Set 8 - 56 Revised Poems Revision Simplified

REACH ME OUT FOR ANSWERS (O756710486)
Poetry Questions and Answers
QUESTION 1
When We Were Young
When we were young we could not tell our dreams,
We had no words to spell our joys and fears
Loves, lusts, desires sang loud within our blood,
None heard their music or our silent fears
Silent we knew despair and ecstasy,
Richer and deeper without stain of words,
Language had not corrupted what we felt,
Our loves and lusts were pure because unheard.
Older, we lose our primal, wordless ease,
In joy, delight, despair, language smears,
Inky fingers on emotion's pages,
And worldly lies distort our lives and fears.
1. Who are the "we" in the poem? (2 marks)
2. Why couldn't the "we" talk about their feelings when they were
young? (2 marks)
3. According to the poem, how do older people express their
feelings? (4 marks)
4. What is the persona's attitude to language? Explain your answer.
(3 marks)
5. Identify and explain the use of any two poetic devices evident in
this poem. (6 marks)
6. Explain the meaning of the following words as used in the poem.
(3 marks)
a. spell
b. ecstasy
c. primal
ANSWERS
1. The older people vallecting on their childhood.(2 marks)
2.
a. When we were young 'we' could not talk about their feelings
because they had no languageto express themselves"we
had no words to spell..."
b. Certain feelings and emotions cannot sometimes be
adequately expressed through language- silence we knew
despair and ecstacy, (2 marks)
3.
a. The older people find it hard to express their feeling. They
use language to cover up their truc feelings because they
fear what others may think of them.
b. They are insincère because they are afraid of other people's
opinions. They lie to cover up their fears.
4.
a. The person's attitude to language is ironic because
language is supposed to make communication easier but in
this case it distorts or hides what one really feels
b. The attitude is suspicious. This is is because instead of
language making things clear, it becomes a barrier to
communication(3marks)
5.
a. Metaphor -eg "without stain of words"Language smears inky
fingers on emotion's pages". The images clearly shows how
language soils natural emotions/feelings.
b. Rhyme-eg smears and fearscreates thythin and musicalty
c. Alliteration - loves,lust delights- despair creates rhythm,
makes poem musical af interestingExpect identification,
illustration and effect of the device, 3x2- (6 marks)
6.
a. Spell -articulate/ Express
b. Ecstasy-excitement/ delight/ jubilation
c. Primal basic /untainted (Any 1-2 marks)
QUESTION 2
It is Well!
He is coming back to us after many years away
We released him to you young, vibrant and eloquent.
But you ;ve brought him back,
To the cradle, this great son of the soil
A "mganga" with a heavy tongue,Vanguished, punctured, empty-
handed
With eyes continually dripping
Could he be saddened by our predicament
Or are they tears of regret?We gave him out as the best we could
find,
One who had we known, we ;d have kept around hereto look after our
affairs.
He was a good Son, blessed of the clan,
That Son you people mocked, is a good Son!
But see who you have brought us back!
Well, he is ours and we ;ll build him a house by the shore!
By Odhiambo Kaumah (Edited)
1. Who could be the ‘We’ in the poem? Explain. (2 marks)
2. Mention any two changes highlighted in the poem. (2 marks)
3. Illustrate the use of any two poetic devices which qualify this as
an oral poem. (4 marks)
4. Explain the subject matter of the poem. (3 marks)
5. What is the effect of the line: ‘But see who you have brought us
back!’? (2 marks)
6. Explain the persona’s attitude towards the ‘good Son’ (3 marks)
7. Why do you think the word ‘Son’ begins with a capital letter? (2
marks)
8. Explain the meaning of the following expressions as used in the
poem. (2 marks)
a. Heavy tongue
b. Empty-handed
ANSWERS
1. The good Son’s kinsmen/Tribesmen/Clan members - He’s
ours/We gave him out…
a. Any well illustrated point, 2 marks; ident.1mark, illust. 1 mark
2.
a. He was once vibrant/strong but now punctured/weak/tired
b. He was once eloquent but has a heavy tongue nowAny two
points, 1 mark each
3.
a. Local dialect-mganga-captures the local linguistic
flavor/identifies the ethnic originalityof the poem
b. Repetition-‘He was a good son’ has been repeated-To show
how valued/great he was We released him-we
gave him out-
c. Direct address-But you’ve brought him
back-Immediacy/enhances the interest of the addressee on
the subject
d. Rhetorical question-… Or are they tears of regret? - evokes
deep thought
e. Alliteration- …you young-enhances memorability/creates
rhythm
f. Assonance-we’ll build him-enhances memorability/ creates
rhythmAny two well-illustrated points, 2 marks each; ident. 1
mark, Illust. 1 mark
4. Plot approach-It’s about kinsmen/clan members mourning the
abuse suffered by their revered Son at the hands of those he
went out to serve and their/clan members’ resolve to warmly
welcome him back/build him a house at the shore regardless of
his state/condition.Thematic
approachUngratefulness/ingratitude-a good son labelled
mganga/ …mocked a good sonChange/Transition- ...was once
vibrant/full of life /strong but now punctured/weak/tired
He was once eloquent but has a heavy tongueAny one well-
illustrated point, 3 marks; ident.2 marks, illust. 1 mark
5. Expresses the high level of disappointment with the condition of
their son. Tick 2
6. Loving- he was a good son/ he’s ours/we’ll build him…
Sympathetic-But see what you…/That Son you people mocked
was a good sonAny one well-illustrated point, 3 marks; ident.2
marks, illust. 1 mark
7. To show how revered the son is/ to show that, to them, the son is
larger than life.
8.
a. inarticulate/ineloquent…
b. With nothing/having nothing/unrewarded…Correct
explanation or synonyms are allowedWord class must be
considered
QUESTION 3
“The face of hunger.”
I counted ribs on his concertina chest

