JUNE 2023-JANUARY 2027

CSEC POETRY INFORMATION BOOKLET

Compiled and edited by Leston Robinson

NWSS
JUNE 2023-JANUARY 2027
 POETIC DEVICES
Poetic devices are techniques/elements such as rhyme, meter, and figurative language, as well as techniques like repetition, alliteration, and images used by poets to create a specific effect or
mood in their poetry. Some common poetic devices include:

➢ Rhyme: The repetition of similar or identical sounds at the end of two or more words in a line of poetry.

➢ Meter: The pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables in a line of poetry, which creates a rhythmic structure.

➢ Alliteration: The repetition of the same sound at the beginning of two or more words in a line of poetry.

➢ Repetition: The repetition of a word or phrase for emphasis or to create a sense of unity in a poem.

➢ Imagery: The use of descriptive language to create vivid mental images in the reader’s mind.

➢ Personification: The attribution of human qualities or characteristics to non-human things or abstract concepts.

➢ Simile: A comparison of two unlike things using the words “like” or “as.”

➢ Metaphor: A comparison of two unlike things without using the words “like” or “as.”

Poetic devices are often used to convey emotions, create atmosphere, and add depth and meaning to a poem.
The definitions and examples of literary devices which are used in poetry are as follows:

ALLITERATION: The repetition of a consonant sound at the start of 2 or more consecutive

words.

Examples of Alliteration are as follows –

i. Poem- Snake

“And flickered his two-forked tongue

From his lips, and mused a moment,

And stopped and drank a little more,

From the burning bowels of the earth.

Use of ‘b’ sound in burning bowels.

ii. Poem- Lord Ullin’s daughter

“His horsemen hard behind us ride;

Should they our steps discover,

Then who will cheer my bonny bride

When they have slain her lover/”

Use of ‘h’ sound in His horsemen hard

Use of ‘b’ sound in bonny bride
ALLUSION: A reference or suggestion to a historical or well-known person, place or
thing.

Examples of Allusion are as follows –

i. Poem- Not Marble Nor The Gilded Monuments (William Shakespeare)

“Nor Mars his sword nor war’s quick fire shall burn

The living record of your memory.”

Mars is the Greek god of war. (Reference of well known person, here god)

ii. Poem- Not Marble Nor The Gilded Monuments (William Shakespeare)

“So till the judgement that yourself arise, You live in this, and dwell in lover’s eyes.”

Judgement is referred to the judgement day which is an important day in the Christian
religion. They believe that god will judge the deeds of all dead people on this day.
ANAPHORA: The repeated use of word at the start of two or more
consecutive lines.

Examples of Anaphora are as follows –

i. Poem- The Frog and the nightingale

Said the frog:” I tried to teach her, But she was a stupid creature-

Far too nervous, far too tense.

Far too prone to influence.

The word ‘Far’ is used in the beginning of two consecutive lines.

ii. Poem- The Brook

“I wind about, and in and out,

With here a blossom sailing,

And here and there a lusty trout,

And here and there a grayling

Use of ‘And’ in the beginning of two consecutive lines

ANTITHESIS: Use of opposite words in close placement

Examples of Antithesis are as follows –

i. Poem- The Frog and the nightingale

“Every night from dusk to dawn”

Meaning of dusk is sunrise and dawn is sunset. So the two

opposite words are in close placement.

ii. Poem- Song of the Rain

“The voice of thunder declares my arrival;

The rainbow announces my departure.”

Meaning of arrival is to come and departure means to go. So the

two opposite words are in close placement.
ASSONANCE: The repetition of a vowel sound within a sentence.

Examples of Assonance are as follows –

i. Poem- Seven Ages

“All the world’s a stage and all the men and women merely players:

They have their exits and entrances”

Use of sound ‘e’ (men, women, merely, players, exits and entrances)
ENJAMBMENT: When a sentence continues into two or more lines in a poem

Examples of Enjambment are as follows –

i. Poem- ‘A legend of the Northland’

“They tell them a curious story

I don’t believe ‘tis true;

And yet you may learn a lesson

If I tell the tale to you.”

The sentence continues in the last two lines (And yet…… tale to you)

ii. Poem- The Frog and the nightingale

“Once upon a time a frog

Croaked away in Bingle Bog

Every night from dusk to dawn

He croaked awn and awn and awn

The sentence continues from first to last line

HYPERBOLE: It is a Greek word meaning “overcasting”. The use of
exaggeration to lay emphasis.

Examples of Hyperbole are as follows –

i. Poem- Ozymandias

“My name is Ozymandias, King of kings”

Here they have used hyperbole because Ozymandias refers himself as king of
the kings.
IMAGERY: The creation of any sensory effect like visual, auditory, olfactory, gustatory,
tactile, kinesthetic, organic.( to create scenes in the poem)

Examples of imagery are as follows –

i. Poem- The Frog and the nightingale

“But one night a nightingale

In the moonlight cold and pale

Perched upon the sumac tree

Casting forth her melody”

Here we can imagine a scene of night that is cold and nightingale is singing melodiously
on a branch of sumac tree
Metaphor: It is indirect comparison by highlighting a particular quality of two
things.

Examples of metaphor are as follows –

i. Poem- The Frog and the nightingale

“You are Mozart in disguise”

Here the nightingale compares frog’s singing ability with that of great musician
Mozart

ii. Poem- The song of the rain

“The field and cloud are lovers”

Here the poet is comparing field and cloud with lovers.

iii. Poem- Seven Ages

“All the world’s a stage”

Here the poet has compared world with stage.

ONOMATOPOEIA: It is the usage of sound words to create a dramatic effect.

Examples of onomatopoeia are as follows –

“Once upon a time a frog

Croaked away in Bingle bog”

So, here the poet used the word ‘croaked’ which is a sound made by the frog

“I chatter over stony ways,

In little sharps and trebles,

I bubble into eddying bays,

I babble on the pebbles.

The words ‘chatter’, ‘trebles’, ‘bubble’ and ‘babble’ are used to show flowing
water of a spring
OXYMORON: It is when apparently contradictory terms appear in conjunction. (here the
words are not opposite to each other like it is in antithesis but their meaning is opposite)

Examples of oxymoron are as follows –

i. Poem- Romeo and Juliet

“Why, then, o brawling love! O loving hate!

Here the word brawling and love are used together. Meaning of brawl is to fight and love
is to have affection for other person.

“O heavy lightness! Serious vanity!

Here also both heavy and lightness are written together though they are opposite of each
other. Heavy means which has more weight and light means which has less weight.
PERSONIFICATION: It means to give human quality to an object or a non living thing.

Examples of personification are as follows –

i. Poem- Mirror

“I am silver and exact. I have no preconceptions.

Whatever I see I swallow immediately”

Here the poet has personified a mirror because the mirror is describing itself.

ii. Poem- The song of the rain

“I am dotted silver threads dropped from heaven

By the gods. Nature then takes me, to adorn
Her fields and valleys.”

The poet has personified rain that describes itself as dotted silver threads from heaven
REPETITION: It is the repeated use of a word of line to lay
emphasis

Examples of repetition are as follows –

i. Poem- No men are foreign

“Remember” word is repeated 5 times.

ii. Poem -On killing a tree

“Pulled out” word is used or repeated 3 times.

RHYME: The usage of words in a way to create musical effect. It can be
internal rhyme or end rhyme.

Examples of rhyme are as follows –

i. Poem- The rime of the ancient mariner

“The guests are met, the feast is set:

May’st hear the merry din

Here the rhyming words are met and set

“The ship was cheered, the harbour cleared,

Merrily did we drop
Below the Kirk, below the hill,
Below the lighthouse top

Here the rhyming words are cheered-cleared and drop-top

SIMILE: It is the comparison between two things or persons by using like or
as.

Examples of simile are as follows –

i. Poem- Rime of the ancient mariner

“The bride hath paced into the hall,

Red as a rose is she”

Here the bride is compared with rose by using ‘as’

ii. Poem- Snake

“He lifted his head from his drinking, as cattle do”

Here the snake is compared with cattle by using ‘as’

EPITHET: It is an adjective used with a noun refers to another noun.

i. Poem- The snake trying

“Pursuing stick”

Here it is not the stick that pursues, rather the person who carries it
is pursuing

ii. Poem- snake

“Strange- scented shade”

Here ‘scented’ is used with shade but it is the tree that has the
fragrance or the scent and not the shade.
 POETRY ANALYSIS
Here are some ways you can analyze poems given to you.
Using these guides will allow you to better understand given poems, and answer questions in
the csec examinations.
1. Name the device used. EXAMPLE – Simile in ‘God’s Grandeur’

2. Say what the device does. The world is charged with the grandeur of God.
It will flame out, like shining from shook foil;
3. Quote the words that contain the device used. [remember to you quotation marks “ “]
Explanation of the effectiveness
4. Explain what meaning is expressed by the literary device used.
In the lines ‘the world is charged with the grandeur of God/it will flame out, like shining from
5. Say why you think the poet used that specific literary device.
shook foil’, simile is used. This simile compares the greatness of God to the light that is
6. Describe how the literary device appeals to your emotions.
produced from shook foil. This is done to show the reader how blinding and overwhelming
In the examples below the various parts are colour coordinated. God’s greatness can be. In my opinion, the poet uses this device to show how the
incomprehensible power of God can be seen in all parts of live, even that which may seem
normal or mundane. Using this simile allows the reader to acknowledge the main idea of the
QUOTING POETRY
poem, which is, ‘the never ending, ever-present and all-powerful might of God. This makes
When you quote a single line of poetry, write it like any other short quotation. If the piece of poetry you
the reader feels ever surrounded by God’s love.
are quoting crosses multiple lines of the poem itself, you may still type them in your text run together.
Show the reader where the poem's line breaks fall by using slash marks.
EXAMPLE – Allusion in ‘Little Boy Crying’
In his poem, "Mending Wall," Robert Frost writes: "Something there is that doesn't love a wall,/ that
send the frozen-ground-swell under it" (42-44). The ogre towers above you, that grim giant,
empty of feeling, a colossal cruel,
soon victim of the tale’s conclusion, dead
If the quotation is three lines or longer, set it off like a block quotation. Some writers prefer to set off
at last. You hate him, you imagine
two-line verse quotations for emphasis. Quote the poem line by line as it appears on the original page. chopping clean the tress he’s scrambling down
Do not use quotation marks, and indent one inch from the left margin. or plotting deeper pits to trap him in.

In his poem, "Mending Wall," Robert Frost questions the building of barriers and walls: Explanation of the effectiveness
The lines ‘The ogre towers above you, that grim giant,/empty of feeling… soon victim of the
Before I built a wall I'd ask to know tale’s conclusion, dead/at last. You hate him, you imagine/chopping clean the tress he’s
scrambling down’, allusion is used. The speaker alludes to the fable of ‘Jack and the Beanstalk’
What I was walling in or walling out, to show how the child in the poem thinks. This allusion tells the reader that the hate and anger
of the child is harmful and childlike. It is possible that the poet uses this device to keep the
And to whom I was like to give offense. mood of the poem playful and rooted in childlike emotions. This allusion is playful and very
comical, it also reminded me about my tantrums when I was a child.
 AN AFRICA THUNDERSTORM BACKGROUND
by David Rubadiri
David Rubadiri's "An African Thunderstorm" describes an intense
From the west storm that sweeps through an African village, as well as the way
Clouds come hurrying with the wind villagers scramble to prepare for its approach. First published in the
Turning sharply 1960s, around the time that Rubadiri's home country of Malawi
Here and there gained independence from British colonial rule, the poem can also
be taken as an allegory for the violent upheaval that Western nations
Like a plague of locusts
inflicted on Africa during the colonial era and its aftermath. The
Whirling,
storm, in this reading, represents the devastation of colonialism and
Tossing up things on its tail
of the conflicts that tend to arise in its wake.
Like a madman chasing nothing.

