Essay Questions

Explain the meaning behind the lines "I have stretched a simple goodbye/ Out over a lifetime.’’

The quote from above appears at the end of the poem ‘’There is a boat down the quay’’ and it is used almost as a conclusion by the narrator. In the poem, the narrator expresses his desire to become a sailor and describes the way he used to watch ships enter and leave the quay, thinking about the life of the sailors and the way they must be thinking while on the sea. The narrator did not become a sailor but he continued to watch the boats come and go as the time passed one and he maintained his desire in his heart. The last lines thus could be an allusion to the fact that the narrator refused to give up his dreams of becoming a sailor, thus stretching his wish or goodbye over the course of a lifetime.

Explain why Mr. Ifonly had regrets at the end of his life.

The poem with the title "Mr. Ifonly’’ presents the life of a man who reached the end of his life and who suffered because he felt as if his life passed by him and he did not achieve the things he wanted to achieve in life. Mr. Ifonly talks about the various things he would have liked to do but did not from a number of reasons. One of the reasons mentioned is that he was afraid. While the poem does not mention of what he was afraid of, the reader can reach the conclusion that he was maybe afraid of being criticized or maybe afraid of failing. Mr. Ifonly also had regrets because he did only what he had to do, not what he wanted to do. This may transmit the idea that Mr. Ifonly made the minimal effort to live, without putting too much thought and effort into his actions. While this may have meant Mr. Ifonly had a comfortable life for some time, at the end of his life he regretted the way he lived his life and wished he could have done something different.

Explain the last line of the poem "Party Piece’’.

In the last line of the poem, the narrator describes the departing of the man and the woman. The narrator claims that nothing else remained between them, just rain. In the precious lines, the narrator described how the man tried to convince the woman to have sex with him and how he was eventually successful. The last line could thus is used here as a conclusion to the poem and also to suggest how the two never met again after their initial encounter.