ENGLISH HOME LANGUAGE

BRETTONWOOD HIGH SCHOOL

GRADE 11

TONE VOCABULARYTone: quality or timbre of the voice that conveys the emotional message of a text. In a written text, it is achieved through words. (How it would be said.)

Mood: atmosphere or emotion in written texts; shows the feeling or the frame of mind of the characters; it also refers to the atmosphere produced by visual, audio or multi-media texts. (How it makes you feel.)

Theme: the central idea or ideas in text; a text may contain several themes and these may not be explicit or obvious.

Positive Tone / Attitude WordsAmiable Consoling Friendly PlayfulAmused Content Happy Pleasant

Grade 11 Poetry Page 1

Appreciative Dreamy Hopeful ProudAuthoritative Ecstatic Impassioned RelaxedBenevolent Elated Jovial ReverentBrave Elevated Joyful RomanticCalm Encouraging Jubilant SoothingCheerful Energetic Lighthearted SurprisedCheery Enthusiastic Loving SweetCompassionate Excited Optimistic SympatheticComplimentary Exuberant Passionate VibrantConfident Fanciful Peaceful Whimsical

Humour-Irony-Sarcasm Tone / Attitude WordsAmused Bantering Bitter CausticComical Condescending Contemptuous CriticalCynical Disdainful Droll GiddyFlippant Mocking Mock-serious IrrelevantHumorous Insolent Ironic QuizzicalJoking Malicious Patronizing SarcasticPompous Mock-heroic Scornful WhimsicalRibald Ridiculing Teasing WrySardonic Satiric Silly Taunting

Sorrow-Fear-Worry Tone / Attitude Words/ NegativeAggravated Despairing Hopeless ParanoidApprehensive Disturbed Horror PessimisticAgitated Embarrassed Melancholy PoignantAnxious Fearful Miserable PitifulApologetic Foreboding Morose RegretfulConcerned Gloomy Mournful RemorsefulConfused Grave Nervous ResignedDejected Horrific Numb SadDepressed Hollow Ominous SeriousSober

Neutral Tone / Attitude Words

Grade 11 Poetry Page 2

Admonitory Allusive Apathetic AuthoritativeBaffled Callous Candid CeremonialClinical Consoling Contemplative ConventionalDetached Didactic Disbelieving FactualDramatic Earnest Expectant FrivolousFervent Formal Forthright IncredulousHaughty Histrionic Humble Loud Informative Inquisitive Instructive NostalgicIntimate Judgemental Learned UrgentLyrical Matter-of-fact Meditative Vexedobjective Obsequious Patriotic WistfulPleading Pretentious Persuasive ZealousQuestioning Reflective ReminiscentRestrained Sincere Resigned Shocking Seductive Serious

Grade 11 Poetry Page 3

How to read a poem

Getting started

Read the poem silently. Read it four or five times to improve our understanding. Where possible, read the poem aloud and to someone. What are your first impressions of the poem? How does it make you feel? What sort of poem is it? For example, is it a ballad, epic, free verse, lyric, narrative

poem or a sonnet?

Going deeper

Does the poem use rhyme? Does the rhyme form a pattern? What is it? What is the effect?

Does the poem have a rhythm (regular beat)? Try to describe it and explain its effect. Is the poem written in free verse (with no set rhythm)? What is the effect? Does the poem have a particular shape or unusual layout? Why do you think of the

poet has done this? Is the poem concerned with giving a description of people, things, events or thoughts?

What are they? Does the poem tell a story? Give an outline. Is the poem funny or serious? Explain how and why? Is the poem warm and generous or savage and cutting or somewhere in between?

Theme

The theme refers to an important idea that underlies the poem and gives a comment about life.

What do you think is the theme of the poem? Think about how you would discuss what you have learned by reading the poem.

Poetic techniques

These are some of the devices poets use to create mind pictures (images) to bring a poem to life. (refer to glossary for more devices)

Alliteration Onomatopoeia Simile Metaphor Personification

Bringing it all together

Once you have followed the steps outlined above, check our understanding of the poem. Ask yourself if you can:

1. Briefly retell what the poem is about.2. Describe the poem’s theme.3. Explain how the techniques used help to convey the poet’s ideas.4. Discuss your reaction to some of the poetic techniques.5. Discuss your overall reaction to the poem.6. Use examples and short quotations to support your view.

Grade 11 Poetry Page 4

Language to write about poetry.

It is important to have some vocabulary to help you convey some of the layers of meaning that are suggested by this poetic language. The following words and phrases will help you to express some of poetry’s elusive qualities:

Grade 11 Poetry Page 5

WORD MEANING EXAMPLE USED IN POETRY ANALYSIS

Evokes to call up a memory or feeling of something

The word evokes a sense of freedom

alludes to makes reference to The sound alludes to running water.

