2. Why do you think death tends to be something we do not speak about in everyday conversation?
3. When does the subject of death tend to arise among family and friends?
COMPREHENDING AND RESPONDING
1. Explain your answer.
2. What do you think the poet means in the second stanza when she writes ‘The body is memory’? Refer to the poem in support of your answer.
3. In the fourth stanza, who do you think ‘they’ refers to? Refer to the poem in support of your answer.
4. appetite’? Refer to the poem in support of your answer.
5. What might the poet mean in the sixth stanza when she writes ‘But the body is cautious’? Refer to the poem in support of your answer.
6. compromise with the body’. What is your interpretation of these lines? Explain your answer.
7. What do you think the subject of the poem is experiencing when she listens ‘To a dark chamber/ Around a chord of light’? Refer to the poem in support of your answer.
8. this statement? Give reasons for your answer.
9. Would you categorise the poem as an elegy, a lyric or a ballad? Support your choice with reference to the poem as a whole.
10. Discuss the use of punctuation in the poem. Refer to the poem in support of your answer.
11. for your answer.
12. Would you agree that this is a sensuous poem? Refer to the poem in support of your answer.
13. What theme or themes can you identify in the poem? Refer to the poem in support of your answer.
CREATING
1. ‘What do you believe in?’ Write an open letter to a national newspaper about the people/things/places/ideas you believe in, and explain why you believe in them.
2. Write a personal essay in which you explore your favourite childhood memories.
3. ‘Music can both express our grief and console us in our sadness.’ Write a tribute to the power of music and the comfort and enjoyment it gives to those who love it.