Grade 11 Poetry

A Teacher’s
Guide
Compiled by Umlazi District

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 Contents

CONTENT PAGE NUMBER(S)

Poetry list 2
Introduction to poetry 3–5
How to write a poetry essay 6
How to analyse a poem 7–9
Notes and analysis:
1.London 1802 10 – 13
2.Eating Poetry 14 – 20
3.I Remember District 6 21 – 24
4.The Woman 25 – 31
5.Hanging Fire 32 – 37
6.Da Same Da Same 38 – 42
7.Anthem for Doomed Youth 43 – 47
8.The Ride 48 – 50
9.The Second Coming 51 – 55
10.We wear the mask 56 – 63

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 INTRODUCTION TO POETRY
Before we begin unpacking and analyzing poetry, we need to understand the following concepts and vocabulary:

THEME AND MESSAGE

The theme refers to the main idea or the subject of the poem. The poet is usually writing about a specific topic or area of
interest. The message is the lesson that the poet conveys/ communicates to the reader.

INTENTION
The reason the poet has written the poem. What does the poet aim to achieve by writing this poem? The poet may want: to
express love, to criticize, to protest, to evoke sympathy, to express admiration.

STYLE
Style refers to the way the poet expresses himself/herself. The specific traits of the poet that is present in their writing,
including the choice of words and language used. It helps to look at the period in which the poem was written to determine
the style. e.g. conversational, technical, humorous.

DICTION
The diction refers to the poet’s choice of words. The poet carefully selects each word to express their thoughts and feelings.
The choice of words is closely linked to the poet’s intent. Remember to consider the denotative and connotative meaning of
the words used.

TONE
The tone refers to the poet’s attitude or feelings. It is used to convey their emotions and to set the mood of the poem. It is
established through the choice of words, the imagery, or the structure of the poem. The tone can vary within a poem. e.g.
sarcastic, bitter, joyful, frustrated, melancholic.

MOOD
The mood or feeling of a poem refers to the atmosphere created by the poet. It is closely related to the tone of the poem. The
mood reflects the poet’s attitude towards his/her subject matter. A sad/melancholic tone would create a depressing mood.

POINT OF VIEW
The point of view is the perspective from which we experience the poem. it is important to distinguish between the poet and
the speaker. The poet is the author/writer while the speaker is the narrator, the voice telling us the thoughts/feelings/story.

RHYTHM
The beat created by the sounds of the words in a poem. The varied repetition of the beats creates the rhythm. The function of
rhythm is to emphasize words in a poem. It helps to create a specific mood or atmosphere or to convey a particular theme.

METER
Meter refers to the pattern of stressed (strong) and unstressed (weak) syllables.
Each unit or part of the pattern is called a ‘foot’.
Iambic – unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable.
Trochaic – stressed syllable followed by an unstressed syllable.

RHYME
Words that sound alike because they share the same ending vowel and consonant sounds. A rhyme scheme refers to a
pattern of rhyming words or sounds. End rhyme: words at the end of each line forms a rhyming pattern .Internal rhyme: a
word in the middle of the line that rhymes with a word at the end

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IMAGERY
The use of language that appeals to our senses. How the poet creates a picture or image using specific words.
e.g (‘Draped in red bandanas of blood’ creates a gruesome image of blood smeared across the dogs face.)

SYMBOLISM
The use of a word or object which represents a deeper meaning than the words themselves.
e.g A red rose would symbolize love and beauty.

FIGURES OF SPEECH

ALLITERATION “Anthem for doomed youth”

Repetition of the consonant sounds “Only the stuttering rifles’ rapid rattle” Repetition of the “r” sound.
ASSONANCE “Anthem for doomed youth”
Repetition of vowel sounds (a,e,i,o,u) “No mockeries now for them; no prayers nor bells”
Repetition of the “o” sound.
ONOMATOPOEIA Bang!
Words that imitate the sound that they are naming
SIMILE “London, 1802”
Comparison of two things using “like” or “as” “thou hadst a voice whose sound was like the sea”
He compares the power and force of his voice to the powerful
and loud sound of the sea.
METAPHOR “The second coming”
Direct comparison of two things “the falcon cannot hear the falconer” The poet compares
humanity to a falcon and the falconer to a sense of order that is
now lost.
EXTENDED METAPHOR “The second coming” by WB Yeats employs complex imagery
When the metaphor continues for several lines or and symbols to refer to the political and historical context of the
the entire stanza. time.
PERSONIFICATION “The woman”
Attributing human or life-like qualities to non- The poet claims the ‘sun’ is angry and vigilant. The sun
human objects. represents the patriarchy.
ANTITHESIS You are easy on the eyes but hard on the heart. (You are
When two contrasting ideas are put together to attractive, but you hurt my feelings)
achieve a desired outcome. “To be or not to be”
Famous “Hamlet” quote contemplating whether to live or to die.

SARCASM Sarcasm is created when a speaker makes a statement that is

Sarcasm takes the form of an ironic remark that is clearly the opposite of what they feel or believe. The tone of voice
rooted in humor, intended to mock, or draw indicates the sarcasm. A vegan saying, “I really love killing
attention to the situation. animals for food.”

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IRONY “The ride”
The definition of irony as a literary device is a “Please pay the fare, we buy fuel from the black market”
situation in which there is contrast between The man expects them to pay for the ride, yet he bought the fuel
expectation and reality. The outcome is different illegally from the black market.
than expected.
METONYMY “London, 1802”
The substitution of one term for another. “altar, sword and pen, Fireside” is used to symbolize the army, its
writers and homes.
HYPERBOLE “Hanging fire”
An intentional exaggeration or overstatement, “the boy I cannot live without”
often used for emphasis. She claims that without him she would die, she is expressing his
importance to her.
RHETORICAL QUESTION “The woman”
Questions asked not for an answer but to make a The poem ends with rhetorical questions aimed at
point/ emphasize an idea men/patriarchy.
ENJAMBMENT “Hanging fire”
The continuation of a sentence or thought, without Almost all lines of the poem are enjambed to create a narrative
a pause, beyond the end of one line. style
APOSTROPHE “London, 1802”
A figure of speech in which a character or speaker Milton! Thou shouldst be living at this hour:
addresses someone who is absent. The poet addresses John Milton, a dead poet.

ANAPHORA “Eating Poetry”

The repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning “The” at the start of all three lines of stanza three.
of multiple lines.

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GUIDELINES TO WRITING A POETRY ESSAY
In a critical poetry essay, one discusses the issues raised in the question by examining the content of the poem and poetic
devices present in the poem. A literary/critical essay is not a paraphrase (the meaning of each line) of the poem. One has to
discuss how the issues raised in the question are conveyed by the poetic or literary devices such as figures of speech,
imagery, diction (choice of words), tone and rhythm, structure, form, etc. This discussion will include specific references to
the poem itself.

THE LAYOUT/STRUCTURE OF THE ESSAY:

INTRODUCTION: Begin with an introductory paragraph. Write two or three sentences on the issue(s) raised in the
question and link these issues to an overview of the poem.

BODY: You must use PARAGRAPHS in this essay. The body is an analysis of the poem, from the perspective of the
issues raised in the question. This is where you use the diction, tone, structure and imagery to show how the poet’s
message is conveyed. This will be more than one paragraph.

DICTION : This refers to the poet’s choice of words. You have to explain WHY the speaker chose to use THESE
PARTICULAR WORDS in the poem. The exact meaning depends on the context. Quote the words from the poem in your
analysis.

TONE: Tone refers to the language used by the speaker or writer to instigate an emotional effect on the reader or listener.
The reader must bear in mind that the writer is in a certain frame of mind while writing- and this has an influence on the
choice of language and vocabulary (DICTION) that is used.

STRUCTURE: Structure refers to how the poem is presented on paper and it includes form. Structure can influence meaning,
central ideas and rhythm.

IMAGERY: Imagery means to use figurative language to represent objects, actions and ideas in such a way that it appeals to
our physical senses. Imagery makes use of particular words that create a picture or image in our minds.

CONCLUSION
The concluding paragraph could be two to three sentences summarising your analysis. It is important to emphasise in the
conclusion that you have answered the literary essay question.

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 HOW TO ANALYSE A POEM ?

Reading aloud can help identify other characteristics that could be missed. It is important to remember that poetry is a form
of art painted with only words.

To analyze a poem properly, you have to pay attention to the following aspects:

Title of the Poem

So, let's go deeper into the poem analysis essay and look at the title. The poet may have spent a lot of time thinking about
naming the piece so what can be observed from this and what further questions can be asked?

• What are your expectations? For example, the poem could be titled “The Ride” written by Joyce Chigiya and from this it is
natural to assume it might be journey or destination. After reading further does the reality turn out to be different?
• What is the literature style used? For example the poem ‘We wear the mask’ uses an extended metaphor
• What is the poem about? In the poem, For example the poem ‘London 1802’ does not necessarily give a physical description
of London as the title might suggest.

Literal Meaning of the Poem

Pay heed to the vocabulary used. Make a list of unknown words and phrases. Also, check the meaning of words that are
used a lot, but remember some text may have had a different meaning a century ago, so use the internet to look up anything
that is not clear. Furthermore, people and places and any cultural relevance of the time should be researched too, to get a
deeper look at the poet's attitude towards the piece. Patterns might become visible at this point and maybe the theme of the
poem.

Structure of the Poem

Looking at the structure of the piece will reveal more information so pay close attention to this. Examine the way the stanzas
are organised:

• What does each stanza discuss?

• How do the stanzas relate to each other?
• Can you see formal separations?
• What logical sense does it have?
• Is there emotional sense that can be evaluated?
• Does having a strict format say anything about the poet?
• Also failing to have a strict structure does this reveal something?

Once you have observed the structure, it is possible to go deeper into the poem analysis essay and investigate how the
speaker communicates the poem to the reader.

Tone and Intonation of the Poem

Speaker
It is now possible to look at the poet and see what details can be obtained from them. Is it possible to see the gender or age
of the speaker? Is there some race or religious references to pick up on? Then can we see if the speaker is directly
communicating their thoughts and ideas to the reader? If not, what is the character the poet has created to convey the ideas
or messages? Does the poet's persona differ to the character created and what can be analysed from this? Also the mood of
the speaker could be available now, are they happy or sad, and how can you find out this from the poem?

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Recipient
Once the poet is understood it is possible to move onto who or what the poem is designed for. Then you can see the purpose
of the poetry, what does the poet want from the reader? It is also possible that the poet does not desire a response from the
audience and is simply making a statement or expressing themselves.
For example, a poem about spring could just be a happy statement that winter has ended. Looking from the other side, this
could be an attempt to attract someone's attention or maybe just an instruction to plow the field.

Purpose of the Poem

The subject of the poem can help identify the purpose, as this usually will be what the poet is describing. Then the theme can
be identified also, and what does it say about the work? Are there any links between the theme and the subject and what can
analysed from that? The time frame is also an important factor to consider, for example, the poet's goal back when it was
written, may have changed and why?

Language and Imagery of the Poem

Until this point it was only possible to analyse the literal information available which is the denotative meaning.’ The imagery,
symbolism, and figures of speech is the connotative meaning.

Imagery
This is where you should look for pictures described within the text and analyse why they have been depicted? So for
example, if the poet has decided to describe the moon this could set the time in the work or maybe the mood of the poem.
Also look for groups of images described and patterns within this, what can be deducted from that?

Symbols
So, when looking for symbolism within the text this could be an event or physical object, including people and places that
represent non-physical entities like an emotion or concept. For example, a bird flying through the air can be seen as freedom
and escaping usual conforms.

Poetic devices
In your analysis, look for techniques like metaphors, similes, personification, and alliteration to include just a few. It's
important to identify the actual device used and why it was chosen. For example, when comparing something within the text
using a metaphor then look at how they are connected and in what way they are expressed? Try to use all available clues to
gain better insight into the mind of the poet.

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 Music of the Poem

Poetry and music have deep connections and can be compared together due to the history and uses throughout the ages.

Here are some things to look out for to help with those comparisons:

• Meter - This can be available to investigate in different ways, for example, iambic pentameter has a strict five beats per line
just like a musical score if used what does it say?

• Rhythm - Just like with music, poem can have a rhythm but if there is no given meter, it is needed to look closer and observe
what this does to the work. For example, a particular beat that is fast could make the poem happy.

• Special effects - Looking for not so obvious signs where the poet has written in a way, so you take longer to pronounce
words. Also it is possible to grab your attention in other ways, for what reason has the writer done that?

• Rhyme - There are many different types of rhyming techniques used within poetry, once identified look at how it impacts on
the work like make it humorous for example? Be careful to look for unusual patterns for example rhymes within the lines and
not just at the end of the sentences, even reading out aloud might help find these and then what does it this say about the
poem?

• Sound effects - The depiction of different sounds can be powerful and also using different voices, look at what impact this has
on the piece and why?

• Breaking Rules (unconventional style) - Rhyme and meter for example can have very specific rules but what if the poet
decided to break these conventional techniques and make something new, what does this add to the poem?

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 1. LONDON, 1802 - WILLIAM WORDSWORTH

1 Milton! thou shouldst be living at this hour:

2 England hath need of thee: she is a fen
3 Of stagnant waters: altar, sword, and pen,
4 Fireside, the heroic wealth of hall and bower,
5 Have forfeited their ancient English dower
6 Of inward happiness. We are selfish men;
7 Oh! raise us up, return to us again;
8 And give us manners, virtue, freedom, power.
9 Thy soul was like a Star, and dwelt apart:
10 Thou hadst a voice whose sound was like the sea:
11 Pure as the naked heavens, majestic, free,
12 So didst thou travel on life's common way,
13 In cheerful godliness; and yet thy heart
14 The lowliest duties on herself did lay.

William Wordsworth: Known for his admiration of nature which is

The Petrarchan Sonnet: evident in this poem as he uses images of positive and negative
images of nature to convey the moral degradation of England
14 lines
which must be contrasted to the virtuous Milton
1st 8 lines: octave
Last 6 lines: sestet
The octave provides a problem while the TITLE: Synecdoche- London which is the capital (a part) is used to
sestet offers a solution. represent the whole of England. Relevance of 1802:

John Milton (1608–74)

is considered the most significant
English writer after William Shakespeare
and is known for being one of the most
influential Romantic
Vocabulary:
L2- “fen”: mud, mire, dirt, or marsh."
Definitions of fen. low-lying wet land with
grassy vegetation;

Poets. His epic Paradise Lost which
helped people retain their religious
values and virtues during the Civil War
L4- “bower”: shelter formed by tree boughs or
vines
L5- “dower”: Their right/what defines them and
has been passed down is now lost.