Bones protruding as if chiseled
By sculptor’s hand of famine.
He looked with glazed pupils
Seeing only a bun on some sky-high shelf.
The skin was pale and tautLike a glove on a doctor’s hand
His tongue darted in and outLike a chameleon’s Snatching a confetti
of lies
Oh! ChildYour stomach is a den of lionsRoaring day and nightBy
Mbuyiseni MstshaliQuestions
1. Identify the persona in the above poem. (2mks)
2. What is the poem about? (4mks)
3. Identify and illustrate instances of imagery in the poem. (4mks)
4. Using illustration identify the dominant theme in the above poem.
(2mks)
5. What tone do you get in the above poem. (3mks)
6. Your stomach is a den of lion.(negate the statement.) (1mk)
7. Give the contextual meaning of the following words and phrase
(4mks)
a. Protruding
b. Pale
c. Darted
d. A den of lions
QUESTION 4
His sunken cheeks, his inward-looking eyes,
The sarcastic, soonful smile on his lips
The unkempt, matted grey hair,
Spoke eloquently of the life he had lived
But I did not mour for him.
The hammer, the saw and the plane,
These were his tools and his ointment and his perfume.
He fashioned dining tables, chairs, wardrobes,
And all the wooden loves of colonial life
No, I did not mourn for him.He built colonial mansions,
Huge, unwieldy, arrogant constructions,
But he squatted in a sickly mud-house,
With his children huddled stuntedly.
Under the bed bug bed he shared with mother I could not mourn for
him.I had already inherited
His premature old-age look, I had imbibed his frustration,
But his dream of freedom and happiness
Had become my song, my love, So I could not mourn for him No,
I did not shed my tears,
My father's dead it still lives in me,
He lives in my son, my father, I am my father and my son, I will
awaken his sleepy holes and yearnings,
But I will not mourn for him, I will not mourn for me
1. Who is the persona in this poem? (2mks)
2. But I did not could not and will not moun for him. This serves as
the clincher of every stanza. Mention four reasons for the
persona not mourning his father's death
3. Mention three spects of stylistic devices used in the poem and
explain their effectiveness
4. State one character trait of the persona.
5. What is the attitude of the persona towards his father?
6. My father's dead life still lives in me. Add a question tag?
7. Paraphrase the following lines. I had already inheritedHis
premature old-age lookI had imbibed his frustrationBut his dream
of freedom and happinessHad become my song, my loveSo, I
could not mourn for him.
8. Explain the meaning of the following lines and words as used in
the poem.
a. The hard course sand-paper hands spoke eloquently of the
life he had lived.
b. His premature old-age look.
QUESTION 5
TOUCH by Hugh Lewin
When I get outI’m going to ask someone
Touch meVery gently please And slowly,
Touch me I wantTo learn againHow life feels
I’ve not been touchedFor seven years
For seven years I’ve been untouched Out of touchAnd I’ve learnt
To know nowThe meaning of Untouchable.Untouched – not quiteI
can count the thingsthat have touched me.
One: fists At the beginningFierce mad fistsBeating beating
Till I rememberScreamingDon’t touch me
Please don’t touch me
Two: paws The first four years of pawsEvery day
Patting paws, searchingArms up, shoes off
Legs apart-Prodding paws, systematicHeavy indifferent
Probing awayall privacy.
I don’t want fists and pawsI want
To want to be touchedAgainAnd to touch.I want to feel aliveAgainI
want to say
When I get out
Here I am
Please touch me. (From poets to the people, edit by Barry
Feinberg)
Questions
1. Where do you think the person is? Briefly explain your answer.
(3marks)
2. What do you think the persona means by “touch”? (3marks)
3. Using two illustrations, describe the persona’s experience during
the seven years. (4marks)
4. What is the significance of the word ‘paws’? (2marks)
5. Which device does the poet use to reinforce the theme?
(2marks)
6. Explain the meaning of the following words as used in the poem.
(2marks)
a. Prodding
b. Indifferent.
7. How does the poet use contrast to reveal about human need?
(4marks)
QUESTION 6
Bell The Cat
The story of a cat menace to mice Was told to all mice
To the foolish and the wise
Mice met from all walksAnd held investable live-die talks
Searching for life-long answer
To the cat-mouse problem.
What do we do? They asked.Let’s bride him, some opined
Some will be marked for cat
That others walk in freedom
But no one volunteeredWas freedom worth dying for?
Then let’s bell him;A round of applause.
The conference assented with toasts and thumb-ups
Then, in an afterthought,Who’ll string the cat?
One askedSighs are heaved, stares returned.
Winks flashed, sweats shed, throats cleared.
No –one dared.
The mice fell short of freedom
Cat catches unannounced
One has to bell him-The question is the answer.Who will?
Questions
1. What does the poet say about human behavior using the mice
and the cat. (2mks)
2. Show how the poet develops the conflict in this poem. (4mks)
3. Identify any three features of style used in this poem and explain
their functions. (6mks)
4. Describe the mood of the poem. (2mks)
5. Explain the meaning of the following expressions. (4mks)
a. Menace
b. opined
c. assented with toasts and thumbs-up
d. Sighs are heaved, stares returned.
6. Briefly explain the relevance of the title. (2mks)
QUESTION 7
My parents
My parents kept me from children who were rough.
Who threw words like stones and who wore torn clothes
Their thighs showed through rags.
They ran in the streets –
And climbed cliffs and stripped by the country streamsI feared more
than tigers their muscles like iron
Their jerking hands and their knees tight on my arms.
Ifeared the salt Coarse pointing of those boys
Who copied my lisp behind me on the road.
They were lithe, the sprang out behind hedges
Like dogs to bark at my world.
They threw mud While I looked the other way, pretending to smile I
longed to forgive them, but they never smiled.
1. Whom did the speaker’s parents try to protect him from and why?
(3mks)
2. What happens in stanza two? (2mks)
3. How did the rough children treat the speaker? (2mks)
4. Describe the attitude of the speaker towards the rough children.
(3mks)
5. Describe the character of the speaker as depicted in the poem.
(2mks)
6. Identify a figure of speech used in the poem. (2mks)
7. Highlight the irony in the last stanza of the poem. (2mks)
8. What is the theme of the poem? (2mks)
9. Give the meaning of the following words as used in the poem.
(2mks)
a. Jerking
b. Lithe
QUESTION 8
SYMPTOMS OF LOVE
Love is a universal migraine
A bright stain on the vision
Blotting out reason
Symptoms of true love
Are leanness jealousyLaggard dawns.
Are omens and nightmares-
Listening for a knock
Waiting for a sign
For a touch of her fingersIn a darkened room
For a searching look.
Take courage lover!
Could you endure such pain
At any hand but hers?(Literature: reading fiction, poetry and drama
McGraw hill, 2000)
1. Identify the persona in this poem (2marks)
2. What is the persona’s attitude towards love? Explain your
answer (3marks)
3. Describe the tone of the poem giving evidence to support your
answer (4marks)
4. Identify and illustrate any four fingers of speech used in the
poem. Commenton their effectiveness(6marks)
5. Describe the mood of the poem with illustrations to support your
answer (3marks)
6. Explain the rhetorical question at the end of the poem (2marks)
1.
QUESTION 9
THE BREWING NIGHT
It was that memorable night when I heard itYes,
I heard it all
That night sleep deserted me,
Mocked at me and tantalized me,
So I lay awake, sharp in all my senses.
It was long past midnight:
Time dragged on, the clock chime;
The dog wouldn’t bark, nor the baby cry;
It was a moonless and windless night;
The whole universe seemed to stagnateIn dark, dreary, dead
slumber.
What was amiss? I knew not.
The dead quietness and solitudeSeemed to be eternal, butWaves of
babbling and muttering
Began to trickle through the streets;
A distant roaring of heavy trucks filled the air,Hurried footsteps
eroded through the street.
What was a miss?
I knew not.I pulled my curtainAnd there I saw it all
Heavy boots thick uniforms and solid helmets
Dimly discernible under the pale street lamp
The atmosphere stood stiff and solid withBrawny- faced and clenched
–teeth determination
The night had pulsed with passion high and wild;
The streets were stained with new portraits framed;
The wheel changed hands and new plans were filed.
The morning saw the country strangely dresses
And everyone attended the rally.
To hear the eloquence from a strange face,And everyone quietly
nodded and said, ‘yes’
(By Yusuf O. Kassam, in Poems from East Africa.)Questions
1. Explain what the poem is about. (3 mks)
2. In what ways was the night described in the poem peculiar? (2
mks)
3. What was a miss? I knew not. (Rewrite as one sentence
beginning, I did……………) (2 mks)
4. Paraphrase in one sentence what the persona saw when he or
she pulled the curtain to see. (1 mk)
5. What is the significance of stanza two? (3 mks)
6. Identify and explain any one personification in the poem. (2 mks)
7. Explain in your own words what happens in the last stanza. (5
mks)
8. Explain the meaning of the title. (2 mks)
QUESTION 10
I can't breathe
I can't breathe he said to you multiple times for 9 minutes
As his windpipe was crushedI can't breathe
He said while your knee Was on his neck
I can't breathe He had to say
Because of the color of his skinI can't breathe
He said while thinking about his family
And knowing he might never see then again.
I can't breathe He said while you watched the life slowly
Fade out of himI can't breathe He choked Coughied on his on bloodI
can't breathe
He said While you wore a smirk on your faceI can't breathe
Now the world is on fire
And it's your fault I can't breathe
While knowing people like you Continue to exist
1. Who is the persona of the poem
2. What is the poem about. (4marks)
3. Identify, illustrate and explain effectiveness of two stylistic
devices. (6marks)
4. Comment on the prevailing mood from stanza 1-8
stanza(3marks)
5. Why is the persona pessimistic in the last stanza (2marks)
6. Explain the meaning of the following linesWhile you wore a smirk
on your faceNow the world is on fire
QUESTION 11
Read the poem below and answer questions that follow:
I AM TIRED OF TALKING IN METAPHORS
I will talk plainly,
Because I am moved to abandon riddles,
I will tell you of howWe held our heads in our hands
Because the owl hooted all night
And the dogs howled as if mourningWe waited the bad newsWe
received it
Our mother blinded in one eye
Crippled in the right leg
Because she did not vote
For her husband’s candidate
I will remind you
Of when the peeled plantains Stood upright in the cooking pot
We slaughtered a cock,
Anticipating an important visitor
We got her:Our daughter – piece of flesh in a sack
Our present from her husband
No! I will not use metaphors I will just talk to you:
I do not fight to take your place
Or to constantly wave my fist in you faceI refuse to argue about
Your “manly pact” with my fatherYou’ re buying me for a bag of
potatoesAnd pepperAll I want Is for you to stop denying me My
presence needs no metaphors
I am here Just as you are I am not a machine To dismantle whenever
you whim I demand my human dignity
Questions
1. Who is the persona in this poem? (2 mks)
2. What are the thematic concerns of the poem (4 mks)
3. Explain the speaker’s attitude towards the subject matter (3 mks)
4. Give a character trait of the speaker (2 mks)
5. Discuss two elements of tradition highlighted in the poem (4 mks)
6. Identity two features of style used in the poem (4 mks)
7. Our mother blinded in one eye Crippled in the right leg (Join
using a conjunction) (1mk)
12.To a Daughter Leaving Home

