:

Contents

12. Litotes: A figure of speech using an understatement. Litotes are a discreet way of saying
something unpleasant without directly using negativity. EG: not the brightest bulb
not a beauty not bad
13. Metaphor: An implied comparison between two unlike things. Eg: He is a thorn in her
side. She was the star of the show.
14. Metonymy: the practice of not using the formal word for an object/subject and instead
referring to it by using another word that is linked to the formal name/word. Eg: "The
pen is mightier than the sword." This sentence has two examples of metonymy: The
"pen" stands in for "the written word." The "sword" stands in for "military aggression
and force."
15. Onomatopoeia: The use of words that imitate the sounds associated with the objects or
actions they refer to. Eg: buzz, whoop, woof
16. Oxymoron: A figure of speech in which contradictory terms appear side by side. Eg:
open secret, deafening silence
17. Paradox: Refers to the use of concepts/ ideas that are contradictory to one another, yet,
when placed together they hold significant value on several levels.
18. Personification: A figure of speech in which an inanimate object is given human qualities
or abilities.
19. Pun: A play on words, sometimes on different senses of the same word and sometimes
on the similar sense or sound of different words.
20. Sarcasm: a cutting remark that means the opposite of what one says.
21. Satire: The practice of making fun of a human weakness or character flaw. Eg: the TV
series South Park uses satire as it primary medium for drawing attention the flaws in
society
22. Simile: A comparison using "like" or "as" between two things that have certain qualities
in common.
23. Spoonerism: the first letters of some words in order to create new words or even to
create nonsensical words in order to create a humorous setting. While they are often
unintentional and known as a slip of the tongue, in literature they are welcomed as
witty word-play. Eg: flesh and blood being spoken as blesh and flood
24. Synecdoche: A figure of speech in which a part is used to represent the whole (for
example, ABCs for alphabet, long walk to freedom- the entire sequence of events that
led to freedom.
25. Theme: The main theme links all aspects of the literary work with one another and is
basically the main subject. In the play Romeo and Juliet was love with smaller themes of
sacrifice, tragedy, struggle, hardship, devotion and so on.
26. Tone: can portray a variety of emotions ranging from solemn, grave, and critical to witty,
wry and humorous. Tone helps the reader know the writers feelings towards a
particular topic and this in turn influences the readers understanding.
27. Understatement: A figure of speech in which a writer or speaker deliberately makes a
situation seem less important or serious than it is.

Figures of Speech ......................................................................................................... 2

An Abandoned Bundle- Mbuyiseni Oswald Mtshali ....................................................... 3

......................................................................................................... 4
In Detention Chris Van Wyk .......................................................................... 5
When to the sessions of sweet silent thought- William Shakespeare ...................................... 6
When I Have Fears That I May Cease To Be John Keats......................... 7
Futility Wilfred Owen .......................................................................................... 8
Old Folks Laugh Maya Angelou .......................................................................... 9
Rugby League Game James Kirkup ...................................................................... 10
Autumn-Roy Campbell ...................................................................................... 12
The Wild Doves At Louis Trichardt-William Plomer ................................. 14
Lake Morning In Autumn Douglas Livingstone ........................ 16
On The Move Thom Gunn.................................................................................. 17

Figures of Speech
1. Alliteration: The repetition of an initial consonant sound. Eg She sells sea shells
2. Anaphora: The repetition of the same word or phrase. Right, I want my money right
now, right here.
3. Antithesis: Two opposite ideas put together in a sentence to achieve a contrasting
effect. Eg It was the best of times, it was the worst of times
4. Anthropomorphism: Personification applies to non-living objects. When we give human
characteristics or divine qualities to living creatures (e.g. animals).
5. Apostrophe: Addressing/Talking to a non-existant being, abstract idea or inanimate
object. Eg: Twinkle, twinkle, little star, how I wonder what you are
6. Assonance: repetition of internal vowels in neighbouring words. Eg: boom, room
7. Chiasmus: A verbal pattern in which the second half of an expression is balanced against
the first but with the parts reversed. Eg: Say what you mean, and mean what you say.
8. Enjambment: Lines in poetry that do not have a full stop to indicate the end of a
sentence.
9. Euphemism: Using an inoffensive word to replace a blunt or harsh term eg:
failedretained
10. Hyperbole: the use of exaggerated terms for the purpose of emphasis or heightened
effect. Eg: I ate a mountain of ice cream!
11. Irony: The use of words to convey the opposite of their literal/actual meaning. A
statement or situation where the meaning is contradicted by the appearance or
presentation of the idea. Eg: the elephants name was Tiny

An Abandoned Bundle- Mbuyiseni Oswald Mtshali

The morning mist
and chimney smoke
of White City Jabavu
flowed thick yellow
as pus oozing
from a gigantic sore.
It smothered our little houses
like fish caught in a net.
Scavenging dogs
draped in red bandanas of blood
fought fiercely
for a squirming bundle.

several years. He took up a scholarship to Columbia University in the USA and

returned in 1980 with a new book of poetry, Firef/ames, which was banned by
the South African government. Mtshali has spent time in New York in the USA in
recent years and continues to write poetry.
About the poem

5
This South African poem is about a baby that is left on a rubbish dump. The
speaker first describes the setting: morning near Johannesburg in a township.
Then he describes how he saw dogs with blood all over them fighting over a
wriggling bundle - a baby. He threw a brick at the dogs and they ran away, but the
baby was now dead. The poem ends by saying that the 'pure' and 'innocent'
mother had disappeared.

10
Understand the poem
1. What are 'our little houses' in line 7? (Use the notes above if you need to.)
2. Why do the dogs appear to be draped in red scarves (line 10)?
3. Who was the real 'Baby in the Manger' (line 19)? (You might need to ask
people who know Christian Bible stories.)
4. Many people struggle to understand the last four lines. Is the speaker being
ironic, saying the opposite of what he feels? Does he mean that the mother is
so ignorant that she is innocent of the crime she has committed? Or does he
mean that she lives in such an unjust system of Apartheid that she is relatively
innocent, because Apartheid has caused this to happen, not the mother? What
do you think?
Explore poetic devices
5. What images does the poet use in the first two stanzas that make the city of
Johannesburg's pollution sound disgusting and overpowering?
6. What do the images tell you about the way that the workers feel about
Johannesburg?
7. Why do you think the poet compares the baby to Jesus, and then says the
baby is lying on 'human dung' (lines 19-21) - what contrast is he creating?
8. a) What images does he use to suggest the mother's purity and innocence?
b) Comment on the description of the dew as 'untrampled'.

