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    KCSE Poetry Revision Questions & Answers Free

    ByHillary Kangwana

    Mar 24, 2025
    GOLDEN ELITE EDUCATIONAL CONSULTANCY

     

    POETRY REVISION QUESTIONS

     

    Read the poem below and answer the questions that follow.                        (20 marks)

    Old and New 

    She went up the mountain to pluck wild herbs,

    She came down the mountain and met her former husband,

    She knelt down and asked her former husband,

    “What do you find your new wife like?”

    “My new wife, although her talk is clever,  Cannot charm me as my old wife could,

    In beauty of face there is not much to choose,

    But in usefulness they are not at all alike,

    My new wife comes in from the road to meet me, My old wife always came down from her tower.* My new wife is clever at embroidering silk; My old wife was good at plain sewing.  Of silk embroidery one can do an inch a day; Of plain sewing, more than five feet.

    Putting her silks by the side of your sewing,

    I see that the new will not compare with the old.”

                Anonymous 1st Century B.C.

    Questions 

    1. What is the poem about?       (3 marks)
    2. With illustrations identify one similarity and difference in the two wives.        (4 marks)
    3. Comment on any two poetic devices used in the poem.                    6 marks)
    4. Explain the meaning of the following lines.

    “My new wife, although her talk is clever, cannot charm me as my old wife”                    (3 marks)

    1. Identify aspects of social life noticeable in the poem.              (3 marks)
    2. What is the tone of the poem?  (3 marks)

     

    Read the poem below and answer the questions that follow:

    THE VILLAGE WELL

    By the well,

    Where fresh water still quietly whisper

    As when I

    First accompanied Mother and filled my baby gourd,

    By this well,

    Where many an evening its clean water cleaned me;

     

    This silent well

    Dreaded haunt of the long haired Musambwa

    Who basked

    In the mid-day sun reclining on the rock

    Where I now sit

    Welling up with many poignant memories;

     

    This spot,

    Which has rung with the purity of child laughter;

    This spot,

    Where eye spoke secretly to responding eye;

    This spot,

    Where hearts pounded madly in many a breast;

     

    By this well,

    Over-hung by leafy branches of sheltering trees

    I first noticed her

    I saw her in the cool of red, red evening

    I saw her

    As if I had not seen her a thousand times before

    By this well

    My eyes asked for love, and my heart went mad.

    I stuttered

    And murmured my first words of love

    And cupped

    With my hands, the intoxication that were her breasts

     

    In this well,

    In the clear waters of this whispering well,

    The silent moon

    Witnessed with a smile our inviolate vows              The kisses

    That left us weak and breathless.

     

    It is dark.

    It is dark by the well that still whispers.

    It is darker

    It is utter darkness in the heart that bleeds

    By this well

    Where magic has evaporated but memories linger.

     

    Of damp death

    The rotting foliage reeks,

    And the branches

    Are grotesque talons of hungry vultures,

    For she is dead

    The one I first loved by this well.

    Questions:

    • Who is the persona in this poem?        (2 marks)
    • What is the significant of the well to the persona? (4 marks)
    • Identify imagery in the poem. (2 marks)

    (iv)Explain the meaning of the following lines as used in the poem.

    • Dreaded haunt of the long haired Musambwa.        (2 marks)
    • I saw her in the cool of a red, red evening.        (2 marks)
    • It is dark by the well that still whispers.        (2 marks)
    • Comment on the change of mood in the last two stanzas.        (4 marks)
    • What is the attitude of the persona towards death?        (2 marks)

     

     

    Read the poem below and answer the questions that follow.

      Your Cigarette Burnt the Savannah Grass.

    Come

    Listen to a boiling pot            torch its heart and tell me            What do you hear?

    the sun sent down sowers of it

    that burnt to cinder your eddying conscience            the earth at the touch of your fingers

    cracked

     

    Colour melts at your stare  Orange white blurred and all            are the same to you

    Your cigarette burnt the savannah grass              The scorpion bit me and I cried.

