- There is a great The speaker and the mother
hour time distance between time are far away from each other.
difference I fear zones.
(line 16)
I will never see It is not normal to never The speaker and her mother
her again. (line see your mother again – must be really far away from
17) there must be a reason each other. They may never
why she will not see her. see each other again for
financial reasons or because
their relationship is strained.

76
Tone and Mood
The main feeling is a sense of loss
Unemotional: the speaker does not express any feelings about
leaving her flat or how she feels about her mother.
Factual: there are no descriptions of anything in the poem. We
hear about a bruise on the thigh caused by the suitcase but no
pain associated with it. This emphasises that the unemotional
tone hints at (gives an idea of) the relationship between the
mother and daughter. They are unable to express their feelings
towards each other and stick to the practical (‘leave safely’). The
mother and daughter do not seem to be close and the
conversation feels awkward.
Tone/Mood/Emotion: Fear, desperation

77
This poem is full of inference.
1. Do you think the speaker is young? Explain your answer with evidence from the poem.(2)
2. How do you know that the suitcase was heavy? Quote to prove your answer. (2)
3. What does the poet use as a seat? What does this prove regarding the speaker’s
current living situation? (2)
4. Give TWO possible reasons why the speaker fears she won’t see her mother again. (2)
5. “I am losing a center to which I can return…” Explain this line on your own words. (2)
6. Why does the mother speak in a “flattened” manner? Why do you think this is? (1)
7. Do you think that the mother’s final words indicate a sense of finality? Motivate your
answer. (2)

78
1. She is probably a young adult. She is moving out of an apartment that she shares with a flatmate .
This indicates that she can’t afford to live on her own yet. This indicates that she is still quite
young.
2. “A bruise on my hip to prove it”.
3. A stack of old phonebooks. She is busy moving out and there are still some random things
standing around in the apartment.
4. Her mother might not be physically able to visit her daughter. They will be too far apart. They have
an estranged relationship.
5. The speaker feels like she will be losing a piece of who she is if she moves away again.
6. Her mother does not show any emotion either. Maybe it is too painful to say the things they need
to. Maybe her mother wants to avoid an argument.
7. Yes , reading between the lines of what the mother says, it almost seems as if she is saying “Stay
safe” to her daughter, which seems like a final goodbye.
OR
No, they might still have the occasional telephone conversation on birthdays etc. once or twice a
year.

79
■ The Chimney sweeper is a poem created by William
Blake and published in 1790
■ In times past, most houses had chimneys.Chimneys
would get very dirty and had to be cleaned.
■ This poem uncovered the harsh realities of child
exploitation.
■ In Blake’s time chimneys were swept by sending small
children to climb up them and clean them by hand.
■ Aged as young as 4 or 5, children would continue the
trade for about 7 years unless they grew too ill, has a
serious accident or died.
■ Growing bodies were stunted and deformed, lungs and
eyes were affected by the soot. Master sweeps paid 20
shillings (£1) to 5 guineas (£5.25) to
parents/guardians of the children they took on as
apprentices.
■ Children often had to sleep in the soot bags they
collected.
■ William Blake was born in London in 1757. William Blake grew up in a time of huge and rapid
change both politically and socially.
■ At the beginning of the 18th century (1700s), most people lived in the countryside and earned
their living from farming; a hundred years later the majority of men and women lived in towns
and worked in factories. Towns and cities grew rapidly and conditions were often dirty, diseased
and dangerous.
■ Blake was very aware of the effects these changes were having on people’s lives; he saw men
and women becoming less free and more oppressed by powerful economic forces. He was
sensitive towards the moral and emotional changes these brought to people’s lives.
82
■ In England, during the 1700’s and 1800’s,
Master Sweeps would buy young children from
orphanages and take in young homeless
children from the streets and turn them into
servants.
■ These were usually small boys between the
ages of 5 and 10, although most were under the
age of seven, and some were even as young as
four.
■ These boys were used to clamber up chimneys
to clean out deposits of soot. The chimney
sweep master taught them the trade while
being responsible for feeding, clothing, and
housing them.
 CHIMNEY
SWEEPING
■ From before dawn until afternoon, the
“climbing boys,” as they were called,
passed through the city’s streets
announcing their services with cries of
‘Weep! ‘Weep!

