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London, 1802By William WordsworthMilton! thou shouldst be living at this hour:England hath need of thee: she is a fenOf stagnant waters: altar, sword, and pen,Fireside, the heroic wealth of hall and bower,Have forfeited their ancient English dower5Of inward happiness. We are selfish men;Oh! raise us up, return to us again;And give us manners, virtue, freedom, power.Thy soul was like a Star, and dwelt apart:Thou hadst a voice whose sound was like the sea: 10Pure as the naked heavens, majestic, free,So didst thou travel on life's common way,In cheerful godliness; and yet thy heartThe lowliest duties on herself did lay.This is a typical example of an Italian Sonnet. The poet describesthe English people as stagnant and selfish in this poem.

Questions:1. Who is Milton?2. Why does Wordsworth feel that England needs Milton? Refer specifically tothe problems mentioned in the poem.3. Would it be accurate to label this poem a sonnet? Motivate fully.4. How does the interjection 'Oh!' add to the mood of the sonnet?5. Describe Wordsworth's tone and quote to support your answer.6. What evidence is there in the poem that Wordsworth's sentiments areuniquely Romantic?7. Why is 'cheerful godliness' an admirable quality to Wordsworth?8. Wordsworth mourns certain qualities in society during 1802. Does modernday society have any of these same qualities? Answer thoroughly andjustify your views.SummaryThe speaker addresses the soul of the dead poet John Milton, saying that heshould be alive at this moment in history, for England needs him. England, thespeaker says, is stagnant and selfish, and Milton could raise her up again. Thespeaker says that Milton could give England “manners, virtue, freedom, power,”for his soul was like a star, his voice had a sound as pure as the sea, and hemoved through the world with “cheerful godliness,” laying upon himself the“lowest duties.”This poem is one of the many excellent sonnets Wordsworth wrote in theearly 180 0s. Sonnets are fourteen-line poetic inventions written in iambicpentameter. There are several varieties of sonnets; “The world is too much withus” takes the form of a Petrarchan sonnet, modelled after the work of Petrarch,an Italian poet of the early Renaissance. A Petrarchan sonnet is divided intotwo parts, an octave (the first eight lines of the poem) and a sestet (the final sixlines). The Petrarchan sonnet can take a number of variable rhyme schemes; inthis case, the octave (which typically proposes a question or an idea), followsa rhyme scheme of ABBAABBA, and the sestet (which typically answers thequestion or comments upon the idea) follows a rhyme scheme of BCCDBD.

Random Notes to my SonKeorapetse KgositsileBeware, my son, wordsthat carry the loudnessesof blind desire also carrythe slime of illusiondripping like pus from the slave's battered backe.g. they speak of black power whose eyeswill not threaten the quick whitening of their own intentwhat days will you inherit?what shadows inhabit your silences?I have aspired to expression, all these years,elegant past the most eloquent word. But here nowour tongue dries into maggots as we continue our slimydeath and grin. Except today it is fashionable to screamof pride and beauty as though it were not known that'slaves and dead people have no beauty'Confusionin me and around meconfusion. This pain wasnot from the past. This pain wasnot because we had failedto understand:this land is mineconfusion and borrowed fearsit was. We stood like shrubsshrivelled on this piece of earththe ground parched and crackedthrough the cracks my cry:And what shapesin assent and ascentmust people the eye of newborndetermined desire knowno frightened tear ever rolls onto the elegance of fire. I havefallen with all the names I ambut the newborn eye, old aschildbirth, must touch the daythat, speaking my language, willsay, today we move, we move ?5101520253035Keorapetse William Kgositsile,also known as "Bra Willie" (born19 September 1938), is a SouthAfrican poet and political activist.He was inaugurated as SouthAfrica's National Poet Laureate in2006 . Keorapetse was one of thefirst to bridge the gap betweenAfrican poetry and Black poetry inthe United States. He is the fatherof hip-hop recording artist EarlSweatshirt.Questions1. From reading the title of the poem, how can the reader assume that thepoem is meant to be a personal one?2. Discuss what is meant in line 4.3. Refer to line 15, discuss what is meant by 'slaves and dead people have nobeauty'.4. Refer to stanza 3. Explain what the confusion is that the poet refers to.5. Discuss the theme of the poem.6. Summarise the subject matter of the poem in a short paragraph.

