LITERATURE COMPONENT - NOTES ON POEMS

IN THE MIDST OF HARDSHIP

STANZA 1
1. Who does they refer to? (line 1)
Answer:
The parents of the boy / The couple / The husband and wife
2. When/at what time do they return home? (line 1)
Answer: At dawn
3. What is the hardship / suffering the couple has to face? (lines 2, 4, 5)
Answer:
Their clothes are soaky and torn.
Their limbs are scratched.
Their legs are full of wounds.
4. Why do they approach the stove? (line 3)
Answer:
To keep themselves warm.
To prepare food as they are hungry.
5. What does the line there was not a sign of despair tell you about the
people? (line 7)
Answer: In spite of their hardship, they do not complain.
6. Which line tells us that they are used to hardship?
Answer: There was not a sign of despair
7. When faced with hard times, do you face it the same way the family
does? What is your own attitude towards hard times?
Answer:
Yes, I will not give up.
Yes, I will persevere.
STANZA 2
8. How long was the couple out in the rain? (line 8)
Answer: The whole day and night
9. What does the word horrendous mean / suggest / imply?
Answer: awful / terrible / horrifying

10. What are they doing in the flood water? (line 13)
Answer: Looking for their sons albino buffalo
11. What is different / special about the buffalo?
Answer: It is an albino buffalo.
12. What do you think has happened to the buffalo?
Answer: It is dead / It has drowned / It is
missing.
[Link] could there be in the flood water? (lines 11 & 12)
Answer: Bloated carcasses / dead animals
Tiny chips of tree barks
[Link] two reasons why their clothes are soaky and torn. (lines 2, 9 &
12)
Answer:
They have to brave the horrendous flood.
There are pieces of tree barks in the water.
[Link] you were the parent of the boy, would you go out in the floods to look
for your sons albino buffalo? Give a reason to support your answer.
Answer:
Yes, because I love my son.
Yes, because the buffalo is special.
No, because it is too dangerous.
[Link] you were the boy in the poem, would you ask your parents to go out
in the floods to look for your albino buffalo? Give a reason for your
answer.
Answer:
Yes, because the albino buffalo is special.
No, because it is dangerous for them to go out in the floods.
STANZA 3
[Link] do you think is the peoples attitude towards life?
Answer:
They never complain in spite of hardship.
They are grateful for whatever they have.

[Link] phrase tells you that they are used to hardship and do not
consider it a problem?
Answer: Without sigh or complaint
19. What is the couple doing in the kitchen?
Answer: They are making jokes while rolling
cigarette leaves.
[Link] kind of life does the couple lead?
Answer: Hard life / difficult life
21. Why do they not complain about their situation?
Answer: Because they are used to hardship.
HE HAD SUCH QUIET EYES:
STANZA 1
1. How are the eyes of the man described? What does it mean?
Answer: Described as quiet eyes. It means
these
eyes are deceiving and
dangerous.
2. How does the persona get so attracted to the man?
Answer: She is attracted to his quiet eyes that
seem captivating.
3. What does the line two pools of lies (line 3) refer to?
Answer: The deceiving eyes of the man
4. What does those quiet eyes were breathing desolate sighs mean?
(lines 5 & 6)
Answer: Those deceiving eyes were seeking
sympathy.
5. What does imploring her to be nice mean? (line 7)
Answer:
It means she is obliged to be nice to him and do anything to keep
him happy.
6. What does the word paradise in line 8 suggest?
Answer: Bliss

STANZA 2
7. If only shed been wise implies the girl is unwise. Why is she unwise?
Answer:
She is unwise because she did not listen to the advice given.
8. What is the advice given?
Answer:
Never to compromise with pleasure-seeking guys.
9. Do you think the girl should have listened to the advice given? Give a
reason for your answer.
Answer:
Yes. Then she would not be broken-hearted if she had listened to
the advice.
[Link] does the expression the hows and whys mean?
Answer:
It means the reasons for the problems and how they happen.
STANZA 3
[Link] advice does the poet give concerning falling in love? (line 15)
Answer:
One must make sure that being nice to a man does not mean
giving in to him physically.
[Link] you think it is good advice? Why?
Answer:
Yes. One many fall in love once or twice before one finds true
love.
[Link] does the line youll never be losing at dice suggest?
Answer:
One will finally be successful in love although one may
experience heartbreak once or twice before that.
[Link] what the experience of falling in love is being compared to.
Answer:
It is being compared to a game of dice. One may win or lose in the
game.