Pregnant clouds SUMMARY

Ride stately on its back,
The poem opens with storm winds and thunderclouds blowing in
Gathering to perch on hills
from the west, violently churning up items in their path. The storm's
Like sinister dark wings;
senseless destruction is like that of an invading insect swarm (like a
The wind whistles by
biblical "plague of locusts"), or like an insane person running after
And trees bend to let it pass. nothing.
In the village The speaker describes the clouds that ride the wind as "pregnant"
Screams of delighted children, and "stately," implying that they're full of rain and possibly full of
Toss and turn ominous significance, but are grand-looking as well. These clouds
In the din of the whirling wind, hover over the hilltops like the dark wings of some evil creature.
Women, The trees bending in the path of the strong wind that passes by.
Babies clinging on their backs
The poem turns to the responses of villagers in the storm's path.
Dart about
Children scream with excitement, and the noise is blown around by
In and out
the wind as it churns. Women frantically scramble, rushing in and
Madly;
out of doors, as the babies they're carrying fearfully cling to them.
The wind whistles by
Nearby trees continue to bend in the strong wind.
Whilst trees bend to let it pass.
The women's clothing is ripped off by the storm, exposing their
Clothes wave like tattered flags naked bodies, and then waves in the wind like torn up flags.
Flying off Lightning flashes vividly, thunder rumbles the ground, the air smells
To expose dangling breasts like fire and smoke, and a violent rain begins.
As jagged blinding flashes
Rumble, tremble and crack
FIGURATIVE DEVICES
Amidst the smell of fired smoke
And the pelting march of the storm. SIMILE:
• “Like a plague of locusts, ” the storm is coming with a
THEMES destructive force
• “Like a madman chasing nothing.” Show the chaotic movement
• Nature of the storm
• “Like sinister dark wings;” showing the harshness and “evil” of
• Man vs nature
the storm
• Colonization/Colonialism
IMAGERY:
• “From the west
TONE Clouds come hurrying with the wind
This poem is very descriptive, the speaker Turning sharply”
conveys their intentions in a conversational
tone. This allows the speaker to clearly • “…on their backs Dart about In and out”.
convey their intentions. “Clothes wave-like tattered flags Flying off”
Onomatopoeia:

MOOD • “Rumble, tremble and crack”

“The wind whistles”
This poem uses enjambment (lines of poetry
running into the next) to create a hectic and PERSONIFICATION:
confusing mood. The tone in the poem is • ” Pregnant clouds,” not literal pregnant clouds but clouds filled
conversational and descriptive, which with Rain
contrasts with the topic of the poem, and in • “The wind whistles”
doing so aids in creating a mood of hysteria
portrayed by the people and nature.
 ONCE UPON A TIME SUMMARY
by Gabriel Okara
Once upon a time, son, In the first two stanzas, the poet says to his son how they i.e.
they used to laugh with their hearts himself and people, used to be. They used to laugh out loud
and laugh with their eyes: through their hearts and eyes with joyful tears but nowadays
but now they only laugh with their teeth, they use teeth to laugh along with their tears-less cold eyes
while their ice-block-cold eyes searching all through his shadow to violate his privacy. People
search behind my shadow. used to shake hands with love and nowadays they shake to
There was a time indeed investigate his pockets. ‘Feel at home!’ ‘Come again’ were
they used to shake hands with their hearts: once the welcoming and bye biding phrases but nowadays there
but that’s gone, son. is only a twice and no thrice. People shut doors at him if he
Now they shake hands without hearts tries to feel at home more than twice.
while their left hands search my empty pockets.
In the third and fourth stanzas, he tells his son about the lessons
he learned from modern society. He says he learned to wear a
‘Feel at home!’ ‘Come again’:
variety of masks in public according to the occasion like home-
they say, and when I come
face, office-face, host-face, cocktail-face, etc. all with a
again and feel
portrait-perfect smile. He says he has also learned to laugh like
at home, once, twice,
them through teeth. He learned to say good-bye even if it is a
there will be no thrice-
good-riddance in the heart. He learned to shake hands without
for then I find doors shut on me.
love and to say glad-to-meet-you even if he did not feel glad.
Also, he learned to say it’s-nice-talking-to-you though it is
So I have learned many things, son.
boring.
I have learned to wear many faces
like dresses – homeface, In the last two stanzas, the poet records his regret and wishes to
officeface, streetface, hostface, his son. He asks his son to believe that he wishes to get back to
cocktailface, with all their conforming smiles what he was once. He wishes to unlearn everything that he has
like a fixed portrait smile. grown to be because he regrets being this, ‘a fake person’. He
also wishes to laugh out loud as if his teeth appear like snake
And I have learned too fangs and smile through his heart to enjoy with pleasure like he
to laugh with only my teeth used to do once upon a time. Finally, he begs his son to teach
and shake hands without my heart. him to be innocent like was back then as a child.

I have also learned to say, ‘Goodbye’,

when I mean ‘Good-riddance’: LITERARY DEVICES
to say ‘Glad to meet you’, METAPHOR
without being glad; and to say ‘It’s been • The people’s eyes are as cold as ice. This means that there
nice talking to you’, after being bored. is no warmth or real feeling in the words that they say, or
how they behave. This metaphor literally allows you to
But believe me, son. visualize a block of ice, cold and unwelcoming.
I want to be what I used to be
when I was like you. I want SIMILE
to unlearn all these muting things. • Stanza 4, lines 20-21 emphasizes the constant changes in
Most of all, I want to relearn the persona’s face. If you think of how often a woman
how to laugh, for my laugh in the mirror changes her dress, then that is how often the persona
shows only my teeth like a snake’s bare fangs! adjusts his/her’s personality to suit an audience. The list of
faces that follow this line emphasizes this point.
So show me, son,
how to laugh; show me how • Stanza 4, lines 23-24 compares people’s faces to smiles in a
I used to laugh and smile portrait. If you think about a portrait, it is usually very
once upon a time when I was like you. formal and stiff, even uncomfortable. Therefore, the
implication is that the smiles are actually fake and stiff.
THEMES They are conforming or trying to fit, into a preconceived
Childhood experiences Hypocrisy mould that is set up by societal expectations.
Loss of innocence Appearance vs
reality • Stanza 6, lines 38-40 compares the persona’s laugh to a
TONE snakes. When you think of a snake, words such as sneaky
The tone of the poem is sad. The poet’s and deceitful come to mind. Therefore, the implication is
response to his nostalgia is sadness. that the persona is fake, just like the people he/she despises.

IRONY
MOOD
• It is IRONIC that the persona is behaving in the exact way
The mood of the poem is nostalgic. The persona
that he/she despises. There is an implication that things
is remembering how things used to be when he
cannot go back to what he remembers, due to the influence
was young and innocent, like his son.
of societal expectations.

•
 LITTLE BOY CRYING SUMMARY
By Mervyn Morris
Your mouth contorting in brief spite and hurt, The poem narrates the reactions of a child, following a slap.
your laughter metamorphosed into howls, The title tells one that a child, who is little – therefore at a
your frame so recently relaxed now tight tender age, is weeping, trying to show how hurt he feels after
with three-year-old frustration, your bright eyes being slapped for no good reason. The child is naive and has
swimming tears, splashing your bare feet, been fooling around. He does not consider the slap to be
you stand there angling for a moment’s hint justified, thus wails about, causing his father, who is the
of guilt or sorrow for the quick slap struck. culprit, to fall in the pit of guilt. He uses his tears to
emotionally manipulate his father, who (according to the
The ogre towers above you, that grim giant, child) is an offender in this poem. The child is three years
empty of feeling, a colossal cruel, old. The child does not understand the concept of
soon victim of the tale’s conclusion, dead punishment at this age. For him, a slap is more like hurting
at last. You hate him, you imagine him than teaching a lesson. He, thus, considers his father to
chopping clean the tree he’s scrambling down be monster, who can hurt him.
or plotting deeper pits to trap him in.
ANALYSIS
You cannot understand, not yet, STANZA 1
the hurt your easy tears can scald him with, The poet describes the pain he sees and senses in the child
nor guess the wavering hidden behind that mask. who agonises after being beaten. The child is crying, his
This fierce man longs to lift you, curb your mouth is contorted, that is the mouth is twisted because of the
sadness sudden pain he experiences. The deformation of the facial
with piggy-back or bull fight, anything, features of the child is accompanied by howls. These are cries
but dare not ruin the lessons you should learn. of pain. Hence, the audience witnesses a drastic change in the
jovial child of three, who has been beaten.
You must not make a plaything of the rain. The poet employs imagery to depict the alterations in the
child’s countenance.
He uses symbols to emphasise on how the suddenness of the
STANZA 3 slap disfigures the child, changing his happiness into anger
The child is admonished for being blind to the and hatred. Those symbols are,
father’s suffering. The latter realises that his • mouth contorting
action has been harsh, and thoroughly regrets • your laughter metamorphosed into howls
having raised his hand on his child. Yet, it is the • your frame …tight
duty of a father to correct the insolence of his • swimming tears
child. The child waits for his father to repent; to show regrets; to
• …the hurt your easy tears can scald him make amends for how he ill-treats him; he expects his father
with… : use of contrast – tears scalding
to feel bad for having hurt him; and lastly, he wants to punish
(burning) the father. The child uses his tears
to calm himself down. Yet, for the father, his father. This sentiment is carried forward in the next
those very tears hurt him in his soul. Use of stanza.
emphasis – the poet is using tears as a symbol
to depict the pain of the father, along with the STANZA 2
hurt feelings (which are turned into anger) of In the child’s mind, his father becomes a monstrous entity.
the child.
The poet sustains the feelings of the child by giving many
• …nor guess the wavering (trembling) behind
negative nuances to how the father is portrayed:
the mask ( he camouflages his pain beneath a
• ogre – terrific monster
fake show of severity). Use of contrast to • grim (gloomy) giant – has no empathy for others; devoid of
emphasise on the fatherly weakness of the emotions
parent, who cannot show his real self or • empty of feeling- ruthless, as he hits a three-year-old child
emotions. If he wants to ascertain a bright • a colossal cruel- embodiment of cruelty/ savagery/ being
future for his child and discipline the latter to inhuman
become a better person, he needs to be severe. • dead at last- the child wishes to overcome the monster by
Alliterations: …long to lift… and piggy-back and making him regret his action.
bullfights The child feels really hurt/harmed by the slap, as he wishes to
• …dare not ruin the lessons you should punish his father. The poet traces out the thoughts clearly by
learn…: the necessity for the father to be revealing the depth of the child’s frustration against his
severe and fulfill his responsibility correctly. father.
You must not make a plaything of the rain.: the
child must consider serious situations or elements …You hate him…: this phrase encompasses the anger which
to be petty or what he easily fool around with. the child is going through at that very moment.
This is the lesson which the father is teaching to
…chopping clean…: use of imagery which evokes the anger
his child: life should not be taken for granted. The
child must learn to live within the limits. He must felt by the child.
not trespass the boundaries of propriety otherwise …plotting deeper pits to trap him in…: reveal how the child
he will become immoral. is planning revenge. He wants his father to suffer for having
For instance: the child is making illicit use of his slapped him for no real reason. …plotting deeper pits… is
tears to draw guilt from his father. Actually, the alliterative, the device is used to accentuate on the anger felt
poet does say that the child is angry instead of by the child.
being hurt.
 THEMES OF ‘LITTLE BOY CRYING’ TONE

PARENTING: The poem starts with the tone of anger mixed with frustration as
it depicts the feelings of the child.
• The parent teaching morality and ethics to
his child. However, as the poem unfolds, the tone changes into that of
• The parent disciplining his child. understanding and regret, for the father’s real feelings are
• The parent showering love on his child revealed.
through discipline, which means that he
wants his child to walk on the right path. The tone in the last stanza demonstrates the extent of sorrow,
• Manipulation: yet strength felt by the father. He needs to be steel-hearted to be
able to raise his child correctly.
• The child inducing feelings of regret and
guilt in the father through tears.
• The child hiding his anger and revengeful
feelings in his tears and making a show of MOOD
vulnerability.
• How the child wants to punish his father The diction (words used) create a mood of anger and
but pretends to be hurt. frustration. The reader is able to picture and understand the
child’s emotions in the poem. This, coupled with the
FAKERY: uncertainty, pain and farce displaced by the father creates a
complicated dynamic. The relationship between the father and
• The child’s apparent innocence. son is interesting and relatable. The poem explores the
• The father’s apparent severity. relationship between parent and child.
• The need to guide about life through
punishment.
• The father’s fake anger, when he is
crumbling underneath solicitude/love for
his child.