■ The job for these climbing boys was to

climb up inside the chimney, brushing
and scraping the flue as they went, using
small hand-held brushes or metal
scrapers to remove the harder tar
deposits left by wood and especially coal
fire smoke. They weren’t done until their
heads poked out of the chimney top.
 CHIMNEY SWEEPING
■ Because the chimneys were
extremely narrow, many of the
children were reluctant to wriggle
into them.
■ However, plenty of encouragement
was provided. It was a common
practice for the master sweep or
his assistant to actually light a
small fire in the fireplace or hold
lighted straw under their feet or
even poke and prod the children
with pins to force them up to the
top. It has been said, that that is
where the saying “light a fire under
you” comes from.
 CHIMNEY SWEEPING
■ Working conditions for the climbing boys was harsh and cruel. It was a
dangerous and filthy job for the boys to undertake, especially without the
protection of safety clothing and respirators, and many suffered from job
related injuries, such as twisted spines and kneecaps, deformed ankles,
eye inflammations and respiratory illnesses.
■ Many of the children were badly injured or died from chimney sweeping.
When my mother died I was very young,
And my father sold me while yet my tongue
Could scarcely cry 'weep! 'weep! 'weep! 'weep!
So your chimneys I sweep, and in soot I sleep.

There's little Tom Dacre, who cried when his head,

That curled like a lamb's back, was shaved: so I said,
"Hush, Tom! never mind it, for when your head's bare,
You know that the soot cannot spoil your white hair.“

And so he was quiet; and that very night,

As Tom was a-sleeping, he had such a sight, -
That thousands of sweepers, Dick, Joe, Ned, and Jack,
Were all of them locked up in coffins of black.

And by came an angel who had a bright key,

And he opened the coffins and set them all free;
Then down a green plain leaping, laughing, they run,
And wash in a river, and shine in the sun.

The poem:
Then naked and white, all their bags left behind,
They rise upon clouds and sport in the wind;

The chimney
And the angel told Tom, if he'd be a good boy,
He'd have God for his father, and never want joy.