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BACKGROUND TO THE POEM :

The sonnet "London, 1802" by William Wordsworth, first published in 1807 (Wordsworth 64), deals with the
speaker's criticism of the political, religious and socioeconomic state of England at the beginning of the 19th
century which is juxtaposed by an idealisation of the English poet John Milton as a writer and a member of
English society in the 17th century. "London 1802" is part of a group of poems that are generally referred to as
Wordsworth's "Sonnets on Independence and Liberty" (Sarker 245). Like other sonnets of this group it
illustrates "Wordsworth's advance from the poet of rapturous impulse to the poet of duty and fortitude" and
thus, his turn towards a reflection on political and socioeconomic issues of his contemporary time in his poetry
(130). In this regard Wordsworth uses form and content in "London, 1802" to express this criticism and to call
for change in the English society of his time.

GIST OF THE POEM

"London, 1802" portrays something of Wordsworth's moralism and his growing conservatism.
He often tried to convey the message of morality to his readers. Here again, pleads with the English
people to return to morality and selflessness. He criticises them for lacking "manners, virtue, [and] freedom."
But he also refers to "inward happiness" as a right, or "dower," and asks Milton to bestow "power" as well as virtue on
the English.
He describes Milton’s soul: "soul was like a Star," because he was different even from his contemporaries in terms of
being a virtuous man.
The speaker feels that Milton’s voice was like the sea and the sky, a part of nature and therefore natural: "majestic,
free." ◦ The speaker also compliments Milton's ability to embody "cheerful godliness" even while doing the "lowliest
duties." ◦ As stated above the speaker on several instances

CONTENT : LINE BY LINE ANALYSIS

L1: The speaker’s desperation is noted by his plea as he apostrophises Milton and calls out to him in an
exclamatory tone. He wishes that Milton was alive to help restore England to its former prestige and dignity.

L2-3: Highlights the anxiety by use of the word “need” which tells us the situation is dire. England is
personified as a woman, which emphasises the tainted beauty that it now represents. This idea progresses by use of
the metaphor “she is a fen of stagnant waters”- suggesting muddy/filthy waters that is indicative of a state of rot/decay.
The word stagnant also highlights the non-progressive state of England.
The use of the colon serves as a notation that a list is to follow. This list is indicative of the religion/God, prowess on
the battlefield (valour and honour) and literature which has degenerated from its former state of glory.
L4-6: The speaker feels nostalgic for the England that was once warm/homely (“fireside”) and defined by prestige and
served as a safe haven and home (“bower”) which has now been lost (“forfeited”) as a result of the immense changes as a
result of industrialisation. These changes have costed them their happiness since they have now been stripped of their
ideals. “We are selfish men” highlights the speakers disdain for the current state of affairs in England.

N.B The imagery in these lines evoke a deep sense of loss and hopelessness.

L7-8: Using an interjection “Oh”

A plea is made to Milton, to return and purge England from this moral desolation and restore it to its former glory.

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L9-11: The speaker now justifies as to why he calls out to Milton by using 3 similes. By comparing his soul
to a “Star”, the speaker suggests that Milton symbolises a beacon of hope, happiness, positivity and renewal.
“…voice whose sound was like the sea”- reiterates his colossal impact and influence which is authoritative, but also
calming and consistent just like the sound of the ocean.

The imagery in L11 evokes a sense of deep admiration that the speaker has for Milton by suggesting that his purity can be
compared to a virtue of Heaven. His enamouring demeanour “Majestic, free” highlights Milton’s regal nature and his free spirit.

L12-14: The qualities of humility and altruism of Milton are revealed by the speaker” life’s common way”. This is an apt
ending which suggests that England needs to be rescued by one who had a true sense of what ought to be valued and
through his “cheerful Godliness” he was able to perform the lowliest of duties without complaint because of his faith.
This highlights his selfless spirit which must be contrasted to the selfish spirit of those in England as the speaker mentioned
in L6

SYMBOLISM AND IMAGERY

John Milton is the sonnet’s most important and powerful symbol. The entire sonnet is built around an address to Milton,
who remains the central figure in the poem from the first line to the last. Milton symbolises both the literary and political
virtues that the speaker feels the “selfish men” (Line 6) of his own generation lack. While his contemporaries carelessly
“forfei[t] their ancient English dower / Of inward happiness” (Lines 5-6, italics mine), Milton embodies “cheerful godliness”
(Line 13, italics mine), with contemporary Englishmen’s lack of true “happiness” due to their self -centered lives contrasting
starkly with Milton’s “cheerful[ness]” and active engagement with the world. The speaker praises Milton as having a “Soul
like a star” (Line 9) and a way of living that was “Pure as the naked heavens, majestic, free” (Line 11), enabling Milton to
embody all of the purity, vitality, liberty, and superior virtues that England needs to regain.

NATURE
Nature is an important motif in the poem, helping to illustrate the poem’s key themes. The speaker uses natural imagery
to create contrasts between the England of his own day and the way of living and being that Milton represents.

FORM AND STRUCTURE

Italian Sonnet: Usually divided into octave (first 8 lines) and sestet (last 6 lines) ◦ Definite break in thought and often the
octave conveys the problem and the sestet the solution.
◦ Octave- abbaabba rhyme scheme
◦ Sestet – varies and may have cdecde or cdcdcd or cddcef rhyme schemes.

Modern poets often combine the two sonnet forms but still use the 14 lines format.

Wordsworth’s choice of the sonnet form is significant, because it was a literary form that was hugely important and
popular back in Milton’s own day. In addressing Milton using the sonnet form and through the occasional use of elevated
Early Modern English diction (e.g., the use of “thou,” “thee,” and “thy” in the poem), the speaker pays homage to the
popular literary conventions of Milton’s time while also demonstrating, through his own confident mastery of the form,
that he is willing and capable of following Milton’s example as both a poet and a political radical.

FIGURES OF SPEECH :
The poem is addressed to John Milton, who is dead, the figure of speech known as apostrophe is used.
"Apostrophe, figure of speech in which an absent person, a personified inanimate being, or an abstraction is addressed as
though present."

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There are similes and metaphors in this poem. A simile is when you compare two unlike objects using the words like or as,
a metaphor is when you compare two unlike objects and you say that the object is, for example, in line two, England is
compared to a fen "she is a fen".
An example of a simile is in the line, "thy soul was like a star."
Milton is compared to be "as pure as the naked heavens." This is a simile because of the use of the word as. His voice was
like the sea, simile.

THEMES :

The main theme is Wordsworth's worry about England's moral and intellectual decline. He hopes that John Milton's
example can provide a way out.
 Cultural decline: Wordsworth’s poem describes England as being in a state of decline, having lost much
of its strength and virtue.
 The power of the soul: The poem argues that England needs a kind of spiritual renewal, exemplifying
Milton as the ideal soul.
 Literary guidance: Wordsworth’s invocation of Milton has both moral and poetic dimensions.
 Other Themes may include :
 Patriotism
 Admiration
 Morality and Ethics
 Tradition and Customs
 Literature and Writing
Central idea/Theme: Wordsworth’s apprehension regarding the moral and intellectual decline in England. He tries to
revive John Milton’s example in the hope to inspire a solution. morality, humanity and the natural environment

QUESTIONS:

1. Comment of the effectiveness of the imagery used in lines 2-3. (3)

The metaphor in “she is a fen of stagnant waters”- suggesting muddy/filthy waters that is indicative of a state of
rot/decay. It’s effective in relaying the context which the poet establishes in the octave of the sonnet. The
metonymy reveals the degradation of the attributes that were most admired and revered in England.

2. Discuss the main point/s that are explored in the Octave and Sestet respectively. (2)
In the octave, the speaker implores Milton to save England from its fall from grace and by highlighting all
the attributes of England that have gone asunder while in the sestet he emphasises the virtuous nature of
Milton, justifying why his intervention will be appropriate in saving England from damnation.

3. Suggests how Wordsworth romanticises the ideals and qualities of Milton. (3)
In the octave, the speaker implores Milton to save England from its fall from grace and
by highlighting all the attributes of England that have gone asunder while in the sestet he emphasises the
virtuous nature of Milton, justifying why his intervention will be appropriate in saving England from damnation.

4. Refer to lines 12-14. How are these lines effective in conveying the indented message of the poem? (2)
These lines emphasise that England needs to be rescued by one who had a true sense of what ought to be valued
through his “cheerful Godliness” he was able to perform the most menial duties without complaint because of his
unwavering faith. Therefore, people of England need to emulate his selfless spirit in order to restore England to its former
glory. [10]

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 2. EATING POETRY - BY MARK STRAND
1 Ink runs from the corners of my mouth.
2 There is no happiness like mine.
3 I have been eating poetry.

4 The librarian does not believe what she sees.

5 Her eyes are sad
6 and she walks with her hands in her dress.

7 The poems are gone.

8 The light is dim.
9 The dogs are on the basement stairs and coming up.

10 Their eyeballs roll,

11 their blond legs burn like brush.
12 The poor librarian begins to stamp her feet and weep.

13 She does not understand.

14 When I get on my knees and lick her hand,
15 she screams.

16 I am a new man.
17 I snarl at her and bark.
18 I romp with joy in the bookish dark.

BACKGROUND OF THE POET

Mark Strand was a former U.S. poet laureate who lived from 1934 to 2014. "Eating Poetry," one of
Strand's most widely read poems, appeared in his sophomore collection, Reasons for Moving, published
in 1968. This was the book that helped to establish Strand's reputation as a poet.

In many ways, "Eating Poetry" is characteristic of Strand's writing. It uses spare, tightly controlled
vocabulary and lacks a specific sense of time or place. The poem also features a surreal, dark sense of
humour, and it implicitly celebrates individuality and the human imagination.

In an interview, Strand had this to say about "Eating Poetry": "When I wrote that poem, I wasn’t sure
what I was writing about. It took me weeks to figure it out [...] psychological repression is a feature of
that poem. The dogs are the self that would be liberated. They are the animal, impulsive, uncontrollable
elements in my nature, especially in my appetite for poetry." For Strand, then, poetry is something
immediate, intuitive, and sensuous.

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GIST OF THE POEM

Eating Poetry" is the opening poem in Mark Strand's 1968 collection Reasons for Moving. Using
Strand's characteristically dark humour, the poem finds its speaker in the act of "eating" poetry
in a library, devouring poems like a ravenous, wild animal. The librarian, for her part, can't
believe what she's seeing and becomes increasingly terrified—especially as the speaker's
passionate consumption seems to summon dogs from the basement! Surreal and strange, the
poem testifies to the wonders of poetry itself—and perhaps suggests that it's not necessary to
explain, categorise, or even fully understand poems in order to enjoy them.

The speaker declares that his mouth is covered in ink. Nothing makes people as happy as eating
poetry, he says—which is exactly what he has been doing.
The nearby librarian, meanwhile, is totally shocked by the speaker's behaviour. She looks sad
and tucks her hands into her dress as she walks by.

The speaker has eaten up all the poetry in the library, to the point that there's none left. The
room is dark now, and dogs start making their way up the stairs from the basement.
The dogs are in a frenzy, their eyes wide and rolling and their legs looking like a bush on fire.
The librarian, who is pretty understandably upset by all this, starts stomping her feet and crying. The
poor woman simply doesn't get it, the speaker says, before getting down onto his knees and licking
her hand like a dog. The librarian shrieks in response.

The speaker feels like this poetry has transformed him into a totally new person. Still acting like a
dog, he growls and barks at the librarian, and then bounds around with happiness in the quiet
darkness of the library

CONTENT ANALYSIS
STANZAS 1 AND 2

Ink runs from the corners of my mouth.

There is no happiness like mine.
(…) and she walks with her hands in
her dress.

In the first stanza of ‘Eating Poetry,’ the speaker begins by stating very clearly he’s been eating
Poetry (in media res—that is, right in the middle of the action.) Ink is running from the “corners of
[his] mouth” and he’s experiencing happiness that no-one else can understand. While this is
really a metaphor for the act of reading poetry, the poem treats this consumption quite literally—
as if poetry were a kind of the corners of [his] mouth"—like the juice of berry, Or maybe even
blood. It is the idea of inexpressible happiness and passion that’s at the heart of this poem. By
depicting that happiness as something absurd, like eating poetry, Strand is showing how
impossible it is to share the true extent of one’s happiness with another person.

15 | P a g e
Unfortunately for the librarian, he has decided to eat poetry in the library. She can’t “believe
what she sees” and her “eyes are sad”. She has no idea what it’s like to experience the passion
he’s expressing. The librarian is included in this poem as a clear contrast to the speaker. There
is a good example of enjambment in the transition between lines two and three of the second
stanza.
Already, then, the poem feels strange, surreal, and darkly comic. The reader knows that people
don't literally eat poetry, but presenting it in such a way paints reading poetry as something
pleasurable, decadent, and sensuous. It also implies that poetry is a kind of nourishment,
sustaining the imagination in the way that food sustains the body. In fact, the speaker insists
that nothing else compares to the joy he feels when gobbling up poems.
Strand's characteristically off-beat humour runs throughout the poem, but there's also a serious
purpose behind the eating metaphor. By centering the poem itself around something distinctly
poetic—something that is clearly not true in a literal sense—the poem asks the reader to engage in
the same imaginative work that the speaker so clearly relishes.

STANZAS THREE AND FOUR

The poems are gone.

The light is dim.
(…)

The poor librarian begins to stamp her feet and weep.

In the third stanza, the poet includes several more short, to the point statements about the scene.
The “poems” are gone now, he’s consumed them all. At the same time, the light of the moment has
decreased. These end-stopped lines are solid and determined. The third line of the stanza is a
surprise. Suddenly there are dogs. These dogs seem to have appeared from nowhere and are
coming up the stairs. He can’t see them, but he can hear them.

