Grade 12 Poetry Notes
1.Loves Farewell by Michael Drayton:
Quatrain one:
Since there’s no help, come let us kiss and part, -
Conveys a sense of interruption
Nay I have done, you get no more of me;
And I am glad, yea, glad with all my heart,
That thus so cleanly I myself can free;
Tone= how the writer feels, Draytons tone is cordial, dismissive and forceful
Possessive pronouns= The emphasis is on the speaker
The speaker is addressing his lover and wants her to end the relationship
There is no remedy, they cannot solve anything, shows his determination to end the relationship
Repetition adds to the controversial tone and the intensity of feelings, indicates that the end of
their relationship is painful- ironic
Quatrain two:
Shake hands for ever, cancel all our vows,
And when we meet at any time again,
Be it not seen in either of our brows
That we one jot of former love retain.
Possessive pronouns: have now switched to plural, as he is suggesting how the two should go
about the ending of their relationship.
However he is now viewing them as a united entity, as a couple, could this possibly reflect what
he really wants or how he really feels?
,He says they should act as though they were never in love.
Tone= assertive, conclusive, decisive, indicates that his mind his made up
Jot= means a little bit
Brows= use of synecdoche, represents the whole, not just referring to eyebrows, he means the
whole face, their eyes, lips, mouths
Quatrain three:
Now at the last gasp of love's latest breath,
Indicates a sense of urgency, specific time frame
When, his pulse failing, passion speechless lies,
When faith is kneeling by his bed of death,
And innocence is closing up his eyes,
Personification: The image is created that love is dying however passion, faith and innocence
could revive it, it is a dramatic image
Passion is the first to die when you fall out love
Faith means devotion or a belief of trust, faith kneels next to the bed when love is dying
Innocence is the hope that love never dies
Pronouns have now changed to third person as love is being personified
Tone is evident, significant shift
Quatrain four:
-Now if thou would’st, when all have given him over,
Change in topic, theme
From death to life thou might’st him yet recover!
There is an apparent shift in tone as now the writer says their love could be reconciled if the
other person declares her love for him
Tone is hurried, conversational, hopeful and ironic
Emphasises the relationship is in the hands of the writers partner
,2. Lost or found world by Serote
Stanza 1:
Skies of truth are now scenes
At the mercy of my curtain eyes,
When the speaker closes his eyes he sees the censored truth
I wink often more often,
To draw the curtains
To cut and forget the skies.
It is almost unlimited
His actions are intentional and deliberate, use of infinitive verb, he feels as though he needs to
protect himself
Plosive sounds: to make it hard hitting
It starts with an extended metaphor of the sky
Stanza 2:
The sea of identity is tears,
Black identity, the sea shows that it is too big, there is too much
A too salty expression
Bleeding my blue veins that’s my pen,
Extended metaphor of blue ink being his blood- his life force is contained in the ink,
himself the paper
On the loose sand that shall sip,
And the wind shall help cover it,
Once again it is being censored
From the needy arteries.
The S alliteration contributes to the image of being sucked into sand
,Stanza 3:
Mountains of hope are flowers,
Metaphor of hope: flowers, grown from a small seed, future of hope, possibly the youth
Passes attracting cars like bees,
The simile with regards to the flowers, is carried through
Cars compared to bees, links to the honey which is actual money
For the precious modern honey,
That is money.
This modern madness
Snaps flowers from their stems - Materialism is not who they are
Leaves dry dead bodies, walking up the street.
Creates a very heavy sense, futility and tone
New legacy
Stanza 4:
Old wishes is present deeds,
Exactly what they hoped for
Bright with blinding for old
Metaphor- reference to sight again
Dark with wonder for the new,
Another play on sight but also links light and dark, in the dark you cannot see the truth
That’s where we are
Lost or found world!
A time of change, uncertainty, different things to different people, ambiguity
,3.The Tenant by Na Ngulube
Consider the title:
Denotation: person who occupies land or property
Connotation: compare a squatter with resident
Figurative language technique:
The extended metaphor
Form/Structure:
Free verse, no formal rhyme scheme, poem is a very personal reflection, enjambment
Stanza 1:
There is no room for you - declaration, the seeker is not willing to embark on another
relationship
in my heart. The only tenant - extended metaphor of viewing the heart as a physical
space
who ever lived there left- reason offered for emptiness, the person who was there has
left
some luggage behind.- the luggage refers to the psychological baggage, memories or
painful experiences
Stanza 2:
I didn't even evict her. She - positioning of pronouns emphasises that the speaker is not
responsible for the ending of their relationship
simply left without a word.
Emphasises the thoughtless actions of the tenant.
In lines 5 and 6 we are given an idea as to how the relationship ended, it was not mutual as the
speaker's partner simply left her. It ended without an explanation.
,Stanza 3:
I keep hoping( continuous tense) she will come
back and collect the luggage
or at least arrange for disposal
clean out the place, throw out
old memories.
The speaker hopes that the relationship might reconcile or that she may be given an explanation as to
why it ended
Metaphorical expansion= cleaning and forgetting the old memories, disassociating and detaching from .
Stanza 4:
I could possibly live with
the marks on the walls. Some
are completely indelible
some I even like.
Lines 12-15: a reference to the memories which have altered the state of the room,
marking its walls permanently and this points to the emotional damage , despite
the pain there are some pleasant memories.
Stanza 5:
But you see I am afraid that
if it all goes, what will I do
with all that empty space.
The speaker admits that she is afraid to move on, she is held hostage by fear.
She is afraid to dispose of the baggage, she is afraid to fill that space again.
The punctuation mark indicates that she has made up her mind, it is the finality of her decision
making, she does not want to know what she will have to do with all that empty space.