sweeper
And so Tom awoke; and we rose in the dark,
And got with our bags and our brushes to work.
Though the morning was cold, Tom was happy and warm;
So if all do their duty they need not fear harm.
87
In stanza one, the speaker,
a young boy, tells us briefly
how he came to be a
chimney sweeper. He tells
us that his mother died
when he was very young and
his father sold him as a
chimney sweeper. He now
works to clean other
people’s chimneys and lives
in dirt.
 He was sold to a Master
Sweeper when his age
was so tender that he
could not even and wept
all the time pronounce
the word ‘sweep’ and
cryingly pronounced it
‘weep’ .
 Most chimney sweepers,
like him, were so young
that they could not
pronounce sweep and
lisped ‘weep’.
When my mother died I was very young,
And my father sold me while yet my tongue
Could scarcely cry
o your chimneys I weep, and in oot I leep.
Lines 1-4
A pun is a play on words with
more than one meaning. The
use of word ‘weep’ three
times in the third line of this
stanza holds significance.
Weep means to cry. The boys
cry as they live a tough life.
Weep is how the boys
pronounce ‘sweep’ as they
are so little they can not
pronounce it properly.
A dark black powdery
substance produced
by burning matter.
of the ‘s’ sound. This
reminds readers of the child’s
lisp. Little children often
struggle to pronounce the ‘sw’
sound. Blake uses the child’s
inability to form speech, to show
the injustices of putting such
young children in such a
dangerous line of work. 88
 In the second stanza,
the little narrator tells
us the woeful tale of
Tom Dacre.
 Tom wept when his
head was shaved, just
as the back of a lamb There's little Tom Dacre, who cried when his head,
is shaved for wool.
 The speaker told Tom
to be calm because
his hair won't get
messed up by soot. , was shaved: so I said,
Tom’s hair was shaved
off because he had
lice.
"Hush, Tom! never mind it, for when your head's bare,
Tom’s hair is ‘curled like a
lamb’s back’ (line 6). In
other words, Tom’s blond
curly hair is compared to You know that the soot cannot spoil your white hair."
the wool on a lamb. Blake
uses the lamb as a The speaker’s ability to find the silver lining of every
symbol of innocence, just cloud embodies the tragedy of the poem—the children’s
as Tom is young and
ability to remain innocent and optimistic in such a
innocent. Lines 5-8 hopeless, oppressive environment.
89
 The third stanza
continues the story of
Tom who was calmed
by the consoling
words of the narrator.
And so he was quiet; and that very night,
That same night
while sleeping Tom
saw a wonderful
vision.
He saw in his As Tom was a-sleeping, he had such a sight, -
dream that many
Chimney sweepers,
who were named
Dick, Joe, Ned and
Jack, were dead and
their bodies were That thousands of sweepers, Dick, Joe, Ned, and Jack, In the poem, chimneys
lying in caged coffins, are compared to coffins
made of black- containing dead bodies
coloured wood. (stanzas 3 and 4).The
young boys who clean
the chimneys are
Were all of them locked up in . ‘locked up in coffins of
black’. The chimney
sweepers spend their
time in narrow
chimneys covered in
soot. Some of them die
Lines 9-12 in these chimneys.
90
  An angel, who was
carrying a shining
key, came and
opened the coffins
Line 13: ‘an Angel who had a containing the
bright key’. The poet is alluding to
Christian stories of St Peter who bodies and set all
holds the key to the gates of the bodies free from
heaven. He unlocks the gates only
for those who have lived good the bondage of
lives on Earth. coffins.
 The freed little
sweepers of the
And he opened the coffins and set them all free; chimney ran down a
Line 16: ‘wash in a river and green ground,
shine in the sun’. Again, the washed themselves
poet is alluding to the
Christian belief that all who in the water of a
are good and ‘free of sin’ will Then down a green plain leaping, laughing, they run, river and dried
be rewarded. In the dream, themselves in the
the boys are cleaned of all the
soot, as if they have been sunlight.
cleaned of all their sins.  This was really a
very delightful
And moment for these
chimney sweepers,
who got freed from
exploitation and
child labour.
91
 The little boy continues
narrating Tom’s
vision/dream. All the little
boys were naked and white
after washing. They were
naked because their bags of
clothes were left behind.
 They cast off the burden of
life along with the bags of
soot at the time of death.
 Now the little chimney
sweeper boys ride the
clouds and play in the wind.
The image of clouds floating
freely is Blake’s metaphor
for the freedom from the
material boundaries of the
body and an important
visual symbol.
 The Angel told Tom that if he
would be a good boy he
would have God for his
father and there would
never be lack of happiness
for him.
Is Blake saying that the only way for this horrible
treatment to stop is for the children to die? Can you
support your answer with words from the poem?
Then naked and white, all their bags left behind,
They rise upon clouds and sport in the wind;
And the angel told Tom, if he'd be a good boy,
The poet presents two very
opposed images of children. In
the first one, describing reality,
they live miserable lives
working in the chimneys and
sleeping in soot and secondly
in Tom’s dream, angelic and
clean.
In the dream the angel tells
Tom that God will be his father.
The speaker has been sold by
his own father as a chimney
sweeper. Instead of protecting
him, his father sold him into
danger. The dream promises
Tom that, if he obeys his master
on Earth (‘be a good boy’), God
will protect him like a proper
father should. The next day
the boys go back to work,
believing that God will now
protect them from danger.
92
 Irony is when the poet says
the opposite of what he
means to make an important
 The narrator tells that point. This line is ironic
Tom woke up and his because it first seems to
dream vision broke up. mean that everyone who has
And so Tom awoke; and we rose in the dark, ‘done their duty’ on Earth will
 Tom and other little
sweeper boys rose up be protected and safe. After
from their beds in the death, they will go to heaven
dark. and avoid the punishment of
 They got ready to work And got with our bags and our brushes to work. hell. However, Blake has
taking their bags for exposed the terrible