The dog’s legs are burning “like brush” and the librarian is starting to lose control of herself. She
can’t handle the scene playing out before her. The silence and relative peace of the library are
very much transformed. The imagery in these lines is impressive, it is part of the passion the
speaker is experiencing. It is the poetry that he’s consumed, that’s become a part of him, that’s
making these images real.

STANZAS FIVE AND SIX

She does not understand.
When I get on my knees and lick her hand,
(…)
I romp with joy in the bookish dark.

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In the final two stanzas, the poet maintains his structure of short lines with end-punctuation. He adds that the
librarian does not “understand” what’s going on, either metaphorically or physically in front of her. She does not
understand, according to the speaker. Perhaps the speaker has some logical, common sense explanation by
which he can make her understand?
He’s been transformed, the next lines reveal, into a dog himself.
The speaker has been remade into a “new man”. He’s a lover and eater of poetry, a dog, a re-energised and
passionate lover of literature. He’s experiencing his love to the utmost and romping with “joy in the bookish dark”.
The contrasts in this poem are many but none so crucial as this last one. The speaker, eater of poetry, dog-man,
is now a new man. He has lost his old self and become a passionate, well fed, energetic romper, happy to
celebrate a love of poetry. The librarian on the other hand, despite her job, has no real idea of what he is or what
he’s experiencing.

IMAGERY AND SYMBOLISM

Eating Poetry is a six stanza, 18 line poem, and looks formally conventional on the page. It's contents
are anything but, which is a primary contrast, perhaps set up by the poet to throw the reader.

Each tercet (three line stanza) takes us deeper into the mind of the speaker and the bizarre consequences
that unfold once he has eaten the poetry.
There is no set rhyme scheme or meter (metre in UK) and poetic devices are thin on the ground. But
note the repetition of certain words at beginning of some stanzas, known as anaphora:

from the third stanza. And in the last stanza:

I am...
I snarl...
I romp...

Very simple straightforward sentences using the most basic words known to the English
language. In stanza three 'the' is repeated three times. The most commonly used word in English,
which only ever accompanies a noun, a thing, is itself difficult to define - the poet has purposefully
used it here to create yet another sub-plot to the theme of realism versus surrealism.

Alliteration
This device occurs in the second stanza, with relatively soft consonants:
and she walks with her hands in her dress.
And also in stanza four, again a soft consonant is used:
their blond legs burn like brush.

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Assonance
Repeated vowels in proximate words occur several times. Note the following:
like mine/been eating/believe what she sees/feet and weep/she scream Alliteration
and assonance add texture to the sound and help enliven the read.

FORM AND STRUCTURE

"Eating Poetry" has six three-line stanzas, a.k.a tercets. Its language is straightforward and clear,
without steady meter or rhyme. The fact that it's broken up into these regular stanzas, then, is one of
the few things that actually marks it out as a poem. These neat, quick stanzas also make the poem feel
like it unfolds episodically, moving from scene to scene and building tension throughout.

As a poem about poetry, "Eating Poetry" is also part of a long line of meta-poetry. That is, the speaker's
voracious appetite for eating poetry might suggest poems should be enjoyed for their sensuous qualities
and not overthought.

"Eating Poetry" is written in free verse. It has no regular meter, which keeps things feeling Instinctive
and unplanned, like the speaker is simply talking as he thinks. In a way, then, the poem's lack of
meter mirrors the speaker's primal, animalistic behaviour.

Though it has a neat stanza form, "Eating Poetry" doesn't have a rhyme scheme to go with it. A regular rhyme
pattern would probably sound too neat and ordered for a speaker who gobbles up language with a wild and
voracious appetite.
That said, the poem does end with one clear rhyme: "bark"/"dark" in its two final lines. This
closes the poem on a musical, satisfying note that evokes the speaker's delight at being filled up
with poetry.

THEMES

"Eating Poetry" is a surreal and darkly comic poem that celebrates poetry’s ability to excite the
imagination and bring joy to its readers. The poem opens with the speaker "eating poetry" in a
library, much to the startled librarian's distress. By the poem’s end, the speaker has begun to
joyously bounce around like a dog and declares that he’s "a new man—a testament to the
mysterious, transformational power of poetry.

No happiness, the speaker declares at the poem’s start, can compare to the feeling of “eating”
poetry. The speaker’s passion for poetry manifests as a rabid bodily hunger: he gobbles up

18 | P a g e
poems to the point that “ink runs from the corners of [his] mouth,” an image that presents poetry
as something delicious, messy, and indulgent.

Throughout ‘Eating Poetry’ Strand engages with themes of happiness and transformation.
The Surreal landscape that he creates allows him to depict the effects of happiness on someone
who is completely consumed by their passion. The speaker, the poetry eater, gives himself over
wholly to that which he loves, reading and writing poetry. He is remade into a “new man,” a dog
who licks the librarian’s hand.
His experience of the world is so different from hers, the juxtaposition so strong, that Strand
depicts it through a physical transformation into another species.

The nearby librarian, meanwhile, is shocked at the speaker's destructive and increasingly
Animalistic behaviour—which makes sense when readers consider that her job is to organise,
categorize, and safeguard the books in the library. But poetry unleashed, the speaker suggests,
isn’t something that can be so easily contained again; once consumed (that is, read), it can
inspire a kind of passion or intense feeling in its readers that onlookers simply can’t understand.
Thus, once the “poems are gone,” the speaker having devoured them all, things get even wilder: Dogs arrive out
of nowhere (perhaps symbolically representing the speaker's instinctive passion for words) and, by the poem’s
end, the speaker is snarling and barking himself. Whether or not readers take this image literally, poetry clearly
seems to have awakened some primal joy within the speaker that he can’t hold back.
He also can’t necessarily articulate this joy to the terrified librarian, who “does not understand” perhaps a
reference to the way that it’s often hard to explain to others how a certain piece of art makes one feel. But for this
speaker, that’s no problem: so long as he has poetry to feast on, he will “romp with joy.”

LITERARY DEVICES
Strand makes use of several interesting literary devices in ‘Eating Poetry’ these include but are Not limited to
alliteration, imagery, and anaphora. It is seen through the use and reuse of words or phrases at the beginning of
multiple lines. For example, “The” at the start of all three lines of stanza three.

Alliteration is also quite easy to spot. It is one of a number of techniques that can be sued to Increase the rhyme
and rhythm of a poem. For example, “walks with” in stanza two and “blond,” “burn,” and “brush” in stanza four.
Imagery is another important device that is seen in the best, most evocative poetry. In the case Of
‘Eating Poetry,’ there are several good examples that engage a variety of senses. For example,
the last line reads: “I romp with joy in the bookish dark”.

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 QUESTIONS

1. Outline Strand’s meaning of the poem Eating Poetry.

"Eating Poetry" is a surreal and darkly comic poem that celebrates poetry's ability to excite the imagination and
bring joy to its readers. The poem opens with the speaker "eating poetry" in a library, much to the startled
librarian's distress.
2. Comment on the metaphors in Eating Poetry.

The reader takes the poem in--through his mouth, not his eyes or ears. Eating it, metaphorically, he reverts to
primitive type, metamorphically. He becomes an animal, or animal-like so that "Eating Poetry" is, in a sense,
Strand's portrait of the reader as young dog.
3. Explain the message in the poem?
Message is the thing that encourages poets to create poetry. The message can be found after knowing the
meaning of poetry. Message or advice is captured by readers as the impression after reading the poem. How the
reader to conclude message poetry is closely related to the point of view of the reader toward something.
4. Discuss the symbolism of the dogs in Eating Poetry?

There's no static way of reading anything. For our purposes, the poetry eating dog-man speaker may represent
the transformations that can occur for the individual reading poetry. Only here the effect is magnified in the matter-
of-fact, physical, doggy transformation that we see.

20 | P a g e
 3. I remember District 6 (transcribed by Adam Haupt)
Political Context:
On 11 February 1966 it was declared a white area under the Group Areas Act of 1950, and by 1982,
the life of the community was over. More than 60 000 people were forcibly removed to barren outlying
areas aptly known as the Cape Flats, and their houses in District Six were flattened by bulldozers.

The poem is an adaptation of a song by “Prophets of da City”-well known hip-hop

group in S.A. They collaborated in the late 1980s and even performed at Nelson
Mandela’s inauguration and gained traction by performing internationally with
prominent musicians.

Ek is 'n laaitie vannie Ses I am a child/boy from District 6

Daai's wat ek opgegroei het, District 6, sien djy. Ja. That’s where I grew up…you see

I remember the days in District 6 ...

I remember the days in District 6,

the laughter of adults and little kids,
Hanover Street and the market loepies.'
Goema music was always the heart beat. Metaphor
I remember the days in District 6,
the sound of the snoek horn,
and the ouens used to broke with a lekker song, Guys/ Folks played a good song
the mister with the perd and kar used to collect scrap iron. Horse and cart
As a Iaaitie I was crying Little boy
and in my o' there was a traantjie? In my eye there was a little tear
if didn't have a waentjie, little wagon

I used to take my seil plankie, rub it with kers vet and Sunlight soap, surfboard ….. candle wax
sail down the Upper Sheppard Street slopes.
This is the heart and soul of the young and old
Without District 6 we're in the cold. Literal and figurative

Now and then my father used to gooi a braai; Throw/ have a braai
on Sundays we used to jump in the Valiant and go to Hout Baai Place
for krief and snoek or we just go to take a look. To catch fish
I remember the Cool Cats on the hoek cool guys around the corner
and how the mopsters used to vloek gangsters used to swear
when they get geroek Smoke
and we had competitions to see who had the loudest poep. fart
And we had problems with the Group
and my ouma used-to skel from the stoep saying: "julle boere moet loep." You “policeman” must go

21 | P a g e
I remember, I remember the days in District 6.
I remember, I remember the days in District 6.
I used to go to school at Zonnebloem Place
and my cousins used to go to George Golding.
I remember the whole thing as if it was yesterday and the way we used to play
"Oupa Jimmy Oupa Jimmy kom oorie brug?" Skoeloeloe en kennetjie. Come over the bridge
( Children’s street names)
Every weekend we used to go to the mountain to fetch danne bolle. Pine cones
I remember the huis jol house party
and how we used to skiet ghatties and kap tol Shoot and play marbles
while the girls played handies en net bol. Hand games and netball
I remember sago pudding and tamatie bredie Tomato stew
and when we became the needy,
the neighbours would always keep their door open.
In times of hardship surviving in District 6 was hard work,
but we could always depend on the neighbours' support.
So I'm taking it back to the dry dock, Upper Ashley Street and the Seven Steps
where the mense slept during summer with the vensters kept open. People ….. windows
Ja, Nuwe jaar was altyd warm. We had klopse en langarm. New year was always warm
We used to slat nat with a lekker stuk vastrap. To hit the best dance moves
We used to jap the ice cream bak, steal the container with food
Gat sit daar agter in die jaard en ... en-vreet skelmpies in die hok. Sit in the backyard and gulp it in the hut

This is the heart and soul of the young and old

Without District 6 we're in the cold.
This is the heart and soul of the young and old
Without District 6 we're in the cold.

I remember, I remember the days in District 6.

I remember, I remember the days in District 6.
I remember when the bulldozers came.
As a laaitie it confused my brain. A young boy
The sandtrokke disturbed our game. sandtrucks
What could it be? I never knew WE
were gonna lose Upper Sheppard Street 75 and 73,
Boeta Doellah, Antie Fouzie, Motjie Mary and the Baptist kerkie, little Baptist church
(older brother) (slang – muslim women)
or where we were going to stay.
78 to 79 it was vat jou goed en trek maar verre time. Take your stuff and go far away
I remember selling lood en scrap irons and how we used to mines for gelukke lead ….. luck
in the stukkende huise. broken houses
We used to find old koois and dooie muise. Beds and dead mice
Like luise, they threw us on the Cape Flats lice
and it all happened when my father ended on his back.
I remember District 6.

22 | P a g e
GIST OF THE POEM

Looks back on life in District 6, an area in Cape Town that experienced forced removal and the destruction of an
entire community. The speaker reflects on his life, growing up in District 6. The sounds, smells, sights as he
remembers them adds to the vibrancy of the community. The speaker looks back fondly on these times and how
senseless destruction confused his brain.

The poem has a strong sensory appeal by use of imagery which crystalizes life in District 6. As the speaker
endears us to this location and its people, the reader becomes emotionally linked by the vivid descriptions and
heartbroken at the end of the poem to learn that this eclectic place is no more.
The first two lines speak of the area as the “heart and soul” of the community and how without it “we’re in the cold”.
The area was alive with the culture and warmth of its people; without it they are lost and out in the cold, torn from
their centre.

So these lines speak of the effect the forced removals had on them. Line 70 is a simile in which the speaker
comments on the government and the way it “threw them out” as if they were lice, pests, needed to be exterminated.

The mention of “they” gives an agency to their removal, and accuses the regime who could destroy a community in
that way.

The speaker tells of seeing the bulldozers coming, and how he remembers it. He couldn’t understand what they were
doing there, “it confused my brain”.

He recalls how the sand trucks “disturbed our game”, which is the level at which a child would react. He is puzzled
and asks “What could it be?”

He was totally unprepared for what was happening. The speaker gives a child’s perspective of puzzlement and the
level at which the event affected his life. He wasn’t aware then, as he was as an adult, of the enormity of what was
being done to them.

POETIC DEVICES :

The DIALECT helps give the poem its authentic voice – the reader is addressed as a former inhabitant of the area
. The use of the PERSONAL PRONOUN “I” –contributes to the personal quality of the recollection and the listing
of memories proves how much was lost as a result of the Group Areas Act and the Apartheid regime as a whole
MOOD:

Sentimental and Nostalgic

TONE:

Light-hearted and carefree as the speaker recollects memories of his childhood

BUT also TRAGIC and MENACING towards the end of the poem when he describes forcibly removed from his
home.

23 | P a g e
THEMES :

The impact pf Apartheid

Tragedy

Healing

QUESTIONS:

1. List four things that the child remembers about life in District 6. (4)

The child remembers (any four of) Hanover Street, the market, music, fish being sold,
scrap iron collectors with their horse and cart, schools, churches.