Elicits to give rise to; to call forth The comparison elicits our sympathies

suggests to make a suggestion The image suggests the passing of time.

has connotations of is associated with The word has connotations of

defiance

Conveys carries (a meaning of…) The simile conveys a sense of generosity

implies suggests, but does not sate obviously

The metaphor implies a life of suffering and hardship

How to write a poetry essay

A poetry essay should be about a page or 250 – 300 words long. The following guidelines will help you to structure what can fell like a vague and difficult task.

Note that you may not have space to address everything in these guidelines; there may be, for example, many poetic devices or images, so choose those that you think are most powerful to comment on.

Also, be guided by the essay question. If it asks you to focus on aspects of the poem, (e.g. structure, imagery, tone) make sure you address only those features asked for. However, if the essay is more open-ended and asks for a critical analysis of a poem, this structure will help you:

THINGS TO REMEMBERIntroductionIn one or two sentence explain what the poem is about: its theme, issues or main message.

You could start with a phrase like:The poet describes … orThis poem is about…

BodyThis is where you show your understanding of how the poet conveys the meaning. Address the following.

Is the structure formal (like a sonnet) or informal? Short sentences suggest abrupt, definite thoughts. Longer sentences are more conversational or lyrical. Are the stanzas unusual in any way? Structure: Consider length of

sentences, enjambment and stanza length.

Poetic devices: Consider rhyme, rhythm, alliteration, assonance, onomatopoeia.

A rhyming poem will have a musical, child-like, sing-song quality to it.Rhythms can be slow and sleepy or highly energised.Alliterated sounds often link in some way to what they describe.

Imagery or figures of speech: Look for similes, metaphors, examples of personification or contrast.

Think about how the two things compared are similar.Use the vocabulary (p 5) to help you describe the comparison and its effect.

Style: Look at diction, Is the style conversational, formal, highly descriptive,

Grade 11 Poetry Page 6

punctuation, sentence length. straightforward, lyrical or informal?Quote a word or phrase as proof.

Tone: What does the poem tell us about the poet’s attitude to the subject matter? Does the tone change at some point?

Use adjectives like set out on page 2 and 3.

ConclusionWhat is your response to the poem? How does it make you feel?

Be honest about your response. If you think the poem failed to deliver on its intention, say so, but provide reasons for your opinion.

NO POEM POET

1 Sonnet 130: My Mistress Eyes… William Shakespeare

2 Eating Poetry Mark Strand

3 The Man Sethamo Motsaphi

4 The Second Coming W.B.Yeats

5 The Author and her book Anne Bradstreet

6 In detention Jeremy Cronin

7 We wear the mask Paul Laurence Dunbar

8 Amagoduka at Glencoe Station Oswald Mtshali

9 The Child who was shot at Nyanga Ingrid Jonker

10 Free Town Sly Cheney Coker

Grade 11 Poetry Page 7

Sonnet 130 - William Shakespeare

My mistress’ eyes are nothing like the sun; 

Coral is far more red than her lips’ red; 

If snow be white, why then her breasts are dun; 

If hairs be wires, black wires grow on her head. 

I have seen roses damask’d, red and white, 

But no such roses see I in her cheeks; 

And in some perfumes is there more delight 

Than in the breath that from my mistress reeks. 

I love to hear her speak, yet well I know 

That music hath a far more pleasing sound; 

I grant I never saw a goddess go; 

My mistress, when she walks, treads on the ground: 

     And yet, by heaven, I think my love as rare 

     As any she belied with false compare. 

Summary

This sonnet compares the speaker’s lover to a number of other beauties—and

never in the lover’s favour.

Her eyes are “nothing like the sun,” her lips are less red than coral; compared

to white snow, her breasts are dun-coloured, and her hairs are like black wires

on her head.

In the second quatrain, the speaker says he has seen roses separated by

colour (“damasked”) into red and white, but he sees no such roses in his

mistress’s cheeks; and he says the breath that “reeks” from his mistress is

less delightful than perfume.

In the third quatrain, he admits that, though he loves her voice, music “hath a

far more pleasing sound,” and that, though he has never seen a goddess, his

mistress—unlike goddesses—walks on the ground.

In the couplet, however, the speaker declares that, “by heav’n,” he thinks his

love as rare and valuable “As any she belied with false compare”—that is, any

love in which false comparisons were invoked to describe the loved one’s

beauty.

Grade 11 Poetry Page 8

The poet, openly contemptuous of his weakness for the woman, expresses his infatuation for her in negative comparisons, e.g. comparing her to natural objects, he notes that her eyes are "nothing like the sun," and the colours of her lips and breasts dull when compared to the red of coral and the whiteness of snow.

Conventional love sonnets by other poets make their women into goddesses, in Sonnet 130 the poet is merely amused by his own attempt to deify his dark mistress.

Cynically he states, "I grant I never saw a goddess go; / My mistress, when she walks, treads on the ground."

We learn that her hair is black, but note the derogatory way the poet describes it: "black wires grow on her head."

Also, his comment "And in some perfumes is there more delight / Than in the breath that from my mistress reeks" borders on crassness, no matter how satirical he is trying to be.

The poet must be very secure in his love for his mistress — and hers for him — for him to be as disparaging as he is, even in jest — a security he did not enjoy with the young man.

