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Comment On The Use Of Pun In The Pulley By George Herbert

"Comment on the use of pun in the pulley" WAEC May/June 2017.

One of the reasons why the examination council has added this classic metaphysical poem to the list of recommended poetry for the 2016-2020 Literature-in-English syllabus is to ensure that the candidates sitting for the examination are able to comprehend the the poet's use of language, style and symbolism.

The question here is about the use of pun in The Pulley by George Herbert. It is true that George Herbert wrote the poem to show God's high level of supremacy over humankind. The poet c

Analysis Of Prayer Before Birth By Louis MacNeice

“Prayer Before Birth” by Louis MacNeice is such a fictive poem where the voice of the poem (an unborn child) speaks to the readers by introducing himself and his varying demands in form of refrain in lines 1 and 25 “I am not yet born; O hear me” in line 8 “I am not yet born; provide me” in line 12 “I am not yet born; forgive me” in line 18 “I am not yet born; rehearse me” in line 28 “I am not yet born; O fill me” . All through the 8 stanzas of the poem, the readers can relate with the unborn child’s pleases and displeases _ the child detests danger and irritation (Let not the bloodsucking bat or the rat or the stoat or the club-footed ghoul come near me), confinements (I fear that human race may with tall walls wall me), he detests being deceived (with wise lies lure me), hardship or sufferings (on black racks rack me, in blood-baths roll me).

Even before birth, the readers have known the things the poem speaker will love to enjoy on earth; according the passionate crafting of MacNeice, the unborn child loves nature:
“I am not yet born; provide me
With water to dandle me, grass to grow for me, trees to tall
in the back of my mind to guide me.”

The unborn child loves to be forgiven of his wrongs. Considering that alone shows the level of imperfection in humans. The child admitted that his innocence won’t last forever (for the sins in me the world shall commit, my words when they speak me, my thoughts when they think me, my treason engendered by traitors beyond me…). Guidance is another thing requested by the unborn child (in the parts I must play and the cues I must take when old men lecture me, bureaucrats hector me, mountains frown at me, lovers laugh at me, the white waves call me to folly and the desert call me to doom and the beggar refuses my gift and my children curse me)

Stanza 7 of the poem shows the unborn child is not just willing to be pampered on earth, he's ready to fight for a great course which made the child demanded being strengthened against his or her enemies. He backed his reasons for fighting for survival in the last stanza of the poem (Let them not make me a stone and let them not spill me. Otherwise kill me)

"I am not yet born; O fill me
With strength against those who would freeze my
humanity, would dragoon me into a lethal automaton,
would make me a cog in a machine, a thing with
one face, a thing, and against all those
who would dissipate my entirety, would
blow me like thistledown hither and
thither or hither and thither
like water held in the
hands would spill me."(according to stanza 7)

Three of the themes are (1) Imperfection; this prompted Louis MacNeice to craft the poem knowing that earth is an imperfect place where living beings battle the anomalies

Symbolism Setting And Style In Letter To Martha 17 By Dennis Brutus

In terms of style, Letter To Martha 17 by Dennis Brutus is a 6 stanza poem totaling 29 lines. Brutus structured this poem in free verse with the use of run-on-lines maybe to please the urgency for freedom as felt by the poem speaker. Besides the line arrangement, soberness and simplicity in diction are things of note because it doesn’t require much literary expertise for anyone to comprehend the message of the poem.

Lets look at the use of symbolism amongst other poetic devices embodied in the poem. The “mind” in the poem symbolized the prisoner and his thoughts as seen in line 8 of the poem “the mind turns upwards/ when it can”; it represented the man unhappy state of confinement. In line 12, “the arc and fluorescent” were also symbols of

Analysis Of London By A S J Tessimond

According to information gathered from wikipedia, the poet behind the poem titled "London" began to publish in the 1920s in literary magazines; during which he published "Walls of Glass" in 1934, "Voices in a Giant City" in 1947 and "Selections" in 1958. The poem London by A. S. J. Tessimond describes London from the poet's personal perspective of the city. He personified the title with the use of "I am" as seen in 1, 6, 12. You can read the complete three stanza poem when you click here

The settings of the poem is sure citylike "…the city of two divided cities" "the city of people sitting and talking quietly" "the city whose fog will fall like a finger gently". In terms of structure, the three unequal stanzas of the poem are void of rhymes and rhythm; the 1st stanza of the poem holds 5lines, the second stanza is in 6lines while the third stanza is seven. The 1st stanza shows the social state in London as a city with two class division of the poor and the rich; the servants and the masters. The 2nd stanza pictured the living system of the