## SECTION A: UNSEEN POEM (30 Marks)
**1. Read the poem below and answer the questions that follow**
Poplars are standing there still as death
1
and ghosts of dead men
meet their ladies walking
two by two beneath the shade
and standing on the marble steps.
There is a sound of music echoing
5
through the open door
and in the field there is
another sound tinkling in the cotton:
chains of bondsmen dragging on the ground.
10
The years go back with an iron clank,
a hand is on the gate,
a dry leaf trembles on the wall,
Ghosts are walking.
They have broken roses down
15
And poplars stand there still as death.
---
### QUESTIONS
- a. Suggest an Appropriate title for this poem.
- b. What is the subject matter of this poem?
- c. What details of the life of the former owners of the structure does the poem give?
- d. How did this flamboyant lifestyle contrast with that of the victims?
- e. Identify four figures of speech in the poem.
- f. What is the tone of the poem?
---
## SECTION B: NON-AFRICAN POETRY
**Answer ONE (1) Question from this Section**
### WILLAIM BUTLER YEATS: *SELECTED POEMS*
**2.** "Yeats is a more lively and optimistic poet than other modernist poets who are sardonic and pessimistic in their outlook of life". Expatiate this assertion with reference to four poems.
---
**3.** Discuss Yeats' use of history in his *Selected Poems*
---
### EDWARD BRATHWAITE: *THE ARRIVANTS: A NEW WORLD TRILOGY*
**4.** With reference to the poems in 'Rights of Passage,' discuss Brathwaite's deep search for roots and identity.
**5.** Comment on the style of Brathwaite's *The Arrivants*
---
## SECTION C: AFRICAN POETRY 25 Marks
**Answer ONE (1) question from this section**
### NIYI OSUNDARE: *THE EYE OF THE EARTH*
**6.** With close reference to four poems, discuss Osundare's fascination with nature in *The Eye of the Earth.*
**7.** Osundare's *The Eye of the Earth* is conceived in three movements. Discuss.
---
### DENNIS BRUTUS: *LETTERS TO MARTHA*
**8.** "Dennis Brutus emphasizes endurance and passive resistance as a possible solution to peaceful co-existence among the races". Justify this assertion with reference to four poems in *Letters to Martha.*
**9.** Justify Brutus' use of the letter form to communicate his message in *Letters to Martha.*
# LITERATURE-IN-ENGLISH PAPER III: POETRY — Full Answers
---
# SECTION A: UNSEEN POEM
## a) Suitable Title
**"Ghosts of the Plantation"** or **"The Silent Witnesses"**
---
## b) Subject Matter
The poem deals with the **contrast between the luxurious life of slave owners and the suffering of enslaved people** on a plantation. It portrays a haunted estate where the ghosts of the past linger, reflecting on the injustice and cruelty of slavery.
---
## c) Details of the Life of the Former Owners
- They lived in a **grand estate** with marble steps, suggesting wealth and elegance.
- They enjoyed **music** that echoed through open doors, indicating a life of leisure and entertainment.
- They had **beautiful gardens** with roses and poplar trees, showing a life of luxury.
- Ladies walked **two by two beneath the shade**, suggesting a refined, aristocratic lifestyle.
---
## d) Contrast with the Victims (Enslaved People)
| Former Owners | Victims/Bondsmen |
|---------------|-----------------|
| Walked leisurely in shade | Dragged chains in cotton fields |
| Enjoyed music indoors | Heard only the tinkling of chains |
| Lived in marble-stepped mansions | Toiled in open fields |
| Enjoyed roses and gardens | Endured iron clanks and bondage |
While the owners enjoyed **pleasure and comfort**, the enslaved people suffered in **pain, chains, and forced labour** under the scorching sun.
---
## e) Four Figures of Speech
1. **Simile** — *"Poplars are standing there still as death"* — the poplars are compared to death using "as," conveying stillness and lifelessness.