The tone: melancholic, reflective, pensive, thoughtful
Influenced by subject and emphasised through diction.
The theme: Past hurts and memories can impact our decisions negatively as they influence us
to be afraid of consequences.
,4. Nightsong City by Brutus
Pace of poem is slow, sound of a lullaby
Stanza 1:
Sleep well, my love, sleep well:
The repetition creates a peaceful image , The colon indicates the circumstances
under which his love must sleep
The harbor lights glaze over restless docks,
Contrasts peaceful image on first line, images of violence
Police cars cockroach through the tunnel streets
The noun cockroach has been used as a verb, describes the narrow dark streets
in which the cars patrol, he views the police as vernum, hinting police brutality
and violence, feels as though the police are unwelcomed
Begins with a wish for the speakers love to sleep well
The identity of love is implied in the descriptions of places
Sinister reference to the police
Stanza 2:
In stanza 2 this sinister tone is continued
from the shanties creaking iron-sheets
Indicates the poverty
violence like a bug-infested rag is tossed
and fear is immanent as sound in the wind-swung bell;
Inherent, existing
Poverty is strongly suggested
Sense of menace is confirmed
Fear is pervasive
Suggests that fear is born out of poverty, inequality and brutality
Stanza 3:
,the long day’s anger pants from sand and rocks:
Line 7 confirms that this place, is a place of violence, clearly this love is not a
paradise, it is an environment filled with fear and violence
Long suffering of the inhabitants
The use of the word pants and breathing indicates the speaker's desperation for
peace.
but for this breathing night at least,
The word but creates a contrasting scene, line 8 is much calmer than the
previous line as living beings now become calm and get ready to go to sleep
my land, my love, sleep well.
Extended metaphor that his love is actually his country that he longs for peace in.
The reader realises that love is a place not a person, it is filled with anger and
violence, it is no longer a paradise
5.The Cry of South Africa by Olive Schreiner
The context of the poem: The Anglo Zulu and Anglo Boer Wars
The voice of the poem: Typically the voice of a mother who is demanding that her dead children
be returned to her. It is an extended metaphor where South Africa is personified as a mother.
The children are the people who were taken to fight the war
Give me back my dead! - repeated, emphatic demand, imperative instruction
They who by kop and fountain- Use of the Afrikaans creates context (SA),
shows sympathy with the Afrikaaner cause
First saw the light upon my rocky breast!-Other words people who were born
on South African land, rocky breast links to mother land
Give me back my dead,- she repeats it, she's asking for the impossible
The sons who played upon me - the specific reference is the en who fought in
the war, however they were not the only ones who perished in the war, the
women who were confined to concentration camps ,
,When childhood’s dew still rested on their heads,- most of the people who
died in the war were very young. Dew has connotations of fresh, young, early,
morning.
The word sons represents all her children that ‘played’ on her land.
Give me back my dead
Whom thou hast riven from me- riven is torn apart, her children have been torn
from her by war causing emotional distress, strong connotations of suffering
By arms of men loud called from earth’s farthest bound- they are bound like
prisoners, they don't have control over their own destiny, bound has two
meanings
It can also mean that men have come from very far to fight
To wet my bosom with my children’s blood! - it is another maternal reference
but more shocking
Give me back my dead,
The dead who grew upon me! - the final repetition of the demand is followed by
a summary of the previous points
Tone: grieving, angry, upset, anguished, indignant
Conveyed through the repetition and the exclamation marks
It emphasises the pain that war causes
It is an anti war poem
6.Penguin on the beach by Miller
Stranger in his own element, - He is a stranger because he no longer feels like he
is in his own home, paradox
Sea-casualty, the castaway manikin- casualty is a word used for a victim,
explains the penguins situation, the c sound is echoed through the word
castaways
Waddles in his tailored coat-tails.Oil- creates a humorous image, he is a little
man, the bird is described in human from, to help the reader empathise a bit
more
The word Oil is alone, it is harsh intruding into the stanza, emphasises the
penguin has been displaced in his habitat, enjambment
How the oil spreads into the ocean, spreads into new stanza
, Has spread a deep commercial stain- literal and figurative meaning, man's
desire for fossil fuels
Over his downy shirt front.Sleazy, grey,- someone who is sleazy is not
trustworthy, the penguins sleaknes in his suit is clogged by the stain of humanity
It clogs the sleekness.Far too well- more enjambment
He must recall the past, to be so cautious:- poet comments on the penguins
behaviour, the penguin is cautious because of the passed incidents
The colon lists what he is cautious of
Watch him step into the waves. He shudders- He doesn't enter the water
quickly, his home is unnatural to him, shows his fear
Under the froth, slides, slips, on the wet sand, -he would rather be on land
Escaping to dryness, dearth, in a white cascade,- he can't trust the sea
anymore, he'd rather be on a land, a lack of food and water, he would rather be
on land
An involuntary shouldering off of gleam.- the depth of his distrust run so
deeply
Hands push him back into the sea. He stands- there are humans on the
beach trying to get him back into the water, he has to be pushed back into the
war, he cant distinguish between the humans who helped him and who hurt him
In pained and silent expostulation.- emphasises his weakness and
vulnerability
Once he knew a sunlit, leaping smoothness,- his perception of the water has
changed
But close within his head’s small knoll, and dark- but indicates a change in
the penguins thoughts of the ocean
Dark, his head is dark but so are his thoughts
He retains the image: Oil on sea- the colon indicates the image that will stay
with the penguin
Green slicks, black lassoos of sludge- sludge is what makes an oil spill so
horrific
Sleeving the breakers in a stain-spread scarf. - image created is oil stuck to
the ocean, stain emphasises the effect of humanity on the natural world
