Literature poems

• Themes


  • Alienation
  • Childhood Experiences
  • Caribbean Culture and Traditions
  • Colonialism
  • Conflict (External)
  • Conflict (Internal)
  • Death
• Literary Devices


  • Repetition
  • Contrast
  • Alliteration
  • Simile
  • Allusion
  • Personification
  • Rhetorical Question
  • Metaphor
  • Oxymoron
  • Irony
  • Imagery
• Theme for English B


  Repetition of the word "I" suggests the persona recognizes he is different from others in his class as the only coloured student, and feels alienated
• My Parents


  Contrast highlights how different the persona is from other boys his age
• Test Match Sabina Park

  Alliteration describes the persona's pride in his race as he enters Sabina Park
• Dreaming Black Boy


  Repetition of the word "I" points to the persona's yearning and desperation, feeling alone in his feelings, thoughts and world
• My Parents


  Similes highlight the persona's childhood experience of bullying
• Dreaming Black Boy


  Allusion to the Ku Klux Klan, the persona wants them to leave him alone and allow him to have the rights accorded to all human beings
• Bird Shooting Season


  Repetition of "Fly birds fly" emphasizes the girls' wish for the birds' freedom
• Once Upon A Time


  Contrast shows the differences between the persona's state of innocence as a child and his more experienced state as an adult
• Little Boy Crying


  Metaphor "The ogre towers above you, that grim giant" shows the boy's feelings towards his father after being punished
• Bird Shooting Season


  Personification "men make marriages with their guns" shows how serious the men are about this sport
• The Woman Speaks to the Man who Employed her Son


  Simile "She carried him like the poor carry hope" references the Caribbean tradition of migration for a better life
• Ol' Higue


  Rhetorical questions highlight Caribbean culture and tradition of using the Ol' Higue as an excuse for murder
• Test Match Sabina Park

  Rhetorical question reveals that cricket is a very popular sport/tradition in the Caribbean due to the colonial past
• West Indies U.S.A


  Simile and allusion suggest San Juan, Puerto Rico is wealthy due to its close association with America
• An African Thunderstorm


  Simile, personification and metaphor compare the destructive storm to the European colonisers who wreaked havoc on the islands
• This is the Dark Time My Love

  Metaphors reveal the persona's bitterness and sadness towards the British invaders of Guyana
• This is the Dark Time My Love

  Oxymoron "festival of guns, the carnival of misery" emphasizes how terrible the times have become
• It is the Constant Image of Your Face


  Personification "your eyes...accuses and convicts me" highlights the extent to which the persona has hurt the love interest
• It is the Constant Image of Your Face


  Oxymoron "heart's-treachery" implies the heartbreak the persona has caused his love interest
• Once Upon A Time

  Irony "Show me son" reflects the father doesn't know how to be anymore and is looking to his son's innocence to guide him
• Theme for English B

  Rhetorical questions highlight the persona's struggle to accomplish his assignment and understand the similarities and differences between himself and his instructor
• The Woman Speaks to the Man Who Employed her Son


  Simile "She carried him like the poor carry hope" emphasizes the mother's dependence on her son's success
• Mirror


  Allusion to the Greek god Narcissus highlights the persona's obsession with her reflection and growing old
• The Woman Speaks to the Man who Employed her Son


  Imagery and allusion reveal the mother's expectation of her son's death from the dangerous life he has chosen
• Bird Shooting Season


  Repetition of "guns" contrasted with the powerless birds highlights the theme of death
• Mirror


  Allusion to Narcissus highlights the persona's obsession with her appearance and the passing of time leading to her death
• A Stone's Throw


  Irony that men with 'virtuous' hands intend to stone the woman, highlighting cruelty and death
• Dulce Et Decorum Est


  Simile "Obscene as cancer" compares the man's blood from drowning in poison to the symbolic death of cancer
• Ol' Higue


  Rhetorical questions refer to the mother's blame for the murder inside her head
• As time continues to pass


  Her old age and eventually death is creeping up on her
• A Stone's Throw: 'One would think that men with 'virtuous' hands would have only pure thoughts, but these men intend to stone the woman, who seems utterly defenceless intend to inflict harm/death on her for her actions.'
• Imagery in A Stone's Throw

  • Bruised
  • Kisses of stone
  • Battery
  • Frigid rape
• Obscene as cancer


  Like cancer is a killer and symbolic of death, the presence of the man's blood due to death by drowning in poison is also symbolic of death
• Ol' Higue


  If I didn't fly and come, how would you, mother, name your ancient dread? And who to blame for the murder inside your head
• Ol' Higue can never die as long as there are women giving birth
• Dreaming Black Boy


  The constant repetition of the phrase I wish points to a yearning, a desperation even, for the basic things that life has to offer
• Allusion to Paul Robeson


  The persona yearns to be like this person and wants room to stretch intellectually and become great and not have to be subject to decimation due to his skin colour
• Ol' Higue


  You think I wouldn't rather take my blood seasoned in fat black pudding, like everyone else?