Poetry

Question 1

“the horse strained at his clicking tongue”

Answer 1

Follower(platonic)

Question 2

“All I ever did was follow”

Answer 2

Follower

Question 3

“I was a nuisance, tripping, falling”

Answer 3

Follower

Question 4

Tone and context of follower

Answer 4

Tone - Gentle admiring tone, has father/son dynamic

Speaker looks up to dad, feels as though he’s a hindrance rather than a help on the farm

Question 5

Thoughtful comment on follower

Answer 5

Semantic field of agriculture shows his upbringing and pressure on himself to be good like his father

Question 6

“Endless sky to fall or fly”

Answer 6

Mother, any distance

Question 7

“Anchor.Kite”

Answer 7

Mother, any distance

Question 8

“You at the zero end, me with the spool of tape”

Answer 8

Mother, any distance

Question 9

“pinch”

Answer 9

Mother, any distance

Question 10

Tone & context of mother any distance

Answer 10

Tone- gentleness, flicker of irritation
Context- mother/son relationship
Son is moving out and reflecting on relationship.
Physical/emotional divide

Question 11

Thoughtful comment on mother any distance

Answer 11

Enjambment short lines because he’s leaving things behind (home)

Question 12

“You’d teach me the steps on the way to mass”

Answer 12

Before you were mine

Question 13

“polka dot dress blows around your legs Marilyn”

Answer 13

Before you were mine

Question 14

“Your ghost clatters towards me”

Answer 14

Before you were mine

Question 15

“ballroom with a thousand eyes”

Answer 15

Before you were mine

Question 16

Tone and context or before you were mine

Answer 16

Tone- poignant , reflecting
Context - daughter pov
Mother/daughter relationship
Idealised memory of her mother before she was born and how growing up changes you as you take on responsibilities

Question 17

Thoughtful comment on before you were mine

Answer 17

Stanza breaks to show different times of her mother’s life and to put distance between the now and before

Question 18

“the slow pulse of his good heart”

Answer 18

Climbing my grandfather

Question 19

“old brogues, dusty and cracked”

Answer 19

Climbing my grandfather

Question 20

“warm ice”

Answer 20

Climbing my grandfather

Question 21

Tone & context of climbing my grandfather

Answer 21

Tone -positive and loving/admiring
Context - grandad set high standard to which he cannot achieve
Extended metaphor for gd being a mountain which he has to conquer/reach his heights of success

Question 22

Thoughtful comment on climbing my grandfather

Answer 22

Juxtaposition, he’s worn and rugged but actually soft and kind
Semantic field of climbing. One big struggle with the sense of danger and excitement

Question 23

“they beckon to me”

Answer 23

Eden rock

Question 24

“sky whitens as if lit by three suns”

Answer 24

Eden rock

Question 25

“crossing is not as hard as you might think”

Answer 25

Eden rock

Question 26

Tone & context of Eden rock

Answer 26

Tone- peaceful, reflective
Context - father died first so his paragraph is put first
Heaven imagery(he wants to go to his parents in heaven)
Thinks of fondest memory of them all(picnic)

Question 27

Thoughtful comment on Eden rock

Answer 27

Unafraid of death as he’s confident of joining his parents in heaven