    Charles Owuor

    Questions

    1. Identify and illustrated any three appeals the persona puts across to his adversary   (3 marks)
    2. What is the subject matter of this poem?   (3 marks)
    • Identify and explain any three aspects of style and explain their functions.            (6 marks)
    1. Explain the meaning of the following lines.   (4 marks)
    • „Come

    Listen to a boiling pot‟

    • „ the sun sent down showers of it that burnt to cinder your eddying conscience!
    1. What is the mood of the poem? (2 marks)
    2. What is the persona‟s attitude towards his adversary?  (2 marks

     

     

     

    A TAX DRIVER ON DEATH BED. (By Timothy Wangusa)

    When with prophetic eye I peer in to the future

    I see that I shall perish upon this road

    Driving men that I do not know

    This metallic monster that I now dictate,

    This docile elaborate horse,

    That in silence seems to simmer and strain              Shall surely revolt some tempting day.

    Thus u shall die: not that I care

    For any man‟s journey,

    Nor for proprietors gain

    Nor yet for the love of my own.

    Not for these do I attempt the forbidden limits.              For those deft the traffic – man and the cold cell,     Risking everything for the little little more.

    They shall say, I know, who pick up my bones              „Poor chap, another victim to the ruthless machine”              concealing my blood under the metal.

     

    Questions.

    1. What is this poem about?        (3 marks)
    2. What is the attitude of the persona toward his fate?                    (2 marks)
    3. With illustration identify the persona in the poem.        (2 marks)
    4. What is the irony in the poem?                                                                                        (2 marks)
    5. With illustrations identify and comment on any other two stylistic devices used in the poem.(6 marks) f) Comment on the following line. „poor chap, another victim to the ruthless machine?  (2 marks)
    6. How will the persona‟s death come about?             (2 marks
    7. Give the poem another title. (1 mark)

     

     

    THE WAR LORD

    Cut, thrust, plunge

    Slash, slit, stab

    Starve, maim, shoot  Torch, burn, scar

     

    The trumpets herald you with regal glory  Epaulettes glisten and medals gleam

     

    Plunder, loot  and steal

    Blind, brand, rape

    Curse, crush, kidnap  Smash, torture, kill

     

    Your arrival is welcomed with carpets of steel  Ramrod backed your subjects hail you

     

    Bind, bludgeon, bury

    Garotte, impale, castrate

    Order, imprison, enslave

    Censor, cajole and destroy

    Your scarlet cape billows as you sense fresh converts  Ever more shrill their praises grow.

    Barren, bleak, blackened

    Shattered, sterile, stricken

    Torn, poisoned, defiled

    Bloodied, emtombed, rotting

     

    The prize presented on some stolen silver

    A maggot riddled remnant of a once serene world.

     

     

    Questions

    • Briefly explain what the poem is talking about.        (3mks)
    • What is the attitude of the persona to the warlord? Elaborate your answer.        (2mks)
    • Explain the relevance of having separated words for stanza one, three, five and seven. (3mks)
    • Explain the irony in the poem. (3mks)
    • What is the meaning of the following lines as used in the poem?
    • The trumpets herald you with regal glory.
    • Epaulette’s glisten and medals gleam.  (2mks)
    • The prize presented on some stolen silver.
    • A maggot riddled remnant of a once serene world.  (2mks)
    1. Apart from irony, which other stylistic device has been used in the poem?   (2mks)
    2. Identify one thematic concern of the poem.                   (3mks)

     

    Read the following poem and answer the questions that follow.                       (20 Marks) Operating Room, By John Reed

    Sunlight floods the shiny many-windowed place,

    Coldly glinting on flawless steel under glass, And blaring imperially on the spattered gules Where kneeling men grunt as they swab the floor.

     

    Startled eyes of nurses swish by noiselessly,

    Orderlies with cropped heads swagger like murderers; And three surgeons, robed and masked mysteriously, Lounge gossiping of guts, and wish it were lunch-time.

     

    Beyond the porcelain door, screaming mounts crescendo

    Case 4001 coming out of the ether,

    Born again half a man, to spend his life in bed.