Although the turn "And yet" in the concluding couplet signals that he is going to contradict all the negative comments the poet has made about the Dark Lady, the sonnet's last two lines arguably do not erase the horrendous comparisons in the three quatrains.

Theme:The fundamental theme in this sonnet is: total and all consuming love. 

In order to express your love, you have to talk about it, define it, examine it. In telling his mistress that he loves her, our speaker also has to give us an idea about what his love is like.

Diction:dun (3): i.e., a dull brownish gray. 

roses damasked, red and white (5): This line is possibly an allusion to the rose known as the York and Lancaster variety, which the House of Tudor adopted as its symbol after the War of the Roses. The York and Lancaster rose is red and white streaked, symbolic of the union of the Red Rose of Lancaster and the White Rose of York.

than the breath...reeks (8): i.e., than in the breath that comes out of (reeks from) my mistress.As the whole sonnet is a parody of the conventional love sonnets written by Shakespeare's contemporaries, one should think of the most common meaning of reeks, i.e., stinks.

Grade 11 Poetry Page 9

rare (13): special. 

she (14): woman. 

belied (14): misrepresented. 

with false compare (14): i.e., by unbelievable, ridiculous comparisons. 

Shakespeare's comparison of hair to 'wires' would refer to the finely-spun gold threads woven into fancy hair nets.

Structure

Sonnet 130, as its name implies, is a sonnet. Sonnets are structured poems that dictate the length, style and even content of the poem. Sonnet 130 has 14 lines with three quatrains and a couplet that ties the sonnet together. In the couplet we see that the author does actually love his mistress.

Poetic Devices

Sonnet 130, while similar to other Shakespearean sonnets in the use of poetic devices and techniques, stands apart from most of his other sonnets for its mocking tone and use of satire.

Imagery

In writing Sonnet 130, Shakespeare relied very heavily on strong sensory images to get his satirical message across.

Imagery is a poetic device that employs the five senses to create an image in the mind of the reader.

Shakespeare draws on sight, sound and smells when he compares his mistress' eyes to the sun, her lips to red coral, her breasts to white snow, her hair to black wires, her cheeks to red and white roses, her breath to perfume and her voice to music.

Hyperbole

Hyperbole is a form of speech that exaggerates the facts in order to make a point. Shakespeare decides to exaggerate how unattractive his mistress is. Sonnet 130 suggests that his mistress' hair is made of black wire, her breath reeks, her breasts are grayish brown and her voice is grating.

Grade 11 Poetry Page 10

Satire

Shakespeare's Sonnet 130 uses satire as a literary device. In writing this poem, he was gently poking fun at the conventional romantic poems that were being written by other poets. In pointing out that his mistress' eyes are not more beautiful than the sun, that her hair is not made of gold threads, that her cheeks are not as red as roses and that her breath is not finer than perfume, he was able to make the argument that he loves her just the same for who she is and not for an unrealistic idealized notion of beauty.

QUESTIONS:

1. How does the Shakespearean sonnet differ from the traditional love sonnet?

2. Why would he say his mistress’ eyes are not like the sun?

3. What would the idea be behind the mistress’ hair being wire?

4. What is the historical and literal significance of Shakespeare’s use of the metaphor ‘damasked rose’ rather than the plain red rose?

5. Do you think the poet is belittling his lady-love when he said that her ‘breath reeks’?

6.1How do we know that this is a Shakespearean sonnet, apart from the fact that Shakespeare wrote it?

6.2 What is the conclusion found in the rhyming couplet?

Grade 11 Poetry Page 11

The author to her book (1678) – Anne Bradstreet

Thou ill-formed offspring of my feeble brain,Who after birth by my side remain,Till snatched from thence by friends, less wise than true, Who thee abroad, exposed to public view, Made thee in rags, halting to th' press to trudge, 5 Where errors were not lessened (all may judge). At thy return my blushing was not small, My rambling brat' (in print) should mother call, I cast thee by as one unfit for light, Thy visage was so irksome in my sight, 10 Yet being mine own, at length affection would Thy blemishes amend, if so I could: I washed thy face, but more defects I saw, And rubbing off a spot still made a flaw. I stretched thy joints to make thee even feet, 15Yet still thou runst more hobbling? than is meet,In better dress to trim thee was my mind, But nought save homespun cloth i’th’ house I find. In this array mongst vulgars may'st thou roam. In critic's hands beware thou dost not come, 20 And take thy way where yet thou art not known; If for thy father asked, say thou hadst none; And for thy mother, she alas is poor, Which caused her thus to send thee out door.