REGRET:

• The father regretting his severity but it is

needed.

DILEMMATIC POSITION OF
PARENTS:

• Parents become villains in the eyes of

their children when all they want is to
instruct/guide their offspring into
becoming better humans.
 WEST INDIES, U.S.A. SUMMARY
by Stewart Brown
A man in an airplane on a stopover flight
Cruising at thirty thousand feet above the endless green stops momentarily in San Juan, Puerto
the islands seem like dice tossed on a casino’s baize, Rico. The man remarks about Puerto
some come up lucky, others not. Puerto Rico takes the pot, Rico being different from the other
the Dallas of the West Indies, silver linings on the clouds countries of the Caribbean he'd stopped
as we descend are hall-marked, San Juan glitters in. He also laments the fear the US has
like a maverick’s gold ring. of the poorer people of the Caribbean
All across the Caribbean stowing away illegally in the country.
we’d collected terminals – airports are like calling cards, As the plane climbs above the streets of
cultural fingermarks; the hand-written signs at Port- San Juan, he recognizes the stark
au-Prince, Piarco’s sleazy tourist art, the lethargic contrasts in the city: between shanties
contempt of the baggage boys at ‘Vere Bird’ in St. Johns... and condominiums, poverty and
And now for plush San Juan. affluence. He, in so doing, exposes the
But the pilot’s bland, the 'dual reality' and economical
you’re safe in my hands drawl crackles as we land, segregation within Puerto Rico itself and
“US regulations demand all passengers not disembarking in the Caribbean as a whole. He makes
at San Juan stay on the plane, I repeat, stay on the plane.” note of the plush appearance of Puerto
Subtle Uncle Sam, afraid too many desperate blacks Rico being 'fools-glitter,' showing that
might re-enslave this Island of the free, although the country appears wonderful,
might jump the barbed it has serious underlying issues
electric fence around ‘America’s nonetheless. Brown ends the poem with
back yard’ and claim that vaunted sanctuary... ‘Give me your poor...’ the powerful remark that Puerto Rico's
Through toughened, tinted glass the contrasts tantalise; dangerous clash of cultures and dualistic
US patrol cars glide across the shimmering tarmac, reality only belongs to the USA. The
containered baggage trucks unload with fierce efficiency. mood of the poem is sarcastic. The tone
So soon we’re climbing, seems to be bitter or resenting, and the
low above the pulsing city streets; themes include oppression and
galvanised shanties overseen by condominiums discrimination.
polished Cadillacs shimmying past Rastas with pushcarts
and as we climb, San Juan’s fool’s glitter calls to mind
MOOD/ ATMOSPHERE
the shattered innards of a TV set that’s fallen
off the back of a lorry, all painted valves and circuits The mood of the poem is sarcastic.
the roads like twisted wires,
the bright cars, micro-chips
TONE
It’s sharp and jagged and dangerous, and belonged to someone else.
The tone of the poem is slightly bitter,
which is fueled by the sarcastic
THEMES
atmosphere.
Discrimination oppression places culture

LITERARY DEVICES
SIMILE
• Line 2: Puerto Rico is compared to dice that are tossed on a casino’s baize, it can either come up with winning
numbers or losing numbers. Puerto Rico comes up with winning numbers in the game of chance, as reflected in its
wealthy exterior, which is supported by America.
• Lines 7-8: San Juan’s glitter is compared to a maverick’s gold ring. The word maverick implies a non-conformist,
an individualist. This implies that San Juan, Puerto Rico is in the Caribbean, but not a part of the Caribbean. It
belongs to America.
• Lines 10-11: Airports are compared to calling cards. This means that, like a calling card, the quality of the airport
gives you an idea of the island’s economic status. The airport is also compared to a cultural fingerprint. A
fingerprint is an individual thing, therefore the airport gives the traveller an idea of the island’s cultural landscape.
• Line 39: The road is compared to twisted wires. This means that the roads, from above, look both plentiful and
curvy. This does not carry a positive connotation but implies confusion.

ALLUSION
• Line 5: Dallas is an oil-rich state in America. Therefore, many of its inhabitants are wealthy, and the state itself is
wealthy. By stating that San Juan is the Dallas of the West Indies, it implies that it is a wealthy island in the West
Indies.
• Lines 5-7: An allusion is being made to the well-known cliche; ‘every cloud has a silver lining’. It means that
behind everything that is seemingly bad, there is good. In the context of this poem, it means that the good, the
silver lining, has a mark, or stamp, that authenticates its good quality; it is hallmarked. This implies that it will
always have its silver lining showing.
 'Composed upon Westminster Bridge, ANALYSIS
September 3, 1802' 'Composed upon Westminster Bridge, September 3, 1802' is
By William Wordsworth Wordsworth's delicately wrought dedication to the capital of
England, the city of London.
Earth has not anything to show more fair: From that grand opening line, with its showy declaration, to
Dull would he be of soul who could pass by the steady iambic beat of the metropolitan heart, this sonnet
A sight so touching in its majesty: aims to do one thing: romanticise what might be deemed ugly.
This City now doth, like a garment, wear This is a whole new view of a great city before it has properly
The beauty of the morning; silent, bare, woken up. The speaker is adamant that a person would have
Ships, towers, domes, theatres, and temples lie to be dull...of soul not to be affected by such a vista, both
Open unto the fields, and to the sky; moving and majestic.
All bright and glittering in the smokeless air. The fourth line is interesting because it sets the reader and
Never did sun more beautifully steep speaker in the absolute present; the reader is looking through
In his first splendour, valley, rock, or hill; the eyes of the artist as it were, as dawn lights up the
Ne'er saw I, never felt, a calm so deep! architecture and the great river.
The river glideth at his own sweet will: And the metropolis comes alive in the following line - it wears
Dear God! the very houses seem asleep; the morning, a calmed personified giant. Wordsworth brings
And all that mighty heart is lying still! in that most romantic of notions, beauty, and attaches it to
what is potentially one of the least beautiful of places, a
growing, heaving city.
LITERARY DEVICES
But this is a city of dream-like quality, as yet unpeopled, set in
Enjambment a fresh light, at rest, at ease with fields and sky, not yet subject
Lines 2,4,6 and 9 have no punctuation to end to the smoke of the chimney stacks or the smog of industry.
them so the reader can carry on straight into the
next line, a reflection of the flow of feeling as the The poet could be forgiven for thinking that this is not London
speaker describes the view. he's looking at but some other natural habitat, perhaps a
mountain or a series of lightly lit cliffs and rocks.
Simile
Line 4 contains a simile...This city now doth, like In lines 9 and 10, the feelings of the poet reach a kind of fever
a garment, wear. The persona compares the pitch, an echo of the opening line sounding - he has never
manner in which the beauty of the morning settles seen anything like this dawn, this splendid sunlight.
over the city, to that of a garment on a body. This
He is clear in his heart and mind. He's never felt so calm. It's
emphasizes the perfection of the beauty of the
as if the city has him in a trance. Perhaps we've all
morning, just as a garment flows smoothly over a
experienced similar feelings when waking up really early in
body.
some great city, and venturing out to take in that special
Hyperbole atmosphere, when there's no one around at all and the streets
The opening line perhaps, and lines 9 and 11 are deserted.
show some exaggeration
Wordsworth interprets these feelings he has about the
Personification overview from that bridge; he's trying to capture the emotion
• Lines 9-10: The sun is referred to as a male generated by the things he observes. From a ship to a dome,
who rises sharply and beautifully. This from the river to the houses, the whole suspended shabang.
emphasizes the beauty of the city in the
As to the sonnet's inherent beauty, that is up to the reader, but
morning. The use of this personification also
there are some intricate rhythms involved in these lines, and
helps the reader to personalize this beauty.
the pace is controlled with clever syntax.
• Line 12: Like the sun, the river is
personalized as well. This allows the reader to Certain lines stand out for their sense of wonder - lines 4, 5, 8,
see the river as real, instead of a thing. It 9, 10 - and overall the word intimacy isn't lost to the differing
comes alive and we can visualize its rhythms.
movement, gliding, as beautiful.
• Line 13: When someone is asleep, they are One oddity is line 13 that starts with Dear God! - you can just
usually peaceful. Therefore, when the persona picture Wordsworth on the carriage top exclaiming. He liked
describes the houses as sleeping, he is to use such phrases in some of his poetry, an attempt to reflect
emphasizing the peace that exists in the city the more common human response.
in the morning. The inhabitants of the houses So, in conclusion, beyond reality lies the romantic, be it a city
are asleep, therefore the houses are quiet and turned into a natural phenomenon as in this sonnet, coated,
peaceful. some might say, in too sweet a layer of wonder.

TONE THEME Wordsworth's 'strongly felt emotions' come through loud and
The tone of the • Nature clear and he certainly created a timeless piece that beguiles,
poem is one of • Love for nature irritates and puzzles as it takes the reader along into a shared
awe. metropolitan experience.
 Birdshooting Season SUMMARY
By Olive Senior
As the poem’s title suggests the poem “Birdshooting Season” shows the
Birdshooting season the men rituals surrounding bird shooting season and the happenings in a house
make marriages with their guns when both men and women prepare for the season. The poem is narrated by
My father’s house turns macho what seems to be a child member of the household as he/she tells the
as from far the hunters gather happenings in preparation for the hunt, thus the poem is told as he/she
reflects on the activities in his/her household, men getting ready to go
All night long contentless women shooting while the women are inside preparing to make the food and
stir their brews: hot coffee children watching.
chocolata, cerassie
ANALYSIS
wrap pone and tie-leaf
for tomorrow’s sport. Tonight Stanza 1
the men drink white rum neat. The poem starts by saying “ men make marriages with their guns” men use
their guns to hunt and shoot birds this line shows the relationship the men
In darkness shouldering have with their guns, almost as if the guns are replacing the women. As
their packs, their guns, they leave more and more men gather at the house the narrator describes the house as
getting more “macho” manlier emphasizing the definition of the poem of
We stand quietly on the men as the strong primal hunters in contrast to its portrayal of women.
doorstep shivering. Little boys
longing to grow up birdhunters too Stanza 2
Little girls whispering: Transitions to what the women of the house are doing in contrast to the men,
Fly Birds Fly. who are going out shooting the women inside doing more domestic tasks
show the stark difference between the roles of men and women. “All night
contentless women stir their brews…” the word contentless here could mean
FIGURATIVE DEVICES
that these women here are docile and obedient doing the cooking as the
Metaphor strong men go out to kill, or contentless as in women are dissatisfied with
“Men make marriages to their guns” the role of having to cook for tomorrow’s “sport” while the men drink hard
not literal marriage but shows the white rum and enjoy themselves. Women in the poem are shown doing the
close, needed, and the relation the traditional domestic tasks in short women in the kitchen.
men had with their guns now that it
Stanza 3
is bird shooting season, you need
The briefness of this stanza gives a sense of quickness, and suspense and
your gun to shoot so the gun was
emphasizes the movement and motions “in darkness shouldering their
held in high importance.
packs, their guns, they leave” this leaves the reader to wonder what comes
Imagery next.
• “in darkness shouldering their
Stanza 4
packs, the guns they leave” we
This stanza continues with the feeling of suspense and again shows the
can imagine the scene of the
contrast between males and females and the role expected of them “little
men cloaked in darkness with
boys longing to grow up bird shooters too” this represents the role that the
guns in hand and their sacks on
boys are expected to take up while the lines “little girls whispering: Fly
their backs leaving in the night
Birds Fly” show the emotions that are associated with the females, empathy,
to go hunt.
and softness. In the last line “Fly Bird Fly” with each letter in each word
• “We stand quietly on the capitalized emphasizing the words, this leaves the reader wondering and left
doorstep shivering” again in suspense and speculation on what is to happen in the hunt.
another image where we can
picture the young children TONE MOOD
standing feeling the cold air,
shivering as they watch the men The poet uses many literary This poem uses imagery and
leave. devices, such as metaphors, contrast between the roles of males
similes and personifications to and females engender in the reader a
create a sense of playfulness and sense of calm. The men, women,
girls and boys are doing what they
whimsy, that is made serious by
are ‘meant’ to do, however this is
the topic being explored. The contrasted by the knowledge that the
speaker in the poem is calm and roles of men and women act like
THEMES observant, which is suitable prisons or restrictors. We see in the
because the events in the poem poem how girls and boys’
• Gender roles
takes place in the early morning. behaviours and aspirations are
changed and inspired by their elders.
• Children’s curiosity This omniscient [all knowing]
This makes the reader wonder how
persona/speaker paints a
societal pressures have influenced
• Childhood experiences complete picture of the gender their behaviour and perception of
roles in the poem, and how these the world.
• Nature are passed on to young children.
The Woman Speaks to the Man who has SUMMARY
Employed her Son The persona in this poem is telling the story of a mother who loved
By Lorna Goodison her son. The mother became aware of the child’s presence when she
experienced morning sickness. She placed all her hopes in the child
Her son was first made known to her and raised him as a single parent because his father was indifferent to
as a sense of unease, a need to cry the child’s existence. The mother had set no barriers on what the
for little reasons and a metallic tide child could become, but is told that he has an employer who values
rising in her mouth each morning. him so much that he is given his own submarine gun. The son tells
Such signs made her know his mother that his employer is like a father to him, but the mother
That she was not alone in her body. wonders at the father figure who purposefully endangers his child.
She carried him full term She prepares for her son’s death by going downtown to buy funeral
tight up under her heart. apparel. The mother feels powerless, so she prays for her child and
says protective psalms for him. On the other hand, she reads psalms
She carried him like the poor of retribution for the employer and weeps for her son. Her situation
carry hope, hope you get a break does not look good and is likened to a partner system in which she
or a visa, hope one child go through draws both the first and the last hand.
and remember you. He had no father.
The man she made him with had more
FIGURATIVE DEVICES
like him, he was fair-minded
he treated all his children SIMILE
with equal and unbiased indifference. • "She carried him like the poor carry hope"
This simile compares how she carried the child to how those in
She raise him twice, once as mother poverty carry their hope. This shows that the mother likely saw the
Then as father, set no ceiling son as a potential ticket out of poverty- a child that may secure that
On what he could be doctor,
elusive visa and get an opportunity to work abroad, and,
earth healer, pilot take wings.
But now he tells her he is working remembering his mother, send remittances to her.
for you, that you value him so much • "He says you are like a father to him"
you give him one whole submachine The son compares the gunman to a father, showing that he fills a gap
gun for him alone. left by his own absent father.

