F.4 Poetry quiz Set poems + unseen poem

Section (a) 1.With reference to Cold in the Earth and The Good Morrow, answer the following questions. (22 marks) (i) Discuss the changes in the poems. (8 marks)

The Good MorrowCold in the Earth Before1.The speaker has no true love; 2.He is like a baby, childish and immature (suck ’ d on country pleasures, childishly); 3.It seems that he is sleeping and dreaming (snorted we in the Seven Sleepers ’ den) 1.The speaker suffers from yearning after her deceased lover; 2.There is no hope and is cold, as symbolised by the cold setting (winter). After1.The speaker has his true love; 2.He is awakened, both literally and metaphorically; 3.He is ‘ weaned ’ and is more mature now. 1.Spring comes, symbolising hope as well; 2.However, the hope is ‘ dark ’ ; 3.The speaker has to go on with her life and may sometimes forget her lover, but she is always true and faithful to him.

(ii) Comment on the tones of the speakers. (8 marks) The Good MorrowCold in the Earth 1.Passionate; 2.Happy/ Joyful; 3.Optimistic (Confident that if the two love one another equally then none can die) 1.Melancholic; 2.Desparate; 3.Lonely (obviously) 4.Frustrated (to live or to die?); 5.Afraid (to ‘ indulge in memory ’ s rapturous pain ’ ) 6.Defensive ( ‘ Hopes which obscure, but cannot do thee wrong! ’ )

(iii) Discuss the poetic techniques in stanza 2 of Poem A and stanza 5 of Poem B. (6 marks) Technically, all techniques are acceptable, but you need to identify and then discuss the use of every technique. You also have to compare and contrast the two poems! 1.Repetition ( ‘ Let …’ in Poem A, ‘ No … and All … in Poem B)  for emphasis; 2.Exaggeration (Poem A: Our room = the whole world to show how much the speaker is in love; Poem B: the lover lights up the speaker ’ s world to show how important the lover is to the speaker); 3.Metaphor (Poem B: The lover = stellar object)  again to show how important the lover is to the speaker.

Section (b) Unseen poetry 1.Comment on the setting in the first stanza.(4 marks) Setting = Place + time Place => Battlefield/ France; Time => A winter morning. Snowing. Atmosphere => Cold, melancholic

(ii) How is the title related to the second stanza? (4 marks) ‘ Futility means ‘ pointlessness ’ or ‘ uselessness ’. This is the idea the speaker wishes to express as he thinks that the sun gave Earth (cold star) life (waking the clays), but he does not understand why lives have to taken away in this way (in war). So there is no point for life to start on Earth in the first place.

(iii) Discuss the poetic techniques in the last 3 lines.(3 marks) 1.Allusion: to the book of Genesis, the creation of man from soil; 2.Enjambement: mimicking the breaking of ‘ earth ’ s sleep ’ ; 3.Personification: ‘ fatuous sunbeams ’, ‘ earth ’ s sleep ’