1 abroad - outside; over a wide area; overseas 2 trudge - walk slowly and heavily, as if carrying a load (real or

Grade 11 Poetry Page 12

Metaphor The speaker uses figurative language hereto refer to her book as her

Pun Take note of the pun That is used in this lineThe word "poor" means "unwell" or "not good" as well as "financially not well off". The speaker experiences all these conditions.

emotional) 3 brat - badly behaved child 4 visage - face (from old Latin word for "sight") 5 blemishes - marks that spoil something (as on skin) 6 amend - make right 7 defects - faults; flaws 8 even feet - the patterns and rhythms of sound used in poetry are grouped

together and measured in feet, so perhaps the rhythm and metre of the poem itself is made

regular 9 hobbling - walking awkwardly as when in pain 10 meet - (archaic) suitable or proper 11 trim - neaten by cutting away unwanted or irregular parts; embellish or

decorate 12 array - dress, clothing 13 vulgars - an old way of referring to the ordinary people 14 art - are

Anne Bradstreet (about 1612-1672, England/USA) Anne Bradstreet was born in England but, with her husband and parents, formed part of a Puritan migration to North America. As such, she is considered the first American poet in the English language. For her time, she was a very well-educated woman and her work gives insight into the struggles of women of the period. She was a writer while also a mother of eight children and the wife of a politician who was often away from home. Against the social norms of the time - women were seen as incapable of leading a "life of the mind" - Bradstreet's life and work set a pioneering example.

Introduction "The author to her book" is a poem in which the speaker of the poem is an author who reflects critically on one of her works. The speaker does not value the work and reflects on how the product is flawed despite the changes she made to improve the work. The poem makes use of apostrophe: the speaker addresses an inanimate object (her book) directly as if it were human. The poem also makes use of an extended metaphor where the book is compared to a child that has been born of the author. The diction in the poem is largely negative and this reflects the speaker's criticism of her book.

The Author to Her Book Summary An author writes a book, but is convinced it’s garbage. Her friends feel differently, so they steal it and get it published. This irritates said author, who then decides that she’ll try to fix up the poems in the book since it’s going to be published anyway. Try as she might, however, she just can’t make the poems any good. She tries to fix the meter and clean up the defects, but all she does is make the poems worse. Finally, she starts to worry about the reviewers and warns her little child of a book to stay away from those super-critical people, and just keep quiet. She doesn’t want anybody else to take the fall, so she tells this little book to say she only has a mother (and a poor one at that), and no father.

Line-by-line analysis

Grade 11 Poetry Page 13

Lines 1-2Thou ill-formed offspring of my feeble brain,Who after birth did'st by my side remain,

The poem opens with an apostrophe. NOT the punctuation mark, but a direct form of address, as in “oh, Christmas tree,” or, as here, “thou ill-formed offspring.”

The word “offspring is used, but” this poem is not about the speaker’s child. The author is referring to her writing as her child. She describes in these first lines as the “ill-formed” product of her “feeble

brain.” The speaker seems to have confidence issues about her writing. The speaker uses a metaphor and compares her book to a child that she

gave birth to and that, after being born, remained by her side.

Lines 3-4Till snatcht from thence by friends, less wise than true,Who thee abroad exposed to public view,

The speaker ‘gave birth’ to a book of poems - this is a metaphor for “wrote” a book of poems.

This book remained by her side until her friends snatched it from there (“thence”). As a result, the speaker describes those same friends as “less wise than true.”

This seems to mean they acted stupidly (“less wise”) but they did it because they were trying to help her - trying to be “true” friends.

Her friends took this book, and then took it “abroad” and “exposed” it to “public view.”

She means that they took it abroad and had it published, which is exactly what happened with Bradstreet’s first book, The Tenth Muse.

She wasn’t planning on publishing all the poems that make up that volume, but her brother-in-law snatched the book without her knowledge and had it published in England in 1650.

Putting the object of the verb “exposed” (“thee”) before the verb is a very poetic way of speaking. It also, however, shows that there is a very close relationship between the book (“thee”) and the friends.

Lines 5-6Made thee in rags, halting to th' press to trudge,Where errors were not lessened (all may judge).

The speaker continues talking about her book’s journey “abroad.” Her friends also made the book “trudge” to the “press” (i.e. the printing press,

where the book would have been printed and bound) in “rags.” The speaker is being very figurative here. The book wasn’t actually trudging

or wearing rags. The personification here (trudging, rags) is meant to make the book seem like

a piece of junk.

Grade 11 Poetry Page 14

It’s not dressed up all nice and neat, but wearing rags. It’s not in great shape either, which is why it is trudging (and not, say, walking erect and stately).

The point the speaker is making is that her book wasn’t ready to be printed yet, or it wasn’t up to her standard.

Normally, you would think errors and things like that would be amended at the publishing house.

Well that wasn’t the case with this book; at the “press,” the “errors” were not lessened, as all who read the book may judge.

These don’t sound like very nice friends after all.

Lines 7-8At thy return my blushing was not small,My rambling brat (in print) should mother call.

The ‘little book’ was eventually returned to the speaker, who blushed quite a bit when she saw it. (Her “blushing was not small,” which is an understated way of saying she blushed a lot.)

She probably blushed because this book came back in the form of an actual, bound, published book.

Her blushing might also stem from the fact that her name is now in print (line 8).

The book is referred to as a “rambling brat” (compare this to the first line’s “ill-formed offspring”) that now, in print, calls her (the author), “mother.”