He says you are like a father to him ALLUSION

she is wondering what kind of father
would give a son hot and exploding • "what kind of father would give a son hot and exploding
death, when he asks him for bread. death, when he asks him for bread."
She went downtown and bought three The mother questions the son's idolization of this donor of guns using a
and one-third yards of black cloth biblical allusion to Matthew 7:9, which states, "Which of you, if your
and a deep crowned and veiled hat son asks for bread, will give him a stone?" (a similar verse is at Luke
for the day he draw his bloody salary. 11:11). The son's penury has led him to seek material goods, so why
would this "father figure" offer him a weapon of certain death? The
She has no power over you and this woman accuses the man of being purely wicked and having no regard
at the level of earth, what she has
for her son's wellbeing.
are prayers and a mother’s tears
and at knee city she uses them. • "She says psalms for him, she reads psalms for you,"
She says psalms for him This is an allusion to the biblical book of Psalms. The mother says
she reads psalms for you psalms hoping to protect her child, but she reads psalms for the gunman
she weeps for his soul in hopes of his defeat or injury.
her eyewater covers you. • "She is throwing a partner with Judas Iscariot’s mother the
thief on the left-hand side of the cross, his mother is the
She is throwing a partner
banker,"
with Judas Iscariot’s mother
the thief on the left-hand side This is a biblical allusion to Judas Iscariot, the man who betrayed Jesus
of the cross, his mother in the bible, and the thief who was crucified on the left of Jesus in the
is the banker, her draw though bible. She is engaged in a savings agreement (called a partner in
is first and last for she still Jamaica, a meeting in Barbados or a sou sou in other Caribbean islands)
throwing two hands as mother and with Judas Iscariot's mother (the mother of the well-known betrayer of
father. Jesus) and the thief who was crucified with Jesus. The thief's mother is
She is prepared, she is done. Absalom. the banker, who keeps the money- meaning that she may have her
money stolen if the thief learnt it from his mother.
MOOD • "Absalom."
The mood of the poem is reflective. The The final word, 'Absalom' is spoken sort of like an 'Amen' at the end of a
persona is thinking about a mother’s poem. This is a biblical allusion to David's son Absalom, who was killed
response to her son’s life choices. after plotting to kill his father. David however, still feels grief at the
death of this son who plotted to kill him. In accepting to be employed by
TONE
the gunman, the son has basically plotted against his mother’s
The tone of the poem is pragmatic and
investment in him and her limitless expectations for him. He has killed
pessimistic. The persona is telling the tale
as it is, with no positive energy. her hopes.
The mother, like King David, will experience profound grief over the
THEMES - Death, love/love and family death of her wayward son.
relationship, survival, dreams and
aspirations, childhood experiences, religion
 It is the Constant Image of Your Face SUMMARY
by Dennis Brutus
It is the constant image of your face The persona seems to be a statesman (or some sort of
framed in my hands as you knelt before my chair stakeholder or representative of his country) who is
the grave attention of your eyes accused of heartbreak by his lover. It appears that there
surveying me amid my world of knives was an event in the past where he was unfaithful-
that stays with me, perennially accuses seemingly to his lover. However, there can be no excuse
and convicts me of heart’s-treachery; for either of them, he believes, since loyalty to one's
and neither you nor I can plead excuses country supersedes all else. He can claim no loyalty to
for you, you know, can claim no loyalty – her, but neither can she to him, as the persona considers
my land takes precedence of all my loves. his country to be above all of his other loves. Now
however, he pleads for forgiveness of some sort,
Yet I beg mitigation, pleading guilty confessing freely his denial of his own country. His
for you, my dear, accomplice of my heart lover, the 'accomplice of his heart' in denying his
made, without words, such blackmail with your beauty country, has treated him with such tender love that he
and proffered me such dear protectiveness cannot simply ignore it. He hopes that his country will
that I confess without remorse or shame, be able to forgive him. As he now compares the love he
my still-fresh treason to my country holds for his lover and his land, he reveals his own
and I hope that she, my other, dearest love confusion. He loves his land and this woman. One, he
will pardon freely, not attaching blame believes should take precedence above all others, and
being your mistress (or your match) in tenderness. the other, has conspired with his heart to siphon some of
his affection for the other. He cannot discern which one
THEMES: Love, guilt, patriotism, places, desires/ is more dear to his heart, which one is more tender.
dreams
ANALYSIS LITERARY DEVICES

"It is the constant image of your face, framed in my hands as you knelt before my PERSONIFICATION
chair the grave attention of your eyes surveying me amid my world of knives" • Lines 4, 6-7: The love
The image of his lover's face remains ceaselessly in his mind. He holds her face in his interest’s eyes constantly
hands as she kneels before him. Her eyes inspect him gravely. This gives the accuses and convicts the
impression of anguish and deep emotion. The phrase 'world of knives' conveys the idea persona. This device
that the persona is surrounded by a world of brutality, or even an internal conflict. highlights the extent to
"that stays with me, perennially accuses and convicts me of heart’s-treachery;" which the persona has
hurt this person.
This image seems to haunt him, permanently embedded into his mind. It accuses and • Lines 18-20: The persona
convicts him of 'heart's-treachery." What he saw in the attentive eyes of his lover
stayed with him and caused a great deal of emotional pain. The use of the word hopes that his country,
'convicts' gives the impression of a direct encumbering of guilt upon the persona. his other dearest love,
'Heart's treachery' here, evidently meaning heartbreak, is an oxymoron, considering will forgive him for the
that the heart is a symbol of love and compassion, completely contrasted by the treasonous act of loving
concept of treachery and betrayal. another. This highlights
"and neither you nor I can plead excuses for you, you know, can claim no loyalty the patriotism that
– my land takes precedence of all my loves." defines the persona’s
relationship to his
Neither the persona nor his lover can 'plead excuses' for his apparent infidelity. They
can't claim loyalty to each other, as the persona believes unequivocally that loyalty to country.
his country should be above all other perceived loves. Thus , he feels unbound to her
due to how he prioritizes patriotism. OXYMORON
The term heart’s-treachery
"Yet I beg mitigation, pleading guilty for you, my dear, accomplice of my heart implies that the heart, something
made, without words, such blackmail with your beauty and proffered me such
so vital and indicative of love,
dear protectiveness, that I confess without remorse or shame, my still-fresh
has committed a terrible crime.
treason to my country"
It highlights the heartbreak that
Now, the persona is begging acquittal for his seeming perfidy. He admits his the persona has caused his love
wrongdoing. His lover is the 'accomplice of his heart,' a person who has conspired with interest.
him to take some of his affection for his country. He sort of introduces the idea that
they both share culpability for betraying his greater love. Wordlessly, she blackmails
him with her beauty, forcing him to become a backsliding lover when it comes to his MOOD
country. Her love, protective and tender, has caused him to confess freely the way he The mood of the poem is
now seems to have given his love to another, apart from his precedent love (his reflective. The persona is
country). He considers this treason, a betrayal of the love he thinks should be above all thinking about his two loves and
else. how he is torn between them.

"and I hope that she, my other, dearest love will pardon freely, not attaching TONE
blame being your mistress (or your match) in tenderness." The tone of the poem is sadness
and guilt. The persona is guilt-
The persona hopes against hope that his country will be able to pardon him for this. ridden over this love triangle
The final line reveals more of his confusion, as cannot discern which one is more dear and sadness permeates the
and tender to him. words that he uses to describe it.
 A STONE’S THROW SUMMARY
By Elma Mitchell
We shouted out This poem highlights the themes of hypocrisy, religion and mild
'We've got her! Here she is! sexism and violence. A woman was captured a woman in sin. A
It's her all right '. crowd has caught a woman (Line 2: ‘We’ve got her! Here she is’).
We caught her.
The persona implies to the reader that the woman is not decent
There she was -
(Line 6: ‘A decent-looking woman, you’d have said,’// Lines 11-14:
A decent-looking woman, you'd have said, And not the first time//By any means//She’d felt men’s
(They often are) hands//Greedy over her body’). The persona states that the woman
Beautiful, but dead scared, has experienced men’s hands on her body before, but this crowd’s
Tousled - we roughed her up hands were virtuous (Lines 15-16: ‘But ours were virtuous,//Of
A little, nothing much
course’).
And not the first time He also makes a proviso that if this crowd bruises her, it cannot be
By any means
compared to what she has experienced before. The persona also
She'd felt men's hands
Greedy over her body - speaks about a last assault and battery to come. He justifies this last
But ours were virtuous, assault by calling it justice, and it is justice that feels not only right,
Of course. but good. The crowd’s ‘justice’ is placed on hold by the interruption
of a preacher, who stops to talk to the lady.
And if our fingers bruised
Her shuddering skin, He squats on the ground and writes something that the crowd
These were love-bites, compared cannot see. Essentially, the preacher judges them, thereby allowing
To the hail of kisses of stone, the lady to also judge the crowd, leading to the crowd inevitably
The last assault
judging itself. The crowd walks away from the lady, still holding
And battery, frigid rape,
To come stones [which can be seen as a metaphor for judgments that can be
Of right. thrown another day.

