Unseen poetry
- Practice 1
There are two questions in the Unseen Poetry section, as well as two poems. The first question is worth most of the marks (24), and the second is worth just 8 marks. Also, the second is assessed on AO2 only.
1. In ‘A Quoi Bon Dire’, how does the poet present ideas about death?
‘A Quoi Bon Dire’ by Charlotte Mew
Seventeen years ago you said
Something that sounded like Good-bye:
And everybody thinks you are dead
But I.
So I as I grow stiff and cold
To this and that say Good-bye too;
And everybody sees that I am old
But you.
And one fine morning in a sunny lane
Some boy and girl will meet and kiss and swear
That nobody can love their way again
While over there
You will have smiled, and I shall have tossed your hair
2. In both ‘A Quoi Bon Dire’ and ‘Unblinking Grief’ the poets describe ideas about dealing with the death of a loved one.
What are the similarities and/or differences between the methods the poets use to present these ideas?
‘Unblinking Grief’ by Charles Bukowski
the last cigarettes are smoked, the loaves are sliced,
and lest this be taken for wry sorrow,
drown the spider in wine.
you are much more than simply dead:
I am a dish for your ashes,
I am a fist for your vanished air.
the most terrible thing about life
is finding it gone.