I threw a brick;
they bared fangs
flicked velvet tongues of scarlet
15
and scurried away,
leaving a mutilated corpse
an infant dumped on a rubbish heap
Oh! Baby in the Manger
sleep well
20
on human dung.
Its mother
had melted into the rays of the rising sun,
her face glittering with innocence
her heart as pure as untrampled dew.

25

Mbuyiseni Oswald Mtshali broke new ground in South African poetry. His book
Sounds of a Cowhide Drum (1972) was the first book of poems to describe daily
life in the townships under Apartheid. It was a huge success and sold more than
any other book of poetry ever had in South Africa. He became involved in the
Black Consciousness movement of the 1970s, and his work was banned for
3

3. Chimney sweepers in Blake's day were usually children small enough to fit into
narrow chimneys. Why would they cry?
4. The word 'blackening' refers to two things: (a) the church building becoming
black; (b) a criticism of the church by Blake. Explain these two meanings.
5. The word 'curse' refers to both something said and to a disease, such as a
sexually transmitted infection (in Blake's time it was often used to refer to
syphilis). Who else could the curse 'blight' in a marriage?
6. In the light of your answer to 5, explain what Blake means when he speaks of
the 'marriage hearse'.

1.
2.
3.
4.

I wander thro' each charter'd street,

Near where the charter'd Thames does flow,
And mark in every face I meet
Marks of weakness, marks of woe.

5.
6.
7.
8.

In every cry of every Man,

In every Infant's cry of fear,
In every voice, in every ban,
The mind-forg'd manacles I hear.

9.
10.
11.
12.

How the Chimney-sweeper's cry

Every black'ning Church appalls;
And the hapless Soldier's sigh
Runs in blood down Palace walls.

13.
14.
15.
16.

But most thro' midnight streets I hear

How the youthful Harlot's curse
Blasts the new-born Infant's tear,
And blights with plagues the Marriage hearse.

Explore poetic devices

7. Give the rhyme scheme used in stanzas one and two.
8. What statement most accurately sums up the rhythm of this poem?
A)It has a strong driving rhythm.
B)It has a slow, but very expressive rhythm.
C)It has a very regular but monotonous rhythm.
9. Is the tone of the poem (a) angry, aggressive, and cynical; (b) passionate,
pessimistic, and sad; or (c) calm, meditative, and optimistic?
11. Describe London as presented in this poem. (2)
12. Explain how the metaphor, 'mind-forg'd manacles' (line 8), contributes to your
understanding of the poem as a whole. (3)
13. 'Every black'ning Church appalls' (line 10). Comment on the use of the
adjective 'black'ning' in this line. (2)
14. In your view, does this poem deal with a universal theme? Justify your opinion.
(3)
15. Explain the relevance of fields unsown (line 3) in view of the rest of the
poem. (2)
16. How does the poet establish a sense of hope in the first stanza? Refer to the
diction he uses in your answer. (3
17. Refer to stanza 2. Discuss how the poet uses phonic devices to express his
anger and frustration. Quote in support of your answer. (3)
18. Comment on the effectiveness or otherwise of the question marks. (2)

About the poem

The I of the poem wanders through the streets of London and notices pain and
defeat in every face he meets; he says that every cry of fear or pain or rage he
hears comes from a mind enslaved. He gives examples of children forced to
sweep chimneys and soldiers conscripted to fight in wars; but most telling of all is
the foul language used by the young prostitute on her new-born child, and the
effect of prostitution on marriage.
Understand the poem
1. What fact suggests that for the poet the words 'charter'd' and 'mark' have a
special significance?
2. Blake uses hyperbole to make his point - what three-word phrase in stanza
one is hyperbolic?
4

In Detention Chris Van Wyk

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.

Understand the poem

1. Look at the first three lines. Each line contains one reason for someone dying.
Explain what each reason probably really means. In other words, if the police
lied when they said 'He fell from the ninth floor', what really happened to him?
2. In which line does the poet start mixing up the reasons?
Explore poetic devices
3. It is unusual for each line in a poem to start with the same word, and use the
same sentence structure. Why do you think Van Wyk uses this kind of
repetition?
4. Which word best describes the tone of the poem: bitter, mocking, humorous?
Give a reason for your answer.
5. Do you think this poem is effective - that is, does it achieve its aim? Give
reasons for your answer.

He fell from the ninth floor

He hanged himself
He slipped on a piece of soap while washing
He hanged himself
He slipped on a piece of soap while washing
He fell from the ninth floor
He hanged himself while washing
He slipped from the ninth floor
He hung from the ninth floor
He slipped on the ninth floor while washing
He fell from a piece of soap while slipping
He hung from the ninth floor
He washed from the ninth floor while slipping
He hung from a piece of soap while washing

Chris van Wyk was born at Baragwanath Hospital in Soweto. He told his parents
he was going to be a writer when he was five! One of six children, he was brought
up in a happy home in the working-class suburb of Riverlea near Johannesburg.
He says his favourite pastime is to skinder (gossip). His latest book is his own story
of growing up in a coloured township in the 1960s. He says he interviewed many
people while writing the book, and got to hear all their gossip. 'I've been a writer
for 25 years and I find writing more exciting now than ever.' He was an active
member of anti-Apartheid movements in the 1980s. He says that humour is a
weapon in life and that he used it against Apartheid. He is married to Kathy, his
childhood sweetheart, and they have chosen to bring up their two sons in
Riverlea.
About the poem
During Apartheid, police were allowed to arrest people and put them into prison
without a trial. When you are held in jail without a trial, you are 'in detention'.
Many people died in detention. The police gave various reason for their deaths.
Some reasons were completely ridiculous. It was obvious that the police had
killed them. In the first three lines the poet uses three excuses the police gave for
these deaths. Then he mixes them up so that they sound more and more
ridiculous. He is making the point that the reasons given were made-up nonsense.
5

When to the sessions of sweet silent thought-

old woes (4): By replaying his 'old woes' over in his mind, the poet is wasting
precious time that could be spent thinking more joyous thoughts. Hence 'my dear
time's waste.'
love's long since cancell'd woe (7): is the sorrow the poet had once felt over the
loss of his close friends; loss that has dulled over the years but now returns as he
thinks of the past.
And moan...sight (8): Some scholars interpret this line to mean 'I lament the cost
to me of many a lost sigh.' "'Sight' for 'sigh' was archaic by Shakespeare's time
and seems only to have been used for the sake of rhyme (see OED). Sighing was
considered deleterious to health; compare 2 Henry VI 3.2.61-3: 'blood-consuming
sighs . . ./Look pale as primrose with blood-drinking sighs', and 47.4." (Blakemore
Evans, 142). However, the ordinary word 'sight' also makes sense in this context;
that is, the poet has lost many things that he has seen and loved.
dear friend (13): Shakespeare's first use of the term 'dear friend' in the Sonnets.
All losses...end. (14): His friend is as great as the sum of all the many things the
poet sought but did not find.