2. **Personification** — *"a dry leaf trembles on the wall"* — a leaf is given the human ability to tremble, suggesting fear and unease.
3. **Imagery** — *"chains of bondsmen dragging on the ground"* — vivid sound and visual imagery of enslaved people in chains.
4. **Repetition/Refrain** — *"And poplars stand there still as death"* — repeated at the beginning and end, emphasizing permanence of the haunted past.
---
## f) Tone of the Poem
The tone is **mournful, eerie, and haunting.** There is a deep sense of sadness and injustice as the poet reflects on the brutal legacy of slavery. The ghostly imagery creates a solemn, melancholic atmosphere throughout.
---
---
# SECTION B: NON-AFRICAN POETRY
## WILLIAM BUTLER YEATS: *SELECTED POEMS*
## Question 2: Yeats as a Lively and Optimistic Poet
While many modernist poets approached life with cynicism and despair, W.B. Yeats distinguished himself through a spirit of vitality, hope, and imaginative energy. Though he acknowledged suffering, his poetry consistently reaches toward beauty, transcendence, and meaning.
**i. "The Lake Isle of Innisfree"**
This poem radiates optimism and longing for peace. Rather than dwelling in despair, Yeats envisions an ideal retreat — a place of tranquility and natural beauty. The speaker's determination to "arise and go" reflects an active, hopeful spirit. Unlike pessimistic modernists who accept suffering passively, Yeats seeks renewal through nature and imagination.
**ii. "When You Are Old"**
Though tinged with melancholy, the poem is alive with deep feeling and passion. Yeats celebrates genuine love that endures beyond youth and beauty. His emotional energy and the intensity of his devotion distinguish him from sardonic poets who mock or dismiss romantic sentiment.
**iii. "The Second Coming"**
While this poem acknowledges chaos and the breakdown of civilization, Yeats engages with history with prophetic energy rather than passive pessimism. He seeks to understand and interpret the turning of historical cycles, showing intellectual vitality and a refusal to surrender meaning.
**iv. "Sailing to Byzantium"**
This poem is Yeats at his most optimistic — transcending physical decay through art and the spirit. Rather than despairing over old age, he sails toward an eternal artistic realm. This affirmation of the soul's immortality through creative expression is fundamentally life-affirming, far removed from the sardonic despair of other modernists.
In conclusion, Yeats' poetry is characterized by imaginative richness, passionate engagement with life, and a persistent search for meaning — qualities that set him apart as lively and optimistic.
---
## Question 3: Yeats' Use of History in *Selected Poems*
Yeats was deeply conscious of history — both Irish national history and broader world history — and used it as a powerful framework in his poetry.
**i. Irish Mythology and Legend**
Yeats drew extensively from ancient Irish myth and folklore. By invoking legendary figures and heroic tales, he connected the present struggles of Ireland to a glorious past, giving his nation a sense of identity and pride.
**ii. The Easter Rising of 1916 — "Easter 1916"**
This poem directly engages with a defining moment in Irish history. Yeats immortalizes the leaders of the uprising, transforming political events into poetry. His famous line about a "terrible beauty" born reflects his complex view of revolutionary history — admiring the sacrifice while questioning the violence.
**iii. The Cyclical View of History**
In *"The Second Coming,"* Yeats uses his theory of historical gyres — the idea that history moves in repeating cycles of 2,000 years. He saw World War I and the Russian Revolution as signs of a civilization reaching the end of its cycle. This cyclical interpretation of history gives his poetry prophetic depth.
**iv. Byzantium as a Historical Symbol**
In *"Sailing to Byzantium,"* Yeats uses the ancient city of Byzantium as a historical and cultural symbol of artistic perfection and spiritual permanence, contrasting it with the decay of the modern world.
In summary, history in Yeats is not merely background — it is a living force that shapes identity, meaning, and destiny.