when l taught youat eight to ridea bicycle,
loping alongbeside youas you wobbled away on two round wheels,
my own mouth roundingin surprise when you pulledahead down the
curved
Path of the park,
l kept waitingfor the thudof your crash as lsprinted to catch up,
while you grewsmaller, more breakablewith distancepumping,
pumpingfor your life, screamingwith laughter,the hair flapping behind
you like ahandkerchief
wavinggood bye
Linda Pastan.
QUESTIONS
1. Who is the persona in the poem? (2mks)
2. What is the subject matter of the poem? (3mks)
3. Identify and explain two features of style used in the poem
(6mks)
4. What is the persona’s attitude towards the daughter? (3mks)
5. Describe one theme brought out in the poem (3mks)
6. Identify any one onomatopoeic word in the poem (1mk)
7. Give the meaning of these words as used in the poem:
a. Loping ------------
b. wobbled ----------
c. Sprinted ----------
QUESTION 13
Read the poem below and then answer the questions that follow.
(20marks)No coffin, No grave by Jared Angira
He was buried without a coffin Without a grave
The scavengers performed the post-mortemIn the open mortuary
Without sterilized knivesIn front of the night clubStuttering rifle put up
The gun salute of the day
That was a state burial anyway
The car knelt
The rad plate wept,
wrapped itself in blood itsMaster’s
The diary revealed to the sea
The rain anchored there at lastIsn’t our flag red, black and white?So
he wrapped himself wellWho could signal yellow
When we had to leave politics to the experts
And brood on booksBrood on hunger
And school girlsGrumble under the black potSleep under torn
mosquito netAnd let lice lick our intestines
The Lord of bar, money speaks madamWoman magnet, money
speaks madamWe only cover the stinking darkness of the cave of our
mouths
And ask our father who is in hell to judge himThe quick and the
good.Well, his diary, submarine of the third worldWarShowed he
wished
To be buried in a golden-laden coffin
Like a VIPUnder the Jacaranda tree beside his palace
A shelter for his graveAnd much beer for the funeral party
Anyway one noisy pupil suggest we bring Tractors and plough the
land.
QUESTIONS;
1. Who is being referred as “we” in the 4th stanza?
(1mark)
2. Briefly explain what this poem is about. (3marks)
3. Comment on the use of two stylistic devices in the above poem.
(6marks)
4. Explain the tone of the poem. (2marks)
5. What is the attitude of the persona toward his or her subject?
(2marks)
6. In your own words, suggest ways people can changes in the
society without assassinating politicians. (2marks)
7. Explain the following lines (2marks)
a. Who could signal
yellow………………………………………………………………
………………………………………
b. Submarine of the Third
WorldWar…………………………………………………………
…………………………...
8. Explain the meaning of the following words as used the poem.
(2marks)
a. Anchored…………………………………………………………
………..
b. Brood………………………………………………………………
………..
QUESTION 14
Read the poem bellow and then answer the questions that
follow. 20 MARKS
My grandmother
She kept an antique shop – or it kept her.
Among Apostle spoons and Bristol glasses,
The faded silks, the heavy furniture,
She watched her own reflection in the brass
Salvers and silver bowls, as if to prove
Polish was all, there was no need for love.
And I remember how I once refused
To go out with her, since I was afraid.It was perhaps a wish not to be
used
Like antique objects.
Though she never said
That she was hurt, I still could feel the guiltOf that refusal, guessing
how she felt.
Later, too frail to keep a shop, she put
All her best things in one long, narrow room.
The place smelt old, of things too long kept shut,
The smell of absences where shadows come
That can’t be polished. There was nothing then
To give her own reflection back again.
And when she died I felt no grief at all,
Only the guilt of what I once refused.
I walked into her room among the tallSideboards and cupboards –
things she never usedBut needed: and no finger-marks were there,
Only the new dust falling through the air. - Elizabeth Jennings
1. Identify the persona in the above poem. (2 marks)
2. In note form, summarize what each stanza is talking about. (4
marks)
3. Identify and briefly explain the use of any two images in the
poem.(4 marks)
4. What does the persona feel towards the grandmother? (2 marks)
5. What do the following lines mean in the poem? (2 marks)
a. “too frail to keep a shop”
b. Only the new dust falling through the air”
6. Describe the tone the persona uses in the second stanza (2
marks)
7. Explain the paradox in the line: (2 marks)things she never
usedBut needed:
8. Explain the persona’s sense of guilt. (2 marks)
QUESTION 15
HOW DO I LOVE THEE?
How do I love thee?
Let me count the ways.
I love thee to the depth and breadth and heightMy soul can reach,
when feeling out of sight
For the ends of Being and ideal GraceI love thee to the level of
everyday
Most quiet need, by sun and candle-lightI love thee freely, as men
strive for Right.
I love thee purely, as they turn from praise.
I love thee with a passion put to useIn my old griefs, and with my
childhood’s faith
I love thee with I seemed to loseI love thee saints –
I love thee with the breath,Smiles, tears, of all my life! –
and if God choose,I shall but love thee better after death.(Elizabeth
Barrett Browning)
1. Briefly explain what the poem is about. (4mks)
2. Who is the persona in this poem? Give a reason. (2mks)
3. Comment on the use of three figures of speech in the poem.
(6mks)
4. What is the persona’s attitude toward the object of love? (2mks)
5. Identify and illustrate one character trait of the persona brought
out in the poem. (2mks)
6. Give the meaning of the following lines as used in the poem.
a. I love thee to the level of everyday (1mk)Most quiet need, by
sun and candle-light
b. With my childhood faith; (1mk)
c. I shall but love thee better after death. (2mks)
QUESTION 16
Read the following poem and answer the questions that follow.
WHEN I WAS ONE – AND – TWENTY
When I was one – and- twenty I heard a wise man say,
“Give crowns and pounds and guineas
But not your heart away; Give pearls away and rubies But keep your
fancy free”
But I was one – and- twenty,
No use to talk to meWhen I was one- and- twenty I heard him say
again’
“The heart out of the bossom Was never given in vain;
“Tis paid with sighs a – plenty And sold for endless rue.”
And I am two – and – twenty, And oh, ‘tis true, tis true. (A.E
Housman)
1. Who is the speaker in this poem? ( 3 marks)
2. What advise does the wise man give to the speaker? Does the
speaker follow the advice? Explain. ( 3 marks)
3. How much time has passed between the first and second
stanza? Explain ( 2 marks)
4. Identify and illustrate the features of style used in the poem.
What does the poet achieve by using them? ( 6 marks)
5. Explain the meaning of the following lines. ( 2 marks) But I was
one and twenty No use to talk to me
6. Describe the tone of the poem. ( 2 marks)
7. Rewrite the following lines in your own words: ( 2 marks) Tis paid
with sings a – plenty And sold for endless rue
QUESTION 17
WHAT’S IMPORTANT IN LIFE?
The Years have passed by,In the blink of an eye,
Moments of sadness,
And joy have flown by.People I loved,
Have come and have gone,
But the world never stopped,
And we all carried on.
Life wasn't easy,
And the struggles were there,
Filled with times that it mattered,
Times I just didn't care.I stood on my own,
And I still found my way,
Through some nights filled with tears,
And the dawn of new days.
And now with old age,It's become very clear,
Things I once found important,
Were not why I was here.
And how many things,
That I managed to buy,
Were never what made me,
Feel better inside.And the worries and fears,
That plagued me each day,In the end of it all,
Would just fade away.
But how much I reached out,
To others when needed,Would be the true measure,Of how I
succeeded.And how much I shared,Of my soul and my heart,
Would ultimately be,What set me apart.
And what's really importantIs my opinion of me,
And whether or not,I'm the best I can be.
And how much more kindness,
And love I can show,Before the Lord tells me,
It's my time to go.
By Pat Fleming
1. Who is the persona in the poem above? ( 2 marks)
2. What subject matter is addressed in the poem? ( 3 marks)
3. Give evidence from the poem suggesting that time has elapsed
so quickly. ( 3 marks)
4. Paraphrase verse 6 of the poem. ( 2 marks)
5. Describe the attitude of the persona toward the subject matter.
( 3 marks)
6. Identify and explain the stylistic device employed in the last verse
of the poem. ( 2 marks)
7. With old age, it’s become very clear. Rewrite ending with: old
age) (1 mark)
8. Explain the meaning of the following as used in the poem. ( 4
marks)
a. Plagued
b. I stood on my own, through some nights filled with tears
c. True measure
QUESTION 18
Read the poem below and answer the questions below.
WEDDING EVE
Should I
Or should I not
Take the oath to loveForever
This person I know little about?
Does she love me
Or my car Or my future
Which I know little about?
Will she continue to love me?
When the future she saw in me
Crumbles and fades into nothingLeaving the naked me To love
without hope?
Will that smile she wears Last through the hazards to come
When fate strikesAcross the dreams of tomorrow?
Or will sheLike the clever passenger in a faulty plane
Wear her life jacket
And jump out to save her life Leaving me to crash into the unknown
What magic can I use
To see what lies beneath Her angel face and well-knit hair
To see her hopes and dreams
Before I take the oathTo love forever?
We are both wise chess players
She makes a moveI make a move
And we trap each other in our secret dreams
Hoping to win against each other
Questions
1. Briefly explain what the poem is about (3 marks)
2. Identify and describe the persona in the poem (2 marks)
3. Highlight three features of style used in the poem and show their
effectiveness (6 marks)
4. Describe the attitude of the persona towards the 'she' in the
poem (3 marks)
5. Comment on the tone of the persona (2 marks)
6. We are both wise chess players. Add a question tag (1 mark)
7. Explain the meaning of the following lines as used in the poem (3
marks)
a. Will that smile she wears last through the hazards to come
b. Leaving the naked me
c. the clever passenger in a faulty plane...
QUESTION 19
Read the poem below and answer the questions that follow. (20
marks)
Pledging My Soul
When I was a boy