2. Compare the child’s unhappiness with the images of sadness that fill the last stanza. (4)

The child is unhappy about not being able to get a “waentjie”(small wagon) to play with, but
he still gets to play with a “seil plankie” in the street. There is real sadness in the final stanza
as the “heart and soul” of District 6 is removed with force removals of residents by the authorities.

3. Comment on the writer’s use of dialect. How does it contribute in delivering the central idea of
the poem? (2)

Many words are written in dialect or code mixing of English and Afrikaans eg. “used to broke”/
”a lekker song”. These colloquialisms give the poem a context and character, making the story distinctly
about Cape Town and the culture of the District 6 inhabitants. The community is personified as a
warm and living soul through the use of dialect.
[10]

24 | P a g e
4. The Woman by Kristina Rungano
A minute ago I came from the well
Where young women drew water like myself
My body was weary and my heart tired.
For a moment I watched the stream that rushed before me;
And thought how fresh the smell of flowers, 5
How young the grass around it.
And yet again I heard the sound of duty
Which ground on me – made me feel aged
As I bore the great big mud container on my head
Like a big painful umbrella. 10
Then I got home and cooked your meal
For you had been out drinking the pleasures of the flesh While I toiled in the fields.
Under the angry vigilance of the sun
A labour shared only by the bearings of my womb. 15
I washed the dishes; yours
And we swept the room we shared
Before I set forth to prepare your bedding
In the finest corner of the hut
Which was bathed by the sweet smell of dung 20
I had this morning applied to the floors
Then you came in,
In your drunken lust
And you made your demands
When I explained how I was tired 25
And how I feared for the child – yours – I carried
You beat me and had your way
At that moment
You left me unhappy and bitter
And I hated you 30
Yet tomorrow I shall again wake up to you
Milk the cow, plough the land and cook your food,
You shall again be my Lord
For isn’t it right that woman should obey, Love, serve and honour her man?
For are you not the fruit of the land?

25 | P a g e
BACKGROUND OF THE POET :

Kristina Rungano, poet and short-story writer was born in Harare, Zimbabwe and grew up near Kuatama
Mission. She attended Catholic-run boarding schools in Selous and Harare, studied management in Britain,
and is working on a doctoral degree in computing and mathematics at South Bank University, London.
Rungano is Zimbabwe’s first published female poet, and A Storm Is Brewing (1984) is her first collection.
She has since contributed poems to the anthologies Daughters of Africa (1992) and The Heinemann Book
of
African Women’s Poetry (1995) and written short stories.
Although she views her poetry primarily as a means of self-release, her themes are resonant: self-
exploration, aspects of womanhood, love, loneliness, alienation, and war are among her subjects. Her
enduring strengths include her ability to capture inwardly felt experience using a variety of personae.

GIST OF THE POEM

In “The Woman,” Rungano talks through a lyrical persona who belongs to the rural scene of her country.
She represents the majority of the women who are oppressed in the macro-level societal framework, family.
This woman is seen invested in various works such as fetching water, working in the fields in scorching
heat, bearing children, doing domestic works, etc. She does what he is destined to in a patriarchal society.
In contrast, her husband stays busy in worldly pleasures without caring about the pain of his wife. He
returns home, sadistically draws pleasure from his weary wife. This cycle keeps repeating in the speaker’s
life until her death.

Vocabulary

L13 toiled - work extremely hard or incessantly

L14 vigilance - keeping careful watch for possible danger
L23 lust - strong sexual desire

CONTENT: LINE BY LINE ANALYSIS AND EXPLANATION

lines 1-6
A minute ago, I came …

… the grass around it.

Kristina Rungano’s poem “The Woman” presents a rural woman who is married at an early age. She works
all day relentlessly under the strict schedule of duty. It is important to mention how Rungano begins her
poem. She creates a sense of urgency from the very beginning.

The speaker had just returned from the well a minute ago. She has no time to think about other things
except her family and chores. It does not happen with only herself. Several young women face a similar
fate in Zimbabwe’s rural scene.

26 | P a g e
Working under the strict vigilance of the ticking clock makes the woman’s body weary and her heart tired. In
the next line, the speaker manages to look at her surroundings. She can feel the force of the rushing
stream, the smell of fresh flowers, and the lush beauty of the grass. Here, the “stream,” “flowers,” and
“grass” are used as a symbol of youth and freedom. These images from nature are contrasted with the lives
of young women who fetch water from the well, including the speaker.

Lines 7-13
And yet again I heard …
… toiled in the fields.

The speaker has no time to heed to such uplifting thoughts inspired by nature. A “sound of duty” rings
directly from her subconscious mind. She has to leave her self-fulfilling thoughts aside and attend to duty’s
tough call. The speaker is still a girl. Naturally, she has to be drawn to nature’s freeing call. In reality, she
can’t.

The bond of marriage has already chained her wings. It has clipped her young feathers right before she
could learn to fly. The sound of dutifulness feels like a heavy burden on her back. But, she has to carry it
throughout her life and pass it onto her next generation, especially her daughters.

The burden makes her feel old. As she bears the “great big mud container,” a symbol of women’s
responsibilities, she can feel how withered her heart is. It is not her age but her duties that make her feel
aged. In the next line, Rungano uses a simile in order to compare the earthenware to a “big painful
umbrella.” The “umbrella” of patriarchy gives women apparent protection by drawing out their personal
desires and sense of freedom.

After fetching water from the well, she got home and cooked a meal for her husband. As she works without
any break, her husband has been out drinking and carousing with his friends. He keeps himself busy in the
“Pleasures of the flesh,” a metaphor for drinking and having intercourse. In contrast to that, his wife toiled in
the fields to make a living for both.

Lines 14-21
Under the angry …
… applied to the floors
Rungano uses an important symbol in the first line of this section, “the angry vigilance of the sun.” As
readers can see here, the “sun” is depicted as a male counterpart. With its scorching heat, it intensifies the
suffering of the woman toiling in the fields. Like her husband is indifferent to her suffering, so is the sun.
Unlike the symbolic significance of the “sun” in other romantic poems, here the sun is depicted as a tyrant,
a vigilant overseer of women’s suffering.

27 | P a g e
Nobody is there to share the suffering of the woman. Interestingly, only her “womb” is there to share her
pain of childbearing. It hints at the fact that the woman is pregnant. Given the fact that she is bearing a
child, her husband does not even care to look after her or even help her with her chores.

After returning from the fieldwork, the speaker washed the dishes. Rungano especially emphasises the
term “yours” (the husband’s) by using a semicolon. In the next line, she dexterously uses the pronoun “we”
that readers may ignore while reading. Here, “we” include not the speaker’s husband but the child she is
bearing.

In reality, she swept the room her husband also shared. Then, she prepared his bedding in the finest corner
of the hut. These lines hint at the privilege a man enjoys in his family. Most of the work is done by the woman,
but the man is there always to receive special perks like having the finest corner in the hut. She bathed his
husband’s cost corner with the “sweet smell of dung” that she applied to all the floors.

Lines 22-30

Then you came …

… I hated you

Finally, the lord, with his drunken gait, came in. Then he made his demands to the speaker without looking
at her condition. She tried to explain how weary she was after all day’s work. But, he did not care. She
brooded over the infant in her womb that was also his child.

The agonized words could not soothe the patriarch’s, cold heart. He beat her and forcefully had his way
into her. After he had satisfied his lust, he left her like an object.

The speaker felt unhappy and bitter. She hated him after all he did to her. But, who was there to listen to
her agonised request? She had to suffer the pain alone.

Lines 31-36
Yet tomorrow I shall again …
… the fruit of the land?

This abominable cycle keeps repeating in women’s lives. Readers can find this scene in any rural society of
the world. The unspeakable suffering of women is universal in nature. This cycle has been in motion from
time immemorial.

The next day, the same woman who was tortured last night by her husband and her duties should wake up
to his duties. She had to milk the cow, plough the land, and cook his food as usual. He should be her divine
“Lord” again. Here, Rungano capitalizes the first letter of the term for sake of emphasis. It also has an ironic
undertone.

28 | P a g e
The last three lines contain the crux of the poem. These lines pose two important questions to society.
Firstly, the speaker asks whether it is not right that a woman should obey, love, serve, and honour her man.
Here, she tries to say that women are destined to be subjugated figuratively. Then she uses a patriotic
metaphor, “the fruit of the land.” She asks whether women are not the fruit (children) of the land. This
question is not for the women to answer. Rungano asks this question to men.

STRUCTURE AND FORM

Rungano’s lyric poem “The Woman” contains 36 lines that are grouped into a single stanza. As there is no
regular rhyme or meter, it is a lyric poem. Besides, the text is written from the perspective of a first-person
speaker (a rural woman) who talks about the cyclical suffering of womanhood. This piece showcases the
feature of 20th-century confessional poetry, where the speaker talks about the untold cruelties, mental
agony, and hopelessness. Apart from that, Rungano stylistically uses dashes in some instances for the
sake of emphasising particular terms: “And how feared for the child – yours – I carried.”

THEMES

Rungano makes use of a number of themes in her poem “The Woman.” These include patriarchy,
womanhood, women’s suffering, and struggle, motherhood, and society. The poem revolves around
aimbabwean rural woman who has been married at a young age. She does all the domestic work and looks
after her family. Even she has to work in the fields under harsh weather in order to make a living. In
contrast, her husband does nothing but intensify the suffering of the wife. Through this story, Rungano
shows how a woman is treated in a patriarchal framework. The last two lines pose a serious question to
readers regarding how women are brainwashed to take up their gender roles.

POETIC / LANGUAGE DEVICES

Rungano’s “The Woman” contains the following poetic devices that make the subject matter more
appealing to readers.

• Enjambment: It occurs throughout the text. Rungano uses this device to make readers go
through consecutive lines to grasp her idea. For instance, she enjambs the first three lines of the
poem.
• Simile: This device is used in the following lines: “Where young women drew water like myself”
and “As I hire the great big mud container on my head/ Like a big painful umbrella.”
• Imagery: The poet uses olfactory imagery in the phrases “the smell of flowers” and “sweet smell
of the dung.” She uses visual imagery in “the stream that rushed before me,” “How young the
grass around,” “the great big mud container on my head,” etc. Besides, she also uses organic
imagery in order to convey the internal feelings of the speaker.
• Metaphor: Readers first come across a metaphor in the phrase “sound of duty/ which ground on
me.” Here, the sound comes from the speaker’s subconscious mind and keeps her tied to her
role as a dutiful mother, devoted wife, and relentless worker. Rungano also uses this device in
these phrases, “the pleasures of the flesh,” “angry vigilance of the sun,” etc.

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 • Repetition: There is a repetition of the term “big” in lines 9-10. It is used to emphasise the
magnitude of the speaker’s burden.
• Personification: The poet personifies the “sun” as an angry, vigilant, and male representative. It
symbolizes ever-watchful patriarchy.
• Rhetorical Question: The poem ends with two rhetorical questions asked indirectly to the
patriarchs, with an undertone of bitter sarcasm.

The last three lines contain the crux of the poem. These lines pose two important questions to society.
Firstly, the speaker asks whether it is not right that a woman should obey, love, serve, and honour her
man. Here, she tries to say that women are destined to be subjugated figuratively. Then she uses a
patriotic metaphor, “the fruit of the land.” She asks whether women are not the fruit (children) of the land.
This question is not for the women to answer. Rungano asks this question to men.

QUESTIONS
1.What is the poem “The Woman” about?
Kristina Rungano’s poem “The Woman” is about women’s life in Zimbabwe’s rural scene. Rungano
describes how a woman has to perform her duties relentlessly and serve her lordly husband throughout her
life.

2. Who is the speaker of “The Woman”?

The speaker of this poem is a young woman who is married at an early age. Rungano uses the first-person
narrative technique in order to describe her feelings and sufferings to readers.

3. How does Kristina Rungano describe the woman’s suffering in her poem “The Woman”?
Rungano talks about a woman who is seen chained to her duties. She works under a strict schedule.
Alongside that, she has to work in the fields for a living. On top of that, her drunken husband intensifies her
suffering by his indifference.

4. Why does the poet repeat the adjective “big” in lines 9-10?
Rungano repeats the term in the lines, “As I bore the great big mud container on my head/ Like a big
painful umbrella.” This repetition depicts the magnitude of the speaker’s pain and her duties.

5. What is the tone of “The Woman”? What effect does it create in the poem?
The tone of this piece is complaining, sad, and hopeless. By using a complaining tone, Rungano tries to
pose a series of questions to patriarchal society. It makes the speaker’s case more piercing and appealing
to readers.

6. Why does Rungano depict the sun as angry and vigilant?

Rungano uses the “sun” as a symbol of patriarchy. Neither the woman’s husband nor the sun cares for her
suffering. It rather intensifies her pain with scorching heat.

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7. What do the lines “And thought how fresh the smell of flowers,/ How young the grass around it”
say about the speaker?
These lines hint at the fact that the speaker’s heart is still young. But, the burden of her duties makes her
feel aged. Rungano uses these images to contrast them with the speaker’s condition.

8. Why is the speaker’s heart tired?

The speaker’s heart, the source for personal desires, is tired of the burden of her duties. She has no time to
think about herself. For this reason, her heart is gradually weakened.

9. What does the line “For you had been out drinking the pleasures of the flesh” mean?
This line hints at worldly pleasures such as drinking and having sex. The speaker’s husband keeps himself
busy in entertainment while she works throughout the day.

10. Why does Rungano use dashes in the line “And how I feared for the child – yours – I carried”?
The use of dashes naturally puts emphasis on the term “yours.” Here, the speaker wants to point at the fact
that the child she is bearing also belongs to her husband. But, he does not care about either her or the
child.

11. What do lines 31-36 say about the speaker’s mental state?
The last few lines of the poem describe the cyclical nature of the woman’s suffering. No matter how tired
she was for the last night’s torture, she should wake up the next morning and have to follow the same
routine. She dejectedly asks herself whether women are destined to serve men.

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5. Hanging Fire by Audre Lorde (1934 – 1992, USA)

I am fourteen
and my skin has betrayed me
the boy I cannot live without
still sucks his thumb
in secret 5
how come my knees are
always so ashy
what if I die
before morning
and momma's in the bedroom 10
with the door closed.

I have to learn how to dance

in time for the next party
my room is too small for me
suppose I die before graduation 15
they will sing sad melodies
but finally
tell the truth about me
There is nothing I want to do
and too much 20
that has to be done
and momma's in the bedroom
with the door closed.