---
## Question 4: Brathwaite's Deep Search for Roots and Identity in *Rights of Passage*
Edward Kamau Brathwaite's *Rights of Passage* — the first part of *The Arrivants* trilogy — is a profound exploration of the African diaspora's search for cultural roots and a stable identity.
**i. The Middle Passage and Displacement**
Brathwaite traces the traumatic journey of Africans from their homeland to the Caribbean through the horrors of the slave trade. This displacement is central to the identity crisis explored in the collection. The African is torn from his roots, stripped of language, religion, and culture.
**ii. Search for African Heritage**
Throughout the poems, Brathwaite's speaker journeys — literally and spiritually — back toward Africa. There is a persistent longing to reconnect with ancestral traditions, rhythms, and values that slavery attempted to erase. Africa represents wholeness, origin, and dignity.
**iii. The Fragmented Self**
The diaspora figure in *Rights of Passage* exists between worlds — neither fully African nor fully Western. This fragmentation drives the search for identity. Brathwaite uses jazz rhythms, blues, and Caribbean dialect to assert a distinct cultural voice that blends African heritage with New World experience.
**iv. Spiritual and Cultural Reclamation**
Brathwaite sees the recovery of roots not just as personal but as a collective, political act. By remembering and celebrating African culture, the diaspora reclaims dignity and resists cultural colonization.
In conclusion, *Rights of Passage* is Brathwaite's poetic declaration that identity cannot be fully realized without an honest confrontation with one's roots and history.
---
## Question 5: Style of Brathwaite's *The Arrivants*
Brathwaite's style in *The Arrivants* is distinctive, experimental, and deeply rooted in African and Caribbean oral traditions.
**i. Jazz and Blues Rhythms**
Brathwaite incorporates the rhythms of jazz, blues, and calypso into his verse, reflecting the musical heritage of the African diaspora. This gives his poetry a distinctive oral, performative quality.
**ii. Nation Language**
He uses Caribbean dialect and creole — what he calls "nation language" — rather than standard British English, asserting the validity and richness of vernacular speech as a literary medium.
**iii. Free Verse and Unconventional Structure**
Brathwaite largely abandons traditional European poetic forms in favour of free verse, fragmented lines, and irregular spacing, reflecting the fragmented experience of diaspora identity.
**iv. Allusion and Intertextuality**
He draws on African mythology, the Bible, and history, layering his poems with multiple cultural references that enrich their meaning.
**v. Imagery**
His imagery is vivid, earthy, and rooted in the natural and cultural landscape of the Caribbean and Africa — rivers, drums, soil, and ocean feature prominently.
---
---
# SECTION C: AFRICAN POETRY
## NIYI OSUNDARE: *THE EYE OF THE EARTH*
## Question 6: Osundare's Fascination with Nature
Niyi Osundare's *The Eye of the Earth* is a passionate celebration of and lament for the natural world. His fascination with nature is evident across the collection.
**i. "I Sing of Change"**
Osundare uses nature as a symbol of renewal and transformation. The changing seasons mirror his hope for social and political change in Africa, showing nature as deeply intertwined with human destiny.
**ii. "Forest Echoes"**
Here Osundare immerses the reader in the sounds and rhythms of the forest, treating it as a living, sacred space. His detailed, sensory descriptions reveal a deep reverence for the African forest ecosystem.
**iii. "Ours to Plough, Not to Plunder"**
This poem directly addresses humanity's responsibility toward nature. Osundare warns against environmental exploitation, insisting that the earth is a gift to be cultivated with care, not destroyed for profit.
**iv. "Season"**
Osundare celebrates the generosity of nature through the image of a bountiful harvest season. The earth is portrayed as a nurturing mother, generous to those who respect her.
In all these poems, Osundare presents nature as sacred, political, and deeply personal — a living presence that sustains both the body and the soul.
---
## Question 7: *The Eye of the Earth* Conceived in Three Movements
Osundare structures *The Eye of the Earth* in three distinct movements, each serving a different thematic and emotional purpose.
