IB MYP 5 PROGRAMME

NAME OF STUDENT: DEBORAH LENASALON

ADMISSION NO: 694

INDIVIDUAL ASSIGNMENT TASK

PAPER TITLE:

POEM COMMENTARY.
They say that words are powerful enough to create a difference. Poem is one of the ways that
uses words to bring out the issues and sectors that need to be corrected overtime. The poem
songs of violence, is one of them that have achieved to convince and clearly bring out its
message. The poet, have chosen to make her poem a free verse which has really immersed me
because ;I think that having making a poem a free verse will break the limits for one to give out
her message well by choice of words and use of many range of stylistic devices. Well, I can say
that the poet have chosen the structure of her poem wisely because it is effective enough to
spread out any kind of message by not limiting one to some poetic rules such as rhyme scheme
e.t.c.

Secondly, the poet have deliberately achieved to deploy the message of the poem by using a
wide range of poetic devices without limits. By choosing her persona, to be one of the victim in
the pandemic but seemed to have been hiding while observing the whole incident happen; the
poet have achieved to convince her audience by the reliability of her message because it has been
picked right through the witness. While reading on the poem, I felt like the poet was trying to
portray the betrayal and the minor crimes that occurs within our communities that actually
contributes to the destruction of the society in our day to day lifes.

What I thought deeply about the poem is that it represented a scenario like cattle rustling where,
it usually occurs between two communities of one language group and share some common
characteristics where as at the same time, they are doing great injustices to one another. For in
stance it took me to think of a communities like Turkana and pokot, whom were initially good
friends but as time went, the hatred grew between the two and all of the above mentioned
injustices in the poem are being done to the people from the opposite community. Some phrases
have made me think and perceive the poem that ways e.g Men’s frantic shouts mingle with
women’s screams, children – lost, crying, terrified’ that is exactly what occurs when there is
cattle raiding in between communities. In my own opinion, the persona has brought out her
message clearly through the use of phrases that evokes emotions to the reader. For instance when
I was reading through the poem, a picture of the whole scenario showed in my mind where I was
imagining a situation where a sudden attack occured and all people were mingling as the
attackers were destroying everything including human lifes.

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The poet used different stylistic devices to exhibit her message to be as creative and emotive.
First, the poet used metanoia to delibaretely strengthen the emotions that are being evoked in the
poem. In the 19th line of the free verse ‘ No! The marauders are our friends’ the poet used the
words of correction to actually create a theme of betrayal whereby the people whom were trusted
by the community turned out to be their great enemies after all. Also symbolism have been used
in by the persona to create an impact of a bad omen that have been happening. In the 9th line, the
persona mentioned a broken cooking pot which It might be refering to the death and partion of
the united families in the community.

Apart from the symbolism, the persona used sarcastic words to create a point of emphasis and
the depth of the situation. In the 16th line of the free verse, the poet used sarcasm where she
stated ‘Not animals, they do not destroy like this’, she deliberately used it to create an emotive
tone of a frustration feeling that she gets after seeing how brutual and serious the attackers have
caused much harm to the people and things around there. Lastly there is the use of oxymoron in
the poem which I think that its intention was to convey a feeling of a harsh reality but in a depth
way which will likely need the reader to think deeply of it. In the 17th line of the poem, the poet
mentioned on a ‘sadistic pleasure’ which is contradictory to itself. A sadistic pleasure words
were used to struck a thinking space for a reader to actually try to create a picture of the scenario,
which will keep the reader moving on throughout to the end. By using such words, the poet has
brought out the harsh message but in a deep way that seems to be foolish but is the truth of the
things happening. My take on the stylistic devices used by the poet is that; the poet has showed
great creativity and convincing way of exhibiting her message by using such great words and
stylistic devices. By using the stylistic devices I think that the use of stylistic devices have really
boosted the success of the poets message because they played a role of arousing convicing
emotions on the reader such as sadness, symphathy for the people.

To conclude, the poet have used some sound devices to bring out the essence of musicallity in
her poem. One of the sound devices used is alliteration which shows up in the 7th line ‘ when
cold dawn comes, we see with pity’ the altanating words cold and comes creates some musicality
of the sound ‘k’. To sum up, the poet generally have strived to deliver her message in an emotive
and effective way by use of poetic devices and language featureson the harsh truth that lies in the
world composed of betrayal and brutuality.

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