I climbed onto your granite breasts smooth and round
I trailed my body from the small of your back to your yielding neck
the cup of your breasts was my pillow the rivers of your tears
drowned me down in your depths and the smooth plain of your flat
belly yielded to mine
I was yours and your were mine
Now a man in exile from the warmth of your arms and the milk of your
teeth the breath of your secret whispers in my ears
Shall I not stride back to you with haste rout all my enemies and bind
the wicked husbandmen to rise naked before you-a bowl of incense?
and the smoke of my nakedness shall be an offering to you pledging
my soulCharles Marechera (Zimbabwe)
1. Identify the persona in the poem. (2 marks)
2. What is the poem about?(4 marks)
3. Explain the use of two poetic devices in the poem. (4 marks)
4. Comment on the prevailing mood in the first stanza. (3 marks)
5. How does the persona's life as a man differ from his life as a
boy? (4 marks)
6. Explain the meaning of the following lines as used in the poem.(3
marks)
a. I was yoursand you were mine
b. Now a man in exile from the warmth of your arms
c. rout all my enemies and bind the wicked husbandmen
QUESTION 20
MY FATHER BEGAN AS A GOD
My father began as a god,full of heroic talesof days when he was
young.
His laws were as immutableas if brought down from Sinai,
which indeed he thought they were.
He fearlessly lifted me to heavenby a mere swing to his shoulder,
and made me a godlingby seating me astrideour milch-cow's back,
and, tooupon the great white gobblerof which others went in constant
fear.
Strange then how he shrank and shrankuntil by my time of
adolescencehe had become a foolish small old manwith silly and
outmoded viewsof life and of morality.
Stranger stillthat as I became olderhis faults and his
intolerancesscaled away into the past,revealing virtuessuch as
honesty, generosity, integrity.
Strangest of allhow the deeper he recedes into the gravethe more I
see myselfas just one more of all the little menwho creep through
lifeno knee-high to this long-dead god. (By Ian Mudie)
1. Who is the persona in the poem? 2mks
2. What is the poem about? 4mks
3. Comment on the suitability of the title of the poem. 2mks
4. What is the attitude of the persona towards his father? 3mks
5. Identify any three stylistic devices used in the poem. 6mks
6. Why do you think the persona feels that his father has shrunk?
2mks
7. Give the antonym of the word recedes as used in the poem. 1mk
QUESTION 21
LAMENT
For the green turtle with her pulsing burden,
in search of the breeding ground,
For her eggs laid in their nest of sickness.
For the cormorant in his funeral silk.
the veil of iridescence on the sand,
the shadow on the sea.
For the ocean’s lap with its mortal stain.
For Ahmed at the closed border.
For the soldier in his uniform of fire
For the gunsmith and the armourer,
the boy fusilier who joined for the Company,
The farmer’s sons, in it for the music,
For the hook-beaked turtles,
the dugong and the dolphin,the whale strock dumb by the missile’s
thunder.
For the tern, the gull and the restless wader,
the long migrations and the slow dying,the veiled sun and the stink of
anger.
For the burnt earth and the sun put out.
the scalded ocean and the blazing well.
For vengeance, and the ashes of language.
Gillian Clarke
QUESTIONS
1. Explain the relevance of the title of this poem. (3 marks)
2. Explain what this poem is about. (4 marks)
3. Identify and illustrate any two different figures of speech used by
the poet. (4 marks)
4. Giving clear illustrations, identify the tone of this poem. (3 marks)
5. What is the mood of the poem? (3 marks)
6. Explain the meaning of the following words in the context of the
poem. (3marks)
a. Pulsing
b. Scalded
c. Put out
22.NATURALLY
I fear the workers: they writhe in bristling grass
And wormy mud: out with dawn, back with dusk
Depart with seed and return with fat-bursting fruit
And I eat the fruitAnd still they toil: at boiling pointIn head-splitting
noise and threatening saws
They suck their energy from slimy cassava
And age-rusty taps: till they make a Benz
And I ride in the Benz: festoonedWith striped rags and python copper
coiling monsters
While the workers clap their blistered handsAnd I overrun their kids
They build their hives: often outOf the broken bones of their
mates:And I drone in them – ‘state-house
’Them, ‘collegize’ them, ‘officialize’ themAnd I . . . I whore their
daughtersRaised in litter-rotting hovels
And desiring a quickquick highhigh life
To break the bondAnd I tell the workers to uniteKnowing well they
can’t see hear or understand:What with sweat and grime sealing their
ears
And eyes already blasted with wielding sparks
And me speaking a colourless tongueBut one day a rainstorm shall
flood
The litter-rotten hovelsAnd wash the workers’ eyes clean
Refresh the tattered muscles for a long-delayed
Blow(By Austin Bukenya in An Introduction to East African poetry)
1. Who is the persona in the above poem? (2 marks)
2. What is the poem about? (3 marks)
3. Identify and comment on any two stylistic devices used in this
poem. (4 marks)
4. Describe the tone of the poem. (2 marks)
5. Identify one character trait of the persona as shown in the
poem. (2 marks)
6. Explain the meaning of the following lines as used in the poem.
(4 marks)
a. Depart with seed and return with fat-bursting fruitAnd I eat
the fruit
b. But one day a rainstorm shall floodThe litter-rotten hovelAnd
wash the workers’ eyes cleanRefresh the tattered muscles
for a long-delayedBlow
7. Identify two instances in the poem which describe the workers
living in deplorable conditions. (2 marks)
8. Comment on the use of coordinating conjunction “And” in this
poem. (1 mark)
QUESTION 23
You are now one of us
Yes, one of us.
If you ever reveal,
Become as grey as ash.
You have become my brother/sister,
Yes, you have.
If you ever reveal,Become as grey as ash
You have become one of us,
Yes, one of us.
If you ever revealBecome as grey as ash.
You have become my son/daughter.
Yes, my son/daughter.
If you ever reveal,
My real son/daughter,
Yes, my real son/daughter.
If you ever revealBecome as grey as ash.
We have initiated you
.Yes, we have.If you ever reveal,
Become as grey as ash.You are now grown up, yes, grown up.If you
ever reveal,Become as grey as ash,
You have become one of us,
Yes, one of us.If you ever reveal our secrets,
Our secrets, our secrets,
WE HAVE INITIATED YOU.
Questions.
1. Classify the song above. (1mk)
2. Identify and illustrate any two styles used in the song. (4mks)
3. State four functions of the above song. (2mks)
4. Explain the meaning of the following words (3mks)
a. Initiation
b. Reveal
c. Grown up
5. When is the song sung and why (2mks)
6. What are the two effects of repetition in a song? (2mks)
7. Name any four other genres of oral literature. (2mks)
8. How will you perform the last line of the song? (2mks)
9. What is oral literature? (2mks)
QUESTION 24
THE CROP THIEVEST
swiris! tswiri! I the person I suspect?
What have you heard that makes you suspicious?
I heard things said, rumors of weaver birds;
They ate corns in Lesiba’s field and finished it
And when they left they sounded hummmm-
They said, ‘listen to the numerous weaver birdsChildren of the horse
that ate the courtyards and the timesIt is the numerous weaver birds
The grey ones that go about in swarms
Children with the little red beaks
Children that make a noise in the mimosa trees
Tupu-tupu! The smoke comes out while the dew still glitters
Howaaa! Sweaaa! –is heard in the early morning
They are finishing the corn, the numerous weaver bird
Children with withered beaksAt home, it is yo! Yo!
Then children are crying
Their mothers have gone to the fields to the birdsIt is the Zulus that
have entered the country
Take axes and loop the tree branchesYo!
This year we shall eat fireWe shall lack even a blue tongued goat!
It is numerous weaver birds; the grey ones
That go about in swarms.
QUESTIONS.
1. What kind of oral poem is this? 2mks
2. Explain two functions of the oral poem. 2mks
3. Identify and illustrate two oral features of the poem 4mks
4. What does the poem tell us about the character trait of the
weaver bird 2mks
5. Which lines show that the people will keep on suffering if they do
not keep the birds away 2mks
6. Identify and illustrate two economic activities practiced in this
community 4mks
7. What is the attitude of the singer towards the weaver bird? 2mks
8. Explain the meaning of the following lines. 2mks
a. We shall lack even a blue tongued goat.
b. It is the Zulus that have entered the country.
QUESTION 25
A TAXI DRIVER ON HIS DEATH BED (By Timothy Wangusa)
When with prophetic eye I peer into the futureI see that I shall perish
upon this road
Driving men that I do not know
This metallic monster that I now dictate,
This docile elaborate horse,
That in silence, seems to simmer and strain
Shall surely revolt some tempting day.
Thus I shall die: not that I care
For any man’s journey,
Nor for the proprietor’s gain.
Nor yet the love of my own.
Not for these do I attempt the forbidden limits.
For these defy the traffic man and the cold cell,
Risking everything for the little, little more.
They shall say, I know, who pick up my bones,
“Poor chap, another victim to the ruthless machine”
Concealing my blood under the metal.
Questions
2. What is the attitude of the persona towards his fate?
(2mks)
3. With illustrations, identify the persona in the poem (2mks)
4. What is the irony in the poem? (2mks)
5. With illustrations, identify and comment on any other two stylistic
devices used in the poem (6mks)
6. Comment on the following line (2mks)“Poor chap, another victim
to the ruthless machine”
7. How will the persona’s death come about? (2mks)
8. Give the poem another title (1mk)
QUESTION 26
‘SYMPATHY’
I know what the caged bird feels,
Alas!When the sun is bright on the upland slopes;
When the wind stirs soft through the springing grass
And the river flows like a stream of glass;
When the first bird sings and the first bud opens,
And the faint perfume from its petals steals-I know what the caged
bird feels!
I know why the caged bird beats its wings
Till its blood is red on the cruel bars;
For he must fly back to his perch and clingWhen he rather would be
on a branch and swing,And the pain still throbs in the old, old scars
And they pulse again with a keener sting-I know why he beats his
wing!
I know why the caged bird sings, ah me,