Nobody even stops to think

about my side of it
I should have been on Math Team 25
my marks were better than his
why do I have to be
the one
wearing braces
I have nothing to wear tomorrow 30
will I live long enough
to grow up
and momma's in the bedroom
with the door closed.

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BACKGROUND OF THE POET

Audre Lorde is an American poet who published her first poem when she was a teenager. She described herself as a
‘Black lesbian feminist poet’. She first worked as a school librarian and went on to lecture at various colleges and
universities. She was a founding member of both Kitchen Table: Women of Colour Press and Sisters in Support of Sisters
in South Africa. She has published poetry and prose and has received national book awards.

GIST

The poet was 44 years old when she wrote this poem. The speaker in the poem is a 14- year- old girl.
This is a sad poem which centres on a girl who is coming of age and is worried about her life. The poem focuses on
teenagers and the issues they confront: relationships, the fear of isolation, living in a sexist society and death. The
speaker believes that the entire world is against her. She craves acceptance and self-confidence. She believes that no
one is concerned about the effects these issues will have on her, most especially her mother. Ultimately, the poem dawns
upon the mental fatigue and emotional imbalance caused to a child from the absence of a parent.

CONTENT – LINE BY LINE ANALYSIS

TITLE

Hanging Fire means to delay action, to stop progress or to hang back. The title is relevant as many of the speaker’s
issues could cause her to delay progress in her life (arrested development). The title contains a gun metaphor. It is not
about guns or gun malfunction but about adolescence – a dangerous time between childhood and adulthood, a long and
risky pause. By using this metaphor, Lorde is alerting us to the threat in the poem. There’s a threat underlying the
teenager’s anxieties and there’s a threat in the repeated lines ‘and momma’s in the bedroom/with the door closed’.

STANZA ONE

Line 1 The speaker reveals herself as a 14-year-old girl who is grappling with various issues.
Line 2 She has acne and personifies her skin as a betrayer. This could also be interpreted that as a young black girl, she
has experienced discrimination because of the colour of her skin.
Lines 3-5 Teenagers are typically attracted to the opposite sex but the boy she is infatuated with is immature as he still
sucks his thumb in secret.
Lines 6-7 ‘Ashy – slang used in the African American community to describe very dry skin. The speaker is very self-
conscious about the appearance of her knees.
Lines 8-9 The seemingly small issues mentioned in lines 3 -7 are juxtaposed with greater concerns; she is afraid that she
will die suddenly.

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Lines 10 -11 She has a mother but her mother is oblivious to her daughter’s teenage angst as she is closed off to her
daughter, both physically and emotionally. A tone of sadness is introduced in these lines.
The speaker is presented as one who is insecure and lacks confidence about her appearance, about the boy she likes
and she fears death. She asks several questions to which the answers are unknown. She is isolated from her mother and
is desperately lonely. She yearns for some maternal wisdom and counsel.

STANZA TWO:

Stanza two shows further ruminations (flow of thoughts) from the speaker.
Lines 12-14 There is an urgency for her to learn how to dance but her room is too small for her to practice dancing in it.
Figuratively, the room being too small could suggests that she feels trapped.
Lines 15-18 Once again, she stresses about dying suddenly, but this time before graduation. She is seriously concerned
about how others view her but believes they will only find out the truth at her funeral. The truth could refer to her sexual
identity (Audre Lorde was lesbian).
Lines 19-21 Perhaps she has chores (There is nothing I want to do’) but she is aware that there is ‘too much…to be
done’. She could be feeling pressurised that there will not be enough time to complete what needs to be done. The
speakers expresses her feelings of listlessness in these lines.
Lines 22-23 She repeats the idea of not having access to her mother when she repeats ‘and momma’s in the bedroom
with the door closed’.
The speaker is presented as a self-conscious girl with a low self - esteem. There appears to be nothing positive about her
life. Line 15 – ‘sing sad melodies’ is an alliteration. It also adds to the sombre tone of the stanza where the speaker
contemplates hearing ‘the truth’ about herself at her funeral. She is a confused teenager who knows there’s much to do
before she dies but with the absence of adult/maternal advice, support or comfort, her isolation, loneliness, confusion and
fear of death are intensified.

STANZA THREE :

Lines 24-25 The speaker feels that she has so support and reveals her frustration when she says ‘nobody even stops to
think about my side of it’.
Lines 26-27 She experiences discrimination and sexism when a boy is favoured over her on the Math team.
Lines 28-30 The speaker expresses a typical teenage concern when she has to wear braces along with not having
anything suitable to wear the next day. She feels apprehensive of how inadequate her clothes are.
Line 31 -32 Once more, she voices her fear of dying prematurely. She deals with these grave concerns all alone whilst
her mother remains in her bedroom with the door shut.
The speaker feels as though she is overlooked by the world. She is not in control of her own world and she really does not
want to be the one wearing braces or be the one with nothing to wear. Her tone of regret and frustration is evident

34 | P a g e
 throughout the stanza. Yet again she asks questions which go unanswered – a reminder that if she spoke to her mum
about these issues, perhaps her mum would be able to assure her that her concerns for her life are normal. By this stage,
the reader is heartbroken for the speaker and resents the mum’s insensitivity. Of course, the teenager has no idea that
her thoughts are totally normal and part of growing up. What is not normal is the absence of her mother’s love, comfort
and support during these crucial years of the speaker’s development.

IMAGERY AND SYMBOLISM

The speaker’s skin – The speaker’s anxieties are not simply a matter of being a teenager – her sense of her own
blackness in a prejudiced world sharpens her awareness of injustices due to race.

“Closed door” – Symbolises the speaker’s fearful sense of her future being closed off. Her future seems just as closed as
her mother’s bedroom door.

FORM AND STRUCTURE

There are three stanzas made up of 11-12 lines each.

The poem is written in free verse - there is no punctuation except for the full stop at the end of each stanza-this is effective
as the speaker pours out her feelings, moving from one worry to the next without a pause.

THEMES:

 The speaker appears to have an inferiority complex based on the colour or appearance of her skin.
 The difficulty of adolescence; the immaturity of her love interest, self-loathing (the speaker feels lonely, unattractive and
neglected). She even fears dying prematurely.
 Sexism and dejection: being marginalised academically and being discriminated against because of her skin.

LITERARY DEVICES

Enjambment – emphasises that the speaker’s problems are ongoing – she moves from problem to the next.
Repetition: ‘and Momma is in the bedroom/ with the door closed’
Lines 10-11/lines22 – 23/lines 34 – 38. The repetition of these lines are symbolic as the speaker repeats them at different
points in her rumination, highlighting her need for her mother’s presence, comfort, maternal wisdom and counsel. These
lines introduce the tone of sadness and heartbreak and intensifies her isolation from her mum. It suggests that her life will
just be easier if she had access to her mother. The reader resents the mother for her insensitivity to her daughter’s needs.
The reader feels the speaker’s loneliness and anxiety. The reader is conscious that the poet is 44 years old, writing as a
teenager and becomes conscious that the 14 year survived independently of her mother’s love and support. This
repetition reinforces the message to teenagers that the teenage years are difficult – everything appears to be a colossal

35 | P a g e
problem – but these years are but a phase before adulthood – they will pass. It is a reminder to self-indulgent insensitive
parents to be present and active in their teenager’s lives.

The idea of dying prematurely is repeated in all three stanzas:

Line 8 – ‘what if I die’

Line 15 – ‘suppose I die before graduation’
Lines 32 – 33 – ‘will I live long enough to grow up’
This repetition establishes a tone of morbidity. It reinforces the speaker’s fear of death. Her suffering is in sharp focus
when the reader sees that she has no one to help her or soothe her fears.
IMAGERY
Personification: line 2 – ‘my skin has betrayed me’. Her skin is personified and is given the ability to betray her.
Teenagers have acne breakouts – it is normal but the personification highlights how she feels like the whole world is
working against her, including her own skin. This reference could also be evidence of discrimination based on the colour
of her skin.

Hyperbole: Line 3 – 4. She feels like she cannot live without the boy she is infatuated with, even though he is immature.
Her feelings are extreme/exaggerated.

Alliteration: lines 4-5 ‘still sucks … secret’

Line 16 – ‘sing sad…’
These repetitions add rhythm to the poem.

TONE AND MOOD

Tone – dejection, self-pity, anxiousness, fear, frustration.
A sombre/depressing mood is evident throughout the poem.

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QUESTIONS:

1. Name four issues that confront the speaker of the poem.

The speaker is confronted by issues relating to her skin, boys, how to dance, the size of her room, dying young,
graduating, and needing to be responsible, education, braces and what to wear (any four issues).

2. How does the line, ’my skin has betrayed me’ (line 2) contribute to your understanding of the
of the speaker of the poem?

The speaker is a young black girl who may have experienced discrimination throughout her life. She
could be referring to how the colour of her skin has betrayed her in a society where she encounters
prejudice against women and race. Alternatively as a teenager, an outbreak of acne could be seen as a
betrayal. Her skin is personified as a betrayer which has made her feel unattractive and unacceptable.

3. What does the lines ‘I should have been on the Math team/My marks were better than his (lines 26-27) reveal
about the society in which the speaker found herself?

The speaker has been overlooked for the Maths Team as the place she feels entitled to has been given to a boy. As
a young black girl, she has presumably experienced such discrimination previously.

4. Comment on the effectiveness of the lack of punctuation in the poem.

The lack of punctuation helps to reinforce that the speaker is young, is not planning or choosing her words carefully but
rather pours out her frustrations and criticisms in a colloquial way. One sentence merges into the next to show that she
does not pause or consider, as there are countless concerns in her life.

37 | P a g e
6. DA SAME DA SAME - SIPHO SEPAMLA
I doesn't care of you black
I doesn't care of you white
I doesn't care of you India
I doesn't care of you clearlink
if sometimes you Saus Afrika 5
you gotta big terrible, terrible
somewheres in yourselves

I mean for sure now

all da peoples is make like God
an' da God I knows for sure 10
He make avarybudy wit' one heart

for sure now dis heart go-go da same

dats for meaning to say
one man no diflent to anader

so now 15
you see a big terrible terrible stand here
how one man make anader man feel
da pain he doesn't feel hisself
for sure now dats da whole point

sometime you wanna know how I meaning for 20

is simple
when da nail of say da t'orn tree
scratch little bit little bit of da skin
I doesn't care of say black
I doesn't care of say white 25
I doesn't care of say India
I doesn't care of say clearlink
I mean for sure da skin
only one t'ing come for sure
an' da one t'ing for sure is red blood 30
dats for sure da same, da same for avarybudy
so for sure now
you doesn't look anader man in de eye
GLOSSARY

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 Title: Da Same ,da Same - the same, the same
Line 4 kleeling - mixed race, coloured
Line 5 Saus Afrika - South Africa
Line 6 gotta big terrible - got a lot of trouble
Line 7 somewheres in yourselves -Somewhere in yourself
Line 15 avarybudy wit one heart - everybody with one heart which looks the same
Line 16 go-go - beats
Line 17 dats - that is
Line 18 diflent to anader - different from another
Line 20 big terrible terrible stand here - there is a big problem here
Line 22 hisself - himself
Line 23 dats da whole point - that’s the point of the argument
Line 24 how I meaning - what I mean
Line 21 is simples - the answer is easy to understand
Line 26 da nail - a thorn
da t’orn tree - from a thorn tree
Line 27 little bit - a small part
Line 33 t’ing - thing
for sure - is certain

BACKGOUND INFORMATION ON THE POET

Sipho Sepamla was born in 1932 in Krugersdorp, uses his poetry are a medium for protesting against what
he sees as Black inequality and injustice. He is identified with the official Black Protest Movement. He has
striven, through the medium of poetry to waken Black Consciousness. He has written novels as well as
poetry.
GIST

The poet is making the point that no matter what the colour of our skin is, or what race group we belong to,
we are all made alike and we all feel alike, therefore we should not try to deceive another man or hurt him
in any way. The apartheid era was a time when groups of people deemed other groups of people as lesser
humans. It was a traumatic life experience for so many who were denied their basic humanness. Sepamla
questions how one human can do this to another, knowing that at the core, each of us feels the same pain.

39 | P a g e
The poem has a pleading but also mildly threatening tone. While the body of the poem is mostly repetitions
on the theme of sameness, the closing repetition is a reminder that we all bleed the same. The final line
tells white South Africans that they should be ashamed to look in the eyes of black South Africans until they
correct these wrongs.

CONTENT

STANZA 1

Lines 1-9
The poet begins by telling us that no matter what race or colour we are : black, white, Indian or of mixed
descent, if we claim to be South African, then there is a big problem deep within ourselves.
Line 6 emphasizes the burden people carry regardless of race and background.

STANZA 2

Lines 11-15

We are all made in the image of God and the heart which beats within each of us looks the same, no matter
what colour or race, God does not discriminate.

STANZA 3

Lines 16-20

Line 16 ‘go-go’ Onomatopoeia - sound of a heart

The heart which looks the same, also beats in the same way, therefore no man is different from another.
We are all the same and should exist as one collective heart.

Lines 21 -23
The speaker asks how one man can inflict pain on another – no one has the right to treat anyone else in
the same way he would not like to be treated.

40 | P a g e
STANZA 4

Lines 24-25
Now the speaker tells us that if we really want to know what he means, then he will tell us as simply as
possible.

Lines 26-27
He uses an image of a thorn, which he calls a nail, from a tree. He begins to explain that if this thorn
scratches your skin, no matter how small the scratch might be, the result (the pain inflicted) will be the
same.
The analogy is a simple one to which everyone can relate. Readers will be able to relate to a thorn from a
tree, for it is a familiar object.
In order to emphasise his message, the speaker repeats the list of colours and nationalities which he
mentioned initially, so making certain that everyone will be aware that they are being spoken to.
There is, however, a difference. In the opening stanza he said: ‘I doesn’t care of you black’ but here he
says: ‘I doesn’t care of say black’.
The one word difference brings the emphasis away from the person generally and puts it onto what he or
she says. The narrator does not care what the people of any the groups say. The only thing that he cares
about is the certainty of what he knows to be true:
No matter what the colour of man’s skin, if it pricked by a thorn the blood which comes out will be red. This
is not an assumption but a fact- the blood from everybody is the same.