For justice must be done

Specially when LITERARY DEVICES
It tastes so good. SARCASM
• The persona is making the point that the lady was in fact NOT
And then - this guru, decent looking.
Preacher, God-merchant, God-knows-what - PERSONIFICATION
Spoilt the whole thing, • This device is particularly effective because the word ‘kisses’ is
Speaking to her used. Kiss implies something pleasant, but it is actually utilized
(Should never speak to them) to emphasize something painful that has happened to the lady;
Squatting on the ground - her level, she was stoned.
Writing in the dust PUN
Something we couldn't read. • Title: The title of the poem is itself a pun on two levels. A
And saw in her stone’s throw is used by many people in the Caribbean to
Something we couldn't see describe a close distance. eg. “She lives a stone’s throw away”.
At least until The other use of the title is to highlight the content of the
He turned his eyes on us, poem. It is a figurative stoning, or judging, of a woman.
Her eyes on us, ALLUSION
Our eyes upon ourselves. • (biblical) The content of the poem alludes to the story of Mary
Magdalene in the Christian Bible. See John 8 v 5-7.
We walked away CONTRAST
Still holding stones
• Lines 13-15: These lines show that the men who were ‘holding
That we may throw
stones’ believe they are more morally upright than the other
Another day
Given the urge. men with whom the woman associates.
IRONY
• One would think that men with ‘virtuous’ hands would have
THEMES only pure thoughts, but these men intend to stone the
woman , who seems utterly defenseless. Also, images of
• Discrimination- The poor cruelty are used, such as ‘bruised’, ‘kisses of stone’, ‘battery’
treatment the persona receives and ‘frigid rape’.
by the men in the poem as a
TONE MOOD
result of her profession.
• Religion The speaker in the poem is This poem displays the
truthful as he relates the hypocrisies that exist in people,
• Appearance vs Reality actions of the men who are it is satisfying to see this
• Hypocrisy attacking the woman. He
objectively expresses his
explored. It makes the reader
• Oppression thoughts and ideas, without assess themselves and wonder
acknowledging the errors in his whether they may be
• Power and Powerlessness ways. indifferent to their flaws.
 Test Match Sabina Park SUMMARY
By Stewart Brown The persona is an Englishman who comes to Sabina Park to
watch a cricket match between his home team and the West
Proudly wearing the rosette of my skin Indies team. A proud man, he becomes uneasy once he realizes
I strut into Sabina that something is wrong. His team appears to be abstaining from
England boycotting excitement bravely any exciting gameplay, and the pace of the match is slow. He
something badly amiss. notices the stark differences between cricket at Lords and here at
Sabina Park. Here, there is a massive crowd unheard of in
Cricket. Not the game they play at Lords, England. The crowd is rowdy, and is restless due to the slow and
The crowd- whoever saw a crowd unimpressive gameplay of the English team. The persona, being
At a cricket match? – are caged essentially the only white man in the stadium apart from the
vociferous partisans, quick to take offence. team, is targeted by the restless spectators who want to know
why the English team has so failed to produce a thrilling game.
England sixty eight for none at lunch. The persona, now feeling crestfallen and embarrassed for his
‘What sort o battin dat man? nationality, his team and himself, leaves the park- the complete
Dem kaaan play cricket again, opposite of how he felt going in.
praps dem should-a-borrow Lawrence Rowe!’ The mood here is tense and frustrated. The tone is one of
frustration (from the West Indian attendees) and embarrassment
And on it goes, the wicket slow (the British man).
as the batting and the crowd restless.
‘Eh white bwoy, how you brudders dem LITERARY DEVICES
does sen we sleep so? Me pay me monies RHETORICAL QUESTION
fe watch dis foolishness? Cho!’ • Stanza 2, lines 6-7: This question reveals that, despite the fact that
cricket is a popular sport in England, the venues for the matches
So I try to explain in my Hampshire drawl are not crowded. This question could also point to the fact that
about conditions in Kent, Sabina Park was very crowded.
about sticky wickets and muggy days • Stanza 3, line 10: This question represents the general frustration
and the monsoon season in Manchester of the West Indians in the crowd. They are annoyed that the
but fail to convince even myself. cricket match is progressing so slowly.
• Stanza 4, lines 16-18: These questions imply that the West Indian
crowd’s level of frustration has escalated.
The crowd’s loud ‘busin drives me out
skulking behind a tarnished rosette
ALLUSION
somewhat frayed now but unable, quite, The allusion to Lawrence Rowe, a very colourful and successful West
to conceal a blushing nationality. Indian cricketer, emphasizes the fact that the match is slow and boring.

TONE SARCASM
The tone of the poem is one of frustration To ‘boycott’ is to abstain from, or to stop, doing something. Therefore,
(West Indian) and embarrassment (English the persona is being sarcastic because excitement is a good thing.
People usually boycott for something negative, therefore the persona
man)
is, again, highlighting the slow and boring pace of the cricket match.
MOOD
The mood of the poem is tense • ’England sixty eight for none at lunch’
While this is a good score, it never-the-less highlights the
THEMES
slowness of the match, hence the fact that the experience, for
Discrimination, places, culture and sports the crowd, was far from exciting.
• ’the wicket slow’
IMPORTANT WORDS/ PHRASES The purpose of the wicket is to ‘out’ the opposing side.
• ’rosette of my skin’ Therefore, no ‘outing’ is occurring, the wickets are standing.
Rosette implies a reddish colour, or tint, to the skin, that Everything about the match is going slowly.
sometimes resembles a rose. This description immediately • ’sticky wickets’
identifies the race of the persona as Caucasian. The
This implies a sticky, or awkward situation. It highlights
persona is proud of his race, as he enters Sabina Park. England’s situation.
• ’strut’ • ’loud ‘busin’
his word means to walk proudly. It emphasizes the fact The English team was being loudly abused.
that the persona is proudly walking into Sabina Park.
• ’skulking behind a tarnished rosette’
• ’something badly amiss’ Skulking implies hiding in shame, and tarnished means tainted.
The persona is jolted by the fact that the match is going Therefore, the proud Englishman is now embarrassed, and the
slowly. The word ‘amiss’ implies wrong, the game should rosette of his skin is making him stand out. Initially this was a
not be going so slowly.
very good thing, but now it is a disadvantage.
• ’vociferous partisans’ • ’blushing nationality’.
Vociferous means to be very noisy and clamorous, while
At this point, the Englishman admits to being embarrassed for
partisan is a person who shows biased, emotional
his team, as well as himself.
allegiance. Therefore, the West Indian crowd was
*There is a distinct CONTRAST between the beginning of the
extremely noisy in their support of their team. They were
poem when the persona is proud, and ‘struts’. However, by the
also very unappreciative of the slow pace of the match.
end of the poem, he is embarrassed and ‘skulking’
 MY PARENTS SUMMARY
by Stephen Spender “My Parents” As a Criticism on Society: This poem is
written from the perspective of a young child. The child’s
My parents kept me from children who were rough
parents restrict him and keep him away from the rough
Who threw words like stones and wore torn clothes children, fearing they will make fun of him. The poet
presents a graphic picture of the street children, which
Their thighs showed through rags they ran in the street justifies the stance of his parents. They are rough in their
manners and appearances. However, the speaker is
And climbed cliffs and stripped by the country streams. envious of their freedom. He adores the way they play
freely in the street without any restrictions. Also, he
praises their iron muscle, which shows that he is
I feared more than tigers their muscles like iron physically weak as compared to them. Therefore, his
parents never allow him to take part in an activity that
Their jerking hands and their knees tight on my arms invites hatred and bullying. Thus, the poem highlights an
inevitable gap that exists among different classes of
I feared the salt coarse pointing of those boys societies. The parents want to safeguard their son from the
negativity, and the speaker wants to liberate himself from
Who copied my lisp behind me on the road. the clutches of restrictions.

Major Themes in “My Parents”: Bullying, the gap

between social classes and parent’s love are the major
They were lithe they sprang out behind hedges themes of the poem. The poet presents two things in the
Like dogs to bark at my world. They threw mud poem: parents concern for their child, and the child’s wish
for freedom. His parents never permit him to mingle with
While I looked the other way, pretending to smile. the street boys, and they have reasons for that. But, the
poet thinks that his freedom is snatched in the name of
I longed to forgive them but they never smiled. protection. Therefore, he tries to give those street children
a positive gesture, forgetting their bad behavior with him,
but they never respond to him positively.
FIGURATIVE DEVICES
SIMILE ANALYSIS
• “Who threw words like stones” the words the boys Stanza 1
use where harsh and hurt when they would say The poem begins with the narration by a child. The speaker
them. seems to be a sheltered child, he also seems to be from a
household that was more affluent. The first line shows what
• “muscles like iron” they boys were strong and has happened to the speaker, by saying his parents kept him
Spence may have not been strong enough to fight from these children it could be that they were protecting
them off so to him they were much stronger than him. The children in the community seem to be poor and
him and it would hurt to be hit by them. would often make fun of Spencer. “There thighs showed
through rags they ran in the streets” this line also enforces
• “Like dogs to bark at my world” not literal dogs
the notion that these children might be poorer than te
but they were loud and unrelenting like dog’s speaker. “And climbed cliffs and stripped by the country
barks frightening and offensive getting ready to streams” the activities in this line are what Spencer may
attack. have considered being rough.
METAPHOR Stanza 2
This stanza expresses the fear the speaker had of these
“the salt coarse pointing of those boys” salt is rough children how they bullied him, “I feared more than tigers
and salt in wounds sting. The pointing by the boys their muscles like iron”. The speaker equating their muscles
would point and it would hurt emotionally for spencer. to irons shows how much stronger these boys were than him
ALLUSION and it also gives an image of a weak and fragile speaker.
“While I looked the other way” an allusion to Jesus They physically bullied and pinned him down to beat him,
and also verbally abusing him. The speaker, who had a lisp
turning the other cheek as a form of forgiveness, like “I feared the salt coarse pointing of those boys// Who
Spencer wanting to forgive the boys. copied my lisp behind me on the road” this stanza shows
how much the speaker really feared the ridicule of the
THEMES neighborhood children.
Stanza 3
Parent-Child Relationship Childhood Experiences The word lithe means the boys were agile. They would be
Forgiveness Bullying quick when they came out from behind the bushes, they
may not have been noticed by Spencer until they started to
tease him.
TONE
They may not have literally “barked at his world” but
The speaker reflects on his past with little nostalgia. meaning the loud abusive bullying that makes him
The trauma and feeling of being left out has scarred uncomfortable and sad. We can see that even though the
him and it seems that it pains him in his adulthood. speaker was bullied by these boys he also longed for
The speaker also seems resentful, as he admits that he acceptance; he may have also been putting up a brave face.
Turning the other was also an allusion to turning the other
never forgave the boys that bullied him.
cheek meaning to forgive, “turning the other way’ trying to
look past what they did. “I longed to forgive them but they
MOOD never smiled” as we said before he wanted to forgive them,
This poem is reflective and makes the reader question but they never showed him any kindness or even a smile.
how their past trauma may be affecting them in their He longed to forgive them but he never did as he had no
daily life. The poem also makes the reader about reason to, he longed to make friends but he was never able
to.
forgiveness.
 LANDSCAPE PAINTER SUMMARY
By Vivian Virtue
I watch him set up easel, The landscape painter Albert Huie, a famous Jamaican
Both straddling precariously
painter by the poet admires the painter’s process as he
A corner of the twisted, climbing
Mountain track watches this method and speaks in awe as he captures the
scenery as if the landscape is a living thing getting ready to
A tireless humming-bird, his brush be painted and showing their best side for this painter.
Dips, darts, hovers now here, now there, Capturing the painter in his element.
Where puddles of pigment
Bloom in the palette’s wild small garden.
ANALYSIS
The mountains pose for him
Stanza 1
In a family
The first stanza gives a feeling of awe and calmness as the
Dignifies, self-conscious, against the wide blue screen
pater sets up to begin painting. The easel is set to cover a
Of morning; low green foot-hills
part of the mountain, “straddling precariously” the way the
Sprawl like grandchildren about the knees
easel is set can be said to reflect the free will and freeness
Of seated elders. And behind them, aloof,
of painting as well the tone of the poem itself.
Shouldering the sky, patriarchal in serenity,
Blue Mountain Peak bulks.
Stanza 2
The poems encapsulate the essence of the environment, the
And the professional gaze
painter paints the landscape as well as him painting uses
Studies positions, impatiently waiting
metaphors of parts of the environment to show the process.
For the perfect moment to fix
This stanza describes the movement of his brush like a
Their preparedness, to confine them
hummingbird, quickly moving from one colour to the next
For the pleasant formality
drawn to them like the hummingbird drawn to the different
Of the family album.
flowers for nectar in a garden. The use of the word like
“tireless”, “Darts, dips” that are used add to the feeling of
His brush a humming-bird
quickness in this stanza.
Meticulously poised…
The little hills fidgeting,
Stanza 3
Changelessly changing,
This stanza begins to personify the landscape giving a
Artlessly frustrating
mood of wonder and whimsicality to the poem, it could
The painter’s art.
also be that the painter has such command over his craft
that it seems like the mountains are in cahoots with him and
are doing exactly as he wants. The mountains are described
FIGURATIVE DEVICES as “Dignified, self-conscious, against the wide blue screen”
showing the prominence of the mountains in the painting
Simile against the sky as if showing authority. The hills are
• “Grandchildren about the knees” referred to as grandchildren at the knees of the hill because
compared to the mountains they are small they have yet to
Imagery reach the size of the mountains, but mountains still have a
ways to go. As the blue mountain peak is behind them, the
• “On corner of the Twisted climbing mountain highest point in Jamaica. “Shouldering the sky” gives an
track” image of how high the peak is.
• “dips, darts, now here, now there”
• “…Puzzles of pigment bloom in the pallets wild Stanza 4
small garden” “And the professional gaze studies positions, impatiently
waiting for the perfect moment to fix” the painter is now
getting ready to Paint the mountains we get the sense of the
Metaphor meticulous nature of the painter how fixated he is on
• “tireless hummingbird, his brush” getting capturing the perfect scene.