Those Winter SundaysRobert HaydenSundays too my father got up earlyand put his clothes on in the blueblack cold,then with his cracked hands that achedfrom labor in the weekday weather madebanked fires blaze. No one ever thanked him. 5I'd wake and hear the cold splintering, breaking,When the rooms were warm, he'd calland slowly I would rise and dress,fearing the chronic angers of that house,Speaking indifferently to him10who had driven out the coldand polished my good shoes as well.What did I know, what did I knowof love's austere and lonely offices?Robert Hayden’s poetry, which exploredhis concerns about race and AfricanAmerican history, gained internationalrecognition in the 1960s, and Haydeneventually became the first blackAmerican to be appointed as consultantin poetry to the Library of Congress.Questions1. What does the first stanza reveal about the speaker’s father's dedication to hisfamily?2. What does the speaker mean when he says that he could "hear the coldsplintering, breaking"?3. What does the speaker mean by the "chronic angers" of his house?4. How does the speaker eventually learn about "love's austere and lonely offices"?5. Why are some young people unable to appreciate the sacrifices their parentsmake for them?6. Why do young people sometimes have a difficult time communicating with theirparents?7. How has the speaker’s attitude toward his father changed since his childhood?8. How does he make it clear that he now regrets the way he reacted to his father?9. What is his message to readers?10. Discuss the theme of the poem.

In DetentionChris van WykHe fell from the ninth floorHe hanged himselfHe slipped on a piece of soap while washingHe hanged himselfHe slipped on a piece of soap while washingHe fell from the ninth floorHe hanged himself while washingHe slipped from the ninth floorHe hung from the ninth floorHe slipped on the ninth floor while washingHe fell from a piece of soap while slippingHe hung from the ninth floorHe washed from the ninth floor while slippingHe hung from a piece of soap while washing.510The title immediately places the poem in apartheid South Africa, andcomments indirectly on the number of deaths in detention of politicalactivists during these years (at least 67 people died in detention).In order to expose and attack a horrifying practice, Van Wyk uses thekind of explanations typically offered by the security police for deaths indetention in South Africa. During the apartheid era, laws were passedwhich allowed the security police to detain people indefinitely withouthaving to give any reason. Many people were tortured, some committedsuicide, and some (like Steve Biko) died at the hands of theirinterrogators (those who were questioning them).Questions1. The poem has a satirical element.a) In what way is it satirical?(1) b)Why do you think humour was used, rather than direct criticism (2)2. The first line is clearly a lie. How do we know this?(2)3. a) Was the prisoner’s death a suicide, an accident or neither?(1) b)Why do you think this?(2)4. What do you think this poem is saying other than recounting possiblestatements from a prison?(2)

Mid-Term BreakSeamus HeaneyI sat all morning in the college sick bayCounting bells knelling classes to a close.At two o'clock our neighbours drove me home.In the porch I met my father crying—He had always taken funerals in his stride—And Big Jim Evans saying it was a hard blow.5The baby cooed and laughed and rocked the pramWhen I came in, and I was embarrassedBy old men standing up to shake my handAnd tell me they were 'sorry for my trouble'.Whispers informed strangers I was the eldest,Away at school, as my mother held my hand10In hers and coughed out angry tearless sighs.At ten o'clock the ambulance arrivedWith the corpse, stanched and bandaged by the nurses.15Next morning I went up into the room. SnowdropsAnd candles soothed the bedside; I saw himFor the first time in six weeks. Paler now,Wearing a poppy bruise on his left temple,He lay in the four-foot box as in his cot.20No gaudy scars, the bumper knocked him clear.A four-foot box, a foot for every year.The subject of this poem is the death of Seamus Heaney’s younger brother, Christopherwho was killed by a car at the age of four. It is a tremendously poignant poem and itsemotional power derives in large measure form the fact that Heaney is very muted andunderstated with respect to his own emotional response. He chooses to focus more uponthe reaction of his parents in order to convey the shocking impact of the death of their littleboy. Usually, we must careful not to assume the “I” in a poem is, in fact, the poet. In thiscase, though, we may be sure that Mid-Term Break is purely and intenselyautobiographical.Questions1. Discuss what the reader’s first impressions may be of the poem whenreading the title of the poem.2. What time did the neighbours pick the boy up?3. When he arrived home what was the boy’s father doing?4. When was the last time the boy had seen his little brother?5. What two items where beside the bed?6. What age was his little brother when he died?7. Discuss the theme of the poem.8. In a short paragraph, discuss the subject of the poem.

