1. Junior Certificate Poetry
The Unseen Poem

2. Approaching the Unseen Poem
When looking at an unseen poem. Ask yourself the following questions:
Who is speaking in the poem?
What is being said?
What prompted the poet to write the poem?
What struck you first about this particular poem?
What do you think of the opening and the ending?
Does the poet use unusual words, images, repetition?

3. The Title Ask yourself: What does the title tell us about the poem?
When you have read the poem think about how suitable the title is.
Is it a good title in your opinion? Why or
why not?
What does the title reveal or suggest?

4. Language and Vocabulary
Look at the poet’s choice of words. Is the language unusual or is it day to day and ordinary? Are the words simple and easily understood or are they more complicated?
How do the words the poet uses add to your understanding of the poem?

5. Imagery
An image is a picture painted in your mind. If there is good imagery in a poem you will be able to imagine what the poet discusses very easily.
Look at the different images used in the poem and be able to describe some of them in detail.

6. Mood
Mood is the feeling of the poem and the feeling the reader is left with after reading it. The mood can change throughout a poem.
Be able to identify what the mood is and discuss how the mood of the poem made you enjoy the poem more or less.

7. Poetic Techniques
Can you spot any other poetic techniques used in the poem?
If you can try to explain how these techniques added to your enjoyment of the poem or added to your understanding of the poem (etc.) The same way you would in the studied poetry section!

8. What does the City hope for in the last 4 lines? Explain your answer.
SONG OF THE CITY
My brain is stiff with concrete
My limbs are rods of steel
My belly’s stuffed with money
My soul was bought in a deal.
They poured metal through my arteries
They choked my lungs with lead
They churned my blood to plastic
They put murder into my head.
I’d a face like a map of the weather
Flesh that grew to the bone
But they tore my story out of my eyes
And turned my heart to stone.
Let me wind from my source like a river
Let me grow like wheat from the grain
Let me hold out my arms like a natural tree
Let my children love me again.
Gareth Owen
Questions
Do you think this is a sad or happy poem? Give reasons for your answer.
What does the City hope for in the last 4 lines? Explain your answer.