William Shakespeare
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.

When to the sessions of sweet silent thought

I summon up remembrance of things past,
I sigh the lack of many a thing I sought,
And with old woes new wail my dear time's waste:
Then can I drown an eye, unused to flow,
For precious friends hid in death's dateless night,
And weep afresh love's long since cancell'd woe,
And moan the expense of many a vanish'd sight:
Then can I grieve at grievances foregone,
And heavily from woe to woe tell o'er
The sad account of fore-bemoaned moan,
Which I new pay as if not paid before
But if the while I think on thee, dear friend,
All losses are restor'd and sorrows end.

Sonnet 30 is a tribute to the poet's friend -- and likely his lover. The poet's
sorrowful recollections of dead friends are sparked by the lover's absence and can
be stopped only by thoughts of his lover, illustrating the poet's dependence on his
dear friend for spiritual and emotional support.

When in these sessions of gratifying silent thought

I think of the past,
I lament my failure to achieve all that I wanted,
And I sorrowfully remember that I wasted the best years of my life:
Then I can cry, although I am not used to crying,
For dear friends now hid in death's unending night,
And cry again over woes that were long since healed,
And lament the loss of many things that I have seen and loved:
Then can I grieve over past griefs again,
And sadly repeat (to myself) my woes
The sorrowful account of griefs already grieved for,
Which (the account) I repay as if I had not paid before.
But if I think of you while I am in this state of sadness, dear friend,
All my losses are compensated for and my sorrow ends.

Notice Shakespeare's use of partial alliteration over several lines to enhance the
texture and rhythm of the sonnet. Here is one example:
When to | the Sess | ions of | sweet si | lent thought
I summ | on up | remem | brance of | things past...
About the poem
In this poem the speaker talks about how he remembers sad things in his past,
and how they make him sad all over again. He mourns people who have died, and
lost loves, and things he no longer sees. But if he thinks of his friend, his loved
one, all these sadnesses disappear.
Understand the poem
1. What word in the first line suggests that the speaker enjoys his memories in
some way?
2. What are the things he finds to be sad about?

sessions (1): the sitting of a court. The court imagery is continued with 'summon
up' in line 2.
6

3. What takes all the sadness away?

4. Somehow, it is hard to take the speaker's sadnesses very seriously. Why do you
think this is so?
Explore poetic devices
1. What form of poem is this? How do you know?
2. Comment on the effect of the alliteration in line 4.
3. a) Find all the examples of the metaphor of accounting (balance sheets,
expenses, accounts, etc.) in the poem.
b) How is this image neatly rounded up in the last line?

1. Explain the speaker's use of 'teeming brain' (line 2) in the context of the poem.
(2)
2. What does the image of 'the full ripened grain' (line 4), express about the
contents of the 'books' (line 3)? (2)
3. Examine lines 1112: 'Never have relish in the faery power of unreflecting
love'. Comment on the fear inherent in the speaker's words. (3)
4. Refer to lines 1214: 'then on the shore ... nothingness do sink.' Critically
discuss the significance of these concluding lines.

When I Have Fears That I May Cease To Be John Keats

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.

Understand the poem

When I have fears that I may cease to be

Before my pen has gleaned my teeming brain,
Before high-pild books, in charactery,
Hold like rich garners the full ripened grain;
When I behold, upon the night's starred face,
Huge cloudy symbols of a high romance,
And think that I may never live to trace
Their shadows, with the magic hand of chance;
And when I feel, fair creature of an hour,
That I shall never look upon thee more,
Never have relish in the faery power
Of unreflecting love; then on the shore
Of the wide world I stand alone, and think
Till love and fame to nothingness do sink.

5. Find synonyms in the poem for the following words:

a) Anxieties

f) storehouses

b) See

g) great

c) Find

h) beautiful

d) Magic

i) you

e) Enjoy

j) coastline

6. What is the central theme of the poem? Fear of death, unfulfilled dreams, or
fear of ageing?
7. How does the speaker resolve his fears in the couplet? Use your own words to
explain.

About the poem

Keats wrote this poem around the time that he was diagnosed with tuberculosis
(TB). He had seen both his mother and his brother die of TB. We can see how the
poem captures his sadness at the time. He thinks of the opportunities in life that
he may have lost, such as the chance to write many books and be famous, and the
chance to experience romantic love.

Futility Wilfred Owen

1. Move him into the sun
2. Gently its touch woke him once,
3. At home, whispering of fields unsown,
4. Always it woke him, even in France,
5. Until this morning and this snow.
6. If anything might rouse him now
7. The kind old sun will know.

war ended.) The speaker describes how the sun used to wake the dead soldier
back home in England, and later in France where he fought - until the morning
of his death. He thinks about the power of the sun: how its warmth makes
seeds sprout into life, and how once, millions of years ago, its warmth
started life on earth. Finally he asks, if the sun cannot bring the soldier
back to life now, why did the sun start life on earth in the first place?