NATURE:
STANZA 1
1. To whom is the poet referring when he uses We?
Answer: The people of Jamaica /The Jamaicans
2. The country portrayed in the poem enjoys two seasons. What are
they?
Answer: The hot and rainy seasons
3. Name one plantation crop mentioned in the poem.
Answer: Sugar cane
4. What sounds are heard on rainy days?
Answer:
Rain beating like bullets on the roof
Swish of water in the gullies
5. What does the phrase high Jamaica winds signify?
Answer:
Strong Jamaica winds / Strong power of the winds in Jamaica
6. Quote a line to show that the wind is destructive.
Answer:
And trees struggling in high Jamaican winds
7. Quote a line to show that the wind is gentle.
Answer:
When the tall grass sways and shivers to the slightest breath of
air
8. Which word suggests that harvesting is over?
Answer: reaped
9. Which phrase suggests that harvesting is over?
Answer: lie bare and fallow
[Link] can be heard and smelt when one walks near the bushes?
Answer:
The sound of bees
The scent of honey
[Link] what evidence shows that nature is rich and bountiful.

Answer:
The mango and logwood blossom
The bushes are full of the sound of bees
The buttercups cover the earth
[Link] is meant by the word paved as used in the poem? (line 14)
Answer: Covered
[Link] do the yellow stars refer to?
Answer:
Yellow buttercup flowers / Yellow buttercups
[Link] how the persona feels about the weather conditions in
Jamaica?
Answer:
The persona feels happy about the weather conditions in Jamaica
as he describes its beauty.
[Link] you like to visit a country with four seasons or a country with
two seasons? Why?
Answer:
I would like to visit a country with four seasons because I can see
different scenes at difference seasons.
I would like to visit a country with two seasons because the wet
season and dry season each has its own beauty.
ARE YOU STILL PLAYING YOUR FLUTE? (Q&A) :
STANZA 1
1. At whom is the question Are you still playing your flute? directed?
Answer:
The poets beloved / The man playing the flute / The flutist
2. What do you know about the poets beloved?
Answer: He plays the flute in the village.
3. What is the problem in the relationship between the persona and the
flutist? (line 2)
Answer: There is hardly time for their love.
4. How does the melody affect the persona?

Answer:
She feels guilty longing for his melody / song.
5. What is meant by the phrase to the depth of my heart? (line 10)
Answer:
To the centre of her being / To the bottom of her heart
STANZA 2
6. What has happened to the village? (lines 12 & 13)
Answer:
The village has become quiet and deserted.
The rice fields are not fertile anymore.
7. Why is the flutists village deserted and its rice field sick?
Answer:
People have moved to the city so, very few people work in the rice
fields.
8. What are the pleasurable pastimes in the village?
Answer:
Watching the rain
Gazing at the evening rays
Collecting dew drops
Enjoying the fragrance of flowers
9. Why do you think the flutist is not leaving his village?
Answer:
He loves the peaceful countryside.
He does not like the hustle and bustle of the city.
10. Where do you think the persona probably is?
Answer: In the city
[Link] you like to be in the same place as the persona? Why?
Answer:
No, I would rather be in the village and enjoy the beauty of nature.
Yes, because I love the modern lifestyle in the city.
STANZA 3
[Link] do you think the persona repeats the question, Are you still
playing your flute?

Answer: To emphasize her feeling of disappointment or

frustration with the flutist.
[Link] you think she should be repeating the question? Why?
Answer:
Yes, she should because the other person does not seem to be
affected by all her problems.
No, because it is rude to do so.
[Link] is the problem the personas brothers face?
Answer:
They are unemployed and desperate.
[Link] problems do you think the personas country is facing?
Answer:
Her people are disunited politically.
There is bloodshed. / Her friend was killed mercilessly.
There is unrest.
There is unemployment. / People are jobless. / People have no
work.
[Link] would you react if you were in the position of the persona?
Answer:
I would keep myself busy to forget the past.
I would give everything up and follow my heart.
I would think rationally and not be emotional.