My NameMagoleng Wa SelepeNomgqibelo Ncamisile MnqhibisaLook what they have done to my name. . .the wonderful name of my great-great-grandmothersNomgqibelo Ncamisile MnqhibisaThe burly bureaucrat was surprised.What he heard was music to his ears5‘Wat is daai, sé nou weer?’‘I am from Chief Daluxolo Velayigodle of emaMpodweniAnd my name is Nomgqibelo Ncamisile Mnqhibisa.’Messia, help me!My name is so simple10and yet so meaningful,but to this man it is trash. . .He gives me a nameConvenient enough to answer his whim:I end up beingMaria. . .I. . .Nomgqibelo Ncamisile Mnqhibisa.During apartheid,many black SouthAfricans had twonames. One wasthe name that theywere given by theirparents and was intheir own language.The other was aEuropeannamethat their employerswould refer to themby. In the poem, MyName, Magolengwa Selepe writesabout the effects ofthis.15Questions1. State TWO reasons why the speaker is very proud of her name.2. Refer to line 2 ('Look what they have done to my name .'). What feelingdoes the speaker express in this line?3. What does the word 'burly' (line 5) suggest about the bureaucrat?4. Refer to line 6 ('What he heard was music to his ears'). Does the referenceto music suggest that the bureaucrat appreciates the speaker's name?Give a reason for your answer.5. Where does the speaker come from?6. Refer to line 10 ('Messiah, help me'). What does the use of the word'Messiah' suggest about the speaker?7. Identify the figure of speech used in line 13, ('but to this man it is trash .').8. Explain why the bureaucrat changes the speaker's name to Maria.9. Choose ONE word that emphasises how the speaker feels about her name.10. What does this poem suggest about the bureaucrat's political beliefs?11. Refer to lines 16 – 18 (I end up being Maria . I .). Discuss the effectcreated by the use of very short lines at this point in the poem.

Song of HopeCecil RajendraAt that hourwhen the sunslinks offbehind hillsand night- a panther crouchesready to springupon our unsuspecting city.i want to singthe coiled desiresof this landthe caged dreamsof forgotten men.i want to singof all that wasbut no longer isof all that never wasbutcould have been.51015Cecil Rajendra (born 1941) isa Malaysian poet and lawyer. Hispoems have been published inmore than 50 countries andtranslated into several languages.Rajendra, nicknamed 'The LawyerPoet', writes controversial poemsthat address human rights andenvironmental problems. As anattorney, his work has focused onhelping poorer people who are inneed of legal aid. He is a cofounder of Penang Legal AidCentre (PLAC).20i want to singthe obsidianunspelled hopesof our children25i want to singto remind usnever to despairthat every hourevery minute30somewhere on the faceof this earthit is glorious morningQuestions1. Discuss what the reader may assume what the tone is after reading the title.Explain fully.2. Comment on the short sentences used and explain its effectiveness.3. Refer to lines 9 and 10. Discuss why the poet uses the word ‘unsuspecting’.4. Quote a line from stanza two that deals with regret.5. Discuss the theme of the poem.

Metaphysical poetry, a term coined by Samuel Johnson, has its roots in 17th-century England. This type of poetry is witty, ingenious, and highly philosophical. Its topics included love, life and existence. It used literary elements of similes, metaphors, imagery, paradoxes, conceit, and far