STANZA 5

Lines 32-36
Now that this message has been made clear, man should learn not to upset or get annoyed with other
people, for ultimately all people are the same – we all have ‘red blood’.

IMAGERY AND SYMBOLISM

The choice of the heart as a symbol is a clever one, for not only are all hearts physically alike, but the heart
has been seen as the place from which emotions stem.
The speaker chooses a thorn (nail) as his symbol of pain, for people of the rural area would be familiar with
the pain inflicted by the thorns when they inadvertently come into contact with the skin.
However, the use of the word ‘nail’ is no accident, for it was a nail which was used to inflict pain on Christ.
Therefore , a close parallel is being drawn between the pain inflicted by modern man on his fellow human
beings and the pain inflicted by man two thousand years earlier on Christ. Notice the way the speaker uses
the thorn as an object which inflicts pain by accident but the nail is an object by which man inflicts pain
deliberately.
There is a second parallel as well. When Christ had been nailed to the Cross, the persecutors inflicted
additional pain by pressing onto His head a crown of thorns.

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STRUCTURE AND FORM

The style of language is intended to replicate the language of the uneducated black man speaking a
language that is not his own.
The circumstances are such that we can imagine that the narrator as a rural story-teller, using language
which is simple as well as using examples with which his listeners would be familiar so that everyone can
identify with what is being said.
The language is simple to reflect the thoughts of a simple man who does not express any elaborate or
complex ideas.
No single stanza is the same. Reflects the content.
Everyone is different, yet still part of the same collective whole.
The poem is written in free verse with no rhyme scheme or regular rhythm.
The stanzas are also of irregular length. One could say that this irregular form is part of the protest against
the regulated and strict life that blacks were forced to live in South Africa.

THEMES

 Skin colour is only a visual difference - underneath, we are all the same.
 Theme of Ubuntu – I am because you are.
 Humanity should be unified as a whole –we should include and embrace diversity.

QUESTIONS:

1. Why does the poet use of repetition in stanza 1?

Emphasizes that we are all human beings – we cannot judge any other by the colour of their skin
The colour does not make us superior/ inferior.

2. Why does the poet choose to mention God in stanza 2

We are all made in the image of God. The poet wants to highlight that we are only different in terms of our
race and skin colour but we should not be separated or divided because of this.

3. What is the 'big terrible' which South Africans have within themselves (line 19)?
To consider ourselves superior to others. This attitude does not foster good relations between race groups.
The ‘big terrible’ also reflects a warped perception of mankind- something we need to address. The
apartheid era and its classification of race groups continued to foster the ‘big terrible’ in some who felt the
need to dominate /discriminate against others.

4. Comment on the tone of the speaker in conveying his message.

Angry, annoyed at the racial discrimination and the injustices suffered by the black man. The speaker feels
that the need to point out our similarities, makes an emphatic statement that we really are the same.

5. Comment on how the structure of the poem reinforces the speaker’s message.
The poem consists of free verse and irregular lines, following no set pattern or structure is in itself a way
of protesting against the restrictions that existed. Almost saying that black people were breaking the
restrictions and freely expressing themselves.

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7.. Anthem for Doomed Youth – Wilfred Owen

What passing-bells for these who die as cattle?

— Only the monstrous anger of the guns.
Only the stuttering rifles' rapid rattle
Can patter out their hasty orisons.
No mockeries now for them; no prayers nor bells;
Nor any voice of mourning save the choirs,—
The shrill, demented choirs of wailing shells;
And bugles calling for them from sad shires.

What candles may be held to speed them all?

Not in the hands of boys, but in
their eyes Shall shine the holy
glimmers of goodbyes.

The pallor of girls' brows shall be

their pall; Their flowers the
tenderness of patient minds,

And each slow dusk a drawing-down of blinds.

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VOCABULARY

Title Anthem a song of praise

Line 1 passing bells bells rung immediately after a death as a signal for prayer
Line 4 orisons prayers for the dead
Line 5 mockeries false pretences
Line 7 demented insane or mad
Line 7 shells bombs
Line 8 bugles trumpet-like brass instruments used in the military
Line 8 shires counties, the name for regions in England
Line 12 pallor unhealthy pale appearance
Line 12 pall cloth spread over a coffin

BACKGROUND OF THE POET

Wilfred Owen was born in England in March 1893 and died in November 1918 on the battlefield. He was
only 25 years old. Owen’s death is especially tragic as he died just one week before the end of the war. He
was one of the leading poets of the First World War. His poetry was based on the horrors of war that he
personally witnessed.

GIST

This poem laments the loss of young men on the battlefield. War is normally associated with heroism,
patriotism, pomp and ceremony. However, Owen shows us the cruel reality of war which is hidden from the
public.

CONTENT - LINE BY LINE ANALYSIS

The title of the poem is a paradox. An anthem is normally used to express love for the homeland but in
actual fact in this poem they are sending young soldiers to war where they are unlikely to get back because
of their doomed fate.

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Line 1
The poem starts with a rhetorical question: ‘What passing bells for these who die as cattle?’
‘Passing bells’ are traditionally rung when someone has passed on. The speaker questions what good
‘passing bells’ and other rituals have in a situation such as this.
A simile is used - the poet tries to capture the tragic waste of young lives and the undignified way in which
they die like cattle in an abattoir.

Line 2
The only sound that resembles the traditional bells is ‘the monstrous anger of the guns.’ The guns are
personified and their sound is compared to the sound of anger. It is as if the guns are reflecting the feelings
of the soldiers. War can be seen as a great monster chewing everything in its path,
Line 3
Poet makes use of alliteration and onomatopoeia – emphasising the sound of the rifles. The repetition of
the harsh ‘t’ and ‘r’ sounds partly mimics the sound of the repeated gunfire on the battlefield.
Line 4
The sounds of the rifles smothers the orisons (the prayers) of the men. Any religious ritual for these soldiers
would undermine their deaths and would be an insult to them. There could also be a suggestion that there
is no time to stop and pray for those who have died. These young soldiers are not accorded the respect
and dignity that they deserve.
Line 5
‘No mockeries now for them’ suggest that it would be a travesty to pray for them while soldiers continue to
be killed. He points out that there are neither special occasions nor pleasant ceremonies on the war front.
Line 6 -7
There are no voices of mourning and no choirs heard for them except the sounds of the weapons (bombs).
Owen’s use of ‘shrill’ and ‘demented’ add to the extreme madness of the battleground and the relentless
ear-shattering sounds that are heard.
Line 8
This suggests that as the men die, the bugle sounds are all they will hear, reminding them of home and the
grief that their deaths will cause.
The sestet speaks about those back home who mourn the loss of their loved ones.
Line 9-10
In line 9 a rhethorical is used. The speaker asks what candles will be lit for the young men to illuminate
their way to the next life. He says there will not be any altar boys holding candles for them.

45 | P a g e
Line 11
The poet states instead, there will be only ‘holy glimmers of goodbyes’ shining in the eyes of the fellow young
soldiers who are also doomed to die. ‘Holy glimmers’ suggests gentleness and perhaps innocence considering
the fact these men are very young.
Line 12
At some funerals, a pale or white cloth is used to cover the coffin. However, in this situation, this does not happen.
The only white covering for these men is the whiteness or paleness of the ‘girls’ brows’ back home. The soldiers’
loved ones back home will be stricken with grief.
Line 13
There are also no flowers for the soldiers. They only have ‘the tenderness of patient minds’ – it is just the tender
memories held in the minds of their loved ones.
Line 14
The final image is that of blinds being drawn in respect of the dead. This is yet another tradition to mark the loss of
those who have passed on; curtains and shutters are closed to create a dark interior and to signal to the
community at large that the dead are acknowledged. ‘Dusk’ signifies the end – in this case, it was the end for
many soldiers.

IMAGERY

Wilfred Owen uses powerful images and many sound techniques to illustrate the brutality and
meaninglessness of war.
He uses alliteration to create sounds in the reader’s mind when reading them, like for example ‘rifles’ rapid rattle.’
The choice of these three words introduces a short, staccato rhythm, exactly as gun shots would ring
Owen also uses personification when he refers to the ‘monstrous anger of the guns.’ He personifies guns to
show how much they were used and the destruction that they caused.
A simile ‘die as cattle’ is used to create a sense of the inhumane treatment of the soldiers; men were slaughtered
like cattle.
FORM AND STRUCTURE
‘Anthem for Doomed Youth’ is a Petrarchan/Italian Sonnet made up of an octave and a sestet. The octave is
dominated by the sound of battle and the sestet is characterised by the grief of the soldiers’ loved ones.

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 TONE AND MOOD

The tone is initially bitter and angry but there is intense sadness.
The sombre tone in the sestet contrasts sharply against the backdrop of war in the octave.
The mood is solemn and dark.

THEMES

One of the central themes of this poem is the futility of war.

The poem highlights the cruelty, savagery and suffering/tragedy related to war – young men die in the chaos of
battle and loved ones who were not present at their ‘burials’, are left devastated by their loss.
This poem can be seen as a protest against war. Young lives are lost in vain.
In the past, war was glorified and it was seen as a great honour to fight for your country.

QUESTIONS
1. Comment on the irony in the title of the poem.
An anthem is a song of praise or celebration and evokes feelings of patriotism. However, the irony is that these
soldiers are being sent to their death and there is no glory for these young men. Instead, they face a violent death
and leave their loved ones grief-stricken.

2. What effect is achieved by using two rhetorical questions in the poem?

Owen uses the rhetorical questions to create a gloomy mood and to make the audience think deeply about the
questions that are asked. Owen then unravels the answers revealing that dying in war is miserable and
unmerited. The questions capture the readers’ attention engaging them to feel empathy.

3. What does the simile ’die as cattle’ (line 1) suggest about the deaths of the young soldiers?
The men are slaughtered like cattle without any ceremony. There is no dignity or acknowledgement of their
humanity.

4. By discussing the contrast of the rhythm in line 3 with that of line 14, show how the poet effectively
uses rhythm to enhance his ideas.
The rhythm in line 3 is short and staccato-like resembling the rapid gunfire that the soldiers are exposed to. The
rhythm of line 14 is slow and calm which contributes to the change of mood and tone from the first stanza. After
the frenzy of war, the dead are quietly acknowledged by their loved ones.

5. How does the poet convey his attitude to war in the octave?
Owen conveys his attitude by his use of visual and auditory images that heighten the sense of brutality and
graphically describe the fears that the soldiers felt. He shows his sympathy towards those experiencing the horror
of war and conveys his belief that war is a horrific waste of human life.

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8.The Ride – Joyce Chigiya (1960 - Zimbabwe)

A relay of notes
in untidy piles is
played back to
front the partially
displaced tout
bending his jean-
clad butt through
an open window
holds on tight lest
he be puked by
this bursting
vehicle as he
relays back
change
Please pay the fare, we
buy fuel from the black
market

BACKGROUND OF THE POET

Joyce Chigiya, a Zimbabwean poet, teaches English (as a second language in a rural school). Several of
her poems were published in magazines even though she considers herself a learner poet. Some of her
poems were also translated into Chinese and published in an anthology entitled “No Serenity Here”. Her
enjoyment of poetry began as a student where she studied four South African protest poets as a project.
Joyce also writes short stories.
Joyce was amongst the first intake of students at the University of Zimbabwe where she studied teaching.
In 2004/2005 her poems were included in the Crossing Borders Writing Project Zimbabwe. She has also
worked on gaining basic literacy in music.

GIST

This is a descriptive poem of a scene in an overloaded taxi, carrying paying passengers. They pay a fare to
a ‘cool’ young man who returns their change and insists they pay their fare as fuel is very expensive and is
bought illegally.

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CONTENT ANALYSIS

Lines 1 – 2

‘money’ is the opening image. The notes are passed from hand to hand to the tout at the front. Money is
described as piles – hinting at the low value of the Zimbabwean currency. ‘Piles’ suggesting much money is
required for anything – even taxi fare.
‘notes’ – is a reference to paper money and the loud music played in the taxi.
‘relay’ – refers to the taxi moving from stop to stop based on money passed from hand to hand like a baton
within the taxi.
‘played’ – suggests a game – linked with how passengers are played with for the financial gain of the taxi
operators.
‘Back to front’ – at the literal level, refers to passing money in a certain direction. Figuratively, it refers to a
system that is seriously wrong. It alludes to the corruption, chaos and disorder within the Zimbabwean
government that led to the collapse of the country’s economy.
Emphasis is on the multi-layered connotations of the diction,
It establishes a sharply critical tone – a criticism of the operation of systems in Zimbabwe.

Lines 3 – 5
The tout sits in the window collecting the money. The taxi is so full that he is ‘displaced’ from a seat. He is
hanging from an open window. ‘Butt’ is a colloquial reference to the rear of his anatomy, uncomfortably and
dangerously protruding through the taxi window. This is the risk he takes to ensure his income. The word
‘tout’ has negative connotations – he collects the exorbitant fares from poor citizens – some of which
becomes his wage. The typography of line 5 reminds us of something dangling over an edge.

Lines 6 – 8

‘puke’ is a slang for vomiting. It is a repulsive action. The taxi is like a huge overfed creature that can vomit
people out of its doors and windows – personification.
‘bursting’ is an indication that the vehicle is full to beyond capacity. It is full of passengers, sound and
movement – emphasising the discomfort within the taxi. These lines highlight the human plight of suffering
as they travel under such extreme conditions.
The ‘relay’ image continues as the tout relays the change from ‘front to back’ this time, as he cannot move.

Lines 9 – 10

These lines are in italics as they are not part of the description of the taxi ride. It is direct speech spoken by
the tout and it gives relevant information. The tout is brazen as he makes his request.
He is confident that he is safe as the passengers are too dependent on this service to inform on him. It
highlights the poet’s plea for attention to be drawn to the situation in her country.
‘Black market’ – the definition of ‘black market’ is an illegal trade in officially controlled or scarce goods.
Fuel is a controlled commodity and should be bought from recognised dealers but the economic situation in
Zimbabwe is so dire that it can only be obtained illegally. It highlights the breakdown of order, the high level
of corruption and the government’s inability to meet the needs of the country. Anything bought on the black
market would be outrageously expensive. There is a play on the word ‘black’ – the black market
(passengers) pay outrageous fares because fuel is bought on the black market (obtained illegally).
Alliteration – “please pay”, “fuel from”

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RELEVANCE OF THE TITLE

At a literal level, it refers to passengers traveling in an overloaded taxi. At a figurative level, it refers to
people being ‘taken for a ride’ – citizens being ripped off by a corrupt government that does nothing to
protect passengers from being cheated/exploited/deceived by ruthless taxi operators.