soot and the brushes exploitation and dangerous
to clean chimney.
working conditions of child
 The morning was cold, chimney sweepers. They are in
but Tom, after the Though the morning was cold, Tom was happy and warm;
constant danger and they
dream, was feeling
warm and happy. have no protection. Rewards
after death do not change
 In the last line of the their suffering while they are
poem, a moral has
been thrown to us: If all alive. Doing their ‘duty’ on
do their duty, they need Earth will bring them harm,
not fear any harm. The and possibly kill them.
last stanza shows the
reality of the sweepers’ The chimney sweepers are told that, if they are obedient ,do not
life. complain , and do their jobs they will be protected and safe. The truth
is that doing this job puts them in danger and can kill them . 93
Use the acronym “ I shampoo”
to remember a few of the
figures of speech used in
poems.
■ Idiom
■ Simile
■ Hyperbole
■ Alliteration
■ Metaphor
■ Personification
■ Oxymoron
■ Onomatopoeia
■ The Chimney Sweeper, a little boy, (about six or seven years old) is
telling the story of his despairing life as well as the sad tales of other
chimney sweeper boys. The little boy narrates that he was very young
when his mother died. He was then sold by his father to a Master
Sweeper when his age was so tender that he could not even
pronounce the word ‘sweep’ and whilst crying pronounced it ‘weep’
and wept all the time. Most chimney sweepers, like him, were so young
that they could not pronounce sweep and lisped ‘weep’. Since that
tender age the little boy is sweeping chimney and sleeping at night in
the soot-smeared body, without washing off the soot (blackness).
■ Through this poem, the poet sheds light on the pitiable condition of the
chimney sweepers who were being exploited by their Masters. This is a
poem which describes the rampant bondage labour, child labour,
exploitation of children at tender age, and the pitiable condition of the
orphaned children or the poor children who were sold by their poor
parents.
■ In all, this poem sarcastically attacks the advanced societies that keep
their eyes shut toward these children, but act as being generous
among their near and dear ones by holding or attending some charity
shows/functions for the poor and down-trodden people in their
country. The Chimney Sweeper consists of six quatrains, each following
the AABB rhyme scheme, with two rhyming couplets per quatrain.
95
 Child labour
and death:
Child labour and exploitation are part of the
theme of misery and death. During the Industrial
Revolution, poor children were employed to do
dangerous work in small spaces such as
chimneys and mining tunnels.
These children were powerless and could do
nothing to change their situation. This work was
very dangerous and many children died. Misery
and death are explored in the poem through all
the characters; the speaker, the “thousands of
sweepers” and Tom, all of them being children.
The poet presents the miserable lives these boys
have to put up with. In the poem, little Tom wakes
up in the morning after a lovely dream of heaven,
but has to go back to the ‘hell’ of his work.
Only adults can step in to rescue boys like Tom.
Society needs to take responsibility for their
exploitation. Giving one child his full name (‘Tom
Dacre’) makes him seem very real and we can
sympathise with him. However, we are reminded
of how many other ordinary boys are in exactly the
same position when the speaker lists the most
common boys’ names of the time: ‘Dick, Joe, Ned
& Jack’.
Innocence and faith:
The theme of innocence and faith/religion is
explored in the poem through the character of Tom,
a boy who has just become a chimney sweeper.
Unable to deal with the harsh reality of being
probably sold into labour, the boy finds refuge in
faith, in God and in the afterlife. In his dream, the
typical innocence children should enjoy is depicted
as they run free, clean (pure) in what resembles
Heaven. The poet believes that the promise of
Heaven or Paradise after death is just a way of
making sure that poor people and child labourers
do their work without complaint.
The role of Christianity in oppression: Christian
teachings say that if people live good lives on Earth,
they will be rewarded by God in Heaven. This
teaching was used by those in power (and the
church) to keep poor people in their place. It
encouraged the oppression and exploitation of the
weak by using the promise of Paradise as a reward
for obedience and hard work.
96
Mood
Ironically, the general mood is optimistic.
The speaker does not become enmeshed in misery and self-pity but rather clings to the positive, the
dream in which the Angel with the “bright key” “set them all free”. In spite of the terrible conditions,
the narrator displays an innocent acceptance of his fate. As a result of his innocence and ignorance,
he is unable to question or protest. He cannot look at his plight with insight and therefore he accepts
his fate.
Tone
■ Cheerful: The description of the boy’s dream in Stanza 4 where the angel releases the boys from
their coffins and they can play in the sun and wash in the river is lovely and happy. The boys are
happy and clean. Pay attention to the innocent, naive tone of the child narrator.
■ Longing: The angel tells Tom that there is a condition to his happiness in Stanza 5: if he is good,
he will go to heaven. In other words, there can be a positive outcome but he needs to fulfil
certain conditions, like doing his duty. The hopelessness of his situation is emphasised.
■ Ironic: The boys are ‘locked in coffins of black’ (chimneys) in ‘clothes of death’ to do their ‘duty’
on Earth. The irony is that this ‘duty’ will more than likely bring them harm. The poet uses the
change in mood and tone to highlight the situation of the child labourers. They dream of being
happy children, but have been brought up to believe that they must work hard while they are alive
in order to benefit when they are dead.
97
The poem includes a few symbolical
elements.
■ The clothes that are left behind
represent sins.
■ The colour black represents death
and the soot from the chimney.
■ Coffins represent death.
■ Heaven symbolises peace and
harmony, an end to their exploitation.
■ The chimney sweepers, who are the
topic of the poem, function as a
symbol of misery and injustice.