unsown - not planted for growing

Understand the poem

1. Why does the speaker ask that the dead man be moved into the sun?
2. Which three words in lines 1-3 indicate the sun is being personified?
3. The literal meaning of 'fields unsown' (line 3) is that fields had not yet been
planted with seed. Can you think of a figurative meaning of this phrase,
particularly sad in the light of the soldier's death?
4. What does 'it' refer to in line 8?
5. To what does the poet refer when he talks of 'a cold star'?
6. Explain what 'Woke ... the clays of a cold star' means.
7. The poet asks a question in lines 10-11. Complete the following: If the sun
can wake the cold clay of earth, surely it can wake ... ?
8. 'Was it for this the clay grew tall?' What does 'for this' refer to?
9. In lines 13-14 there is a change in attitude towards the sun what word
indicates this?
10. Give a reason for the speaker's change in attitude towards the sun.
Explore poetic devices
11. Quote two pairs of rhyming words from the poem.
12. Scan lines 8-11. (To do this: above each line, mark stressed syllables with a
dash and unstressed syllables with a dot.) Is the rhythm completely regular,
completely irregular, or mostly regular? What metrical foot dominates the
rhythm of this poem?
13. How does the poet slow down line 11, to force us to focus on the emotion of
the words in the line? Why do you think he does this?
14. Why does the speaker suggest that his comrade be moved into the sun? (2)
15. Refer to line 12: 'Was it for this the clay grew tall?' Explain why the word
'clay' is significant in the context of this poem. (2)
16. Refer to lines 1314: 'O what made fatuous ... sleep at all?' Discuss the
speaker's feelings as expressed in these lines. (3)
17. Comment on the suitability of the title of this poem. (3)

rouse-wake

8. Think how it wakes the seeds

9. Woke, once, the clays of a cold star.
10. Are limbs, so dear-achieved, are sides,
11. Full-nerved still warm too hard to stir?
12. Was it for this the clay grew tall?
13. what made fatuous sunbeams toil
14. To break earth's sleep at all?

fatuous - pointlessly foolish

toil - work hard

Wilfred Owen was the son of a station master, and the oldest of four children in a
poor family. After school he worked as an assistant teacher. In 1915, the year
after the First World War broke out, he volunteered to fight in the English army.
He was short, weak and often ill, but by that stage the army was not fussy about
who joined. In 1916 he was sent to the front line in Belgium (where soldiers
fought in deep trenches ditches-- against the German army). The next year he
was trapped by enemy fire with 18 other soldiers in a tiny, flooded, collapsing
trench for four days. He described the experience: 'each of us three-quarters
dead, all shaking uncontrollably and vomiting.' He was sent home suffering from
shellshock. He began writing poetry at the institution where he was sent. Five of
his poems were published, but were not noticed. The next year he was sent to the
front again. He was killed by German gunfire on a canal, as he was trying to
anchor a bridge. He was awarded a medal for bravery after his death. His parents
received the telegram informing them of his death on the day the war ended.
About the poem
The poem is a meditation on the purpose and meaning of life, prompted
by the death of a soldier. (The poet was himself a soldier in the First World
War (1914-1918) and was injured before being killed a week before the
8

Old Folks Laugh Maya Angelou

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
21.
22.
23.
24.
25.

1. Explain why 'spent' (line 1) is important to an understanding of the poem as

a whole. (2)
2. What impression is created in 'Old folks/allow their bellies to jiggle like
slow/tambourines' (lines 68)? (2)
3. Refer to lines 911: 'The hollers/rise ... any way they want.' Discuss the
effectiveness of ONE of the figures of speech in the above lines. (3)
4. Refer to lines 2223: 'they consider the promise/of dear painless death'.
5. In your view, is the paradox used in the above detail effective? Discuss your
response.

They have spent their

content of simpering,
simpering - smile in a silly, self-conscious way
holding their lips this
and that way, winding
the lines between
their brows. Old folks
allow their bellies to jiggle like slow
tambourines.
tambourines - musical instrument that you beat
The hollers
hollers - calls, noises
rise up and spill
over any way they want.
When old folks laugh, they free the world.
They turn slowly, slyly knowing
the best and worst
of remembering.
Saliva glistens in
the corners of their mouths,
their heads wobble
on brittle necks, but
brittle - hard, easily broken
their laps
are filled with memories.
When old folks laugh, they consider the promise
of dear painless death, and generously
forgive life for happening
to them.

Understand the poem

6. Describe- in your own words what old people have finished doing in lines 1 to
6, according to the speaker. How do they behave now that they are old?
7. What do you think the poet means by the line: 'When old folks laugh, they free
the world' (line 12)?
8. What is the old folks' attitude to death?
9. Why do you think death is referred to as 'painless' - what does it imply about
their bodies in life?
10.How do we know that by now they have made peace with what has happened
in their lives?
11.Do you think this is an accurate portrayal of some old people? Explain your
answer.
Explore poetic devices
12.What figure of speech is 'their bellies jiggle like slow tambourines'?
13.Explain why the poet uses this comparison.
14.Comment on the length of line 7 after much shorter lines what effect does
this have?
15.What descriptions make these old folk seem physically unattractive?
16.Why do you think the poet included these descriptions when she is elsewhere
being positive about old age?
17.Why do you think the poet has chosen to use colloquialisms such as 'folk' and
'holler'?

Maya Angelou overcame a sad childhood in Missouri, USA, to become a worldfamous novelist. She was born into a poor family and was raped by a family friend
when she was eight. The experience made her mute (unable to speak) for years.
She wrote movingly about this in her autobiography I Know Why the Caged Bird
Sings. She has been an actor, a singer and a dancer. She was the first black
woman director in Hollywood. She has a son and holds a lifetime appointment as
Professor of American Studies at Wake Forest University in North Carolina.
9

Rugby League Game James Kirkup

Sport is absurd, and sad.
Those grown men, just look,
In those dreary long blue shorts,
Those ringed stockings, Edwardian,
Balding pates, and huge
Fat knees that ought to be heroes.
Grappling, hooking, gallantly tackling
Is all this courage really necessary?
Taking their good clean fun
So solemnly, they run each other down
With earnest keenness, for the honour of
Virility, the cap, the county side.
Like great boys they role each other
In the mud of public Saturdays,
Groping their blind way back
To noble youth, away from the bank,
The wife, the pram, the spin drier,
Back to the Spartan freedom of the field.
Back, back to the days when boys
Were men, still hopeful, and untamed,
That was then: a gay
And golden age ago
Now, in vain, domesticated,
Men try to be boys again.