     

    1. Describe the setting of the poem.               (3 marks)
    2. Briefly explain what the poem is talking about.               (4 marks)
    3. Who is the persona in the poem?                 (2 marks)
    4. Illustrate the use of the following styles and state their effectiveness. (4 marks)
    5. Metaphor
    6. Hyperbole
    7. What is the tone of the poem?              (2 marks)
    8. Discuss the general mood of the poem.                                                                     (2 marks)
    9. Why do the men grunt as they swab the floor?                                                      (1 mark)
    10. Explain the meaning of the following phrases as used in the poem. (2 marks)
    • Robed and masked mysteriously
    • Case 40001 coming out of ether

     

     

    Read the poem below and answer the questions below.  (20 marks)   Theme for English B.

     

    The instructor said,

       Go home and write a page tonight.

       And let that page come out of you.

         Then, it will be true.

     

    I wonder if it is that simple?

     

    I am twenty-two, colored, born in Winston-Salem.

    I went there, then Durham, then here  To this college on the hill above Harlem, I am the only colored student in my class.

    The steps from the hill lead down into Harem,

    Through a park, then I cross St Nicholas,

    Eighth Avenue, seventh, and I come to the Y

    The Harlem BranchY, where I take the elevator  Up to my room, sit down, and write this page:

     

    It‟s no easy to know what is true for you or me

    At twenty-two, my age. But I guess I‟mwhat  I feel and see and hear. Harlem, I hear you:

    Hear you, hear me-we two-you, talk on this page.

    (I hear New York, too) me- who?

    Well, I like to eat, sleep, drink, and be in love.

    I like to work, read, learn and understand life. I like a pipe for a Christmas present, Or records- Bessie, bop, or Bach.

    I guess being colored doesn‟t make me not like  The same things other folks like who are other races.

     

    So will my page be colored that I write?

    Being me, it will not be white.

    But it will be A part of you, instructor.

    You are white

    Yet a part of me, as I am part of you.

     

    That‟s American.

    Sometimes perhaps you don‟twant to be part of me. Nor do I often want to be part of you.

    But we are, that‟s true! As I learn from you,

    I guess you learn from me- Although you are older- and white- And somewhat more free. This is my page for English B.

    (Langstone Hughes)

    Questions.

    1. Who is the speaker in the poem? Illustrate your answer.       2 mks
    2. Identify two themes in the poem. Explain.                                                                    4 mks
    3. Describe the mood of the poem? What details contribute or help establish that mood?  2mks
    4. What point does the speaker seek to make by listing the things that he or she likes?       2mks
    5. What is the tone of the poem? Explain                                                                          2 mks
    6. Identify the use of personification in the poem.       2mks
    7. In what ways is the speaker and the addressee similar and different?       2mks
    8. Describe the relationship between the persona and the addressee                               2mks
    9. “I wonder if it is that simple.” Rewrite as a yes/no question.
    10. ii) Rewrite the following beginning with: neither….

    You don’t want to be part of me. Nor do I often want to be part of you                            l mk

     

    Read the following poem and answer the questions that follow.

    The Gourd of Friendship.

    Where is the curiosity we’ve lost in discovery?

    Where is the discovery we’ve lost in knowledge?

    Where is the knowledge we’ve lost in communication?

    Where is the communication we’ve lost in mass media?

    And where is the community we’ve lost in all these?

    Where is the message we’ve lost in the medium?

    It is easy to go to the moon:

    There, there are no people.

    It is easier to count the stars:

    They will not complain.

    But the road to your neighbour’s heart – who has surveyed it?

    The formula to your brother’s head – Who has devised it?

    The gourd that doesn’t spill friendship – In whose garden has it ever grown?

    You never know despair Until you’ve lost hope;

    You never know your aspiration Until you’ve seen others disillusionment.

    Peace resides in the hearts of men.

    Not in conference tables and delegates signatures.

    True friendship never dies – It grows stronger the more it is used.

