Literature in English

Key Unit Competence: 

To be able to identify and analyse free verse in poetry. 

Introductory 

activity Read the poem below and answer the questions that follow.  

Bus stop

Questions

Note: Free verse is poetry that does not have regular patterns of rhyme and meter. The lines in free verse often flow more naturally than do rhymed, metrical lines and thus achieve a rhythm more like that of everyday human speech.

The following are free verse poetry features:

• Free verse poems have no regular meter or rhythm. 

• They do not follow a proper rhyme scheme; these poems do not have any set rules.

• This type of poem is based on normal pauses and natural rhythmical, as compared to the artificial constraints of traditional or normal poetry.  That is why it is called “Free verse”.

Free verse is commonly used in contemporary poetry. Some poets have taken this technique as a freedom from rhythm and rhyme, because it gives a greater freedom for choosing words, and conveying their meanings to the listener or the readers through intonation instead of meter/rhythm. Since it depends upon patterned elements like sounds, phrases, sentences, and words, it is free of artificiality of a typical poetic expression.

5.1. Poetic Devices 

5.1.1. Poetic line

Activity .5.1.1 

Read the poem below and answer questions about it.

Mother to Son 

Questions

Note: A poetic line is a subdivision of a poem, specifically a group of words arranged into a row that ends for a reason other than the right-hand margin. This reason could be that the lines are arranged to have a certain number of syllables, a certain number of stresses, or of metrical feet; it could be that they are arranged so that they rhyme, whether theyare  of equal length or not. But it is important to remember that the poet has chosen to make the line a certain length, or to make the line-break at a certain point. This line-break is where a reader has to turn back to the start of the next line. Lines are the text that takes up one line, or row, in a poem. Poems can have any number of lines.Some poets use short lines, some use long, some set all the lines on the left side of the page, and some indent lines differently all over the page. The relationship between the poetic line (including its length and positioning and how it fits into other lines) and the content of a poem is a major aspect of poetry. Free verse poem lines do not follow the rules, and have no rhyme or rhythm; but they are still an artistic expression. They are sometimes thought to be a modern form of poetry.

Application activity 5.1.1 

Read the poem and answer questions that follow.

Africa

Africa my Africa

Africa of proud warriors in the ancestral savannahs 

Africa of whom my grandmother sings 

On the banks of the distant river 

I have never known you 

But your blood flows in my veins 

Your beautiful black blood that irrigates the fields 

The blood of your sweat 

The sweat of your work 

The work of your slavery 

The slavery of your children 

Africa tell me Africa Is this you this back that is bent 

This back that breaks under the weight of humiliation 

This back trembling with red scars 

And saying yes to the whip under the midday sun 

But a grave voice answers me Impetuous son that tree young and strong 

That tree there In splendid loneliness amidst white and faded flowers 

That is Africa your Africa That grows again patiently obstinately 

And its fruit gradually acquires The bitter taste of liberty.

Questions

1. What is the poem about? 

2. According to the speaker, how have the past effects of colonialism shaped the Africa’s present? 

3. Compare and contrast the lines of this poem and those of Mother to son. 

4. Comment on poetic devices used in the poem.  

5.1. 2. Punctuation

Activity 5.1.2 

Read the poem below and answer questions.

Epilogue 

Questions

1. What is the poem about? 

2. Comment on the use of punctuation in the poem. 

3. How do we call such a poem?

Note: Free verse is just as the title says. It’s FREE. It may or may not have punctuation. It depends on the style of writing. Some poets that argue that poetry has to abide by normal grammatical rules, but free verse can be portrayed as the poet intends. Free verse has no set pattern and no rules that bind it as other forms of poetry do. 

It depends on what feels more comfortable to the poet whether or not punctuation is used.  Some free verse poems are just meant to flow freely, but if you want to add some spice you can add punctuation.

Application activity 5.1.2 

Read the poem below and answer the questions that follow.

My island is in need of a poem   

My island is in need of a poem 

Yes! Another poem for a poet to recite 

But now in everyone’s sight … 

While we’re peacefully seated at home

My island is in need of a poem 

Not to make children scatter again … 

But to let them feel at home 

And recognize our island’s vision 

To get ready for their own mission 

My island is in need of a poem 

A long narrative but different poem 

Telling a story on our peace tunnel   

Evoking the hard-works of their hands

A good way to get it strongly secured 

My island is in need of a poem 

A poem to relocate our broken hope

Out of a gloomy valley, where rested 

That wounding streaming tears

This takes roots from our downfalls. 

                Jean de Dieu BAVUGEMPORE

Questions

5.3. Oxymoron

Activity 5.3 

Read the poem and answer the questions that follow.

The end begins: Words

Questions

Note: Oxymoron is a poetic device in which two opposite ideas are joined to create an effect. The common oxymoron phrase is a combination of an adjective proceeded by a noun with contrasting meanings, such as “cruel kindness,” or “living dead”. However, the contrasting words/phrases are not always glued together. Authors/ Poets use oxymoron in literature for many reasons. At times an oxymoron may call attention to the dual nature of an object or concept, etc. For example, something can be both sweet and sorrowful at the same time. For instance, Shakespeare wrote that “parting is such sweet sorrow”. This makes the reader think more deeply about the multiple meanings of the experience. Oxymoron may also just present a concept in a new light to emphasize the author’s creativity.

