Poem SPM

In The Midst of Hardship by Latiff Mohidin

At dawn they returned home

their soaky clothes torn

and approached the stove

their limbs marked by scratches

their legs full of wounds

but on their brows

there was not a sign of despair

The whole day and night just passed

they had to brave the horrendous flood

in the water all the time

between bloated carcasses

and tiny chips of tree barks

desperately looking for their son’s

albino buffalo that was never found

They were born amidst hardship

and grew up without a sigh or a complaint

now they are in the kitchen, making

jokes while rolling their ciggarete leaves

SYNOPSIS (OVERALL)

This poem is about a family who faces  hardship whereby their son’s albino buffalo is nowhere to be found. A flood occurs and they go out to find the buffalo. They reach home early in the morning without the buffalo and yet there is no  sign of despair in them. Meanwhile, they can still crack jokes and roll the cigarettes.

SYNOPSIS (ACCORDING TO STANZA)

STANZA 1

They returned home at day break and headed for the stove. This is probably because they were hungry. However, I have also received some feedbacks saying that they went straight to the stove to dry themselves as they were drenched with the flood water. Their clothes were soaking wet and tattered. Their bodies were covered with scratches and wounds. Yet, they did not display any signs of being worried.

STANZA 2

They were out in the flood the whole day and night. They were surrounded by dead animals and parts of trees that had been destroyed by the flood. We know that the animals were already dead because of the phrase ‘bloated carcasses’. They searched desperately for their son’s albino buffalo but were unable to find it.

STANZA 3

They were born into poverty and difficulty, but they do not complain about their suffer. Instead, they sit in the kitchen, cracking jokes while smoking cigarettes. This shows that they face difficulties all the time and this time there is no different. They have inner strength that makes them strong to face any hardship poses to them.

SETTING

The setting of the poem is in the house.

THEMES

•                     Being resilience when facing hardship

•                     Family love

•                     Acceptance of way of life

MORAL VALUES

·         We should learn to accept problems in life with a positive outlook.

·         We must attempt to face and solve problem.

·         Facing hardship is part and parcel of life.

·         If we face a problem, do not feel despair.

TONE, MOOD, ATMOSPHERE

•                     Understanding and sympathetic

•                     Acceptance of situation

POINT OF VIEW

•                     Third person pint of view.

LANGUAGE & STYLE

•                     Language is simple and easy to understand.

•                     The style is simple with no rhyming scheme.

POETIC DEVICES

•                     Imagery – Gives picture of poet’s thoughts e.g ‘soaky clothes torn’ and ‘legs full of wounds’

•                     Alliteration – e.g. ‘but on their brows’

•                     Symbols – e.g. ‘horrendous flood’ and ‘bloating carcasses’

•                     Diction – e.g. ‘stove’ and ‘brows‘

He Had Such Quiet Eyes by Bibsy Soenharjo

He had such quiet eyes

She did not realise

They were two pools of lies

Layered with thinnest ice

To her, those wuiet eyes

Were breathing desolate sighs

Imploring her to be nice

And to render him paradise

If only she’d been wise

And had listened to the advice

Never to compromise

With pleasure-seeking guys

She’d be free from ‘the hows and whys’

Now here’s a bit of advice

Be sure that nice really nice

Then you’ll never be losing at dice

Though you lose your heart once or twice

SYNOPSIS

This poem is about a lady who falls in love with the wrong man. She is fascinated with his eyes that seem to lure her to give him paradise. The man has a pair of quiet eyes that she does not realise they are not that quiet. As she is ‘charmed’ by the eyes, she does not listen to the advice given by other people who are concerned with her behaviour. In the end, she realises her mistakes and is broken hearted.

THEME

•                     Betrayal of love

•                     Personal experiences

•                     Relationships that are meaningful

MORAL VALUES

•                     Don’t be naive and believe everything we are told especially in matters of the heart.

•                     Be wise when choosing friends.

•                     Falling in love is normal but one should be careful.

•                     We must learn from the experience of other people.

•                     We should be very careful not to give in our principle in order to please other people.

TONE, MOOD, ATMOSPHERE

•                     Refelective

•                     Sad and happy

•                     Sympathetic

POINT OF VIEW

•                     Second and third person points of view

LANGUAGE & STYLE

•                     Simple and easy to understand

•                     Simple style with rhyming scheme

MEANING OF WORDS

•                     sighs – long, deep audible breaths

•                     eyes – a pair of organs of sight

•                     advice – guidance

•                     desolate – unhappy and uninhabited

•                     pleasure-seeking – looking for a feeling of happy satisfaction

•                     dice – a small cube with each side having a different number ranging from 1 to 6

•                     layered – arranged in layers

•                     lies – intentional false statements

•                     realise – become aware

•                     compromise – agree

•                     paradise – heaven

•                     render – provide or give help

•                     imploring – begging desperately

•                     wise – having knowledge and good judgement

Nature by H.D Carberry

We have neither Summer nor Winter

Neither Autumn nor Spring.

We have instead the days

When the gold sun shines on the lush green canefields-

Magnificently.

The days when the rain beats like bullet on the roofs

And there is no sound but thee swish of water in the gullies

And trees struggling in the high Jamaica winds.

Also there are the days when leaves fade from off guango trees’

And the reaped canefields lie bare and fallow to the sun.