When his wing is bruised and his bosom sore;
When he beats his bars and would be free;
It is not a song of joy or glee,
But a prayer that he sends from his hearts deep core,
But a flea, that upward to heaven he flings-
I know why the caged bird sings! (Lawrence Dunbar-Negro Poetry)
QUESTIONS
1. Explain briefly what the poem is about. (3mks)
2. In note form, state what the poet focuses on in each stanza.
(3mks)
3. What is the persona’s attitude towards the caged bird?
(3mks)From the poem
4. What can we infer about the persona’s own experience? (3mks)
5. Identify a simile in the first stanza and explain why it is used.
(3mks)
6. Apart from simile, identify and illustrate any other style used in
the poem (2mks)
7. Identify an exclamative sentence in the poem above (1mks)
8. Explain the meaning of the following word/phrase. (2mks)
a. And the faint perfume from its petals steals.
b. scars
QUESTION 27
Read the following oral poem and answer the questions that follow:
Don’t cry baby
Sleep little baby
Father will nurse you
Sleep baby sleep
Little bird flitting away to the forest so fast
Tell me, little bird, have you seen her
Have you seen my crying baby’s mother?
She went to the river at early dew
A pot upon her headBut down the water floats her pot
And the path from the river is empty
Shall I take him under the palm?
Where the green shade rests at noon?
Oh no, no
For the thorns will prick my baby
Shall I take him under the giant baobab
Where the silk cotton plays with the wing?
Oh no,noFor the termite – eaten bough will break
And crush my little baby
My little sleeping baby
The day is long and the sun grows hot
So, sleep my little baby ,sleep
For mother is gone to a far,far land-
Alas!She is gone beyond the river.
QUESTIONS.
1. Classify the above oral poem. (2 Marks)
2. State and illustrate two features of the above oral poem. (4
Marks)
3. Identify and illustrate the two speakers in the oral poem. (2
Marks)
4. Why is the singer hesitant to take the baby under the shade?
(1Mark)
5. Briefly explain two functions of this song? (2marks)
6. What is the general mood created in stanza three? ( 2 Marks)
7. What is the singer’s attitude towards the baby? (2 Marks)
8. Identify and illustrate any two characteristics of oral poem
evident in the above poem. (4 Marks)
9. ‘’ She is gone beyond the river. ‘’ Explain the meaning of this line.
(1 Mark)
QUESTION 28
Richard Cory
Whenever Richard Cory went downtown,
We people on the pavement looked at him:
He was a gentleman from sole to crown,
Clean favored, and imperially slim.
And he was always quietly arrayed,
And he was always human when he talked;
But still he fluttered pulses when he said,
"Good-morning," and he glittered when he walked.
And he was rich—yes, richer than a king—
And admirably schooled in every grace:
In fine, we thought that he was everything
To make us wish that we were in his place.So on we worked, and
waited for the light,And went without the meat, and cursed the bread;
And Richard Cory, one calm summer night,
Went home and put a bullet through his head.(Edwin Arlington
Robinson)
1. Briefly explain what the poem is about. (2 marks)
2. What do we learn about the persona from the first stanza? (2
marks)
3. What does the following line mean “So on we worked, and
waited for the light”? (2 marks)
4. Comment on any two figures of speech used in the above poem.
(6 marks)
5. Comment on the tone of the persona towards the subject matter.
(3 marks)
6. Outline the atmosphere prevalent in the poem. (3marks)
7. Explain the relevance of the title to the poem. (2 marks)
QUESTION 29
The village
Kanyiriri village of Toil,
Village of unending work.
Like a never dying spring.
Old women dark and bent
Trudge along with their hoes
To plots of weedy maize
Young wives with donkeys
From cock crow to setting of the sun.
Go about their timeless duties
Their scraggy figures like bows set in a row.
Plod up and down the rolling village farms.
With loads on their backs
And babies tied to their belliesIn the fields all day they
Toil Stirring up the soil with hands and knives
Like chicken looking for worms.
Nothing here seems to sit still
Even the village church is like a favourite well.
Where the ‘revivalist’ with their loudspeakers
Never cease calling people.
To confess their sins and drink the water of life
At dawn, men ride away leaving the women folk
To fend for the bonny goats and crying children.
1. What is the poem about? (3marks)
2. In note form outline the problems which the women folk in this
village undergo. (4marks)
3. Why do you think the poet has written the word Toil with capital
“T”? (1mark)
4. Identify and illustrate three stylistic devices evident in the poem.
(6marks)
5. Identify one word used in the poem that appeal to your sense of
hearing. (1marks)
6. Illustrate one character trait common in the women. (2marks)
7. Give the meaning of these lines as used in the poem. (3marks)
a. Old women dark and bent
b. Nothing here seems to sit still
c. Never cease calling people.
QUESTION 30
A dieuIt’s two months’ today
And the absence looks eternity
But the memories and experiences-still very fresh
Thought we’d have many more years
And so much more time together
I was wrong
But the last day laughters, dances, sharings…
Then the silence
The many tubes
The complex machines
The silent prayers and tears
And then the ambulance
At one in the nightMiles away from home
These…these shall be my keepsakesYou were my son
My friendMy love
Still you are and I wanted you to know that
Until that day we meet again ,nind gi kue Thura
For I can’t forget about you yet
And I will notJust not now!
Questions
1. What type of oral poem is this? Explain your answer. (2marks)
2. Besides sound devices, explain what makes the above genre an
oral poem. (2marks)
3. Explain the relevance of the title ‘Adieu’. (2marks)
4. Identify the persona in the above genre? (2marks)
5. Explain the mood in the oral poem above. (2marks)
6. Explain two functions of this specific genre. (2marks)
7. Describe the place setting that is clearly evident in this genre.
(2marks)
8. How is the persona portrayed in the oral poem? (2marks)
9. Explain one religious aspect of the society from which the genre
is drawn. (2marks)
10. Contextualize the meaning of the following expressions:
(2marks)
a. These…these shall be my keepsakes
b. The silent prayers and tears
QUESTION 31
Read the following oral song and answer the questions that
follow:
The Nzaiko of the Akamba
Are you really circumcising or not?
That I may enter into this home
Mother Mailu, Mailu, Mailu Mother of child, come out
Annoit me, annoit me down to my feet before I go.
The circumcision man is busy now
The reason why, I don’t know I am fence,
I protect youth Mother of child You better respond to me
Rather than keeping quiet Why are you annoyed? Are you annoyed?
Are you annoyed by my visit? I had better examine
A gourd is inside I had better examine.
A goat is inside I had better examine.
Questions
1. Briefly explain what the oral song is about. (3mks)
2. What aspects of society are brought out in the poem? (2mks)
3. What evidence of circumcision ceremony is there? (1mk)
4. Identify and illustrate any three aspects of style used in the
song? (6mks)
5. Why do you think the mother of child was annoyed? (2mks)
6. Identify and illustrate two voices in the song? (4mks)
7. Explain the meaning of the following expressions as used in the
song. (2mks)
a. Down to my feet
b. I am fence, I protect youth
QUESTION 32
HE PROMISED ME HEAVEN
He promised me heaven
As side by side walked we down the aisle
As the chime of the wedding bell brightened the day
As sweet – sounding songs soothed our souls
As he held my hand and inserted this ring into my finger I knew that
my heaven had come
For then he promised me heaven.
As we sat close and cherished our moon of honey
As he whispered cream icing into my ears
Dramatically conjuring metaphor after metaphor
Humming lullaby after lullaby
How elated I felt for being so much elevated
For here he was, my guardian angel
To take me to heaven
For he promised me heaven
As one year later he slapped me again and again
I quickly forgave and forgot
For he was my idol Who had promised me heaven
Even as the floodgate of blow after blow Kick after kick
O pened from its cage of disaster
Defacing and eroding the beauty he so much praised
Converting me into a shell of torture
How patiently I clung to him
Anticipating the heaven he had promised me
Now as I lie in the hospital bed
Unable to rise from his violent battery
Waiting for the Angel of Death
I realize he kept his promise
For I am soon going to heaven
Because he promised me heaven,
Questions
1. Identify the persona? (2 marks)
2. Explain the main theme of the poem
3. Using the plot of the poem, explain the major changes in the
subject matter. (4marks)
4. What is speakers mood in the last six lines of the poem?.
(2marks)
5. Give one character trait of the persona (2 marks)
6. Explain the irony in the poem (2marks)
7. Apart from irony, identify and illustrate one style used in the
poem. (2marks)
8. What is the tone in stanzas 1 and 2 of this poem (2marks)
9. Explain the meaning of the following line: (2marks)
a. As he whispered cream icing into my ears.
b. For he was my idol
QUESTION 33
MADAM AND HER MADAM
I worked for a woman
She wasn’t mean House to clean
But she had a twelved roomHouse to clean
Had to get breakfastDinner, and supper too
Then take care of her children
When I got through Wash, iron and scrub
Walk the dog around,It was too much
Nearly broke me downI said, madam
Can it beYou are trying to make a Pack-horse out of me
She opened her mouthShe cried,
“oh no!You know AlbertaI love you so!”I said “madam,
That may be true-
But I will be dogged If I loved you.
Questions.
1. Briefly explain what the poem is about. (4mks)
2. Who is the persona in the poem? (1mk)
3. Contrast the character trait of the persona and that of Madam.
(4mks)
4. Identify and illustrate the stylistic devices evident in the poem.
(6mks)
5. Identify and explain one theme evident in the poem. (2mks)
6. Comment on the tone of the poem. (2mks)
7. Explain the meaning of the following line used in the poem
(1mk)“can it be you are trying to make a park-horse out of me?
QUESTION 34
The Man He Killed
"Had he and I but met,
By some old ancient inn,
We should have sat us down to wet
Right many a nipperkin!
But ranged as infantry,
And staring face to face,
I shot at him as he at me,
And killed him in his place.
