on the sandy shores,
So quiet, so quiet, he scarcely snores.
gnaw – biting away at something hard
dune – a hill on the beach made of sand
| Post-reading | ||
| 3. | The poet describes the sea as a dog throughout this poem. He does not say that the sea is like a dog, (a simile) he says the sea IS a dog. What is this kind of comparison called? How effective do you think this is? | |
| 4. | The poet makes extensive use of onomatopoeia (the sound of the words echo the meaning/sound like what they mean). | |
| a) | Which words describing the sea make it sound like a hungry dog? | |
| b) | Which word suggests the gentle sound of the sea? | |
| 5. | Which stanza do you like best? Explain your choice. | |
| Pre-reading | |
| 1. | In Africa, the first real event is a welcome event. Can you explain why? |
Thundershower
Patrick Cullinan
When the rain, the first real rain of the year
Flashes on our black tin roof, we smile across
The room and know, surer than the calendar
Twelve months have passed: yet there is no loss.
We only remember how small we grow
At this sound: how a child is warm in bed
And hears the same rain heard a year ago.
The air is warm. The green days lie ahead.
| Post-reading | ||
| 2. | What time of the year does the first thunderstorm come? Quote from the poem to support your answer. | |
| 3. | What does the word “flashes” suggest about the rain? | |
| 4. | The speaker does not expect us to believe that we literally grow small when we hear the sound of the rain. What does he mean by “how small we grow”? | |
| 5. a) | The last line is in a stanza of its own. Suggest a reason for this. | |
| b) | The poet describes the days that are coming as “green” days? What is the speaker referring to? | |
| Pre-reading | |||
| The poem is told through the voice of a San hunter. Their language uses many click sounds and the words and sounds in the poem try to show this. Read the poem aloud to enjoy its sounds. Please note that Sydney Clouts wrote this poem in 1966 before the word “Bushman” was generally replaced by the word “San”. | |||
| During reading | |||
| 1. | Jot down in point form what happens during the poem | ||
Firebowl
Sydney Clouts
Kalahari Bushman fires flowing
in the hollows of the desert
click all night
stick stuck upright
click
click
of starlight
bowstring
toes of the eland
thk thk big raindrops
tk tk tk the sandgrains
drinking.
Sssskla!
sparks of honey
arrowheads
we who dance
around the circle
around the circle
spoor him
find him.
my arrow clings to the thick thick
grunt of darkness
my arrow sings through fire.
we who dance we find
the
fire
of the fire.
| Post-reading | ||
| 2. | There are only two punctuation marks in this poem. Why did the poet use the exclamation mark? | |
| 3. a) | Which of the senses does this poem appeal to most? Quote from the poem to support your answer. | |
| b) | What other sense does the poem appeal to? Quote words from the poem to support your answer. | |
| 4. a) | What do you think the words “sandgrains drinking” mean? | |
| b) | What visual image is created by the words “sparks of honey”? | |
| 5. | What do you think a “firebowl” is? Suggest another title for the poem. | |
| Pre-reading | |
| 1. | When do people usually sleep beneath the stars? |
| During reading | |
| 2. | What is the name of this shanty town (township)? |
Shantytown
Anonymous
High on the veld upon that plain
And far from streets and lights and cars
And bare of trees, and bare of grass,
Jabavu sleeps beneath the stars.
Jabavu sleeps.
The children cough.
Cold creeps up, the hard night cold,
The earth is tight within its grasp,
The Highveld cold without soft rain,
Dry as the sand, rough as a rasp
The frost rimmed night invades the shacks.
Through dusty ground
Through rocky ground
Through freezing ground, the night cold creeps.
In cotton blankets, rags and sacks
Beneath the stars Jabavu sleeps.
One day Jabavu will awake
To greet a new and shining day:
The sound of coughing will become