         By Richard Ntiru

     

    1. Explain the meaning of the poem             (3 marks)
    2. Discuss the use of the rhetorical questions in the poem.             (3 marks)
    3. Describe the tone of this poem                                                                                 (3 marks)
    4. Identify and explain two other stylistic devices (apart from the rhetorical questions) (4 marks)
    5. Explain the meaning of these lines.                                                                         (4 marks)
    • “where is the curiosity we have lost in discovery”.
    • “But the road to your neighbour’s heart – who has surveyed it?”   ( 2marks)
    1. What does the persona think about relationships?             (2 marks)
    2. Explain the appropriateness of the title.             (1 mark)

     

    DEATH OF MY FATHER

    His sunken cheeks, his inward-looking eyes,

    The sarcastic, scornful smile on his lips

    The unkempt, matted, grey hair,

    The hard, coarse sand-paper hands, Spoke eloquently of the lifehe had lived. But I did not mourn for him.

     

    The hammer, the saw and the plane,

    These were his tools and his damnation, His sweat was his ointment and his perfume. He fashioned dining tables, chairs, wardrobes, And all the wooden loves of colonial life. No, I did not mourn for him.

     

    He built colonial mansions,

    Huge,unwieldy,arrogant constructions;

     

    But he squatted in a sickly mud-house,

    With his children huddled stuntedly,

    Under the bed-bug bed he shared with Mother.

    I could not mourn for him.

     

    I had already inherited

    His premature old-age look,

    I had imbibed his frustration;

    But his dreams of freedom and happiness Had become my song, my love. So, I could not mourn for him.

     

    No, I did not shed any tears;

    My father‟s dead life still lives in me, He lives in my son, my father, I am my father and my son.

    I will awaken his sleepy hopes and yearnings, But I will not mourn for him, I will not mourn for me.

     

    1. Identify the persona.                                                                                                  (2 marks)
    2. What is the poem talking about?                                                                              (3 marks)
    3. Comment on the alliteration that is used in the poem?                                            (2 marks)
    4. Apart from alliteration, identify and explain any other two aspects of style that the poet has used.  (4 marks)
    5. What reason does the persona give for not mourning his father‟s death?              ( 3 marks)
    6. What is the father‟s profession from the poem? ( 1 mark)
    7. Explain the meaning of the following lines as used in the poem: ( 3 marks)
    8. i) The hard, coarse sandpaperhands,  Spoke eloquently of the life he had lived.
    9. ii) His premature old-age look,

    iii)  I will awaken his sleepy hopes and yearnings,

    1. What is the attitude of the persona towards his father‟s life? ( 2 marks)

    Read the poem below and answer the questions below that follows

    Building the nation

    Today I did my share

    In building the nation

    I drove the Permanent Secretary

    To an important urgent function

    In fact to luncheon at the Vic.

     

    The menu reflected its importance

    Cold bell beer with small talks,

    The fried chicken with niceties

    Wine to fill the hollowness of the laughs

    Ice-cream to cover the stereotype jokes

    Coffee to keep the PS awake on return journey.

     

    I drove the Permanent Secretary back.

    He yawned many times in the back of the car

    Then to keep awake, he suddenly asked,

    Did you have lunch friend?

    I replied looking straight ahead

    And secretary smiles at his belated concern.

    That I had not, but was slimming!

     

    Upon which he said with seriousness

    That amused more than annoyed me,

    Mwananchi, I too had none!

    I attended to matters of the state.

    Highly delicate diplomatic duties you know,

    And friend it goes against my grain,

    Causes me stomach ulcers and wind.

    Ah, he continued, yawning again,

    The pains we suffer in building the nation!

     

    So the PS had ulcers too!

    My ulcers I think are equally painful

    Only they are caused by hunger,

    Not sumptuous lunches!

     

    So two nation builder

    Arrived home this evening

    With terrible stomach pains

    The result of building the nation-

    -Different ways.