Application Action 5.1.3 

Read the poem below and answer the questions.

 Life is Tremulous 

Life is tremulous like a water-drop on a mophane tree 

My body is wrinkled, my hair grey 

The talk is Bushmen everywhere

I am called a ‘no body’ 

A race of ragged filthy people 

Who cannot clean their floors 

Whose blanket in the firewood 

Who spit and sneeze freely everywhere 

Whose bodies smell of root-ointment 

Or like a cowhide soaked in the river water 

My countrymen call me names 

I am torn between life and death 

Propped between freedom and slavery 

My tears glide in pairs down my cheeks 

My hands shake because of old age 

I am no more than a refugee A loafer they say 

Yet others loaf too whilst other men work It is true 

I do not worry for lunch As birds do not worry theirs too. 

To me the delights of knowledge And the pomp of power are anathema 

Life is tremulous like drops Of water on a mophane leaf 

My countrymen eat, drink and laugh

I and my fellow men and women sleep under trees 

In caves or open ground We starve, we can no longer hunt freely 

Life is a scourge, a curse It is tremulous like a drop of water on a mophane leaf.

Albert Malikongwa

Source: Growing up with poetry.An anthology for secondary schools, page 51-52

Questions

5.4. Paradox

Activity 5.1.4 

Read the poem below and answer the questions.

And when you balance on your head

And when you balance on your head 

A beautiful water pot Or a new basket 

Or a long-necked jar Full of Honey, 

Your long neck Resembles the alwiri spear

And as you walk along the pathway 

On both sides

The abiya grasses are flowering 

And the pollok blossoms 

And the wild white lilies 

Are shouting silently 

To the bees and butterflies!

And as the fragrance 

Of the ripe wild berries 

Hooks the insects and little birds, 

As the fishermen hook the fish 

And pull them up mercilessly, 

The young men come 

From the surrounding villages, 

And from across many streams, 

They come from beyond the hills 

And the wide plains. 

And bite off their ears Like jackals.

And when you go 

To the well Or into the freshly burnt woodlands 

To collect the red oceyu 

Or to cut oddugushrubs , 

You find them, 

Lurking on the shades 

Like the leopardess with cubs. 

Okotp’Bitek 

Source: Growing up with poetry, an anthology for secondary schools, edited by David Rubadiri, page  6.

Questions

Note: Paradox is a wise saying that on the surface appears contradictory, but when examined in deep, reveals a fundamental truth. For example we say “the son is the father of the man” on the surface it is quite illogical but when analysed further it is true because a son today, is a father tomorrow. Poets use paradox to give pleasure to the reader. Readers enjoy more when they extract the hidden meanings out of the writing rather than something presented to them in an uncomplicated manner. In some poems, paradox is meant to communicate a tone of irony to its readers as well as lead their thoughts to the immediate subject. Paradox in most poems normally strives to create feelings of intrigue and interest in readers’ minds, to make them think deeper and harder to enjoy the real message of the poem.

Application activity 5.4 

Read the poem below and answer questions.

What is he? 

Questions

Activity 1

Activity 2 

Read the poem below and answer questions about it.

The graceful giraffe cannot become a monkey

My husband tells me 

I have no ideas 

Of modern beauty. 

He says

I have stuck 

To old-fashioned hair styles.

He says 

I am stupid and very backward, 

That my hair style 

Makes him sick 

Because I am dirty.

Listen, 

My father comes from 

Payira, 

My mother is a woman of Koc! 

I am a true Acoli 

I am not a half-caste 

I am not a slave girl; 

My father was not brought home 

By the spear 

My mother was not exchanged 

For a basket of millet.

Ask me what beauty is 

To the Acoli 

And I will tell you; 

I will show it to you 

If you give me a chance!

You once saw me, 

You saw my hair style 

And you admired it, 

And the boys loved it 

At the arena 

Boys surrounded me 

And fought for me.

My mother taught me 

Acoli hair fashions; 

Which fits the kind 

Of hair of the Acoli, 

And the occasion.

Listen, 

Ostrich plumes differ 

From chicken feathers, 

A monkey’s tail Is different from that of a giraffe, 

The crocodile’s skin Is not like the guinea fowl’s, 

And the hippo is naked, and hairless.

The hair of the 

Acoli Is different from that of the 

Arabs; The Indians’ hair 

Resembles the tail of a horse; 

It is like sisal strings 

And needs to be cut With scissors. 

It is black, 

And is different from that of a white woman.

A white woman’s hair 

Is soft like silk; It is light 

And brownish like 

That of a brown monkey, 

And is very different from mine. 

A black woman’s hair Is thick and curly; 

It is true Ring-worm sometimes eat up 

A little girl’s hair And this is terrible;

But when hot porridge 

Is put on the head 

And the dance is held 

Under the sausage-fruit tree 

And the youths have sung

You, Ring worm 

Who is eating 

Duka’s hair 

Here is your porridge,

Then the girl’s hair 

Begins to grow again 

And the girl is pleased.

Okot p’ Bitek 

Source: Growing up with poetry p.15

Questions 

Activity 3

1. Basing on the features of free verse poems, compose a two stanza poem on a topic of your choice.