Essay Questions

What is the inference in the lines: “when those at the back rush forward to say/how a little love goes a long long long way?” - “I Say I Say I Say”

These two lines are the bottom-line of the poem “I Say I Say I Say.” The speaker proposes that the suicide survivors merit love rather than disgrace. Adoration would help them to rise above the remorse they bear for their suicidal deeds.

Describe the similarities between “I Say I Say I Say” and “I Am Very Bothered”.

In both, “I Say I Say I Say” and “I Am Very Bothered”, the speakers, are contemplative. The speaker in “I Say I Say I Say” broods about his/her suicide attempts whereas the speaker in “I Am Very Bothered” reflects about his childhood naughtiness. Both speakers own up to their past actions instead of transferring accountability to unrelated parties. Both explore cause and effects: “I Say I Say I Say” describes the cause and effects of suicide attempt whereas “I Am Very Bothered” recounts the cause and effects of the addressee’s scald.

Explain the binary in “It Ain’t What You Do, It’s What It Does To You”.

Quantity versus Quality: the title unambiguously delineates the binary; whereby, “It Ain’t What You Do” stands for Quantity whereas “It’s What It Does To You” denotes quality. The speaker explains, “I have not padded through the Taj Mahal…But I/ skimmed flat stones across Black Moss.” Walking across the ‘Black Moss” bids the speaker utility which cannot be equaled to walking around the Taj Mahal. Nonetheless, the speaker does not mull over visiting extra places (quantity), for the speaker is elated by the ‘cascading sensation’ (quality) he relished from the ‘black moss.’