What is the cost of appealing to Lucifer?
Why should it be appropriate for someone to compare his beloved to a sunny day?
What is the ‘talent’ about which the poet is so concerned?
What are the implications of the question, “What is the theme of this poem?”
What word tells us the statue was broken to pieces?
What is ironic about ‘annual subscription’?
What is the poet predicting for the person he is addressing?
What does the description of the poet with stones in each hand suggest?
Does the poet want to do away with walls altogether?
What is the theme of this poem?
Explain the irony in the title.
Why is the time of the year important in the poem?
What would the poet have preffered to be doing?
What is ironic about the title?
What is the mood of the poem?
What is ironic about the title?
What is strange about asking for forgiveness before you are born?
Find another word for Lucifer in the poem.
What comparison does the poet make in this poem?
How long does true love last?
What is the poet’s conclusion in the final couplet?
Explain how jewelry is a slave to each of the following:
a) female politicians
b) desperate men
Explain how death will die.
What form of poem is this?
Explain the first two lines.
Explain the last six lines.
Who is the author of this poem?
Explain clearly how the poet finds hope in spite of all his difficulties.
Give another word for ‘archive’ in a language other than English.
Choose any two words from the opening line and explain how each indicates that night is approaching.
Why does the owl complain?
To what does the poet compare her singing?
Was her singing sad or happy?
What is the function of the exclamation mark after “God!”?
What remained of the statue?
Do you think the title of the poem is suitable? Why?
Who is the speaker?
What did the poet hope to achieve by holding his arm up in the air?
What were the poet’s feelings and thoughts immediately after throwing the book away?
Find a word in the poem which has the same meaning as ‘velvet”.
What does the poet think of the mountain king?
Why does the poet call his people ‘alien’?
Did the poet ever regret having come back? What did he long for?
What did some of the men have on their feet instead of shoes?
Where did the dog go?
Where were the parents of these men?
Describe the scene the poet avoids conveying so literally in this poem.
Esethu Enkosi is a Soweto-based poet and, literary speaking, is drawn to experimentation and play.