Tone:
Sardonic (mocking)
Critical (disapproving)
Cynical (negative opinion)
Disenchanted (unsatisfied)
Scathing (emotionally hurtful)
Line:
1. The speaker expresses his opinion, setting the tone for the poem.
2. Those depersonalises the men, suggesting their immaturity.
3. The speaker suggests their silliness by pointing out their strange way of
dressing. The contrast of long and shorts again suggests that the men are not
being sensible (their rugby game is supposedly opposed to the domestic lives they
should be living as grown men).
4. Edwardian suggests that the players look out-dated. This suggests that they
are out of place (they do not belong on a rugby field).
5. The speaker points out the rugby players physical signs of aging in order to
emphasise that they should not be on the field at their age (sport is best left to
the young).
6. Huge and fat is redundant (a description containing words of the same or
similar meaning and thus unnecessary). This is for emphasis. That their knees
ought to be the knees of heroes suggests that the players fall short of being
heroes.
7. The speaker lists some physical aspects of the game of rugby.
8. The speaker then mocks the courage displayed by the team, questioning its
necessity.
9. Good clean fun is an essential attitude of sports and sportsmanship, which the
speaker mocks by contrasting fun...
10. with solemnly. The rest of the line portrays their actions to be violent.
11. The players show such devotion to their violent game for the meagre purpose
of honour. This further mocks the rugby players.
12. The mockery continues as the goals to which the players seek are given as
pointless. Manliness, their team, their district side.
13. The speaker calls the players boys who, in a most humiliating and immature
way, roll each other in the mud.
14. That the players do this in public, for everyone to see, suggests their
foolishness.

10

15

19

24

Summary:
The speaker expresses his views about a rugby league match played by middleaged men well past their prime. He sees them as pitiable and ridiculous as they
use the game to recapture their youth and escape the boring routine of their
married lives. The poem satirises the importance men place on sport and men
who try to regain their lost youth.
10

15. Blind suggests that the players are unaware of their pathetic state of
existence.
16. The speaker believes youth to be dignified. It is ironic that the players are
trying to achieve youth, dignity, by playing rugby, which is seen as undignified by
the speaker. The speaker believes that the players are playing rugby in order to
escape their domestic lives. The bank is representational of finance and
occupation.
17. The wife represents married life, the pram of children and the spin drier of
domestic chores. The spin of a spin cycle may suggest the never-ending cycle of
the routine of domestic life.
18. Spartan suggests that the life that the players seek is one of discipline and
aggression and free from responsibility or material concern.
19. The speaker has a favourable impression of youth. The repetition of back in
the previous line and this one suggests that youth is something that the players
have not experienced in a long time.
20. The speaker describes youth as the ability to have hope for the future, to
believe that you were something were not and being free from the
responsibilities of domestic life.
21. The speaker expresses the opinion that youth was a happy time of pleasure
seeking...
22. and of great worth and achievement (as suggested by golden). The long a
and o sounds create a nostalgic tone, suggesting that the speaker is
remembering his own youth.
23. The middle- aged players try hopelessly...
24. to regain their youth.

3. Do you agree with the speaker's idea of sport? Give reasons for your answer.
Explore poetic devices
4. Why do you think the speaker chose to describe the socks as 'Edwardian'?
5. Why do you think the poet ended off the first stanza with the word 'heroes'?
6. Why does the poet use a rhetorical question in the second stanza?
7. What effect does the poet intend when he describes the aim of rugby teams
as running each other down (line 10)?
8. Why do you think the poet chose the 'bank' as the place where the men
might work?
9. Why do you think the poet mentioned a 'spin drier'?
a) What is the irony in the last stanza of 'back to the days when boys were men'?
b) Explain exactly what the poet is implying by this irony.

About the poem

The speaker says that men playing sport are silly. They look ridiculous in their
funny clothes, bald heads and fat knees. They play rugby bravely and seriously for
their side. They are trying to escape their boring worlds of work and home and
recapture their youth. However, the speaker believes that it is not possible for
them to recapture their youth.
Understand the poem
1. According to the speaker, why do these men play sport? Answer as fully as
you can, referring to all the stanzas except the first one.
2. What words in the third and forth stanzas show that the men don't really
know how to recapture their youth?
11

Autumn-Roy Campbell

associated with both aging and dying, however, there is the promise of the return
of summer. The poet recognizes that during autumn only what is the strongest
and purest will survive.

1. I love to see, when leaves depart,

2. The clear anatomy arrive,
anatomy - person's structure
3. Winter, the paragon of art,
paragon - a model of excellence or perfection
4. That kills all forms of life and feeling
5. Save what is pure and will survive.
save except for

The first line of stanza one is a personal response to the season: I love to see.
The poet speaks of leaves that depart. They do not just fall to the ground.
They depart as in they die. Thus the poet uses personification to portray the
falling of the leaves. He continues with his use of personification when he refers
to the clear anatomy (line 2) that arrives anatomy being the structure of the
human body. What the poet is saying is that he loves to see the stark, bare trunks
of the trees in autumn once the leaves have left the trees exposed.

6. Already now the clanging chains

clanging - ringing noise
7. Of geese are harnessed to the moon:
harnessed - strapped on
8. Stripped are the great sun-clouding planes: planes - tall trees with peeling bark
9. And the dark pines, their own revealing,
10. Let in the needles of the noon.

The poet states that autumn is the paragon of art (line 3). A paragon is a
model of extreme excellence. This is indeed high praise for the season as it is the
epitome of artistic skill in that it creates unique and splendid images these being
the exposed, bare trees. In lines 4 to 5, the poet states that autumn kills all forms
of life and feeling except what is the strongest and can survive. This suggests
that autumn is a season of renewal and purification because it kills only is old and
what can no longer thrive (survive).

11. Strained by the gale and the olives whiten

12. Like hoary wrestlers bent with toil
13. And, with the vines, their branches lighten
14. To brim our vats where summer lingers
15. In the red froth and sun-gold oil.

strained - weakened by force

hoary - white-haired with age
vats - large barrels
to brim - to till to the top
lingers - stays on, remains
hearth - stone or brick floor of a fireplace

16.
17.
18.
19.
20.

Soon on our hearths reviving pyre

Their rotted stems will crumble up:
And like a ruby, panting fire,
The grape will redden on your fingers
Through the lit crystal of the cup.