Personification “their preparedness to confine them for the pleasant

• “the mountains pose for him” formality off the family album.” the mountains are again
being personified. We get the imagery of them all together
• “The little Hills fidgeting” ready to be painted on canvas, it is not an actual album but
• “sprawl grandchildren about the knees” a metaphor for them being on the canvas all together in the
painting.
THEMES
Nature Love of art Stanza 5
“His brush a humming-bird meticulously poised” this line
is repeated again bringing us back to the beginning again
TONE the hummingbird although it is a quick bird keeps its
The speaker speaks with curiosity and interest that balance a beautiful bird that is also an emblem of Jamaica
border on reverence for the art of painting. The art of itself, its scenery and nature. The image of the painter with
painting fascinates the speaker. his brush painting in great detail, careful and precise, “the
little hills fidgeting” as it was referenced before the hills are
MOOD seen as the grandchildren and as children do, they move but
The way the speaker talks about the painter and his that is not the reality as hills are stationary. It could be how
the painting is viewed by virtue
works makes him seem like magic and awe
inspiring.
 DULCE ET DECORUM EST ANALYSIS
By Wilfred Owen
Bent double, like old beggars under sacks, First Stanza
Knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through sludge, The first line takes the reader straight into the ranks
Till on the haunting flares we turned our backs, of the soldiers, an unusual opening, only we're told
And towards our distant rest began to trudge. they resemble "old beggars" and "hags" (note the
Men marched asleep. Many had lost their boots, similes) by the speaker, who is actually in amongst
But limped on, blood-shod. All went lame; all blind; this sick and motley crew.
Drunk with fatigue; deaf even to the hoots The initial rhythm is slightly broken iambic
Of gas-shells dropping softly behind. pentameter until line five when commas and semi-
colons and other punctuation reflect the disjointed
Gas! GAS! Quick, boys!—An ecstasy of fumbling efforts of the men to keep pace.
Fitting the clumsy helmets just in time, Also note the term "blood-shod" which suggests a
But someone still was yelling out and stumbling parallel with horses, and the fact that many are
And flound’ring like a man in fire or lime.— lame, drunk, blind and deaf. The trauma of war has
Dim through the misty panes and thick green light, intoxicated the soldiers.
As under a green sea, I saw him drowning.
Second Stanza
In all my dreams before my helpless sight, Suddenly the call goes up: "Gas!" We delve deeper
He plunges at me, guttering, choking, drowning. into the scene as chemical warfare raises its ugly
head and one man gets caught and left behind. He's
If in some smothering dreams, you too could pace too slow to don his gas mask and helmet, which
Behind the wagon that we flung him in, would have saved his life by filtering out the toxins.
And watch the white eyes writhing in his face, "An ecstasy of fumbling," the poet writes. The
His hanging face, like a devil’s sick of sin; ecstasy is used here in the sense of a trance-like
If you could hear, at every jolt, the blood frenzy as the men hurriedly put on their helmets. It
Come gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs, has nothing to do with happiness.
Obscene as cancer, bitter as the cud Here the poem becomes personal and metaphorical.
Of vile, incurable sores on innocent tongues,— The speaker sees the man consumed by gas as a
My friend, you would not tell with such high zest drowning man, as if he were underwater. Misty
To children ardent for some desperate glory, panes add an unreal element to this traumatic scene,
The old Lie: Dulce et decorum est as though the speaker is looking through a window.
Pro patria mori.
Third Stanza
THEMES Only two lines long, this stanza brings home the
"Dulce et Decorum Est" does not have one theme, but many. personal effect of the scene on the speaker. The
Still, each of the themes centre around war and the antiquated image sears through and scars despite the dream-
notions associated with it. The main themes of this poem are like atmosphere created by the green gas and the
listed below: floundering soldier.
Owen chose the word "guttering" to describe the
• War tears streaming down the face of the unfortunate
One of the main themes of this poem is war. It deals man, a symptom of inhaling toxic gas.
with a soldier's experience in World War I, and
contrasts the realities of war with the glorified notion of Fourth Stanza
what serving in a war is like. The speaker widens the issue by confronting the
• Propaganda reader (and especially the people at home, far away
This poem takes aim at the idea of war presented by from the war), suggesting that if they too could
war-supporting propaganda. During World War I, experience what he had witnessed, they would not
propaganda came in the form of books, poems, posters, be so quick to praise those who die in action.
movies, radio and more, and presented an idea of war They would be lying to future generations if they
full of glory and pride rather than of death and
destruction. thought that death on the battlefield was sweet.
• Hero Worship Owen does not hold back. His vivid imagery is quite
Everyone wants to be the hero. In reality, it is the man shocking, his message direct and his conclusion
who keeps his head down is he who survives the sincere.
longest. In the he last four lines “Dulce et decorum est pro
• Patriotism patria mori”, which is a line taken from the latin
"Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori," means it is odes of the Roman poet Horace, means it is sweet
sweet and proper to die for one's country. This idea of
and proper to die for one's country. Wilfred Owen
patriotism fueled the hopes and dreams of many young
soldiers who entered World War I. Once they realised takes the opposite stance.
the horrors that awaited them, however, this ideal In the poem he is, in effect, saying that it is anything
patriotism was rightly viewed as ridiculous. but sweet and proper to die for one's country in a
• Lessons Learned From the Past hideous war that eventually took the lives of over 17
Owen highlights this Latin phrase to show how million people.
antiquated and wrong it is when applied to the modern This poem, written by a young soldier recovering
age. Through his work, which entirely destroys the idea
from his wounds who was brave enough to return to
that it is sweet and proper to die for one's country, he
hopes to make readers realise that times have changed – the battlefield, still resonates today with its brutal
that while war may have once been glorious, now, war language and imagery
is hell.
 WHAT IS THE STRUCTURE OF "DULCE ET DECORUM EST?"
"Dulce et Decorum Est" might have started out as a double sonnet (there are 28 lines in total) and many lines are in
iambic pentameter, with end rhymes. Owen must have decided against it as he worked on the draft, ending up with
four unequal stanzas.

HOW IS LANGUAGE AND DICTION LITERARY DEVICES

USED IN "DULCE ET DECORUM
EST?" SIMILE
"Dulce et Decorum Est" surprises the reader • Stanza 1, line 1: This simile introduces the exhaustion of the
from the start. The opening lines contain soldiers.
words such as bent, beggars, sacks, hags,
cursed, haunting, trudge. This is the • Stanza 1, line 2: This emphasises not only the tiredness of the
language of poverty and deprivation, hardly soldiers but the fact that they might be sick as well.
suitable for the glory of the battlefield
where heroes are said to be found. • Stanza 2, line 19: This device gives a visual image of how the
soldier physically reacted to the gas. Floundering implies
Yet this is precisely what the poet intended. flopping about, therefore, the soldier was flopping about
Figurative language fights with literal violently. We know it was violent because fire and lime illicit
language. This is no ordinary march. Most excruciating pain.
seem asleep, from exhaustion no doubt,
suggesting that a dream world isn't too far • Stanza 4, line 39: This device gives a visual image of the
distant–a dream world very unlike the expression on the soldier’s face. This is a particularly
resting place they're headed for. grotesque image that highlights the soldier in the throes of
death.
The second stanza's first line brings the
reader directly in touch with the unfolding • Stanza 4, line 39: Cancer is a horrible disease that takes many
drama and, although these are soldiers, men lives on a daily basis. Therefore, to compare this dying
(as well as old beggars and hags), the simple soldier’s face to this disease is to emphasize the agony that the
word "boys" seems to put everything into soldier was going through, which was reflected on his face.
perspective.
• Stanza 4, lines 39-40: This is another graphic comparison that
MOOD compares the soldier’s face to incurable sores. ‘Sores’ is a
The mood of the poem is reflective. The disgusting visual image of degradation which, in turn,
persona/ poet is thinking about his highlights the soldier in the throes of death.
experiences in WWI
ALLITERATION
TONE • Stanza 1, line 7: This device points to the level of fatigue that
The general tone of the poem is both the soldiers were undergoing.
sarcastic and ironic. The persona/ poet tries
to present a visual of the realities of war • Stanza 1, lines 7-9: This highlights not only the fatigue that
while using haunting words that contradict the soldiers were feeling but the fact that they were injured as
that reality. It is, in fact, NOT sweet and well.
honourable to die for one’s country.
• Stanza 4, lines 29-30: This device highlights a visually graphic
death mask. The soldier is in the throes of impending death.
THEMES

• War ALLUSION
• Death • As we can see by the title and last line of this poem, one of
the main symbols is allusion (in this instance, an allusion to
• Survival Horace's Latin phrase). The allusion points to the idea that
fighting and dying for your country is glorious. After making
• Patriotism
this allusion, the poet devotes all of his efforts to proving it
wrong.
• The devil is also alluded to in line 20, indicating the badness
of the battlefield.
• His hanging face, like a devil’s sick of sin;
 THIS IS THE DARK TIME MY LOVE SUMMARY
By Martin Carter
This is the dark time, my love, THIS IS THE DARK TIME, MY LOVE by Martin
All round the land brown beetles crawl about. Carter The persona is metaphorically speaking to his
The shining sun is hidden in the sky
country which he calls “My love”. He tells this person
Red flowers bend their heads in awful sorrow.
that it is a dark time, which is, in essence, a time of
This is the dark time, my love, sadness war and oppression. It is implied, by certain
It is the season of oppression, dark metal, and tears. key terms; such as ‘dark metal’, that it is a time of war.
It is the festival of guns, the carnival of misery. The persona warns his ‘love’ that in this dark time it is
Everywhere the faces of men are strained and anxious. important to be vigilant as there the invader may take
away all that they hoped for.
Who comes walking in the dark night time?
Whose boot of steel tramps down the slender grass?
It is the man of death, my love, the strange invader LITERARY DEVICES
Watching you sleep and aiming at your dream
REPETITION
• Stanza 1, line 1 & stanza 2, line 7: The repetition of
THEMES this phrase highlights that there is something
Racism, War, Oppression, Dreams and Aspirations, seriously amiss. The persona is telling his ‘love’
places. that this is a sad and terrible time.

