GROWING UP WITH POETRY By DAVID RUBADIRI BOOK ANALYSIS
GROWING UP WITH POETRY: Is one of the books selected for reading at the ordinary and advanced levels of education.
An anthology intended for the delight and education of pupils in junior and senior high school. The poems are on aspects of African life and culture that are important to them: lover, identity, death, village life, separation, power, and freedom. There is also guidance for teachers.
POETRY ANALYSIS
Refers to the artistic expression of ideas, experience or events using language characterized by imagery and rhythmical sounds.
Or.
Poetry is the art of rhythmical composition, written or spoken, for exciting pleasure by beautiful, imaginative, or elevated thoughts.
IMPORTANT TERMS USED IN POETRY.
(a) A poet. This person composes a poem. It can be in a written or oral form. Some of the poets are Ralf Bitamazire (I love you my Gentle one), Jwani Mwaikusa (Sun Rise) and Isaac Mruma (You are Lost).
(b) A poem. It is a piece of writing in verse form especially expressing deep feelings in an artistic language. Examples of poems include A Freedom song, Lost Beauty and Lullaby.
(c) Persona. This person speaks or narrates in a poem. This is a character of the poem. For example in the poem “A freedom song”, the persona is Atieno’s uncle.
(d) Addressee (Audience). The persona talks to this person. For example in the poem “You are Lost” the addressee is a sister who engages in commercial sex.
(e) A verse. It is a single line in a poem. Several verses form a stanza. The following is an example of a verse in a poem:
“I love you, my gentle one,”
(f) A stanza. It is the arrangement of verses in a poem, several verses comprising a complete idea. The following is an example of a stanza.
Yes,
I want a black beauty queen
With ebony thighs and huge hips
With skin sweating blackness
And a face dark as the night
And bare breasts bouncing
Vigour and energy
CHARACTERISTICS OF POETRY.
(i) Poetry is imaginary.
(ii) Poetry is rhythmical.
(iii) Poetry reflects ideas of people.
(iv) Poetry is rich in figures of speech.
(v) Poetry arouses emotions.
CHARACTERISTICS OF A POET/POETESS.
(i) He/she must have a great knowledge of human nature.
(ii) He/she must know the problems of his/her society.
(iii)He/she should educate his/her society (audience).
(iv)He/she should have enough knowledge concerning poetry.
(v) He/she has to represent strong feelings.
TYPES OF POETRY.
Poetry can be narrative, reflective, descriptive, lyric, sonnet or ballad. But all these types can be classified in to two categories as follows:
(i) The closed form (Traditional poetry).
These are those kinds of poetry which strictly follow the old rules of writing a poem. Such old rules include rhyme pattern, equal number of syllables in each verse and the length of verses in each stanza.
(ii) The open form poem. (Free verse/ modern verse).
This refers to the kind of poetry which does not follow the old rules of writing a poem. There is a great variation in the number of syllables in each verse, the length of verses and the number of verses in each stanza.
GROWING UP WITH POETRY By DAVID RUBADIRI BOOK ANALYSIS
DEATH BE NOT PROUD BY JOHN DONNE (England)