98
Irony is not noticeable at a first sight in the poem; only
after we compare the way the poem sounds (playful,
joyful) with the topic of child labour. Irony is when the
poet says the opposite of what he means to make an
important point.
There is irony in the line: ‘So if all do their duty they
need not fear harm’ (stanza 6). This is ironic because it
first seems to mean that everyone who has ‘done their
duty’ on Earth will be protected and safe. After death,
they will go to heaven and avoid the punishment of hell.
However, Blake has exposed the terrible exploitation
and dangerous working conditions of child chimney
sweepers. They are in constant danger and they have
no protection. Rewards after death do not change their
suffering while they are alive. Doing their ‘duty’ on Earth
which will bring them harm, and possibly kill them.

99
■ The rhyme scheme is regular and creates Blake’s typical
musicality.
■ The poem is written in a simple style using words that a
child might use. It sounds very much like the kind of
nursery rhymes that English children were told when they
were little.
■ There are six stanzas of four lines each (quatrains). There
are two couplets (2 rhyming lines) in each stanza. The
rhyme scheme is aabb. In the sixth stanza the rhymes
are not exact, these are called slant rhymes.
■ As William Blake was also a musician, he takes care and
puts special emphasis on the rhyme. For him it was very
important because he wanted to convert his poems into
songs that readers could sing to a musical melody.
 Light Dark

“bright” and
“shine” “soot”

“that curled
like a lamb’s “coffins of
back”. black”

Blake uses contrasting images of light and darkness to show how an innocent child does not belong in
that sort of environment. An angel of mercy unlocks the sweepers coffins thereby liberating them from
their oppressed lives . Tom’s dream embodies the incredible coexistence of innocence and experience.
The imagery of light and darkness also reminds us of good and evil.
■ In 1795 a baby of three and a half years was apprentice in a public house to
a master-sweep.
■ They would often climb 'Naked', because clothes were often restricting or they
needed to buff the inside of the flue.
■ A lot of boys when they hit Puberty, developed warts which later progressed
into Cancer. This is the first industrial caused cancer to ever be recognised.
■ Some girls were used as well.
■ The boys would clean the inside wall with their bare hands or scrapers and
would scrape their fingers, elbows and knees on the brickwork.
■ On their first few experiences as a climbing boy, Master Sweeps would
scrape their knees and elbows with a wire brush and brine to toughen them
up.
■ Often they had to be forced the chimney that was narrow, also being still sore
from other climbs. The master sweep sometimes lit a fire in the fireplace to
force them all the way to the top.
■ They would have 1 day a year off- May day and would sleep on bags full of
soot. Some would only wash once a year, but others once a week to go to
Church on Sunday.
■ If a boy got stuck, another boy was often sent up to prick the boys feet, to get
him moving, sometimes they both became stuck and died.
■ Chimney sweeps came to be seen as good luck and are still hired today for
weddings (I guess, lucky 'cause your house won't burn down)Hence the words
in the song 'Chim-Chiminey' from 'Mary Poppins'-“Good luck will rub off, when
I shake 'ands with you“.
102
1. For who are the pronouns ‘I’ and ‘my’ used for in the first
stanza of the poem? (1)
2. What does the author mean (figuratively and literally) when
he says in line 4 “in soot I sleep”? (2)
3. Refer to ‘Were all them lock’d up in coffins of black./And by
came an Angel who had a bright key, …. And he opened the
coffins & set them all free;’ (lines 12–14):
3.1 What are the ‘coffins of black’? (1)
3.2 Why are these coffins black? (1)
3.3 What do the coffins symbolize? (1)
4. What does “free” in stanza four refer to? (2)
5. In the last stanza it can be seen that although the situation
for Tom and the other chimney sweepers is the same but why
are they happy? (2)

103
1. For who are the pronouns ‘I’ and ‘my’ used for in the first stanza of the poem?
The chimney sweeper – he is telling his own story, using the first person voice, he is the speaker of the
poem.
2. What does the author mean when he says in line 4 “in soot I sleep”?
Figuratively it means that he is trying to convey this everlasting sadness and darkness in which these
orphans live.Literally he is saying that these orphans go to sleep without washing, still dressed their
dirty clothes.
3. Refer to ‘Were all them lock’d up in coffins of black./And by came an Angel who had a bright key, and
he opened the coffins & set them all free;’ (lines 12–14):
3.1 What are the ‘coffins of black’ The chimneys they clean.
3.2 Why are these coffins black? They are covered in soot.
3.3 What do the coffins symbolize?
Their miserable lives.
They are boxed in black chimneys like they are boxed in coffins.
Death
4. What does “free” in stanza four refer to? The chimney sweeper’s life. - these boys got freed from the
shackles of bondage labour, exploitation and child labour. The angels are freeing the children from their
life of servitude.
5. In the last stanza it can be seen that although the situation for Tom and the other chimney sweepers is
the same but why are they happy? Tom's happy and warm because he believes (thanks to the lesson
the angel gives him in that dream) that if you do your duty, no harm will come to you. In other words, if
he keeps chimney sweeping like a good little boy, he'll be taken care of.
104