In other words, this collection of bad, ill-formed, rambling poems, now publicly declares in print that its mother is none other than Anne Bradstreet.

Lines 9-10I cast thee by as one unfit for light,The visage was so irksome in my sight,

The “rambling brat” of a book is cast aside by the speaker because it is “unfit for light” (i.e., an abomination, a monster, something that needs to be hidden in the attic).

This book is “unfit for light” because its “visage” or appearance was unbelievably “irksome” to the speaker.

Note: the book isn’t not actually a monster or a person with an actual “visage,” just as it is not actually a brat. The speaker keeps personifying her book, probably to make it seem like a much uglier, trashier piece of junk than it really is.

Lines 11-12

Yet being mine own, at length affection wouldThy blemishes amend, if so I could.

In the same breath, the speaker now says, essentially, “well you’re a brat, and irksome, but you’re mine” (“yet being mine own”).

Since this book is hers, the speaker says, if it were possible she would eventually (“at length”) at least try to “amend” its blemishes (faults, mistakes, errors, its irksomeness or ill-formed-ness) out of some sense of affection.

Technically “affection” would amend the blemishes, not the speaker.

Grade 11 Poetry Page 15

It is merely a way of emphasizing that “affection” for one’s own “children” sometimes makes us do things.

The implication here is that the speaker is unable, or will be unable, to “amend” the faults of her ill-formed, irksome child of a book.

Lines 13-14I washed thy face, but more defects I saw,And rubbing off a spot, still made a flaw.

The speaker washed her child’s face, but all that did was reveal more “defects.”

Then she tried “rubbing off a spot,” and that just made another “flaw”—it made things worse.

The speaker is talking about a book - she isn’t literally doing this. The washing and the rubbing are metaphors for various forms of editing and

rewriting. The book is personified as a child that is dirty and gross. Unfortunately, there’s no cleaning up or fixing this child, at least not according

to the speaker.

Lines 15-16

I stretcht thy joints to make thee even feet,Yet still thou run'st more hobbling than is meet.

The speaker continues to describe a metaphorical cleaning up or fixing of her book. She says she “stretcht” the book’s “joints” in order to give it “even feet.”

Despite her best efforts, however, the book “yet still” runs (“runst”) with a really bad hobble that just isn’t appropriate or fitting (“meet”)..

The word “feet” refers to poetic feet. The implication is that the poems in the speaker’s book are imperfect,

disjointed. The speaker claims to have stretched the lines - added syllables here and

there - to make the poems more acceptable. Even though the speaker really worked at fixing all the “feet” by stretching the

book’s metaphorical joints, that wasn’t enough. For some reason, the poems in the book still seemed to “hobble,” which here

is a metaphor for the way in which the poems didn’t flow smoothly.

Lines 17-18In better dress to trim thee was my mind,But nought save home-spun cloth, i' th' house I find.

Metaphorical descriptions of the editing process are found here. “Trim” means something like “decorate” or “adorn,” so the speaker says it was

her “mind” (i.e., her intention) to outfit the poems in “better dress.” Unfortunately, she couldn’t find anything (“nought”) in the house except

“home-spun cloth.” So, the speaker wanted to dress her book up in some fine lace and silk, but

could only find some basic, homemade cloth. (This recalls the “rags” of line 5.) She wanted to make the poems look a lot nicer, a lot prettier, but she just

didn’t have the means to do it.

Grade 11 Poetry Page 16

The “home-spun cloth” here seems to be a metaphor for the speaker’s talents /abilities when it comes to writing poetry, the “house” a metaphor for wherever such talents are lodged.

As with much of the rest of this poem, the speaker is very negative. She basically says “I’m no good at writing poetry. I can’t find the right word. I

can’t fix all the problems in here,”.

Lines 19-21In this array, 'mongst vulgars may'st thou roam.In critic's hands, beware thou dost not come,And take thy way where yet thou art not known.

The book looks really bad. We are again reminded of the “rags” of line 5, and the “home-spun cloth” of line 18.

The speaker says the book’s “array,” or appearance, is so bad that it is best for it to “roam” or wander or make its away among “vulgars.”

“Vulgar” here doesn’t really mean “obscene” or “gross,” but rather poor and uneducated.

The book is junk, and will be totally at home with the junk of the social spectrum. The book should be careful (“beware”) not to come into “critic’s hands,” where it is not yet known.

In other words, the book is no good. Remember, it is the “ill-formed” product of an obscure, unknown writer.

Unknown critics could judge this unknown production very harshly. The speaker is adamant about keeping this grungy book away from potentially

cruel critics. Interestingly, the speaker really gives the book a life of its own here.

Somehow the book will be able to makes its way among the vulgar, or the critics.

Once again we have personification - if the book has a life of its own, the author isn’t really responsible.

Lines 22-24If for thy father askt, say, thou hadst none;And for thy mother, she alas is poor,Which caused her thus to send thee out of door.