In stanza two the geese are migrating to warmer climates. The poet uses
onomatopoeia in the words clanging chains (line 6) to describe the sound they
make as they fly. The poet also uses a metaphor as he compares the way the
geese fly to links in a long chain. Think about the V-shape of the geese as they fly
across the sky. The word harnessed (line 7) implies that the geese are tied to
the moon and are dragging it across the sky in the same way a horse pulls a
carriage. The word stripped (line 8) usually has negative connotations as it
means that the trees have been stripped of their bark. However, Campbell
suggests something positive in the use of this word. As the sun-clouding planes
(tall trees) and dark pines (lines 9) are stripped of their old, tattered bark, they
are bare and they allow the needles (line 10) or sun rays to shine through.
Notice the use of the pun in the word needles. The needles refer to the long,
thin shape of the leaves but also to the long, thin piercing sun beams. Once the
spring arrives, this warmth of the sun will allow new growth and regeneration. In
this way the natural cycle of life continues.

pyre - large pile of wood on which a dead body is burnt

ruby - precious red stone

This poet was born and brought up in Durban. He won a scholarship to Oxford
University; but after a year he gave this up and went to live in various
Mediterranean countries. He quarrelled with a lot of his friends and wrote cruel
poetry about other poets. In the 1930s he supported the fascist leader Franco in
Spain (at a time when most young poets and artists were strongly opposed to
Franco). He also supported Mussolini in Italy, and he supported Hitler in Germany.
Then in the 1940s he joined the British army to fight against the Germans! He
died in Portugal in a car crash.
In his poem, Autumn, Campbell celebrates and pays tribute to the season as a
time of both purification and transformation. He recognizes that autumn is
12

In stanza three, the poet speaks of the olive vines that blow or are strained in
the strong winds or gale (line 11). The branches of the olive trees expose their
white undersides that are like hoary wrestlers (line 12). The word hoary
means white haired with age. Thus the olive trees that are blown over in the
wind look like white haired wrestlers bent over with toil (line 12) or effort.
Think of two aging wrestlers holding each other, bent over, in a ring.
The fruits of summer, however, remain during autumn as the grapes and olives
have been picked and stored in vats (line 14). These fruits will be used to make
red froth (line 15) or wine and sun-gold oil (line 15) or olive oil. So even during
autumn, summer lingers (line14) it does not die but remains in the fruits that
it has produced. Notice the evocative, rich warmth of the colours: red and sungold.

5. Refer to stanza 1. Comment on the visual effect created by the word

anatomy. (line 2). (2) Quote a word from the stanza in support of your
answer. (1)
6. Explain the metaphor in lines 6 7. (2)
7. Refer to stanza 3. How does summer linger (line 14)? (2)
8. Explain how the poems strong structural character adds to the meaning of
the poem. Consider TWO devices in your answer. (3)
9. Refer to lines 12: 'I love to see ... clear anatomy arrive'.
Explain in your own words what the speaker admires about Autumn. (2)
10.Refer to lines 67: 'the clanging chains ... to the moon'. What does the
imagery in the above lines convey about the formation of the geese in flight?
(2)
11.Refer to lines 1112: 'Strained by the gale bent with toil'. Critically discuss
ONE of the figures of speech used in the above lines. (3)
12.Does the last stanza serve to highlight the speaker's central idea of
celebrating Autumn? Justify your view. (3)

In the last stanza, the poet states that the rotting wood from the vines and olive
trees will be used to create warmth in the hearths reviving pyre (line 16) or the
fireplace. The use of the word pyre is significant as a pyre is a pile of wood
associated with the burning of a dead body. However it has connotations of
renewal and rebirth. This suggestion of new life is emphasized by the word
reviving. So autumn is not just about death it is about new beginnings and the
energy and vitality that will return with the spring.
The poet deliberately creates an atmosphere or mood of warmth and cosiness in
the final stanza. The wine is compared to a ruby (line 18) because of the
richness of its colour. The wine pants fire it seems to be alive, energetic and
breathing as it is reflected in the lit crystal of the cup (line 20). There is a sense
of comfort and well-being. Even though it is cold and autumn is the season of
death, there is the promise of spring and the natural cycle of life will continue.
Notice the irony in order to bring rebirth, the old and the dying must be
destroyed.
1. With reference to stanza one, what two things does the poet admire about
autumn? (2)
2. How does the poet appeal to the sense of hearing (aural) in stanza two? (2)
3. Comment on how the olive trees and the simile of the wrestlers develop the
theme of the will to survive. (3)
4. Explain how the poet conveys the colours and richness of autumn in stanzas
three and four. (3)
13

The Wild Doves At Louis Trichardt-William Plomer

Morning is busy with long files
Of ants and men, all bearing loads.
The suns gong beats, and sweat runs down.
A mason-hornet shapes his hanging house.
In a wide flood of flowers
Two crested cranes are bowing to their food.
Form the north today there is ominous news.
Midday, the mad cicada-time.
Sizzling from every open valve
Of the overheated earth
The stridulators din it in
Intensive and continuing praise
Of the white-hot zenith, shrilling on
Towards a note too high to bear.
Oven of afternoon, silence of
heat.
In shadow, or in shaded rooms,
This face is hidden in folded arms,
That face is now a sightless mask,
Tree-shadow just includes those legs.
The people have all lain down, and sleep
In attitudes of the sick, the shot, the dead.
And now in the grove the wild doves begin,
Whose neat silk heads are never still,
Bubbling their coolest colloquies.
The formulae they liquidly
pronounce
In secret tents of leaves imply
(Clearer that man-made music could)
Men being absent, Africa is good.

The poet, William Plomer, was born in the Northern Transvaal in 1903. He was a
novelist, broadcaster and editor in fact, he edited many of Ian Flemings James
Bond novels. Throughout his life, Plomer observed and commented on the issues
of race and culture in South Africa. He was called the father of modern poetry in
our country. Plomer died in 1973.

The main theme in The wild doves at Louis Trichardt is that Africa would be
good if it were not for the human beings that invaded the continent. Nature and
man used to be in harmony but the disruption of man has led to disturbance and
disharmony. Man and nature are no longer compatible and do not live together
harmoniously any more.

In the first stanza of the poem, the poet creates a sense of busyness and activity:
long files/ Of ants and men, all bearing loads. Notice that the men and ants are
working together and are involved in the same activity. The poet has created a
sense of harmony and cohesion (unity and togetherness) between human beings
and nature. People have not yet invaded or exploited Africa. The poet uses a
metaphor in The suns gong beats. In the same way that a gong calls people, the
sun calls people to work and sweat runs down as a result of hard physical labour.
Again the poet reinforces the idea that man and nature are in harmony. The poet
also suggests the intense heat of the day in using the image of the suns gong
beating.

10

15

In line 4 a mason-hornet (a large stinging wasp) shapes his hanging house. The
word shapes suggests the attention to detail and the care with which the
creature builds his home. The poet uses alliteration in the image In a wide flood
of flowers to convey a sense of the abundance and beauty of nature. There is a
dignity in the crested cranes as they bow(ing) to their food. The final line of
stanza one introduces a foreboding (threatening) note that contrasts sharply with
the previous harmony and celebration of nature: From the north today there is
ominous news. There is no indication at this stage of the poem what his ominous
news is but it certainly invades the orderliness that the poet has developed in the
preceding (previous) lines.