ALLITERATION
IMPORTANT WORDS/ PHRASES
• This device literally draws the reader’s’ visual
attention to the sentence. The sentence implies that
• ‘All round the land brown beetles crawl about.’
everything that is good and positive is hidden
Some variety of brown beetles are scavengers
away, or gone. This alliteration sets a sad tone at
that feed on decaying or dead carcasses.
the very beginning of this poem.
Therefore, when the persona states that they
crawl about, it implies that a lot of dead or
PERSONIFICATION
decaying bodies exist in the land.
• This device emphasizes the sad tone of the poem.
This is the case because flowers are usually
• ‘season of oppression, dark metal, and tears.’
associated with feelings of happiness and
A season is an extended period of time.
cheerfulness. Therefore, if the flowers –
Therefore, the persona is telling his ‘love’ that it
ambassadors of joy – are sad, then it highlights
is a period of extreme sadness. This sadness is
how really sad the times have become.
brought about by the ‘dark metal’, which can be
literally interpreted as vehicles of war.
METAPHOR
• The contrast in this device is startling. The terms
• ‘man of death’
‘festival’ and ‘carnival’ not only describes fun and
The man of death, in this context, is the soldier.
festivity, but also a large amount of each. Both
words are associated with huge crowds. This
• ‘Watching you sleep’ emphasizes how terrible the times have become
Sleep is a state of extreme vulnerability. This is because guns and misery are plentiful.
the case because when one falls asleep, they fall
into unconsciousness, which equates to a state
RHETORICAL QUESTION
of defenselessness. The fact that the man of
• Stanza 3, line 13: This device informs the reader/
death, ie soldier, watches the persona’s ‘love’
audience that a threat exists and that it comes in the
while he/she sleeps, implies that this person is
dark of night.
not only vulnerable, but in extreme danger.
• Stanza 3, lines 14 – 15: It is implied that the threat
is a soldier through the term ‘boot of steel’. The
• ‘aiming at your dream.’
‘slender grass’ is the innocent youth who is cut
The man of death’s purpose is to destroy the
down and trampled by these ‘boots of steel’. The
persona’s ‘love’s’ dreams, or desires.
fact that we are given this information through the
use of rhetorical question adds mystery and intrigue
to the poem.

MOOD
The mood of the poem is a sad one. The persona is
giving his ‘love’ sad and depressing news.

TONE
The tone of the poem is also a sad one.
 OL’ HIGUE SUMMARY OF OL’ HIGUE
By Mark McWatt Popularity of “Ol’ Higue”: The poem “Ol’ Higue” by Mark McWatt,
a West Indian poet and professor of English, is an interesting piece
You think I like all this stupidness
gallivanting all night without skin of poetic art. The poem first appeared in his collection, The
burning myself out like cane –fire Language of Eldorado, in 1994. Its popularity, however, lies in the
To frighten the foolish? universality that the people associate with the folklore characters
And for what? A few drops of baby blood? such as Ol’ Higue.
You think I wouldn’t rather “Ol’ Higue” As a Representative of Folklore Poetry: The poem
take my blood seasoned in fat opens with a bang, when Ol’ Higue, a Caribbean folklore soucouyant
black-pudding, like everyone else?
And don’t even talk ‘bout the pain of salt character, poses rhetorical questions to the readers to confirm that
And having to bend these old bones down she does not like this stupid behavior of roaming around at night to
To count a thousand grains of rice! get a few drops of baby blood or to get fat during this season.
Actually, she is quite old and does not want to get a few grains after
If only babies didn’t smell so nice! such a nocturnal toil. The problem lies in the nice smell of babies
And if I could only stop that they have fresh and new blood that she seeks to stay alive. That
Hearing the soft, soft call
is what attracts this Ol’ Higue for which she seeks the young blood.
Of that pure blood running in new veins,
Singing the sweet song of life The fact also lies in the motherly voices of making their children fear
Tempting an old, dry-up woman who been Ol’ Higue. If she does not come, as she says, then the mothers would
Holding her final note for years, not have anybody to blame for the death of their children. Therefore,
Afraid of the dying hum… when the women give birth to children and feel that they are not
going to survive, she is there to help them out to take them out of this
Then again, if I didn’t fly and come dilemma as to who to blame for it.
to that fresh pulse in the middle of the night,
how would you, mother,
name your ancient dread, TONE THEME
And who to blame
for the murder inside your head…? The tone of the poem is slightly bitter and Significance of
Believe me – resigned. She accepts that the cycle of her folklore characters,
As long as it have women giving birth creating a scapegoat
life cannot change.
A poor ol’ higue like me can never dead. in life, and making
somebody a butt of
all accusations are
LITERARY DEVICES some of the major
themes of the poem.
SIMILE Although the
scapegoat in this
• Cane-fire has a very distinct quality. It burns very quickly and its presence is felt poem is the folklore
through it’s pungent smell. Therefore, when the Ol’ Higue compares herself to cane fire character of a
in her fireball state, it implies that she uses a lot of energy quickly, and is very visible. shapeshifting
creature,
RHETORICAL QUESTION soucouyant, yet it
• Stanza 1,line 4: This rhetorical question highlights the scant regard that the Higue has represents all such
characters that the
for the average person. She is thoroughly annoyed that she has to literally waste her people use to make
energy on them. their children
• Stanza 1, line 5: This highlights the fact that, again, she is annoyed that she has to fearful of them.
expend so much energy to obtain a few drops of baby blood. Such characters
• Stanza 1, lines 6-8: The Ol’ Higue is emphasizing the fact that regular people ingest transform into
cultural entities that
blood too, just in a more palatable manner. She would not mind if she could ingest it in
the people always
the same manner as well. make scapegoats to
• Stanza 3, lines 22-23: At this point the Ol’ Higue is making excuses for her presence, blame when they
claiming that she serves an actual purpose in the scheme of life. If a child dies of face such ills. They
unknown causes, she can be scapegoated for it. feel it easy to blame
• Stanza 3, lines 24-25: ‘The murder inside your head’ refers to the moments, when out of others for their
mistakes and shift
pure frustration and tiredness, a mother might wish ill on her child. The Ol’ Higue is
the blame to such
implying that, again, she can be used as a scapegoat if something unfortunate happens to nocturnal ramblers.
the child. The mother is relieved of bearing the burden of guilt.

REPETITION MOOD
The mood of the
• The repetition of the word ‘soft’ emphasizes the fact that the call of the child’s blood
poem is reflective.
has captured and beguiled the Ol’ Higue’. She implies that she cannot resist that call.

ALLITERATION
• This device emphasizes the Ol’ Higue’s dependence, even addiction, to the sweet blood
of the baby.
 'MIRROR' FIGURATIVE DEVICES
by Sylvia Plath
I am silver and exact. I have no preconceptions. METAPHOR
• “In me she has drowned a young girl,”- the
Whatever I see I swallow immediately
woman, she has been looking at the mirror since
Just as it is, unmisted by love or dislike. she was a young woman now her youth has passed
I am not cruel, only truthful, and she is now old
The eye of a little god, four-cornered. • “I think it is part of my heart”- the mirror has been
reflecting the wall for so long is has become a
Most of the time I meditate on the opposite wall.
standard part of its existence as it always there
It is pink, with speckles. I have looked at it so long SIMILE
I think it is part of my heart. But it flickers. • “Rises toward her day after day, like a terrible
Faces and darkness separate us over and over. fish.” – making a comparison to the woman’s
reflection and her perception of herself as a
terrible fish showing how much she disdains her
Now I am a lake. A woman bends over me, reflection.
Searching my reaches for what she really is. PERSONIFICATION
Then she turns to those liars, the candles or the moon. • “Now I am a lake”-
“I am silver and exact. I have no preconceptions.”
I see her back, and reflect it faithfully.
– the mirror is personified throughout the poem as
She rewards me with tears and an agitation of hands. it is the narrator it now gives itself more human
I am important to her. She comes and goes. qualities and referring to itself as a being.
Each morning it is her face that replaces the darkness. • Imagery:
In me she has drowned a young girl, and in me an old woman • “It is pink, with speckles.”- the description of the
wall allowing us to imagine the wall
Rises toward her day after day, like a terrible fish. • “But it flickers.
• Faces and darkness separate us over and over.” we
can imagine the moving of faces, the darkness and
THEMES TONE
the light which give the impression of time
• Identity/Self- In this poem the mirror is the moving
speaker. It observes the woman Mood
image
This poem makes the reader consider the idea of
• Loss of youth who assesses her appearance.
self-image and narcissism. The mirror seems
• Woman vs aging The mirror seems concerned
indifferent to the woman in the poem, while it
• Depression about the woman. seems obsessed with looking at her appearance.

ANALYSIS
STANZA 1
The poem begins with the mirror explaining what he is and sets the scene for it being a truthful and reliable albeit
monochromatic character. The first stanza is very slow-paced and calm as we go through the day to day “life” of the
mirror as it is a personified thing.
“I am silver and exact. I have no preconceptions. Whatever I see I swallow immediately” the mirror gives no
judgment but instead shows exactly what it sees. “I am not cruel, only truthful ‚//The eye of a little god, four-
cornered.” This sets up for the second stanza reinforcing the statement that the mirror only reflects what is in front of
it and does not form its own judgment. The mirror refers to itself as a little god, a god is seen as the amplification of
truth in the realm of humans and what is said or shown by a god is considered to be the only truth.
The mirror continues to speak of the monotony of its existence as it sits facing the opposite wall “pink with speckles”,
“I have looked at it so long I think it is part of my heart.” The mirror has faced this wall so long it seems to be a part
of it as it would only reflect that surface. The fact that the mirror is pink and has been pink so long even into the old
age of the woman could this be an attempt by the woman to latch on to something of the past and a semblance of her
youth by keeping the wall in the room that colour. Also seeing that the colour pink is a vibrant colour associated with
youth.
“But it flickers.//Faces and darkness separate us over and over.” The flickering could be a reference to time moving,
darkness then light over and over again as each day passes. These last two lines set up stanza two. Which faces are
seen in the mirror?

STANZA 2
“Now I am a lake”. They say that water has memories, the mirror referring to itself as a lake, a large body of water
that if looked on is usually reflective, it could hold memories, the memories that this woman holds of the past. “A
woman bends over me,//Searching my reaches for what she really is.” The woman is unable to come to terms with the
fact that she is now old , searching for her youth, but the mirror only reflects what is in front of it and what it sees is
an old lady.
She looks to other things to show a different image “Then she turns to those liars, the candles or the moon.” The
candle and the moon can only shed light on what is there and cannot reflect they only show shadows which are not the
actual image which may be why the mirror calls them liars.
We see that the woman is not satisfied with the image that is shown by the mirror , we get the feeling of melancholy
from this stanza. She hates the image she now sees “I see her back, and reflect it faithfully. //She rewards me with
tears and an agitation of hands.” Seeing her image and her trying it distort the image or rather her trying desperately to
change what she sees.
“I am important to her. She comes and goes.//Each morning it is her face that replaces the darkness” even though the
woman hates the image she sees in the mirror she seems reliant on it compelled to look each day. The mirror has seen
her face every day since she was a young woman aging until she now she is an old woman and now her reflection
seems to be something of a crisis or point of hurt for the woman .”In me she has drowned a young girl, and in me an
old woman//Rises toward her day after day, like a terrible fish.”
 SOUTH SUMMARY
By Kamau Brathwaite In the poem, the persona is reflecting on
But today I recapture the islands'
bright beaches: blue mist from the ocean the island home of his childhood. He has
rolling into the fishermen's houses. travelled to many places, but appears to be
By these shores I was born: sound of the sea constantly homesick. He remarks the stark
came in at my window, life heaved and breathed in me then contrasts between the "stoniest cities" and
with the strength of that turbulent soil.
his own homeland, and seems overcome
Since then I have travelled: moved far from the beaches: with happiness once he recounts the
sojourned in stoniest cities, walking the lands of the north wondrous memories of his childhood. The
in sharp slanting sleet and the hail,
title, 'South' seems to refer to the southern
crossed countless saltless savannas and come
to this house in the forest where the shadows oppress me hemisphere, including the Caribbean
and the only water is rain and the tepid taste of the river. islands (the likely origin of the persona
considering that the poet is Barbadian), the
We who are born of the ocean can never seek solace
in rivers: their flowing runs on like our longing,
southern US states, South America and the
reproves us our lack of endeavour and purpose, southern states of Africa, all of which are
proves that our striving will founder on that. associated with racial tensions involving
We resent them this wisdom, this freedom: passing us black people. The persona juxtaposes his
toiling, waiting and watching their cunning declension down to the sea.
southern island home, full of bright
But today I would join you, travelling river, beaches and warm people, with the "lands
borne down the years of your patientest flowing, of the north," the northern lands having
past pains that would wreck us, sorrows arrest us, unfavourable weather conditions, colder
hatred that washes us up on the flats;
and moving on through the plains that receive us, people and a lack of the ocean which our
processioned in tumult, come to the sea. persona so desperately longs for. The
theme is nature, idealization of childhood
Bright waves splash up from the rocks to refresh us, and nostalgia. The mood could also be
blue sea-shells shift in their wake
and there is the thatch of the fishermen's houses, the path described as nostalgic and longing.
made of pebbles, and look!
Small urchins combing the beaches
look up from their traps to salute us:
they remember us just as we left them.
MOOD
The fisherman, hawking the surf on this side The mood of the poem is reflective. The
of the reef, stands up in his boat persona is thinking about his island home,
and halloos us: a starfish lies in its pool.
as well as places that he has visited in the
And gulls, white sails slanted seaward,
fly into the limitless morning before us. north.