FORM AND STRUCTURE

This is a descriptive poem that comments on the conditions in Zimbabwe – a brief and vivid snapshot of a
ride in a taxi. It is a 10- line poem that has no pattern, rhythm or rhyme.
The language is simple, making use of simple, everyday words that have unpleasant connotations. The
poem relies on multiple meaning of words to communicate the sharply critical tone. Enjambment (run on
lines) sets a fast pace (Tempo) and creates the mood of a busy and chaotic taxi ride. The typography of
line 5 is effective. Line 5 “through an open window” creates the mental image of something dangling over
an edge.

THEMES

The poem reveals the economic crisis in Zimbabwe. The currency is not worth a lot. There is corruption
within the political and economic system. It exposes the black market and exorbitant fuel costs.
It also exposes the culture of taxi owners and the high fees that people are compelled to pay. People suffer
the discomfort in taxis to engage in a necessary activity like commuting.

QUESTIONS
1. Line 2. ‘played back to front’. Explain the literal and figurative meaning of these words.
2. Lines 3- 5. What impression is created of the tout in these lines. Also discuss the poets use of
the word ‘tout’ as opposed to other words like ‘conductor’ or ‘ticket collector’.
3. Discuss the effective use of the word ‘puke’ in line 6 of the poem.
4. Comment critically on the last two lines of the poem.
5. Discuss the effectiveness of the form and structure of the poem.
6. Do you consider “The Ride” to be protest poem? Explain your answer.

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9.The Second Coming - W.B. Yeats

Turning and turning in the widening gyre

the falcon cannot hear the falconer;
Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity.

Surely some revelation is at hand;

Surely the Second Coming is at hand.
The Second Coming! Hardly are those words out
When a vast image out of Spiritus Mundi
Troubles my sight: somewhere in sands of the desert
A shape with lion body and the head of a man,
A gaze blank and pitiless as the sun,
Is moving its slow thighs, while all about it
Reel shadows of the indignant desert birds.
The darkness drops again; but now I know
That twenty centuries of stony sleep
Were vexed to nightmare by a rocking cradle,
And what rough beast, its hour come round at last,
Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?

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BACKGROUND INFORMATION ON THE POET

William Butler Yeats was born in Dublin, Ireland, in 1865. He is recognised as one of the most
accomplished poets in the English-speaking world. He was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1923.
Yeats was a fierce Irish nationalist and Ireland features strongly in his work. A very important influence on
his poetry was his love for Maud Gonne who was very politically inclined. His love was unrequited and his
proposals of marriage rejected. Yeats married late in life and had a son and daughter. He died in 1939.

GIST OF THE POEM

The Second coming is a Christian belief that Jesus Christ will return to earth. Yeats presents an alternative
to the Christian idea of the Second Coming: the coming of a grotesque beast. In the first stanza he
describes an evil world that is full of pain and is out of control. In the second stanza, the speaker receives a
vision of the future – the arrival of a dreadful beast with the body of a lion and the head of a man.

VOCABULARY

L1 gyre: circular or spiral pattern of movement

L2 falcon: bird of prey trained to hunt game birds
L2 falconer: a person who trains falcons
L4 anarchy: a state of disorder or chaos due to lack of state control
L7 conviction: firm belief
L12 Spiritus Mundi: collective consciousness of the world
L17 reel: lurch violently
L20 vexed: annoyed, troubled or worried
L22 slouches: walks in a lazy, drooping way

CONTENT ANALYSIS

Stanza 1

The gyre is an image Yeats uses to describe his cyclical view of history. As the cycle widens, things get
more and more out of control. The cyclic patterns of human history are becoming wider and wider – there is
no force at the centre, like the falconer (God?) or the pull of gravity, to hold them together.
Line 2 – ‘The falcon cannot hear the falconer’ implies that just as falcons who were smart and very
dedicated to their trainers have moved away from their trainers so too have people (humanity) moved away
from some sort of holder or controller that centred or kept them in order and this has resulted in chaos.
Humanity has basically lost its way and descended into moral confusion.
Line 3 – ‘Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold’ – The entire world has started to crumble. There is a
state of total chaos

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Line 4 – ‘Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world’ – this suggests that evil is released which creates a state
of disorder.
Lines 5-6 – “The blood-dimmed tide…innocence is drowned’ - The ‘blood-dimmed tide’ could refer to wars
that are fought or a rising wave of violence in society. Innocence and rituals celebrating purity have been
destroyed and a wave of violence is washing over the land, drowning everything in its path.
Lines 7-8, - ‘The best lack … of passionate intensity’ -the best people (the most moral people) are silent.
They lack the courage of their convictions and are resigned to their fate while the worst (the villains) are the
ones in power, who carry out their evil deeds with impunity and speak the loudest.

Stanza 2

Stanza 2 starts with a cry for salvation from the carnage taking place in the world. However, the speaker’s
hopes are short-lived. He enters into a sort of dream state and gains contact with the Spiritus Mundi or the
collective consciousness or world soul which Yeats believed each person had access to.
This collective consciousness is full of strange, ancient, mythological images. He descends into this vision
observing a sphinx moving slowly. The beast is in no hurry and has desert birds like vultures flying around
it. It is pitiless and has no empathy for humans. Its gaze is compared to the harsh qualities of the sun
suggesting that just as we cannot escape the sun’s heat, we will be unable to escape this monstrous
creature. When the speaker re-enters reality, he realises that a chaotic and evil future awaits us. This
could manifest as war, huge social and political change, climate change, environmental disasters or
perhaps even strange illnesses that we have experienced. The phrase ‘twenty centuries of stony sleep’
suggest that we have been asleep and have made little progress in areas that really matter.
Instead of the Second Coming of Christ, an awful beast is making its way to Bethlehem (the birthplace of
Jesus Christ) to be born. A cradle symbolises purity and innocence but in this poem, the cradle symbolises
something menacing- the birth of a monster.

IMAGERY

Metaphors and Similes

The falcon and falconer are metaphors representing humanity and controlling forces. The ‘blood-dimmed
tide ‘is a metaphor for violence and the ‘ceremony of innocence’ is a metaphor for human innocence and
goodness.
Repetition and Alliteration

‘turning and turning’ creates a sense of reverberation and echoes throughout the poem. It creates the idea
of repeated, confused movement. The word ‘loosed’ is repeated in the fourth and fifth line. The words:
‘Second Coming’ are also repeated – what is the significance of this?
Examples of alliteration - ‘centre cannot’, ‘darkness drops’, ‘stony sleep’

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FORM AND STRUCTURE

This poem consists of two stanzas of eight and fourteen lines respectively. The poem is written in free
verse. The poem does not have a discernible rhyme scheme. Considering that the poem tries to paint a
picture of a chaotic, broken world, it does make sense that it does not have a set pattern such as strong
end rhymes.

THEMES

Violence in this world / a world that is out of control– wars, murders, crime.
Meaninglessness – this poem is about meanings and values coming apart at the seams. It depicts a hollow
world devoid of meaning or order.
Human beings have lost their morality – we have become steeped in materialism, greed, power, disrespect
for our own kind as well as complete disregard for our environment.

TONE

Ominous, foreboding, eerie

QUESTIONS

1. Comment on the appropriateness of the title of the poem.

When one reads the title of the poem, one expects the poem to be about the Second
Coming of Christ. However, this poem is about the coming of an evil force into a society that
is collapsing or ‘falling apart.’ Hence the title is ironic but also appropriate to the content of
the poem.

2. Do you think that the analogy of the falcon and falconer is an effective one?
Explain your answer.
Yes. It is effective because just as the falcon has stopped obeying its trainer and has
drifted away so to have people moved away from aspects of life that kept them grounded
eg. faith, a code of ethics/morality. This has resulted in disaster. The delicate balance of the
world has been upset.

3. What is your understanding of the ‘blood-dimmed tide’?

The blood-dimmed tide could refer to the bloodshed and evil that we can clearly see in this
world like the wars that are fought, the crimes that are committed and the general violence
that is prevalent in this world.

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4. Do you agree with the words that ‘The best lack… of passionate intensity’? Justify your
response.
Own Response. Yes. The best (the morally upright, intelligent people) are full of doubts
while the worst (morally corrupt, evil people) are so certain of themselves and are full of
confidence. It is indeed the worst people carry out their evil deeds with impunity while the
best is silent and are no longer sure of what they believe in and what they should do.

5. What vision of the future is suggested in the second half of ‘The Second Coming’?
It is a world in a state of complete destruction. The poet paints a picture of a very bleak
future where there is no hope.

6. Explain the irony in the idea that the beast is to be born in Bethlehem.
Bethlehem is the birthplace of Jesus Christ who symbolises peace and love. It is ironic that a
monstrous creature is approaching Bethlehem, the city symbolic of the birth of goodness, to
be born.

7. Why does the speaker end the poem with a question?

The poem ends with a question to perhaps keep the reader questioning what is to be
expected in the future. It maintains the tone of foreboding and not having answers about
what lies ahead. The question leaves us with a fear of the unknown.

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10. WE WEAR THE MASK - PAUL LAURENCE DUNBAR - 1872-1906

We wear the mask that grins and lies,

It hides our cheeks and shades our eyes,—
This debt we pay to human guile;
With torn and bleeding hearts we smile
And mouth with myriad subtleties, 5

Why should the world be over-wise,

In counting all our tears and sighs?
Nay, let them only see us, while
We wear the mask.

We smile, but oh great Christ, our cries 10

To thee from tortured souls arise.
We sing, but oh the clay is vile
Beneath our feet, and long the mile,
But let the world dream otherwise,
We wear the mask! 15

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BACKGROUND INFORMATION ON THE POET

Paul Laurence Dunbar published "We Wear the Mask" in his collection Lyrics of Lowly Life in 1896. While
the poem's language and themes are representative of the majority of Dunbar's writing, the poet's
popularity in the late 1800s had much to do with his work in something called dialectics (literary work that
evokes the language of a specific region or country), especially in regards to his popularity with white
readers.
Dunbar's use of "Negro dialect" is debated among scholars (as is the concept of "Negro dialect" in general,
as many consider it to be a racist caricature). Some argue that Dunbar's dialectic work is both inaccurate to
the groups he seeks to represent and a perpetuation of racist stereotypes meant to attract white
readership. Others counter that his dialectic work represents only a fraction of his literary output. "We Wear
the Mask" is an especially pertinent poem in this conversation, as many believe that it is Dunbar's way of
acknowledging and complicating his dialectic work.
"We Wear the Mask" is also not the only poem in which Dunbar explores his own personal use of the
"mask. "The Poet," for example, describes a poet who "sang of life" in all of its multitudes but was only
praised by "the world" when singing "a jingle in a broken tongue" (that is, in dialect). It appears that Dunbar
struggled with feeling somehow complicit in regards to using racist stereotypes in his own writing, but
simultaneously compelled to continue doing so because it was the only work white society chose to
recognise.
GIST

We Wear the Mask’ by Paul Laurence Dunbar describes the way that “We” put on and accept the presence
of deceitful masks.
The poem begins with the speaker stating that “We,” a reference to all of humankind, but specifically black
Americans, put on masks. We wear them, and others use them to ignore the problems that exist in modern
society. They have a deep impact on our understanding of ourselves and others. Hearts are changed
through tearing, and mouths contain endless expressions.
The poem continues on to sarcastically ask why humankind should put out the effort to see behind the
masks. It is so clear that we should take the time, but the world does not seem willing to.
In conclusion, the speaker describes the unsteady foundation on which “We” sing. Positivity and optimism
can only last so long on a faulty foundation.

VOCABULARY

Guile: Guile refers to being sly or cunning. When one has guile, this means they are being
deceptive, but perhaps in a way that comes across as charming.
Myriad: a countless or extremely great number of people or things
Subtleties: the quality or state of being subtle.
Over-wise: extreme ability to have or show good judgment
Nay: denial, refusal
Vile: morally despicable or abhorrent

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CONTENT ANALYSIS

Stanza One

The speaker uses refrain. The line becomes the title. He is using the word “We” to allow the reader to
include themselves in the text. All people are among those who “wear mask[s].”
Dunbar is well-known as a pioneer of the Harlem Renaissance. This likely means that the “We” is geared
more towards black Americans. The type of masks that “We” wear include “grins and lies.” One readily puts
on another face for any particular situation. Lies, for when one needs to pretend to be something they
aren’t, and grins for getting by in uncomfortable situations.
These masks hide someone’s real “cheeks and…eyes.” It puts one at a distance from their surroundings.
The speaker goes on to attribute the masks to be the product of “human guile.” In this context, guile refers
to general deceitfulness. This is an overwhelming human trait. It is nearly impossible to get through modern
life completely as one’s self.
The mask is expanded from one’s face to their heart in the last two lines. It is also one’s own emotional or
moral state that changes from situation to situation. It causes hearts to bleed and tear. One’s mouth
contains a smile but also a “myriad” or a great variety of “subtleties.”

Stanza Two

A quatrain - contains four lines. Begin with the speaker asking a rhetorical question. He does not expect to
receive an answer. This does not mean the question lacks importance. It is posed to make one consider
the state of the world and perhaps further the question themselves.
He asks why the “world be over-wise” in its counting of “all our tears and sighs?” While this is a very serious
question, it is clear the speaker finds something ironic about it. It does not take much skill to take in the
“tears and sighs” of the world. These are clear emotional expressions that are used here to represent the
deepest of societal problems. Dunbar was likely referring to the struggle to achieve equal rights, and
overcome segregation and racial violence. Anyone living in the world can see that these things are present
and deeply problematic, even if they are obscured by masks.
Rather than the world taking a very small amount of time to consider the truth behind the mask, they “only
see” the surface. This is due to general ignorance but also a choice. The use of the word “counting”
emphasises this fact. The troubles of the world are so numerous they are too many to count. It becomes a
strain on those who do not have to deal with them in their everyday lives.
In the final line, the speaker brings back the title of the poem, “We wear the mask.” This line is used as a
reminder that not only are the troubles of the world obscured.