20

25

In the second stanza the poet focuses on the intense heat of the midday and the
high pitched sound of the cicadas (shrill sounding insects). The word mad
suggests the extreme din (very loud noise) of the cicadas in fact their sound is
14

so intensive and continuing that the poet refers to them as stridulators or

insects that produce an earsplitting and droning noise. The words sizzling,
overheated and white-hot zenith emphasise the overpowering heat. The
zenith is the highest point of the sun at its midday hottest. The word sizzling
could be interpreted as onomatopoeia as the heat is so overwhelming that the air
almost sizzles (hisses) in the midday sun. The insects revel in this heat, however,
there is a suggestion that man cannot endure the intensities of the heat and the
sound which becomes too high to bear.

stanza it is apparent that this has changed. For the time being though, nature is
supreme.
About the poem
The speaker starts by describing the overwhelming heat and loud insect sounds of
the morning. There is tension over the 'news from the north', though we are not
told what that news is. In the afternoon, there is silence as people sleep
exhausted in the heat. But in the trees, wild doves make a beautiful, cool sound
that seems to say that without men, the natural world of Africa is at peace and
happy.
Understand the poem
1. What do you think the men are doing in the first stanza?
2. a) What animals and insects are named in this poem?
b) In view of the whole poem, why do you think the poet named specific
animals and their activities?
3. What are the two things that seem to make the environment uncomfortable
for people?
4. 'From the north today there is ominous news.' The speaker mentions this but
does not bring it up again in the poem. What could this line suggest about the
society he is describing?
5. What message do the doves seem to be giving in the last stanza?
6. What do you think the doves' message means? Do you agree with it?
Explore poetic devices
7. Find a metaphor in the first and third stanzas that describes the heat. Name
the two things that are being compared, and then explain why they are similar.
8. Why do you think the poet chooses such graphic images ('the sick, the shot
and the dead') to describe the reclining people?
9. What words does the poet use to make us feel that the doves and their music
are refreshing?
10. The title refers to the doves, but they are only referred to in the last few lines.
Why do you think the poet has chosen this title for the poem?
11.How does the poet celebrate the harmonious natural activity of both
creatures and man in stanza one? (2)
12.Refer to line 5 and show how the poet accentuates (emphasises) the mass of
flowers through his use of metaphor and alliteration. (3)
13.The tone of stanza two is harsh and oppressive. With reference to two poetic
techniques explain how the poet has achieved this tone.(3)

In the third stanza the poet describes mans reaction to the extreme heat. Man
cannot tolerate this fierce heat that is conveyed in the metaphor: Oven of
afternoon. The insects cope but man attempts to escape into shadow or
shaded rooms or by hiding faces in folded arms. The final line of the third
stanza refers back to line 7 in stanza one. The ominous news from the north
could be a reference to a war in the north of Africa as now the people sleep or
lie in attitudes of the sick, the shot, the dead. The poet is suggesting that man is
now out of harmony with nature as he needs to hide from its intensities.
Furthermore the poet alludes to mans violence and possibly even his corruption
and moral deterioration in his suggestion of war.
In the final stanza the poet celebrates the supremacy of nature. While man is
overcome by the extremities (excessive temperatures and sounds), the wild doves
begin bubbling their coolest colloquies (conversations). Notice the contrast that
the poet establishes between stanza three and stanza four. In stanza four there is
a sense of calm, coolness and serenity. The pace is slow and smooth. The doves
have neat silk heads and bubble with eagerness and delight. The poet uses a
metaphor to compare the doves heads to silk implying that their heads are
smooth and cool to the touch. This coolness is enhanced by the use of the
refreshing word liquidly in line 25. The alliteration coolest colloquies
emphasises the enthusiasm and pure joy of the birds as they coo and converse
with one another. From their tent of leaves in the trees the birds appear to
announce their formulae or solution: Men being absent, Africa is good. This
formula is pronounced with conviction and Clearer than man-made music
could. Again the poet stresses the dominion (superiority and power) of nature.
There is a suggestion, though, that this could be temporary as the war in the
north could move down and man could exploit and spoil nature. In the first stanza
it was suggested that man was in sync (in harmony) with nature but by the final
15

14.How are human beings portrayed in stanza three? (2)

here from Malaysia when he was ten. He studied biology at university and
became a marine biologist at Natal University. He was in charge of research into
sea pollution. His poetry is strongly influenced by his work as a scientist in the
natural world. He won many awards, both in South Africa and overseas.

Lake Morning In Autumn Douglas Livingstone

About the poem

The poem describes a stork perched in the shallows of a lake. A cold Autumn wind
blows and rain falls, but the stork does not move because it is too tired to do so.
The stork is described in human terms: the poet says it is in a meditative mood,
with a faraway look in its eyes. Something is out of place with regard to the stork:
it has arrived too early at the gathering place and it has arrived alone. As the sun
comes up the stork flies slowly and tiredly up into the sky.

1. Before sunrise the stork was there

2. resting the pillow of his body
3. on stick legs growing from the water.
4. A flickering gust of pencil-slanted rain
5. swept over the chill autumn morning;
6. and he, too tired to arrange

Understand the poem

1. What word in stanza one suggests that the bird was tired?
2. The imagery makes us think of the stork as a person. Find a four-word phrase
in stanza two that is normally used to describe the behaviour of a person.
3. The stork's eyes are unfocussed because it is thinking about 'hollow black
migratory leagues'. What does this phrase mean?
4. In stanza five the poet notes two unusual facts about the stork's presence in
the lake. What are these facts?
5. What word in stanza five suggests that for the bird the arrival of the new day
was an unwelcome event?
6. How does he respond to the new day?
7. What does his response to the new day suggest?
8. Taking all the facts into account, what ultimately is the reason for the stork
being 'so very tired'?
9. Is there a parallel between the experience of the stork and human beings at a
late stage of their lives? Explain your answer.
Explore poetic devices
10.Here is a definition of half-rhymes: words at the ends of lines that have similar
vowel or consonantal sounds, but not both. Does Livingstone use half-rhymes
(imperfect rhymes) in this poem? If so, write them out and explain what effect
they have.
11.Explain the descriptive power of the metaphor In line 2.
12.Write out three consecutive words from stanza four that form a
personification.