THEMES TONE
Patriotism, places, desires and dreams The tone of the poem goes from being reflective, to being elated.

LITERARY DEVICES
ALLITERATION
• Stanza 1, lines 1-2: The sound that the alliteration elicits, when spoken, is a positive one. This is the case because
the alliteration forces the reader to sound cheerful, thereby facilitating the interpretation that the persona is happy
to be home.
• Stanza 1, lines 4-5: This alliteration, again, draws the reader through the sound that it elicits. One can almost
hear the sound that the sea makes through the repetition of the ‘s’ sound. It emphasizes the joy that the persona
feels to be home.
• Stanza 2, lines 13-14: This alliteration, when spoken, is staccato. It literally emphasizes the persona’s
discomfort, and dislike, of the new context that he is faced with. It is alien to him, as seen when contrasted with
the scene that he describes in the first stanza.
• Stanza 4, line 33: This device gives the reader a visual image of the scene. It is simple image that highlights the
persona’s excitement at being home and seeing scenes, even seemingly inconsequential ones, that he knows and
loves.
• Stanza 5, line 43: This alliteration gives the reader a visual of what the persona sees as pleasant and calming, as
opposed to the alliteration in stanza 2. The sound that the alliteration illicits is a calm one, implying that the
persona is at peace.

PERSONIFICATION
• Stanza 1, lines 6-7: This device gives a beautiful impression of the effect that the island had on the persona. He
felt whole when he was there, at peace.
• Stanza 2, lines 16-17: The shadows, in this context, represents his past life and experiences on the island. The
memories of his island elicits feelings of sadness, even homesickness. These memories cast an oppressive
shadow over his life in the north.

SIMILE
The persona compares the flowing of the rivers, which represents the north, to his longing for his island home. This
comparison indicates that his longing is an intense one, he is homesick.
 DEATH, BE NOT PROUD SUMMARY
by John Donne
Also known as Holy Sonnet X, this sonnet was written
Death, be not proud, though some have called thee by John Donne in 1633. John Donne was a famous
metaphysical poet. The popularity of this poem lies in
Mighty and dreadful, for thou art not so;
its unique subject, as it was a devotional as well as a
For those whom thou think’st thou dost overthrow warning to ‘personified’ death. Using the metaphor of
Die not, poor Death, nor yet canst thou kill me. death, the poet argues that death is not permanent and it
From rest and sleep, which but thy pictures be, serves as an eternal pathway to life hereafter. He also
Much pleasure; then from thee much more must flow, has demonstrated the Christian doctrine of resurrection
And soonest our best men with thee do go, and immortality of the soul, calling death as an inferior.
“Death, be not Proud” a representative Poem of Logic:
Rest of their bones, and soul’s delivery.
Donne has presented death as a powerless figure. He
Thou art slave to fate, chance, kings, and desperate men, denies the authority of death with logical reasoning,
And dost with poison, war, and sickness dwell, saying the death does not kill people. Instead, it liberates
And poppy or charms can make us sleep as well their souls and directs them to eternal life. He does not
And better than thy stroke; why swell’st thou then? consider it man’s invincible conqueror. Instead, he calls
One short sleep past, we wake eternally it a poor fellow without having free will. The arrival of
And death shall be no more; Death, thou shalt die. death is also compared with a short rest and sleep that
recuperates a person for the upcoming journey. The
poet’s denial to the conventional approach of death
LITERARY DEVICE gives the reader a new interpretation.
Literary devices are used to bring clarity, richness, and Major Themes “Death, be not Proud”: The major theme
uniqueness to the text. Donne has used various literary in the poem is the powerlessness of death. The poem
devices to allow readers to try to find more comprises the poet’s emotions, mocking the position of
interpretations. The analysis of some of the literary death and arguing that death is unworthy of fear or awe.
According to him, death gives birth to our souls.
devices is given below.
Therefore, it should not consider itself mighty, or
• Personification: Personification means to attribute superior as ‘death’ is not invincible. The poet also
human features to non-human things. Donne has considers death an immense pleasure similar to sleep
personified death throughout the poem, stating it and rest. For him, the drugs can also provide the same
should not be proud. Being proud is a human experience. The poem foreshadows the realistic
quality. Hence, death is given a human quality of presentation of death and also firmly believes in eternal
life after death.
having feelings and emotions.
• Metaphor: There are three metaphors in this poem.
IMORTANT DETAILS
The first is used in the opening line “Death, be not
• Sonnet: A sonnet is a fourteen-line poem in which
proud.” Here death is compared to a proud man.
the same idea runs throughout the poem. In this
The second is used in the ninth line, “Thou art
sonnet, John Donne has combined the Shakespearian
slave to fate.” In the last line in an extended
and Petrarchan style. The division of the sonnet
metaphor where death is compared to the non-
reflects the Shakespearian structure, whereas the
existent or unrealistic object.
rhyme scheme shows the structure of Petrarchan
• Alliteration: Alliteration is the repetition of the
sonnet.
same consonant sounds in the same lines of the
• Rhyme Scheme: In first, second and third quatrains
poetry such as the use of /th/ in “And better than
the poem follows the ABBA rhyme scheme, and in
thy stroke; why swell’st thou then” and /m/ sound
couplet the rhyme scheme is AA.
in “Much pleasure; then from thee much more
• Meter: Most of the verses of this poem are written in
must flow.”
iambic pentameter in which unstressed syllable is
• Metonymy: Metonymy is a type of metaphor in
followed by a stressed syllable, as it is stated, “from
which an object is used to describe something
rest,” “and”. However, the meter fluctuates, as the
closely related to it. In this poem, “poppy” and
poem progresses.
“charm” are used to produce gentle sleep or death.
• The analysis of these poetic devices shows this
• Assonance: Assonance is the repetition of the
sonnet as a unique representative poem for mixing
vowel sounds in the same line of poetry such as the
Shakespearean and Petrarchan style in its structure
sound of /a/ in “Thou art slave to fate, chance,
and meter.
kings, and desperate men,” and the sound of /e/ in
“And soonest our best men with thee do go.”
THEME
• Irony: Irony means a statement that may mean
Death, Death is the end for everyone, the mortality of
something different from, or the opposite of, what
huumans.
is written. Irony often expresses something other
than their literal intention, often in a humorous. For
TONE
example: “Death, thou shalt die.” The literary
The speaker is accepting of death and displays a
analysis shows that Donne has made his poem
fearlessness towards death. The speaker says that in the
appealing using diverse literary devices.
afterlife, death will die [be no more]

MOOD
This poem speaks about death in a nonchalant way, it makes the reader rethink ideas about death and come to grips
with the idea of passing away. The poem highlights how one should not be afraid of death.
 DREAMING BLACK BOY SUMMARY
By James Berry
The persona is a young black male wishing for
I wish my teacher’s eyes wouldn’t things he should have already been guaranteed
go past me today. Wish he’d know
for being a human. He has suffered great racial
it’s okay to hug me when I kick
a goal. Wish I myself wouldn’t hold back when answer comes. discrimination throughout his life, and this has
I’m no woodchopper now affected him to the point where he isn't as bold
like all ancestors. as he should be. He knows that he is different
from his enslaved ancestors, but he feels still
I wish I could be educated trapped by the prejudice he has to bear. He
to the best of tune up, and earn wants to travel the world and be educated,
good money and not sink to lick
rather than having to do demeaning jobs to get
boots. I wish I could go on every
crisscross way of the globe by. He wishes to be like the revolutionary Paul
and no persons or powers or Robeson, whom he idolizes. This boy has
hotel keepers would make it a waste. suffered through seeing members of the Ku
Klux Klan discriminating against and lynching
I wish life wouldn’t spend me out black people like him, and he hopes that no one
opposing. Wish same way creation else has to bear this terrible burden he does.
would have me stand it would have
me stretch, and hold high, my voice The speaker’s tone is one of wistfulness,
Paul Robeson’s, my inside eye subdued optimism, restrained anger, sadness
a sun. Nobody wants to say and despair. Like the attitude of the black boy,
hello to nasty answers. the atmosphere of the poem is one of despair,
sadness and deep suffering.
I wish torch throwers of night
would burn lights for decent times.
LITERARY DEVICES
Wish plotters in pyjamas would pray
for themselves. Wish people wouldn’t
talk as if I dropped from Mars. REPETITION
The constant repetition of the phrase ‘I wish’
I wish only boys were scared points to a yearning, a desperation even, for
behind bravados, for I could suffer. the basic things that life has to offer. The
I could suffer a big big lot. repetition gives credence to the idea that the
I wish nobody would want to earn
the terrible burden I can suffer. persona might believe that his wishes are
actually dreams that might not come true.

IMPORTANT WORDS / PHRASE ALLUSION

• Stanza 1, lines 6 and 7, alludes to slavery,
• ’not sink to lick boots’ the state of lacking control over one’s own
life and destiny. The fact that reference is
This refers to the concept of being subservient. To have no made to this hints to how the persona feels
choice but to kowtow to people in order to get ahead. about his life. He does not feel as if he has
control over it.

• ‘Inside eye a sun’ • Stanza 3, lines 19 to 20, alludes to Paul

Robeson, a black intellectual, who attained
This refers to the persona’s mind. He wants to show how success despite difficult circumstances.
intelligent he is without fear. He wants his mind to be a sun. Sun The persona yearns to be like this person.
represents brightness and light, that is how he wants his He wants room to stretch intellectually.
intelligence to shine.
• Stanza 4, lines 22 to 25, alludes to the klu
THEMATIC TONE klux klan. Burning lights refers to the
CATEGORY burning of crosses and the pyjamas alludes
The tone/mood of the poem is
Racism one of sadness. The persona is to their white outfits that look like
thinking about how he is pyjamas. The persona wants them to leave
Survival treated and he reacts to this in a him alone, find something else to do other
sad way. He keeps wishing that than make his life difficult by contributing
Oppression to his wishes remaining in the realm of the
things were different.
dreams.
Desire/Dreams

Childhood experiences

MOOD
In the poem, the speaker experiences racism. This makes the reader feel compassion for the speaker, because anyone
can be discriminated against because of their race. The poem also highlights how prevalent racism is in society.
POEMS SOCIAL DESIRES PATRIOTISM PLAES DEATH LOVE CHILDHOOD NATURE RACISM RELIGION SUPERNATURAL POLITICAL WAR GENDER
ISSUES EXPERIENCES
An African Thunderstorm

Once Upon a Time

Little Boy Crying

West Indies, U.S.A
Sonnet composed upon Westminster
Bridge
Birdshooting Season
The Woman speaks to the man who
has employed her son
It is the constant image of your face
A lesson for this Sunday
A Stone’s Throw
Test Match Sabina Park
My Parents
Landscape Painter, Jamaica
Dulce et Decorum Est
This is Dark Time, My Love
Ol’Higue
Mirror
South
Death be Not Proud
Dreaming Black Boy

Above are some common themes and the poems that share similar
theme[s]