**i. First Movement — Celebration**
The opening poems celebrate the beauty, abundance, and generosity of the natural world. Osundare sings of the earth's rivers, forests, seasons, and harvests with joy and gratitude. The tone is lyrical and reverential, establishing the earth as a sacred, living entity.
**ii. Second Movement — Lamentation**
The middle section shifts to grief and protest. Osundare mourns the destruction of nature through deforestation, pollution, and colonial and post-colonial exploitation. The earth, once celebrated, is now threatened. This movement reflects Osundare's environmentalist conscience and his anger at human greed.
**iii. Third Movement — Hope and Renewal**
The final movement looks forward with cautious optimism. Osundare calls on humanity to reclaim its proper relationship with the earth — one of stewardship rather than exploitation. There is a vision of healing and restoration if humanity chooses to change its ways.
Together, the three movements create a complete emotional and thematic arc: from love, through loss, to hope — making the collection a powerful ecological and humanistic statement.
---
## DENNIS BRUTUS: *LETTERS TO MARTHA*
## Question 8: Brutus and Endurance as a Solution to Peaceful Co-existence
Dennis Brutus' *Letters to Martha* — written as letters from prison — consistently emphasizes the virtues of endurance and passive resistance as responses to the brutality of apartheid South Africa.
**i. Endurance of Physical Suffering**
Throughout the collection, Brutus describes the harsh conditions of Robben Island prison — the cold, the hard labour, the isolation — yet maintains a spirit of quiet resilience. Rather than responding with hatred or violence, he endures, transforming suffering into poetry and witness.
**ii. Passive Resistance as Moral Strength**
Brutus does not call for armed revolt. Instead, he advocates for a dignity-preserving resistance — refusing to be broken mentally or spiritually even when physically imprisoned. This echoes the philosophy of figures like Gandhi and Mandela, that moral strength ultimately outlasts physical oppression.
**iii. Humanizing the Oppressor**
Remarkably, Brutus does not dehumanize his jailers and oppressors. By maintaining his humanity and appealing to the shared human condition, he implicitly argues for co-existence grounded in mutual recognition and respect.
**iv. Hope as a Political Act**
Even in the darkest poems, Brutus sustains hope — for justice, for freedom, for reconciliation. This refusal to despair is itself a form of resistance, suggesting that peaceful co-existence remains possible if humanity chooses justice over hatred.
In conclusion, Brutus presents endurance and passive resistance not as weakness but as the most powerful and dignified response to injustice.
---
## Question 9: Justifying Brutus' Use of the Letter Form
The choice of the letter form in *Letters to Martha* is not accidental — it is central to the collection's power and meaning.
**i. Intimacy and Directness**
Letters are inherently personal and intimate. By addressing his sister Martha directly, Brutus creates an immediate emotional connection with the reader. We feel we are reading private correspondence, which draws us closer to his suffering and thoughts.
**ii. Circumventing Censorship**
Prison authorities censored Brutus' actual letters. By framing his poems as letters, he was able to communicate truths about prison life, apartheid, and resistance in a form that was less obviously political — using art to speak where direct speech was forbidden.
**iii. Bearing Witness**
The letter form gives Brutus the posture of a witness — recording events, feelings, and observations for someone who was not present. This creates a documentary quality that strengthens the poems' moral and political authority.
**iv. Universalizing the Personal**
Though addressed to Martha, the letters speak to all of humanity. The personal gradually becomes universal — Brutus' individual suffering stands for the collective suffering of all who live under oppression.
**v. Structural Freedom**
The letter form allowed Brutus flexibility — he could move freely between narrative, reflection, description, and emotion without the constraints of formal poetic structure, making his voice more authentic and varied.
In summary, the letter form was the perfect vehicle for Brutus' message — combining intimacy, authenticity, political courage, and universal appeal.