But best of all there are the days when the mango and the logwood blossom

When bushes are full of the sound of bees and the scent of honey,

When the tall grass sways and shivers to the slightest breath of air,

When the buttercups have paved the earth with yellow stars

And beauty comes suddenly and the rains have gone.

SYNOPSIS

The poem tells of the weather conditions in Jamaica although it does not have the four seasons of spring, summer, autumn and winter. The weather conditions of golden sunny days and wet rainy days are just as good and are almost equivalent to the four seasons.

VOCABULARY

Word	Meaning
Lush	Healthy growth
Magnificently	Wonderfully, grandly, beautifully
Swish	The sound made by moving water
Gullies	Channels cut out in the earth by persistent rainfall
Struggling	Fighting to survive; moving with great physical effort
Fade	Lose their colour
Fallow	Left bare (in order to recover natural fertility)
Paved	Covered

UNDERSTANDING THE POEM

Lines 1 to 10

The poet tells about his homeland , Jamaica and rejoices the beauty of this island. Jamaica has no seasonal changes. It has a tropical climate which is hot and wet throughout the year. The days of golden sunshine are glorious and magnificent. The are many canefields in Jamaica as sugar is one of the main exports in this country.

Lines 11 to 15

In the ending of the poem, the poet tells us his favourite time – days when the flowers of mango trees and logwood blossom. He uses imagery of sound and smell to illustrate abundant life and activity in the bushes when the ‘sound of bees and the scent of honey’ add to the charm and beauty if Jamaica. He describes the fields filled with lovely yellow buttercups. All this happens when the rains have stopped and the beauty if nature emerges once again.

THEMES

•                     Beauty of nature

•                     Appreciation of one own country

•                     Appreciate nature

MORAL VALUES

•                     We should appreciate what we have in our own country

•                     We should not long for what we do not have.

•                     We should appreciate our homeland.

•                     We should appreciate the beauty of nature.

TONE,MOOD, ATMOSPHERE

•                     Appreciative and happy

•                     Carefree and light-hearted

•                     Sense of beauty

POINT OF VIEW

•                     Third person point of view

LANGUAGE AND STYLE

•                     Simple and easy to understand the language

•                     Clear and descriptive

•                     Simple style with no rhyming scheme

POETIC DEVICES

•                     Imagery – e.g. ‘gold sun’, ‘lush green fields’, ‘trees struggling’

•                     Alliteration – e.g. ‘sways and shivers to the slightest breath of air’

•                     Symbols – e.g. ‘gold sun’ – symbol of summer, ‘rains’ – symbol of winter

•                     Contrast – e.g. ‘beauty’ or summer is compared with ‘rains’ or winter

•                     Figurative Language  – Simile – ‘rain beats like bullets’

•                     Metaphor – e.g. ‘the buttercups paved the earth with yellow stars’

•                     Personafication – ‘buttercups have paved the earth’ …  buttercups have been personified as having laid tiles

•                     Onomatopeia – e’g ‘swish’

Are You Still Playing Your Flute by Zurinah Hassan

Are you still playing your flute?

When there is hardly time for our love

I am feeling guilty

To be longing for your song

The melody concealed in the slim hollow of the bamboo

Uncovered by the breath of an artist

Composed by his fingers

Blown by the wind

To the depth of my heart.

Are you still playing your flute?

In the village so quiet and deserted

Amidst the sick rice fields

While here it has become a luxury

To spend time watching the rain

Gazing at the evening rays

Collecting dew drops

Or enjoying the fragrance of flowers.

Are you still playing your flute?

The more it disturbs my conscience

to be thinking of you

in the hazard of you

my younger brothers unemployed and desperate

my people disunited by politics

my friend slaughtered mercilessly

this world is too old and bleeding.

SYNOPSIS

This poem his about a persona who reminisces the time he/she spends when in a village. There are many things that are now luxury to her such as listening to the melody of the flute itself, gazing at the evening rays, collecting dew drops, or enjoying the fragrance of flowers. The village is now unpopulated as many have moved to the city. Now that she has moved on with her life, she wonders whether the flutist is still playing the flute. This is because, there are many challenges in the world today such as the world is dying, the unemployment issue and the people are disunited because of different political views.

THEMES

•                     Family commitments

•                     Priorities in life

•                     Neglect of one’s duties

MORAL VALUES

•                     We should be aware of our family commitments and carry them out properly.

•                     Everyone has priorities in, life and we should know what is important and what is not.

•                     Following a hobby is good but there is a time for work and a time for play.

POINT OF VIEW

•                     The poem is the first point of view.

•                     The person is addressing another person and describing a situation to him.

LANGUAGE AND STLYE

•                     Rhetorical question

•                     Descriptive and questioning

•                     Simple style and no rhyme

TONE, MOOD AND ATMOSPHERE

•                     Sombre and regretful

•                     Serious atmosphere

POETIC DEVICES

•                     Imagery – e.g. ‘blown by the wind’, ‘depth of my heart’

•                     Alliteration – e.g. ‘fragrance of flowers’

•                     Symbol – e.g. ‘flute’, ‘song’

•                     Repetition – e.g. ‘Are you still playing your flute?’

•                     Figurative Language – Metaphor e.g. ‘The melody concealed in the slime hollow of bamboo – Personification e.g. ‘sick rice field’