If asked about its father, the speaker instructs her book to say that it “hadst none.” If asked about its mother - she’s poor, and that’s what “caused her” to send the book out the door.

The book has no father, only a single mother who was so poor that she forced her child out.

She forced it out by selling it - Metaphor At the beginning of the poem she blamed everything on her friends. Now the author acts like she sent the book out to be published because she

needed money. Perhaps the whole process of writing this little dedicatory poem has made the

speaker realize that her poems aren’t really that bad after all. One could imply that she doesn’t want anybody else to take credit for getting

the poems published.

Grade 11 Poetry Page 17

The idea about taking credit goes hand in hand with the book having no father.

The book having no father is a metaphor for the fact that the speaker wrote this whole book all by herself.

I.e. she “gave birth” (metaphor) to a book, without any male intervention. It’s like saying “Even though I’m a woman, I’m just as smart as any man and

can write good, smart poems just as well.”

Mothers and Children - Symbol Analysis The speaker of this poem thinks that she is the world’s worst mother. She’s very critical of her “child,” (the book). Parenting, motherhood, child-rearing- those are metaphors for the relationship

between the author and her book. Like a child, a work of art must be nurtured, developed, raised, taken care of,

cleaned, taken to the bathroom. Line 1: The poem’s first line starts off with a little derision from the speaker.

The book is described as “ill-formed offspring.” This is a metaphor that makes the book’s contents into some kind of mutant child. Note that the author blames herself (“feeble brain”).

Line 2: Continuing with the metaphor, the speaker essentially claims that she hid her “ill-formed” child (her book) from the public.

Lines 3-4: The situation has become dire. The speaker’s friends kidnapped (“snatch[ed]”) this “ill-formed” child and exposed it to the world! Exposure is here a metaphor for the friends’ decision to get the book published.

Line 8: The speaker says she blushed a lot when she discovered that her “rambling brat” of a book-child called her her mother… in print! This is a very poetic way of saying, “My book was published with my name on it.” The whole “rambling-brat” bit is a metaphor for both the book’s “rambling” journey across the Atlantic to England (to be published).

Lines 9-10: Like we said, the speaker isn’t the best mother. Here she basically tries to disown the book (“I cast thee by”) because she finds it so annoying and irritating (“irksome”).

Lines 11-12: As a mother, however, the author can’t quite ignore her “child.” She wants to, but she can’t, because it is her child, she feels some affection for it and wants to “amend” its “blemishes.” That last part there is definitely a metaphor for “revise the work’s faults.”

Lines 13-14: The metaphor of revision-as-cleaning continues here - now the speaker starts to seem like a better mom. She tries to rub the metaphorical dirt off the child-book, or wash its face, but with little success. She finds more “defects” and creates even more “flaws.”

Lines 17: The speaker attempts to give her poems a “better dress.” This metaphor (a mother dressing her kids in nice clothes) makes the speaker seem a little more motherly than she has appeared so far.

Line 22: These lines give us our first indication that we’re dealing with a single mom in this poem. The absence of the father (“say thou hadst none”) is a metaphor for the fact that the speaker wrote these poems - gave birth to them - all by herself, with no help from anybody else.

Lines 23-24: Well, this “mother” is poor, which is why she “turned” her child “out of door.” That’s a metaphor for the fact that she sent the child-book away for publication - she sold it.

Writing and Revision - Symbol Analysis

Grade 11 Poetry Page 18

This poem is about the relationship between and author and her book and about writing and revising poetry. The speaker uses metaphors (“stretcht,” “washed,” “rubbed”) to describe the act of revision. No matter how hard she tries, the speaker just can’t seem to revise her writing to her satisfaction.

Lines 11-12: The speaker uses a metaphor to compare the work of revision to amending “blemishes.” Revision, then, is a kind of fixing or cleaning.

Lines 13-14: The metaphor of cleaning off dirt - amending “blemishes” - continues in these lines, where it is even more explicitly compared to washing dirt from a child’s face. As we've probably all experienced, her revisions reveal more “flaws,” and in some cases, seem to make things worse, or “dirtier.”

Lines 15: The speaker uses the metaphor of stretching to describe her attempts to fix the meter of her poems (“make thee even feet”). It seems that revising poetry - making it metrically “even” or smooth - entails an act of violence (“stretcht”).

Line 16: The speaker’s attempts at revision have failed. The poems still seem like “hobbling” works of art, which is a metaphor for the way in which they appear metrically uneven: rough, not smooth.

Lines 17: To trim in better dress - that phrase refers to decking out one’s kid in nice clothes, and here it’s a metaphor for making the poems better. Specifically, it probably refers to using better or more “poetic" language.

Line 18: The “home-spun cloth” is also a metaphor for the poems' language. It is “home-spun,” i.e. plain and boring, rather than elaborate or elegant.

Analysis: Sound Check

The poem reflects the sounds of revision and writing, with all their frustrations: “I stretch thy joints to make thee even feet, / Yet still thou run'st more hobbling than is meet.” Every line in this poem, you could say, is “stretcht” to make it be five beats (pentameter). This line mimics the sound of the stretching—notice the assonance, all those long E sounds at the end (“thee even feet”). Longer vowels take longer to pronounce, giving the line the effect of being longer or more “stretched.” This “longer” sound also imitates the speaker’s own perception of writing and revision as a kind of prolonged torture.