I shot him dead because -
Because he was my foe, Just so,
my foe of course he was;
That's clear enough; although.
He thought he'd 'list, perhaps off-hand like - just like I -
Was out of work - had sold his traps -
No other reason why.
Yes, quaint and curious war is!
You shoot a fellow down
You'd treat if met where any bar is, or help to half-a-crown.
"Thomas Hardy (1840-1923)
1. Briefly explain what the poem is about.(3 marks)
2. Identify and explain any two stylistic devices used in this poem.(6
marks)
3. What do we learn about the persona from this poem?(4 marks)
4. Describe the tone of this poem.(3 marks)
5. What is the message of this poem?(3 marks)
6. Explain the meaning of the word 'quaint' as used in the poem.(1
mark)
QUESTION 35
Monday morning –School-
And spilling out ghetto alley
Like a flower spit forth
FromA mouth unbrushed,Little Chiku,
Trotting and tripping alongIn final minute hurry hurry
Now dashing onto highway(Her bus is waiting)
Looking and not looking
Then a-a-a!!No time to jump across
Too late to retreatIn decision
Face of fear-Trapped
Desperate forward drive
Frantic feet pressing pedals
Wrestling of wheels Squealing tyresJesusing
Tightly shut eyesScreams
Dull thud sound Muffled cry of pain
Frantic feet pressing pedalsWrestling of wheels
Squealing tyresJesusing
Tightly shut eyesScreams
Dull thud soundMuffled cry of pain
Driver stepping out-Be late for that production meeting nowDamn!
Little curled up bodyTwitching once
Then lying stillIn its already pool of blood.
Rapidly a mob formsShockAngerHelplessness
Then in ghetto rage
They turn on the sleekMetallic grey Mercedes280 SLEAutomatic and
smash it
Later the cops will come
Will record elaborately(Not forgetting the commas)And the small
body, now cold, will lie coveredFor a while
The court - file will gather dustAfter a whileAnd the driver will be
guiltyFor a while.QUESTIONS
1. Paraphrase the events that unfold in the poem. (4marks)
…………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………….
2. What is the character of the driver as depicted in the poem?
(2marks)
…………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………
3. Explain two major issues highlighted in the poem? (4marks)
…………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………
……
4. Comment on any two poetic devices used in the poem. (4marks).
…………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………
(2marks).
a. Jesusing
………………………………………………………………….
b. And the driver will be guilty For a while.
……………………………………………………………………
………….
6. What is the tone of the poem? (2marks).
…………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………
……………………
7. Comment on the use of short lines in the poem. (2marks).
QUESTION 36
Advice to my son
The trick is, to live your daysas if each one may be your last (for they
go fast, and young men lose their lives in strange and unimaginable
ways)
but at the same time,
plan long range(for they go slow: if you survivethe shattered
windshield and burning shell you will arriveat our approximation here
below or heaven or hell)To be specific, between the peony and the
rose
Plant, squash and spinach, turnips and tomatoes;
beauty in nectarand nectar,
in desert savesbut the stomach craves stronger sustenancethan the
homed vine.
Therefore, marry a pretty girlafter seeing her mother;
speak truth to one man,
work with another;and always, serve bread with your wine.
But son,Always serve wine(Peter Meinke)
1. Who is the speaker in the poem. Illustrate your answer.
2marks…………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………
…………………
2. In what circumstances do many young people die? Illustrate your
answer from the poem.
4marks…………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………..
3. What do heaven and hell symbolize?
2marks…………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………….
4. Identify items in the poem that represent life’s necessities on one
hand and life’s luxuries on the other.
2marks…………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………..
5. Identify and illustrate the use of the paradox in the poem.
3marks…………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………..
6. What does the persona mean by ‘marry a pretty girl after seeing
the mother?”
2marks…………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………
………………
7. The stomach craves stronger sustenance. (Rewrite using (What”)
1mark……………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………….
8. Give two meanings of each of the following words. 2marks
a. Last……..
b. Fast….......
9. Give the meaning of the last two lines. 2mark
QUESTION 37
MY PAPA'S WALTZ
The whiskey on your breath,
Could make a small boy dizzy,
But I hung on like death,
Such waltzing was not easy,
We romped until the pans.
Slid from the kitchen shelf,
My mother's countenance,
Could not unfron itself,
The hand that held my wrist,
Was battered on one knuckle,
At every step you missed,
My right ear scrapped a buckle,
You beat time on my head,
With a palm caked hard by dirt,
Then waltzed me off to bed,
Still clinging to your shirt.
1. Identify the persona in the poem (3 marks)
3. What is the attitude of the persona towards Papa? (2 morks)
4. Identify and explain one figure of speech used in the poem.
(3marks)
5. Briefly explain the general atmosphere created in the poem (3
marks)
6. Explain the meaning of the following phrases as used in the
poem. (3 marks)
a. My mother's countenance
b. With a palm-caked hard by dirt
c. He waltzed me off to bed
7. What is the economic status of the persona's family (3 marks)
QUESTION 38
DEATH IS A WITCH
SOLO : Ah, what shall I do, Abaluhya? It’s wrong
CHORUS : Today I will say Death is a witch, my people
It snatched my child I will remain alone
SOLO : Ah what shall I really do, Abaluhya It’s very wrong.
CHORUS : Today I will say Death is a witch, my people
It snatched my friend I will dance alone
SOLO: My child, my friend, I cry What shall I do? I cry
What shall I do? I cry x2
QUESTIONS
1. Classify the above oral poem giving reasons (3 mks)
2. Who is the persona? (2 mks)
3. What is the singer’s attitude towards death? (3 mks)
4. Identify and illustrate THREE stylistic devices in this poem. (6
mks)
5. Identify one character trait of death brought out in this poem. (2
mks)
6. With illustrations, identify social activities of the community from
which this song is drawn (2 mks)
7. Explain the meaning of the following lines as used in the poem (2
mks)
a. It snatched my child.
b. I will dance alone.
a.
QUESTION 39
Good-Bye
Shirley J. Stankiewicz(Ode to Alcohol)
The queasy feeling in my stomach
The pounding in my head
The only thoughts in my mindWere wishing I was dead
My forehead covered in cold sweatS
Body shakes beyond control
The endless aching in my bones
As you consumed my very soul
The minutes turned into hours
The hours turned into days
Suddenly, every moment that I ever lived
Was just a smoke filled haze
As I watched my body waste away
And my life slowly coming to an endI realized.
That I was wrong
You're the devil and not my friend
So, I'm taking back what's left of my life
Not one more second will you dominateI'll bet the strength that lives
in me
You didn't anticipateCast you spell on someone else
Find another unsuspecting prey
I came to live, NOT to die
And my life begins TODAY...
1. Briefly describe what the poem is about? (4marks)
2. The “you” in the poem has greatly wasted the speaker. Identify
the ways in which “you” has done this. (4marks)
3. What is the tone of the poem? (2 marks)
4. Identify and illustrate two stylistic devices evident in the poem. (4
marks)
5. “Not one more second will you dominate” (1mark)Use “any more”
6. Identify and illustrate two character trait of the persona. (4marks)
(2marks)
a. And my life slowly coming to an end
b. Find another unsuspecting prey
QUESTION 40
The song of the common man.
They drive me alongThey do, they do These my brothers no longer
brothers Their mouths are canons, spittle of fire
No longer am I the same father's pride
They kick me along
They do they do
These playmates no longer playmates.
Their actions are fate, my life they decide
No longer am I the same free born human
They abuse me, they do time and again
Fellow humans load me a poor ass
To be driven pushed, kicked and abused.
1. Identify the persona in the poem. (2 marks)
2. What is the message of the poem? (4 marks)
3. State and explain the effectiveness of any three stylistic
devices. (6 marks)
4. What is the meaning of the following lines? (4 marks)
a. Their mouths are canons, spittle of fire.
b. Their actions are fate, my life they decide
5. What is the attitude of the persona towards 'they' in the poem?
Illustrate your answer. (2 marks)
6. What is the tone of the poem? Illustrate your answer. (2 marks)
QUESTION 41
CIVIL WAR
In this land Graveyards have no markers
For blood flows freelyInto the gutter
Where corpses abideIn restless sleepIn this landKinship is long dead
And the insiders prevail
A neighbours handIn darkness hiddenStifles yet another victim’s light.
In this land
The window blows across the neglected fields
Promising yet another spectacle
Of hollowed eyes and pinched skins
Trudging and falling to the unyielding trains
Of self-destruction In the air
The whiter doveFlutter with change
And perhaps It would be better if this symbol of peace
Were established in the souls of the peopleIn this land
Questions
2. Who is the persona in this poem? (2mks)
3. Identify any two features of style used in the poem and explain
their effectiveness. (6mks)
4. Describe the tone of the poem. (2mks)
5. Explain the significance of the last stanza in relation to the title of
the poem. (2mks)
(2mks)
a. kinship is long dead
b. stifles yet another victims light.
7. What is the attitude of the persona towards the subject matter?
(2mks)
8. What is the mood of the poem? (2mks)
QUESTION 42
Love Is Not All
Love is not all:
it is not meat nor drink
Nor slumber nor a roof against the rain;
Nor yet a floating spar to men that sink
And rise and sink and rise and sink again;
Love cannot fill the thickened lung with breath,
Nor clean the blood, nor set the fractured bone;
Yet many a man is making friends with death
Even as I speak, for lack of love alone.
It well may be that in a difficult hour,
Pinned down by pain and moaning for release,
Or nagged by want past resolution's power,
I might be driven to sell your love for peace,
Or trade the memory of this night for food.
It well may be.
I do not think I would.
By Edna St Vincent Millay

