PRE-READING


1. Do you think it is easier to be the parent or the child, in a parent-child relationship? 2. How often do you think we learn from someone else’s mistakes? 3. Have you ever learned from another person’s mistakes?


COMPREHENDING AND RESPONDING


1. Do you agree that this poem begins with a line that intrigues the reader and makes them want to read on? Support your answer with reference to lines 1–2.


2. Can you think of any reason why Boland might combine the names of the Greek myth (Persephone) and the Roman myth (Ceres)?


3. What do you think the poet means when she writes: ‘the best thing about the legend is/ I can enter it anywhere’? Support your answer with reference to the poem.


4.  describes it well? Support your answer with reference to these lines.


5. Why does Boland progress from identifying with Persephone to identifying with Ceres, in your opinion? Support your answer with reference to lines 10–19.


6. What do you think the poet means when she writes: ‘I knew/ winter was in store for every leaf/ on every tree on that road’? Support your answer with reference to the poem.


7. What do you think stars might symbolise in this poem? Refer to the poem in support of your answer.


8. Why does Boland think that Persephone ate the pomegranate seeds? Refer to the poem in support of your answer.


9. Boland asks two questions in this poem. What are the functions of these questions, in your opinion?


10. Do you think the poet has resolved her dilemma as a mother by the conclusion of this poem? Support your answer with reference to the poem.


11. Compare and contrast the poet’s use of classical allusion in ‘The Pomegranate’ and ‘Love’.


12. Compare this poem to ‘This Moment’ under the headings imagery, theme and mood.


13.  your answer.


CREATING


1. ‘One of the greatest gifts you can give your children is allowing them to make their own mistakes.’ Write a speech, to be delivered at your school graduation, which begins with this sentence.


2. Write the letter that Ceres might have sent to Hades, begging for the return of her daughter.


3. Write an article for an online publication for your age group in which you advise your readers about how best to navigate the highs and lows of life.


46 VERSE 2025


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