In fact, if you take a glance at the poem, you will notice that long vowels are all over place. They are less pleasant than their shorter counterparts, and they give the poem a slightly more melancholic or doleful tone, especially when the word is a word like “feeble” (1) or “poor” (23). This reinforces the speaker’s own frustration, mirroring the content.

Title“The Author, to Her Book”—in short, the title of this poem tells us that what we are reading is what the author said to her book, or rather is what the author feels towards her book.

Contextual Questions:

1. List four words that show that the speaker sees her offspring in a negative light. (4)

2. How does the metaphor in line 1 affect your understanding of the author's book that the poem is addressed to? (4)

3. Do you empathise with the speaker? Do you find yourself reflecting critically

Grade 11 Poetry Page 19

on work of your own creation? (2)

Essay In an essay of approximately 250-300 words, critically discuss how Bradstreet uses figurative language and diction to provide the speaker with a critical voice. (l0)

The child who was shot dead by soldiers at Nyanga by Ingrid Jonker (Translated by Jack Cope and William Plomer – 1968)

The child is not dead 1 the child lifts his fists against his mother who screams Afrika shouts the scent of freedom and the veld in the locations of the cordoned heart 5

The child lifts his fists against his father in the march of the generations who are shouting Afrika shout the scent of righteousness and blood in the streets of his warrior pride 10

The child is not dead not at Langa not at Nyanga not at Orlando not at Sharpeville not at the police station in Philippi where he lies with a bullet through his brain 15

The child is the shadow of the soldiers on guard with rifles saracens and batons the child is present at all gatherings and law-giving the child peers through the house windows and into the hearts of mothers the child who just wanted to play in the sun at Nyanga is everywhere 20

the child grown to a man treks all over Africa the child who became a giant travels through the whole world Without a pass

Glossary cordoned – enclosed, closed off as if with a line of police or soldiers, or with fences saracens – armoured military vehicles pass – permit for moving around (as a non-white person) during Apartheid 18

About the poet and poem 1933 – 1965 South African

Grade 11 Poetry Page 20

She had a very difficult childhood (parents’ divorce, poverty, rejection by her father) She travelled often and became an acclaimed poet before her suicide in 1965. Ingrid Jonker wrote this protest poem in Afrikaans, in the aftermath of the Sharpeville massacre. It was translated by Jack Cope and William Plomer. In Afrikaans it is referred to as “Die Kind” (The Child). Nelson Mandela read an English translation at the opening of the first democratic Parliament on 24 May 1994. The poem reflects on the pass laws of Apartheid South Africa. The child was killed while on his way to the doctor with his mother – the senseless of his death is a result of the senselessness of the apartheid laws. The repetition of “the child” throughout the poem emphasises the age and innocence of the youth and highlights how many children were killed because of the apartheid laws. There is a parallel structure in “not at” repeated third stanza. This rhetorical device gives examples of where police brutality occurred. It gives an historical accuracy to the poem. There is an allusion to the Bible (Gospel of Mark 38-43: “38 When they came to the home of the synagogue leader, Jesus saw a commotion, with people crying and wailing loudly. 39 He went in and said to them, “Why all this commotion and wailing? The child is not dead but asleep.”) The sense of pain, outrage, loss and wasted potential filters through the poem. The poet fiercely longs for a time when a child is able to mature, become a man and make an impact on the world, free from the restrictions of the ‘pass’, which limits his freedom of movement. The poem is written in free verse – there is no formal structure – it does not contain any rhyme and there is no regular rhythm. HOWEVER – there is a pattern that the poet deliberately set for the poem, which is evident in the repetition of phrases such as “the child is not dead”, “who shouts Afrika” and “the child”.

Questions 1. What is the main difference in meaning between the title of the poem and most of the poem’s lines? (2) 2. What is the purpose of this deliberate contrast? (2) 3. What does the child in the poem symbolise? (1) 4. What expression in the poem defines resistance, defiance and rebellion? (1) 5. What does the altered repetition of “The child lifts his fists against his mother / father” reveal about the generation gap that is reflected in responding to the laws of apartheid? (2) 6. Comment on the effect of the denials in the third stanza. (2) 7. This poem was written in the 1960s in South Africa. Discuss its relevance for the context in which it was written. (4) 8. What happened at Sharpeville? (And when?) (3) 9. Discus the effectiveness of the last, short line of the poem. (2) 10. During the Parliamentary address, Nelson Mandel commented that “in the midst of despair, Jonker celebrated hope.” Does this poem celebrate hope? Discuss your answer in a brief paragraph. (5) 11. How does the speaker succeed in criticising apartheid and South African history? Quote in support of your answer. (Write 10 lines.) (5)