(From Literature: The Human Experience: Reading and Writing by
Richard Abcarian and Marvin Klotz, 2009).
2. Which basic needs are mentioned in the poem that love cannot
satisfy?(2 marks)
3. Identify and illustrate four features of style in this poem?(4
marks)
4. What does the persona mean by this line: "Yet many a man is
making friends with death.(2 marks)
5. Identify and illustrate two character traits of this persona ( 4
marks)
6. What lesson can we learn from this poem? (3 marks)
7. Explain the meaning of each of the following expressions as
used in the poem:(2 marks)
a. nagged
b. sell
a.
QUESTION 43
Where the Sidewalk Ends
There is a place where the sidewalk ends
And before the street begins,
And there the grass grows soft and white,
And there the sun burns crimson bright,
And there the moon bird rests from his flight
To cool in the peppermint wind.
Let us leave this place where the smoke blows black
And the dark street winds and bends.Past the pits where the asphalt
flowers growWe shall walk with a walk that is measured and slow,
And watch where the chalk-white arrows go
To the place where the sidewalk ends.
Yes we'll walk with a walk that is measured and slow,
And we'll go where the chalk-white arrows go,
For the children, they mark, and the children, they knowThe place
where the sidewalk ends.Shel Silverstain.
1. Identify the speaker in the poem. (2marks)
2. Briefly state what the poem is about (3marks)
3. Illustrate three literary devices evident in the poem. (6 marks)
4. Do the children stand for something in the poem? What do they
represent? (2marks)
5. Describe the feelings of the persona towards where he and his
friends live. (3marks)
6. What shows that the poet appreciates nature? (2 marks)
7. Explain what the following line means in the context of the poem.
(2marks)We shall walk a walk that is measured and slow.
QUESTION 44
One hand cannot manage work
A threshing stick cannot thresh millet with one hand
Some hands breed hatred at the eating time
Nobody hates being assistedLet millet be threshedLet it be threshed,
let it be threshed
Cut a threshing stick for me
A lazy wifeIs taken back to her parentsWhen the rain failsIt blames
the windAnd a lazy womanBlames the threshing stick
Cut a threshing stick for me – ii My co – wife, cut me a threshing
stickYou woman, owner of this occasionRemember that work is the
stomach
Take care not to starve us
The threshing ticks are sounding
Let the millet leave the threshing ground
(Adapted from oral literature of the Embu and Mbeere by
CiarunjiChesaina)Questions
1. What kind of oral poem is this? 3mks
2. Identify and illustrate the oral features of this poem 6mks
3. What does this poem tell us about the role and place of women
in this community? 4mks
4. According to this poem, which moral values were emphasized in
this community? 3mks
5. Explain the meaning of the following lines 4mks
a. Some hand breed hatred at eating time
b. Remember that work is the stomach
QUESTION 45
Remains by Simon Armitage
On another occasion, we get sent out
To tackle looters raiding a bank.
And one of them legs it up the road.
Probably armed, possibly not.
Well myself and somebody else and somebody else
Are all of the same mind,So all three of us open fire
Three of a kind all letting fly, and I swearI see every round as it rips
through his life –I see broad daylight on the other side.
So, we’ve hit this looter a dozen times
And he’s there on the ground, sort of inside out,
Pain itself, the image of agony.
One of my mates goes by
And tosses his guts back into his body.
Then he’s carted off in the back of a lorry.
End of story, except not really.
His blood-shadow stays on the street, and out on patrolI walk right
over it week after week.Then I’m home on leave.
But I blinkAnd he bursts again through the doors of the bank.Sleep,
and he’s probably armed, possibly not.
Dream, and he’s torn apart by a dozen rounds.
And the drink and the drugs won’t flush him out –He’s here in my
head when I close my eyes,dug in behind enemy lines,not left for
dead in some distant, sun-stunned, sand-smothered landor six-feet-
under in desert sand,but near to the knuckle, here and now,his
bloody life in my bloody hands.Questions.
1. What is this poem about? (3 marks)
2. What can you infer from the title of the poem? (3 marks)
3. The language in this poem is colloquial and slang. Explain the
significance of using such language. (2 marks)
4. Pick out a statement that shows the soldier has had to deal with
such similar situations. (1 mark)
5. Identify an example of repetition and explain its effect in the
poem. (2 marks)
6. Describe the speaker’s feelings about his actions in stanza 2 and
3. (3 marks)
7. Basing your answer on the last three stanzas, how is the speaker
affected by his earlier actions in the poem? (3 marks)
8. Explain the meaning of the following phrases as used in the
poem: (3 marks)
a. legs it up ....
b. sort of inside out.....
c. carted off..
QUESTION 46
Pedestrian to passing Benz-man
You man, lifted gently
Out of the poverty and suffering
We so recently shared; I say
Why splash the muddy puddle onto My bare legs as if, still unsatisfied
With your seated opulence
You must sully the unwashed
With your diesel-smoke and mud-waterand force him buy, beyond his
mean
A bar of soap from your shop?
A few years back we shared a master
Today you have none, while I have
Exchanged a parasite for something worse
But maybe a few years is too long a time.
1. Briefly explain what is happening in the poem. (3 marks)
2. With two illustrations from the poem, describe the economic
condition of the persona. (4 marks)
3. Explain the significance of the following images in the poem.(6
marks)
a. Muddy puddle/mud-water.
b. Diesel smoke.
4. What is the importance of the last line in relation to the rest of the
poem. (4 marks)
5. Explain the tone of the poem. (3 marks)
QUESTION 47
THE DEATH OF MY FATHER BY Henry Indangasi
His sunken cheeks, his inward-looking eyes,
The sarcastic, scornful smile on his lips,
The unkempt, matted, grey hair,
The hard, coarse sand-paper hands,
Spoke eloquently of the life he had lived.
But I did not mourn for him.
The hammer, the saw and the plane,
These were his tools and his damnation,
His sweat was his ointment and his perfume,
He fashioned dining tables, chairs, wardrobes,
And all the wooden loves of colonial life.
No, I did not mourn for him.
He built mansions,Huge, unwieldy, arrogant constructions;But he
squatted in a sickly mad-house,With his children huddled stuntedly
Under the bed-bug bed he shared with mother.
I could not mourn for him.I had already inheritedHis premature old-
age look,I had imbibed his frustration;
But his dreams of freedom and happiness
Had become my song, my love.
So, I could not mourn for him.
No, I did not shed any tears;
My father’s dead life still lives in me,
He lives in my son,I am my father and my son,I will awaken his sleepy
hopes and yearnings,But I will not mourn for him,I will not mourn for
me.
Questions
1. What kind of life had the persona’s father lived? (3
marks)
2. Pick out and explain two examples of personification used in the
poem. (4 marks)
3. Explain the contrast in second and third stanza. (3
marks)
4. Cite one other stylistic device used in the poem and explain its
usefulness. (2 marks)
5. Explain the meaning of the last two lines of the poem in relation
to the rest of the poem. (3 marks)
6. Briefly discuss the tone of this poem.
(2 marks)
7. Explain the meaning of the following phrase/lines as used in the
poem.
a. Bed-bug bed
(1 mark)
b. I had already inherited his premature old-age look
(1 mark)
QUESTION 48
BACK HOME
And one day I went back home:
Back home to the old homesteadWith a ring of old huts
Surrounding a wide compound:
Swept clean for children to play
And yell and laugh and cry.
I walked briskly, thinking of home
Smoke rising from the huts
Filtered through the thatched roofs:
Dripping wet after a shower of rain;
Moist ground in the compound,
Grandpa sitting on his stooland sipping from his gourd;
Birds singing in the mango tree:
And then finally I reached home:
The air heavy with silenceHuts, down in dry heaps of
dilapidationShoots of scorched elephant grass:Growing piously in the
compound:
A carpet of mango leaves
Falling on the mound of earth
Under which was buried but the tipYes, only the tip of grandpa’s
walking staffCould be seen peeping from under the earth:
Pointing down to where the owner lay;
The lasting indication
Of his inability to talk again
Except by echoes of silence
Telling me I went back too late:
Jwani Mwaikusa.
Questions
1. Describe the setting in this poem. (2 marks)
2. Who is the persona in the poem? (2 marks)
3. Where is grandpa? Give reasons for your answer. (2 marks)
4. What is the effect of the alliteration in line 17? (2 marks)
5. Giving two examples, show the effect of contrast as used by the
poet. (4 marks)
6. Identify and illustrate the two different moods prevailing in this
poem. (4 marks)
(4 marks)
a. ‘A carpet of mango leaves Falling on the mound of earth”
b. ‘Of his inability to talk again Except by echoes of silence
QUESTION 49
The light of the whole being,
The illuminator of my very self,In your presence darkness exists no
longer,
You make me feel bright and shining all over,
Oh! My moon. My moon is still not yet fully full,
My moon is three-quarter full,
Still becoming what it will be,
But the brightness of my moon surpasses all other moons,
Oh! My moon. My moon is uncomparable,
My moon has possession of the natural beauty,
The sight of my moon makes hearts stop a beat or melts hearts’
The smile of my moon makes the whole of my being hot and
boiling,Oh! My moon.
My moon when will you become a full moon?
I have waited long enough and my patience is fading away,I may end
up devouring my moon before it is fully ripe,
My moon my moon without you then I am not;Oh!
My moon From when I wake I think only of you my moon,
At noon you are still dwelling in my mind,In the evening I die just to
see you,And in the dark night I am restless and sleep never comes,
Oh! My moon.
By NYagilo. C
QUESTIONS
1.
a. classify the poem. (2mks)
b. What does the term moon refer to. (1mk)
2. What do you think the persona means when he says that his
moon three quarters full? (1mk)
3. Give the character traits of the persona. (4mks)
4. Identify any other words the poet uses to refer to the moon?
(2mks)
5. State how the moon affects the persona’s mind at different times.
(4mks)
6. Which aspects of style has the poet employed? (4mks)
7. Give the meaning of the following words as used in the poem.
(2mks)
a. Devouring
b. Surpasses
QUESTION 50
FAMINE
The owner of yam peels his yam in the house:
A neighbour knocks at the door
The owner of yam throws his yam in the bedroom:The neighbour
says, “I just heardA sound, ‘kerekere’, that is why I came,”
The owner of the yam replies,“That was nothing, I was sharpening
two knives.”The neighbour says again,
“I still heardSomething like ‘bi’ sound behind the door.”
The owner of the yam says,“I merely tried my door with a mallet.”
The neighbour says again,“What about this huge fire burning on your
hearth?”The fellow replies,“I am merely warming water for my bath.”
The neighbour persists,“Why is your skin all white, when this is not
the Harmattan season?
’The fellow is ready with his reply,I was rolling on the floor when I
heard the death of Agadapidi.”Then the neighbour says, “Peace be
with you.”
The owner of the yam starts to shut,“There cannot be peace
Unless the owner of food is allowed to eat his own food!”
Questions.
1. Briefly explain what the poem is about(2 marks)
2. What does the neighbor hope to achieve by being so persistent?
(3 marks)
3. Using illustrations, describe any two character traits of the owner
of the yam(4 marks)
4. Identify the ideophones words in the poem(2 marks)
a. How do we know that the neighbour is observant? (3 marks)
b. Describe the tone of the owner of the yam(1 mark)
5. The neighbour says, “peace be with you.” Why is this statement
ironic?(3 marks)What lesson can we learn from this poem?(2
marks)
Poem 51
Read the poem below and answer the questions that follow.
When to the sessions of sweet silent thoughtI summon up
remembrance of things past,
I sigh the lack of many a thing I sought
And with the old woes new wail my dear time’s waste
Then can I drown an eye, unused to flow,
For previous friends hid in death’s dateless night,
And weep a fresh love’s long since cancelled woe,
And moan the expense of many a vanished sight.
Then can I grieve at grievances foregone,
And heavily from woe to woe tell o’er.
The sad account of foregone-bemoaned moan,
Which I now pay as if not paid before .
But if the while I think of thee, dear friend,
All losses are restored and sorrows end.
William Shakespeare
Questions
1. Describe the rhyme scheme of the poem above (2 marks)
2. Identify the most dominant sound devices in the poem (2 marks)
Answers
1. Describe the rhyme scheme of the poem above (2 marks)
a. Aaaababacdceff – regular scheme
2. Identifythe most dominant sound devices in the poem (2 marks)
a. Alliteration –Sessions of sweet silentWith old woes and
wailgrieve at grievances
Poem 52
Read the oral poem below and answer the questions that follow.
The Crop Thieves
Tswiri tswiri! I the person, I suspect?
What have you heard that makes you suspicious?
I heard things said, rumours of weaver birds;
They ate corn in Lesiba’s field and finished it.
And when they left they sounded hummmmm-
They said, “Listen to the numerous weaver birds, sons of Mosima;s
family.Children of the horse that ate the courtyards and the times,
It is the numerous weaverbirds,
The grey ones that go about in swarms,Children with the little red
beaks,Children that make a noise in the mimosa trees,Tupu-tupu!
The smoke comes out while the dew still glitters.
Howaaa! Sweaaa! – is heard in the early morning
They are finishing the corn, the numerous weaver birds.Children with
the little red beaks.At home, it is yo! yo!The children are crying,Their
mothers have gone to the fields to the birds,It is the Zulus that have
entered the country,
Take axes and loop the tree branches,Yo!
This year we shall eat five,
We shall lack even a blue-tongued goat!
It is numerous weaverbirds, the grey ones that go about in swarms.
Questions
1. What kind of oral poem is this? (2 marks)
2. Explain two functions of the above oral poem (2 marks)
3. Identify and illustrate two oral features of this poem (4 marks)
4. What does the poem tell us about the character trait of the
weaverbirds. (2 marks)
5. Which lines show that people will keep on suffering if they don’t
keep the birds away? (2 marks)
6. Identify and illustrate two economic activities practiced in this
community. (4 marks)
7. What is the attitude of the singer towards the weaverbirds? (2
marks)
8. Explain the meaning of the following lines as used in the
song. ( 2marks)
a. We shall lack even a blue-tongued goat.
b. It is the Zulus that have entered the country.
Poem 53
Read the oral poem below and answer the questions that follow.
The poor man knows not how to eat with the rich man.
When they eat fish, he eats the head.
Invite a poor man and he rushes inlicking his lips and upsetting the
plates.
The poor man has no manners, he comes alongwith the blood of lice
under his nails.
The face of a poor man is linedfrom hunger and thirst in his belly.
Poverty is no state for any mortal man.
It makes him a beast to be fed on grass.
Poverty is unjust.
If it befalls a man, though he is nobly born, he has no power with
God.
1. Identify and illustrate any four features of oral poetry evident in
the poem above. (8marks)
2. Describe a probable situation in which such a poem could be
performed. (2 marks)
3. During a recitation of this oral poem, what three elements should
be emphasized? (3 marks)
4. What does the phrase '…with the blood of lice under his nails'
reveal about the poor man?(2 marks)
5. Describe with illustrations the tone of this oral poem. (3 marks)
6. Explain the meaning of the following (2 marks)
a. he eats the head
b. he has no power with God
Poem 54
Fire and Ice
Some say the world will end in fire,
Some say in ice,
From what I have tasted of desireI hold with those who favour fire.
But if I had to perish twice,
I think I know enough of hate
To know that for destruction iceIs also great
And would suffice.
(by Robert Frost)