7. his wind-buffeted plumage,

8. perched swaying a little
9. neck flattened, ruminative,
10. beak on chest, contemplative eye
11. filmy with star vistas and hollow
12. black migratory leagues, strangely,
13. ponderously alone and some weeks
14. early. The dawn struck and everything
15. sky, water, bird, reeds
16. was blood and gold. He sighed.
17. Stretching his wings he clubbed
18. the air; slowly, regally, so very tired,
19. aiming his beak he carefully climbed
20. inclining to his invisible tunnel of sky,
21. his feet trailing a long, long time.

Douglas Livingstone was regarded for many years as South Africa's best Englishspeaking poet. He was not born in South Africa, however. His family brought him
16

13.Suggest why the speaker uses the words 'his' and 'he' to refer to the stork. (2)
14.Study lines 610: 'he, too tired beak on chest'. Discuss how the diction used
in these lines contributes to your understanding of the stork's condition. (3)
15.What does the phrase, 'his invisible tunnel of sky' (line 20), suggest about the
stork? (2)
16.From your understanding of the poem as a whole, comment on the
appropriateness of the metaphor, 'pillow of his body' (line 2). (3)
17.Explain lines 6 7 in your own words. (2)
18.How does the poet personify the bird in stanzas 3 and 4? (2)
19.Provide a possible explanation for your answer to question 7. (1)
20.Why would the bird be early (line 14)? (1)
21.What does the word regally in stanza 6 reveal about the poets attitude
towards the bird? (1)
22.Comment on how the pace in the last stanza contributes to the meaning of
the poem. (3)

15. They strap in doubt by hiding it, robust

16. And almost hear a meaning in their noise.

On The Move Thom Gunn

'Man, you gotta Go.'
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.

The blue jay scuffling in the bushes follows

Some hidden purpose, and the gust of birds
That spurts across the field, the wheeling swallows,
Have nested in the trees and undergrowth.
Seeking their instinct, or their poise, or both,
One moves with an uncertain violence
Under the dust thrown by a baffled sense
Or the dull thunder of approximate words.

9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.

On motorcycles, up the road, they come:

Small, black, as flies hanging in heat, the Boys,
Until the distance throws them forth, their hum
Bulges to thunder held by calf and thigh.
In goggles, donned impersonality,
In gleaming jackets trophied with the dust,

17.
18.
19.
20.
21.
22.
23.
24.

Exact conclusion of their hardiness

Has no shape yet, but from known whereabouts
They ride, direction where the tires press.
They scare a flight of birds across the field:
Much that is natural, to the will must yield.
Men manufacture both machine and soul,
And use what they imperfectly control
To dare a future from the taken routes.

25.
26.
27.
28.
29.
30.
31.
32.

It is part solution, after all.

One is not necessarily discord
On earth; or damned because, half animal,
One lacks direct instinct, because one wakes
Afloat on movement that divides and breaks.
One joins the movement in a valueless world,
Choosing it, till, both hurler and the hurled,
One moves as well, always toward, toward.

33.
34.
35.
36.
37.
38.
39.
40.

A minute holds them, who have come to go:

The self-defined, astride the created will
They burst away; the towns they travel through
Are home for neither bird nor holiness,
For birds and saints complete their purposes.
At worst, one is in motion; and at best,
Reaching no absolute, in which to rest,
One is always nearer by not keeping still.

About the poem

In this poem the poet uses motorcyclists to represent people in general.
Stanza 1: Birds behave as if they are driven by instinct.
Stanza 2: Motorcyclists are coming up the road. They look like flies in the
distance. As they get closer, they look strong. But hidden behind their goggles and
protective helmets, they are not really sure of themselves.
17

Stanza 3: These bikers do not know where their toughness will take them. They
come from known addresses, but have no destination. Scared off by the bikers,
the birds (representative of nature) have to give in to the will of humans. Humans
make amazing machines (like the motorcycle), and even think they can make
souls too. But our control of these machines is imperfect - they don't always
work. People try to shape their future with their machines.
Stanza 4: Our machines, and how we control nature, are a partial solution to our
problems. The speaker says we are not condemned for lacking direct instinct like
the birds, and we don't have to live out of harmony with nature. People just find
themselves in movements or organisations that divide society. We are the cause
of this division (the hurler), and are affected by the division (the hurled). We are
always moving on from one thing to another.
Stanza 5: He hears the noisy bikes only for a minute, then they move past. They
only come in order to leave again. They move off with a burst on the machines
(bikes) they have created. They travel through towns that have no nature in them,
and that lack a spiritual purpose. While birds (nature) and saints (holy people)
might complete what they set out to do, regular people are constantly on the
move. By always moving on from one thing to another, human beings are always
getting nearer and nearer to their final destination, although they never reach it.

9. If we interpret the title literally, the speaker talks about (a) _ and (b) _ being
'on the move'. Complete the sentence.
10. Line 10 uses a simile - 'as flies hanging in heat'. How do 'the Boys' resemble
flies?
11. Identify and explain the figure of speech in lines 11-12: 'their hum / Bulges to
thunder'.
12. Name and identify the figure of speech in stanza 4 that tells us that human
life consists of a series of changes.
13. Identify the figure of speech in line 33.
14. Find an example of repetition in the poem and show how it contributes to
the meaning of the poem.
15. Refer to the epigraph: 'Man, you gotta Go.' What does the epigraph
highlight about man? (2)
16. Refer to lines 15: 'The blue jay poise, or both'. Account for the poet's
focus on the birds. (2)
21. Examine line 10: 'Small, black, as flies hanging in heat'. Discuss the
effectiveness of the image used in this line. (3)
22. Comment on the appropriateness of 'At worst, one ... not keeping still'
(lines 3840) as a summing-up of the central idea of the poem.

Understand the poem

1. Describe what the motorcyclists look like, using your own words.
2. The epigraph 'Man, you gotta Go' has the following possible meanings
(choose which ones apply):
a) Humans are by their nature constantly on the move
b) Men are born to ride motorcycles
c) Planet Earth has to rid itself of humankind
3. According to the poem, what motivates people to join a gang of
motorcylists?
4. Why, according to lines 28-29, does one lack 'direct instinct'?
5. Find a three-word phrase in the last stanza that refers to a motorcycle.
6. What does 'the Boys' in line 10 suggest?
7. The bikers have 'come to go' - they move endlessly from one town to the
next, never finding a resting place. How does this tie in with 'a valueless
world' (line 30)?
8. Explain lines 35-36.
Explore poetic devices
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