    Questions

    • Who is the person in the above poem? (2marks)

    ………………………………………………………………………………………………………

    ………………………………………………………………………………………………………

    • Briefly explain what this poem is all about? (3marks)

    ………………………………………………………………………………………………………

    ………………………………………………………………………………………………………

    ………………………………………………………………………………………………………

    • Identify and explain any instance of irony in this poem? (4marks)

    ………………………………………………………………………………………………………

    ………………………………………………………………………………………………………

    ………………………………………………………………………………………………………

    ………………………………………………………………………………………………………

    • Other than irony, identify and illustrate any two styles used in this poem? (2marks)

    ………………………………………………………………………………………………………

    ………………………………………………………………………………………………………

    • What is the attitude of the PS towards his driver?                                                          (2marks)

    ………………………………………………………………………………………………………

    ………………………………………………………………………………………………………

    • How would you describe the general tone in this poem? (2marks)

    ………………………………………………………………………………………………………

    ………………………………………………………………………………………………………

    • Today I did my share ( Add a tag)                                                (1mark)

    ………………………………………………………………………………………………………

    • Identify and explain any two character traits of the PS. (4marks)

     

    Read the poem below and answer the questions that follow.

                        “Sympathy”

    I know what the caged bird feels, alas!

    When the sun is bright on the upland slopes;

    When the wind stirs soft through the springing grass

    And the river flows like a stream of grass;

    When the first bird sings and the first bud opes,

    And the faint perfume from its petals steals –

    I know what the caged bird feels!

     

    I know why the caged bird beats its wing

    Till its blood is red on the cruel bars;

    For he must fly back to his perch and cling

    When he rather would be on the branch a –swing;

    And a pain still throbs in the old, old scars

    And they pulse again with a keener sting –

    I know why he beats his wing!

     

    I know why the caged bird sings, ah me,

    When his wing is bruised and his bosom sore,

    When he beats his bars and would be free;

    It is not a song of joy or glee,

    But a prayer that he sends from his heart’s deep core,

    But a plea, that upward to heaven he fings –

    I know why the caged bird sings!

     

           (Adapted from the poem by Laurence Donbar in ‘American Negro Poetry’ edited by ArnaBomtemps. New York: Hill and Waug 1974)

     

    Questions

    1. a) Explain briefly what the poem is about. (3 marks)

    …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

    1. b) What does the poet focus on in each of the three stanzas? (6 marks)

    …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

    1. c) How would you describe the persona’s feelings towards the caged bird? (4 marks)

    …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

    1. d) What can we infer about the persona’s own experiences? (3 marks)

    ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

    1. e) Identify a simile in the first stanza and explain why it is used. (2 marks)

    ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

    1. f) Explain the meaning of the following lines:

    (i) And the faint perfume from the petals steals (1 mark)

    ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

    1. g) Supply another suitable title for this poem. (1 mark)

    ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

     

     

           Read the following poem and answer the questions that follow.

    BEGGAR IN THREE PIECE

    My jumbo

    Shot its way

    Across the sky

    To distant lands

    Across blue seas.

     

    I descended the ladder

    To a waiting ribbon

    Of blood-red carpet

    A quick glance at my

    Three piece suit

    And the tie

    That beautifully strangled my neck.

     

    On my left hand hang

    My beaded knobkerrie

    On my right clutched

    My rusty inter-Nation begging Bowl

    On my face I wore humility and need

    And of course dignity.

     

    Sir, the dearth of food

    Has rendered my people thin

    And hungry

    Scoop us a little

    You know,

    Just a little,

    To keep the till next rains’

     

    ‘But Sir, beggars

    In three piece

    Are a rare sight

    But your suit is beautiful

    • Honestly

    Now my suit

    Which cost me a fortune

    In a Parisian Textile

    Has denied me a fortune

    And my countrymen, lie.

    L.O. Sunkuli

    Questions

    1. Who is the persona in this poem? (3marks)

    ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

    1. What is the subject matter of this poem? (4marks)

    ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

    1. Explain the satire in this poem and comment on its effectiveness. (4marks)

    __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

    1. Describe the tone of the poem. (3marks)

    ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

    1. Explain what the last stanza implies. (3marks)

    ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

    1. Explain the meaning of the following lines as used in the poem. (3 marks)
    2. i) My Jumbo

    Shots its way

    Across the sky

    __________________________________________________________________________

    1. ii) That beautifully strangled my neck

    ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

    iii)  To keep them till next rains

    ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

     

    Read the poem below and answer the questions that follow                                  (20marks)

    Song of Agony

    I put on a clean shirt

    And go to work

    Which of us

    Which of us will come back?