Questions
1. Show two ways by which the poet achieves rhythm in the poem
and state the function. (3 marks)
2. How would you perform the line? (2 marks) ‘I think I know
enough of hate’
3. If you were to present this piece to your classmates, how would
you know they are appreciating the message in the poem? (2
marks)
4.
5.
6
Poem 55
(20marks)
Adieu
It’s two months today
And the absence looks eternity
But the memories and experiences-still very fresh
Thought we’d have many more years
And so much more time togetherI was wrong
But the last day laughers, dances, sharing…
Then the silence
The many tubes
The complex machines
The silent prayers and tears
And then the ambulance
At one in the nightMiles away from home
These…these shall be my keepsakes
You were my son
My friend
My love Still you are and I wanted you to know that
Until that day we meet again, nind gi kue Thura
For I can’t forget about you yet
And I will notJust not now!
1. What type of an oral poem is this? Explain your answer. (2mks)
…………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………
2. Identify three stylistic devices employed in the above genre.
(6marks)
…………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………
3. Explain the relevance of the title ‘Adieu’. (1marks)
…………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………
4. Identify the persona in the above genre. (2marks)
…………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………
5. Explain the mood of the oral poem above. (2marks)
…………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………
6. Explain two functions of this specific genre. (1marks)
…………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………
7. Explain any character trait of the persona (2marks)
…………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………
8. Explain one social aspect of the society from which the genre is
drawn. (2marks)
…………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………
……………
9. Give the meaning of the following expressions: (2marks)
a. These…these shall be my
keepsakes…………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………
………
b. The silent prayers and
tears………………………………………………………………
……………………………………..
……………………………………………………………………
…………………………………
i. guidance done quietly
Poem 56
A BREAKTHROUGH
When I reached the threshold
The gate was quickly locked
Though loud and long knocked
They left me in the cold.
I stood outside for long.
Wondering what was wrong.
Honour wouldn’t let meA peeping Tom be
When night tiptoed behindMe a stranded pilgrim
Ah, I made up my mindTo fight on for my dream
I crashed open the gateUncaring it was wrong
Wow, I was hugged with a songA welcome initiate!
QUESTIONS
1. Describe the rhyme scheme of the first two stanzas of this poem.
(3marks)
2. Apart from rhyme, identify and illustrate two other ways in which
rhythm has been achieved in the poem. (4marks)
3. If you were to perform this poem live, why would it be important
for you to face the audience? (1 mark)
4. How would you say the last line of this poem and why? (2 marks)
ALL ANSWERS AVAILABLE,CALL/TEXT 0756710486

Set 8 - 56 Revised Poems Revision Simplified

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Set 8 - 56 Revised Poems Revision Simplified

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

REACH ME OUT FOR ANSWERS (O756710486)

Poetry Questions and Answers

I counted ribs on his concertina chest

12.To a Daughter Leaving Home

By Edna St Vincent Millay

(by Robert Frost)

ALL ANSWERS AVAILABLE,CALL/TEXT 0756710486

You might also like