Stanza Three
Contains six lines. It begins with the speaker increasing the already dark nature of the piece. He explains
how “We smile” but no matter what the “cries” come out from “tortured souls.” They “arise” from behind the
mask and into the real, knowable world.
He sets up a second contrast in the next lines with a comparison between the “sing[ing]” that “We”
participate in and the ground on which “We” stand. One is only able to overcome an unsteady and
dangerous situation for a limited period of time. Singing can only go on for so long in a world built on a “vile”
structure.

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In the final lines, the speaker explains that the “vile” clay stretches on far “Beneath our feet.” It lasts for
miles on end. He concludes by utilizing another sarcastic statement. It is quite impactful at this point as no
one should be willing to “dream” through the pain experienced by others.

SYMBOLS
The mask
Symbolises deception: it is a tool that this marginalised group uses to trick the rest of society into thinking
that they're happy and complacent.
The mask also highlights the dual-nature of this deception: the mask both hides the true face of its wearer
while also presenting a false identity to the world. Notice how the mask mentioned in the first line both grins
and lies, illustrating that it must conceal and be seen. In other words, while the mask hides the face, it also
allows its wearer to control how others perceive them.
In this particular poem, the mask is a tool used by the black community to endure suffering under white
supremacy. The mask, then, is not simply a tool for deception, but also for survival. While many black
citizens protested their treatment white supremacy, the consequences for doing so could be severe, even
fatal. Thus, many black people had to adopt the "mask"—to hide their true feelings—in order to live under
the contemptuous eye of white society without causing any need for further scrutiny.
The idea of "double consciousness" is visible which sees the oppressed person as having a split sense of
self: a public and private identity, one of which conforms to the society that oppresses it, and the other of
which rejects it.
The symbolic resonance of the mask also changes throughout the poem. In the first stanza, the mask is
clearly a burden to those who must wear it. However, over time, the mask becomes a representation of
pride and resilience. The speaker of the poem understands that it is fruitless to seek validation from those
who oppress the speaker's community, and thus, the speaker uses the mask to gain control over the
situation. While the community the speaker represents does not have the opportunity to change its
immediate circumstances, the mask gives its wearers the confidence to navigate their oppression with
society being none-the-wiser.

Clay
In line 12, the speaker refers to a "clay" that is "vile." This clay isn't the kind of stuff you mould in art class.
"Clay" is often used in literature as shorthand for dry, cracked ground/earth on which people walk, while
"vile" essentially means wicked, disgusting, or horrible. Here, then, the "vile clay" could be interpreted as
representing the speaker's actual environment. Essentially, the world that the speaker must endure is filled
with horrific prejudice and injustice. In this reading, "clay" becomes a metonym—the ground itself coming to
represent the society in which the speaker lives.
If the reader chooses to see the poem as a reference specifically to black oppression, then this clay could
symbolically represent the poor conditions that black people were subjected to under the institution of
slavery. Even more specifically, this clay could evoke the imagery of the plantation; many of the enslaved
black population were used as physical labourers for Southern plantations, forced to work long hours in
extreme conditions with little-to-no rest, food, water, or adequate clothing.
Because of the poem's focus on the speaker's internal struggle, it is just as likely that this clay is a symbolic
representation of the speaker's emotional landscape. The clay, here, suggests an intolerable environment
surrounding the speaker and heightens the stakes of the mask. While the speaker has suggested
previously that they are an expert in deception and that they choose to wear the mask to hide their pain, the
reference to walking through "vile" clay indicates that wearing the mask is not necessarily an easy feat. The

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 clay thus also implicitly reflects the speaker's emotional endurance. The emotional labor of wearing the
mask takes its toll on the speaker in a way that feels as if the speaker is also struggling physically.

FORM AND STRUCTURE

‘We Wear the Mask’ by Paul Laurence Dunbar is a three-stanza poem that is separated into one set of five
lines, one of four, and one of six. The poem is structured in the form of a rondeau, a form that originated in
France in the 14th and 15th centuries. A rondeau consists of three stanzas that incorporate a refrain and a
specific rhyme scheme. The rhyme scheme of this piece is repetitive, oriented around a refrain. In this case,
the pattern is aabba aabc aabac. The end sounds repeat throughout this piece, with the refrain, “We wear
the mask” appearing at the end of the second and third stanzas.

The rondeau was originally paired with music and dancing, with the refrain being sung.

This might be subtly alluded to by the singing mentioned in line 12. More broadly, given that singing and
dancing are often seen as expressions of joy, the poem's form itself can be thought of as a kind of "mask":
even as the poem describes the emotional pain and suffering, it has a pleasant rhythm and meter. If you
were to hear this poem without paying close attention to the words, you might even be temporarily enchanted
by the steady, bouncy pacing. Like the mask, then, the poem's form is somewhat deceiving.

THEMES

Oppression, Racism and Identity

"We Wear the Mask" speaks to the experience of being a member of an oppressed group. The speaker is
part of a community of people who must constantly "mask" their true feelings while presenting a happy face
to the world. As a result, these people effectively have two identities: a true self, hidden behind the mask,
and the self they present to simply get by in a prejudiced society.
Although race isn’t mentioned in this poem, it is essential to its meaning: most of Dunbar’s work engaged
with race in some way, and this mask metaphor extends itself to the specific experience of being black in
America at the end of the 19th century—a time when black people often had to hide their suffering in order
to survive in an unjust and unsympathetic society. That said, the poem can also be taken as an account of
the pain and frustration of being forced to endure societal oppression and prejudice more generally.
While most people can probably relate to the idea of having to mask their emotions at certain times in life,
the poem doesn't necessarily speak to the individual so much as it attempts to describe the feelings of an
entire group of people. The poem begins with the speaker repeating the title, insisting that "We wear the
mask that grins and lies." The mask does not grin or lie, but grins and lies simultaneously, demonstrating to
the reader that the smile of the mask is never genuine. Indeed, the speaker confirms that there is deep
suffering behind this presentation of joy, telling the reader that their hearts are "torn and bleeding" and their
"souls" are "tortured."
Adding to the poem's power is the fact that, in much of the poetry and literature that depicts African
Americans, there is a troupe of the "happy slave"—an enslaved person who is perfectly content with their
circumstances. This trope was used as a justification for slavery: if enslaved people are treated well by their
masters and can experience happiness, the thinking went, then slavery couldn't be all that bad.
This poem seeks to undo this stereotype and expose it as being nothing but a performance for survival.
Indeed, the speaker references their own anguish throughout the entirety of the poem, most often pairing it

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with the image of the mask. "We smile, but," the speaker states, demonstrating to the reader that,
regardless of their appearance or how genuine it seems, behind it is a constant state of agony. Part of the
pain of oppression, the poem ultimately argues, is not just being forced to hide the truth, but having to
perform a lie.

Empowerment and Resilience

Throughout "We Wear the Mask," the speaker describes deep and prolonged suffering. The group in this
poem have "torn and bleeding hearts," express "tears and sighs," and are "tortured souls" who must
constantly pretend they are not struggling. However, there is also a sense of resilience running through the
poem.
Wearing this "mask" is a constant reminder of their oppression, but it also, in a way, binds this group
together—creating a sense of camaraderie and shared strength that helps them endure such pain.
The phrase "We Wear the Mask" is both the title of the poem and its refrain. The repetition of the phrase
throughout the poem illustrates that it has become a sort of mantra to this group. In the conclusion of the
poem, the phrase even becomes an exclamation—"We wear the mask!"—thus giving the final line a sense
of enthusiasm, and perhaps even a sense of pride.
Also note how, in line 5, the speaker almost boastfully explains that this group can "mouth with myriad
subtleties." This line suggests to the reader that members of this group hold a level of expertise in their
form of deceit. Though they certainly don't enjoy their circumstances, they do seem able to feel pride and a
sense of accomplishment when they perform their craft well.
Later, the speaker remarks that "we sing" even though "the clay is vile / Beneath our feet" and the miles
they must walk in it are "long," indicating that, while the journey is difficult, they can and will continue to
endure it with a brave face. This demonstrates that the group is strong, both in spite of their suffering and
because of it.
This is also language in this poem that suggests that the mask is a choice (though this choice could be an
illusion). The speaker says, with an arguable air of triumph, "let them only see us while / We wear the
mask," and "let the world dream otherwise, / We wear the mask!"
Seeing as the speaker is oppressed, it is unlikely that the mask is truly optional—at least, not without facing
further consequences for removing it. To take off the mask could potentially mean not being able to survive
in a society that seeks to oppress the speaker. However, the group can feel empowered from choosing to
go on as opposed to giving up. Thus, the speaker and their group can find confidence as they continue to
use the mask and survive their ordeal.
In lines 6 and 7, the speaker poses a rhetorical question: "Why should the world be over-wise / In counting
all our tears and sighs?" While this question suggests that "the world" the speaker refers to would be
unsympathetic to their plight, it also offers that, perhaps, the world does not deserve to know the anguish of
the speaker. As a marginalised people, it may benefit them to shield their suffering from their oppressors,
as it denies the oppressor the opportunity to enjoy (or at least know the true extent of) the power they hold.
This, in turn, can shift the sense of control the group has, and give them a sense of strength.

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LITERARY DEVICES

Extended Metaphor

First introduced in the title (which also acts as a refrain), the extended metaphor of the mask serves as the
backbone of the poem. The speaker explains the meaning of the mask to the reader in the first stanza,
illustrating that this metaphorical mask is a tool used for deceiving others. As the speaker continues, the
mask is revealed to be more than a simple con, meant to trick others out of amusement—more specifically,
this mask is used to hide its wearers' pain and suffering.
Of course, the group the speaker is a part of doesn't literally wear a mask over their faces at all times;
instead, the mask represents the fact that these people have to constantly calibrate their expressions to
appease an oppressive, prejudiced society. Members of this marginalised group cannot show their true
faces to the world without risking repercussions.
The use of extended metaphor regarding the mask allows the reader to understand the many intricacies of
what it means to be oppressed. The mask is initially presented as a forced tool of deception that eventually
blossoms into a point of pride: in stanzas 2 and 3, the speaker seems to adopt a tone of defiance while
discussing the mask, suggesting that the speaker (and the group associated with the speaker) has begun
to celebrate their own ability to survive in such an unjust world.
Overall, then, the mask is a tool of survival and thus representative of the pain of oppression, but it is also a
symbolic representation of the speaker's endurance and resilience. When the speaker exclaims, "We wear
the mask!" in the final line, the reader is able to understand that the exclamation is one of anger, defiance,
exhaustion, and celebration all in one.

Alliteration

In line 5, we get some alliteration (repetition of initial consonant sounds) in the words "mouth" and "myriad."
Just like before, the repetition of that M sound helps to accent the words even more and gets us thinking
about that mechanical sound of "mouth[ing]" subtleties.
Personification

At the very beginning of the poem, the line "We wear the mask that grins and lies" is an example of
personification.

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QUESTIONS

1.Explain the message of We Wear the Mask?

Oppression, Racism, and Identity
We Wear the Mask" speaks to the experience of being a member of an oppressed group. The speaker is
part of a community of people who must constantly "mask" their true feelings while presenting a happy
face to the world.

2. Discuss the significance of the rhetorical question in the poem we wear mask?
He uses both a rhetorical question and irony in the line "Why should the world be over-wise, \ In counting
all our tears and sighs?" The mask is a metaphor (comparison) to a social performance, and it is a
symbol of hidden truths.

3.Identify and explain the imagery in the poem We Wear the Mask?
Metaphor: The poet has used the extended metaphor of “mask” to illustrate the false persona that people
put on to hide their real feelings and true emotions from other people. … The poet has used visual
imagery such as, “torn and bleeding hearts”; “We smile” and “Beneath our feet.”

4.Comment on the main idea in stanza 3 in We Wear the Mask?

The speaker then looks to be reaching for spiritual guidance ("O great Christ") and the chance for
salvation ("souls arise"). The allusion to Christ emphasises the speaker's need for help that the world will
not provide.

5.What do lines 6 and 7 imply in We Wear the Mask?

In lines 6 and 7 we saw the rhetorical question that emphasised the truth behind the masks, while here in
lines 8 and 9 we see just the mask and the people wearing them. So the speaker is saying here that,
instead of the world seeing the truth, they see only the masks and the lies.

6.Why do you think we wear masks to hide our true identity?

We wear the masks to cover up the true us, and what we are really feeling. Wearing a mask protects us
from vulnerability. Inside we want to tell people what is going on in our lives, but we fear rejection and we
fear that someone will make fun of us for what we believe and how we feel.

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 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The following educators must be thanked for their teamwork and valuable contribution in
compiling this resource pack:

Ms K Pather Kharwastan Secondary

Dr D Poovan Meadowlands Secondary
Mrs Y Moodley Ganges Secondary
Mrs S Dennis Wingen Heights Secondary
Mrs R Padayachee Apollo Secondary
Mr N Mogandran Ganges Secondary

Editors:
D.Moodley Savannah Park Secondary
R.Gowthum-Seebadri Westville Boys High
S.Singh Amanzimtoti High

It is hoped that this resource pack will help to facilitate the teaching and learning of poetry.

REFERENCES
Baldwin, Emma. “We Wear the Mask by Paul Laurence Dunbar”. Poem Analysis, https://poemanalysis.com/paul-
laurence-dunbar/we-wear-masks, Accessed 11 January 2023.
Yarnall, Lauren. "We Wear the Mask." LitCharts. LitCharts LLC, 8 May 2019. Web. 11 Jan 2023.
Mark Strand, “Eating Poetry” from Selected Poems. Copyright © 1979, 1980 by Mark Strand. Used by permission of
Alfred A. Knopf, a division of Random House, Inc. https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/52959/eating-poetry
Accessed 11 January 2023.
Spacey,A. https://owlcation.com/humanities/Analysis-of-Poem-Eating-Poetry-by-Mark-Strand. Accessed 11 January
2023.

https://www.letssingit.com/taliep-petersen-lyrics-i-remember-district-six-kwknchj
LetsSingIt - The Internet Lyrics Database

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