    Four and twenty moons

    Not seeing women

    Not seeing my ox

    Not seeing my hand

    Which of us

    Which of us will die?

     

    I put on a clean shirt

    And go to work my contract

    To work far away

    I go beyond the mountain

    Into the bush

    Where the roads end

    And the rivers run dry

    Which of us

    Which of us will come back?

    Which of us

    Which of us will die?

     

           Questions

    1. Who is the persona in the poem? Explain. (2marks)

    ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

    1. Briefly discuss the subject matter in this poem.      (3marks)

    ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

    1. Identify two stylistic devices in the poem and show their effectiveness. (4marks)

    ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

    1. Show how the persona and the others suffer in this poem. Illustrate your answer.(4marks)

    ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

    1. What is the dominant mood in the poem? (2marks)

    ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

    1. Is the title of this poem suitable? Explain. (3marks)

    ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

    1. Identify and explain one economic activity practiced by the persona’s community.(2marks)

    ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

     

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

          THAT OTHER LIFE

    (By Everett M Standa)

    I have only faint memories

    Memories of those days when all our joyful moment

    In happiness, sorrow and dreams

    Were so synchronized

    That we were in spirit and flesh

    One soul;

     

    I have only faint memories

    When we saw each other’s image everywhere;

    The friends, the relatives,

    The gift of flowers, clothes and treats,

    The evening walks where we praised each other,

    Like little children in love;

     

    I remember the dreams about children

    The friendly neighbors and relatives

    The money, the farms and cows

    All were the pleasures ahead in mind

    Wishing for the day of final union

    When the dreams will come true

     

    On that day final union

    We promised each other pleasures and care

    And everything good under the sun

    As a daily reminder that you and me were one forever.

     

    QUESTIONS       

    1. a) What does the day of the final union mean to the persona? (3 marks)

    ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

    1. b) What faint memories does the persona have, according to the poem? (3marks)

    ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

    1. c) What is the persona’s attitude towards their marriage? (2marks)

    ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

    1. d) Explain the following expressions as used in the poem

    (i)              Happiness, sorrow and dreams were so synchronized…………                            (2marks)

    ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

    (ii)  ……. praised each other like children in love                                                        (2 marks)

    (iii)  All were pleasures ahead in mind.                                                                       (2marks)

    ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

    1. e) Identify two aspects of style used in this poem and explain their effectiveness. (4 marks)

    ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

    1. f) What is the mood of the poem (2 marks)

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    Read the poem below and answer the questions that follow.

           I FORGIVE YOU, NYASAYE

    I forgive you, Nyasaye

    For creating me

    When the once stretching fields

    Have been turned into skyscrapers

    The silvery water turned

    Black with factory waste.

     

    Nyasaye, I forgive you

    For creating me

    When the smile of the moon

    The glitters of stars have been blurred by flood

    Lights and Neon lights.

     

    I forgive you, Nyasaye

    For denying me the chance

    To dance the throb of ngoma ngoma

    Dance in the open field,

     

    Nyasaye, I forgive you

    For creating me

    When beautiful black girls

    Turn soprano yellow skins

    With patches and blots

     

    I forgive you, Nyasaye

    For inviting me into the world

    When the bull’s flesh has been eaten

    To lick the bones for a minute’s satisfactory.

    1. Give the persona in the poem. (2 marks)

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    1. Mention four major concerns of the persona. (4 marks)

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    1. Identify and explain the significance of two elements of style used in the poem(4 marks)

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    1. Explain the persona’s attitude to the subject matter in the poem. (2 marks)

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    1. Explain the meaning of the following lines as used in the poem. (3 marks)
    2. i) Have been turned into skyscrapers.

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    1. ii) To dance the throb of ngoma ngoma.

    iii)  With patches and blots.