Grade 11 Poetry Page 21

We Wear the Mask by Paul Laurence Dunbar

We wear the mask that grins and lies, 1It 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. 5Why 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, O great Christ, our cries 10To thee from tortured souls arise.We sing, but oh the clay is vileBeneath our feet, and long the mile;But let the world dream otherwise, We wear the mask! 15

Glossary:grins – smiles broadlyguile – cunning, sly, clever at tricking peoplemyriad – many (from the Greek word myrias meaning 10 000)subtleties – clever and indirect methodsvile – unpleasant, morally bad, wicked

About the poet and the poem 1872 – 1906 American His parents were former slaves – they escaped to Canada and later returned to the USA where his father enlisted in the segregated army. His mother was a washerwoman for the Wright family. Dunbar was well-educated and attended school with the Wright brothers, the inventors of the first successful aeroplane. At the turn of the century Dunbar was well-known as a poet and he was the first African American to make a living from writing. Times were tough in America during the turn of the century. Many changes were occurring, and many people had a difficult time coming to terms with them. Black Americans in particular found themselvescaught in a culture that appeared somewhat better than it had been before and during the Civil War. But the fact of the matter was: things just were not better than before.

Grade 11 Poetry Page 22

Paul Lawrence Dunbar's poem, first published in Lyrics of Lowly Life (1896), is a reaction to the racial climate of the late 19th century. He talks about hypocrisy, deception, and the fact that black Americans often resorted to seeming content with their social circumstances. But behind all that seeming, though, is just a bunch of lies trying to cover up the fact that they were feeling awful and unable to talk about their feelings in an honest way. "We Wear the Mask" is a lyrical exploration of all that pretending and the truth that hides behind it. And since the truth is a rather painful one, we get the sense that all of those masks aren't doing such a great job of covering things up. However, Dunbar approached this poem objectively: he took a step back and looked at things in a less personal, less emotional way, making "We Wear the Mask" applicable to all sorts of people and circumstances. By doing that, he opened up the world of poetic interpretation in a much more universal way. This poem addresses the concealed pain and suffering of those who have been disempowered and are living in a society dominated by a specific cultural or ethnic group. The disempowered often need to conceal emotions such as pain, anger and frustration to ensure their safety. As you read "We Wear the Mask," consider not only the courage that came with writing it (a black man was not supposed to speak out about prejudice) but also the message that we can still apply to today's culture.After all, it's not like somebody suddenly waved a magic wand and made all of the prejudices and hypocrisies of the world disappeared. These kinds of problems are still around today, and if people don't speak up about them, none of us can really expect to see them change. The poem is written in the form of a rondeau / round. The metre is mostly in iambic tetrameter and it repeats “We wear the mask” as a refrain. The poem has a musical quality. The theme is sad – it is a lament which has a strong connection to the blues music originating mainly among African Americans. Dunbar avoided including any specifics in "We Wear the Mask." He did this on purpose, perhaps with the intention of amplifying his poetic references to masks and deception. But there's no getting around the history and motivation for this particular poem, which is a clear reaction to the stifling racial climate of the late nineteenth century. In Dunbar's "We Wear the Mask" society looks cold and even a little dumb, when it comes to the realities to which the speaker refers. And since the speaker is talking to a pretty big audience, we get the sense that he'snot limiting this poem to any one society or class. Everyone gets served up a nice dish of poetic criticism.

Questions1. What words indicate the duality behind the poem, in terms of "seeming" and the reality behind the mask?(3)2. How does the symbolism of "cheeks" and "eyes" contribute to this theme of lies and deceit? (3)3. How does the phrase "human guile" suggest this theme of lies and deceit in a more universal way? (2)4. How does the poem's refrain contribute to the theme of "seeming?" Why is it repeated? (3)5. How do we know that the suffering the speaker refers to is not just experienced by him alone? Which wordsindicate that the suffering is felt by a larger group? (3)6. Which lines in accent the suffering that occurs due to the duality of the emotional conflict the speakeraddresses? (2)

Grade 11 Poetry Page 23

7. Why does the speaker appear more emotionally distraught in the third stanza than the previous ones? Whichwords in particular heighten the severity of the speaker's suffering? (3)8. What's the connection between lies/deceit and human suffering? How can all the suffering be alleviated orprevented all together? (3)9. Even if we didn't know the history behind Dunbar's poem, how can we still apply the speaker's messages toissues of race and society? (2)10. What do you think is the endpoint of the "long mile" the speaker mentions in the third stanza? How doesthis mile reflect the ultimate goal that each class strives to achieve? (3)11. How do symbols—like masks and smiles—help illuminate the poem's themes? Why is it necessary for thespeaker to repeat them throughout the poem? (3)12. Why does the speaker use a rhetorical question in the second stanza? What's he really saying here? (3)13. What about the ambiguity of the word "we?" Why do you think the speaker chooses to omit any specificidentifiers? (2)14. Quote two words from line 10 that clearly contradict each other. Discuss the effectiveness. (3)

In Detention – Jeremy Cronin

Grade 11 Poetry Page 24

Grade 11 Poetry Page 25