Poetry Pack: IEB HL 2023ff

Will it be so again? ~ C Day Lewis

Cecil Day Lewis (sometimes spelt Day-Lewis) was an Irish-born poet (1904–1972) who was appointed
Poet Laureate for Britain in 1968. He also gained fame as a writer of detective stories under the
pseudonym of Nicholas Blake. He married twice and was father to five children including Academy
Award-winning actor Daniel Day Lewis, food writer and journalist Tamasin Day Lewis, and TV critic
and writer Sean Day Lewis, who wrote a biography of his father: C. Day Lewis: An English Literary
Life (1980). Day Lewis had strong political views which he often expressed through his writing. His
earlier poetry was influenced by W. H. Auden, whom he met while studying at Oxford. During the
Second World War, he developed his own personal style and his collection of poems in Word Over
All
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RESEARCH: Find out as much as you can about the ‘MacSpaunday Group’ of left-wing
Oxford-educated poets associated with the Thirties. Lewis was a member of this group.

1. Refer to stanza 1.
1.1 Choose one word which you feel best indicates the poet’s feelings towards his subject. Justify your
choice.
1.2 Who is the poet referring to by ‘the brave’ and ‘the gifted’?
1.3 Who are the ‘empty, scheming men’?

2. Refer to stanza 2.
2.1 How do the changes to the refrain (from the first stanza) influence the tone of voice?
2.2 Discuss the change of tempo in this stanza. How is it achieved by the poet?
2.3 Suggest reasons why the poet has changed the tempo for this stanza.
2.4 Explain the simile ‘sleep/Like seeds’ in the context of this stanza.

3. Refer to stanza 3.
3.1 What is the poet referring to by the ‘jungle code’ and the ‘hypocrite gesture’?
3.2 Explain in your own words what the poet means by ‘that stale imposture/Played on us once again?’

4. Refer to stanza 4.
4.1 Explain the central metaphor in this stanza.
4.2 ‘We should not be surprised: we knew it/Happen before.’
What does the poet achieve by separating these two lines?
4.3 What has happened before?

5. Refer to stanza 5.
5.1 What is the significance of using ‘Shall’ instead of ‘Will’ in this last refrain?
5.2 Comment on the poet’s use of the word ‘nail’. Is it effective?

6. What is the poet’s intention in writing this poem? Explain your answer with reference to the poem.

This poem was written prior to 1943 and Lewis was commenting on politicians
and war. But the words still ring true today. Discuss how relevant the
comments are today given the world crises that we face.

© Macrat Publishing