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    1. What is the mood of the poem? (2 marks)

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    1. Give the meaning of these words as used in the passage. (3 marks)
    2. i) glitters

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    1. ii) throb

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    iii)  blots

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    Read the poem below and the answer the question that follow                  (20marks)

    “Song of the wagon driver” B5 Johnson

    My first love was a ten-tun truck. They gave me when I started, and though she played the bitch with me I grieved when we were parted.

    Since then I’ve had a dozen more

    The wound was quick to heal

    And now it’s easier to say

    I’m married to my wheel

    I’ve trunked it north, I’ve trunked it south, on

    Wagons good and bad, but none was ever really like

    The first I ever had.

    The life is hard, the hours are long.

    Sometimes I cease to feel,

    But I go on, for it seems to me

    I’m married to my wheel.

    Often I think of my home and kids, out on the road

    At night, and think of taking a local job

    Provided the money’s right.

    Two nights a week I see my wife and eat a

    Decent meal, but otherwise for all my life,

    I’m married to my wheel.

    (From “The earth is ours.” Poems for secondary schools selected by I am Gordon.)

     

    1. Briefly explain what the poem is about (2marks)

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    1. What is contradictory about the persona’s relationship with the first truck? (2marks)

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    1. The persona is facing a real dilemma. Which is it? (2marks)

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    1. Identify and illustrate any two literary devices used by the poet. (4marks)

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    1. What makes the persona’s job demanding? Give your answer in note form   (4marks)

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    1. Explain the meaning of the following lines.
    2. i) Sometimes I cease to feel. (2marks)

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    1. ii) Provided the money’s right (2marks)
    2. g) Explain the meaning of the words below as used in the poem
    3. i) Grieved        (1mark)

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    1. ii) Trunked                                                                                                             (1mark)

     

     

                Read the poem below and then answer the questions that follow:-

                MONANGAMBA

                On that big estate there is no rain

    It’s the sweat of my brow that waters the crops

     

    On that big estate there is coffee ripe

    And that cherry – redness

    Is drops of my blood turned sap.

     

    The coffee will be roasted,

    Ground, and crushed,

    Will turn black, black with the colours of

    The contract labourer

     

    Black with the colour of the contract labourer

     

    Ask the birds that sing,

    The streams in carefree wandering

    And the high wind from inland

     

    Who gets up early? Who goes to toil?

    Who is it that carries on the long rod

    The hammock or the bunch of  kernels?

    Rotten maize, rotten fish,

    Ragged clothes, fifty shillings

    Beating for biting back?

     

    Who?

     

    Who makes the millet grow

    And the orange groves to flower?

    Who?

     

    Who gives the money for the boss to buy

    Cars, machinery, women

    And Negro heads for motors?

     

    And the birds that sing,

    The streams in carefree wandering

    And the high wind from inland

    Will answer

     

    Mongambeeee…

     

    Ah! Let me at least climb the palm trees

    Let me drink wine, palm wine

    And fuddle by my drunkenness forget.

     

    Mongambeeee…

    Questions

    1. Classify the above poem giving a reason for your answer. (2 mks)

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    1. Identify the persona and state his/her predicament. (2 mks)

    …………………………………………………………………………………………

    1. Rhetoric questions have been employed in the poem. Cite two such examples and explain their effect. (3 mks)

    (i)………………………………………………………………………………………

    (ii)…………………………………………………………………………………………………..………………………………………………………………………………

    1. State two problems that the persona experiences at the hands of his superior.(2 mks)

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    1. Which is the major theme in this poem?   (2 mks)

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    1. Describe the tone of the poem.   (2 mks)

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    ………………………………………………………………………………………………………

    1. Make clear the persona’s attitude towards his/her boss. (2 mks)

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    1. Why do you think the persona mentions the birds that sing and the streams that wander? (2 mks)

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    ………………………………………………………………………………………………………

    1. Who gets up early?   (1 mk)

    (Rewrite beginning :He wanted ………………)

    ………………………………………………………………………………………………………

    1. Explain the meaning of the following lines as used in the poem.
    2. i) Black with the colour of the contract labourer. (1 mk)

    …………………………………………………………………………………………………..

    1. ii) Beating for biting back. Which style is this?                                       (1 mk)