INTRODUCTION TO POETRY

1. A poem:
a) a piece of writing
b) written in groups of lines called stanzas. A stanza is like a
paragraph in a story.
c) express thoughts and feelings of the poet
d) has a literal and a figurative meaning, literary devices such as
metaphor, personification, simile and so on.

2. Synopsis:
a) The poem is for both children and adults.
b) The poem is about a childs admiration for his father.
c) The persona (the child) sees his father as a heroic figure filled
with courage and bravery, and has the ability to chase away
all things bad to the child.
d) However, the last two lines of the poem shows the personas
curiosity and puzzlement because the heroic father is afraid of
a spider. In fact, the personas mother has to get rid the
spider.

3. Literal Meaning: Refer to your Literature Module Page 7

a) The basic, original meaning of the poem

4. Figurative Meaning: Refer to your Literature Module Page 7

a) The deeper, imaginative and abstract meaning of the poem

5. Setting:
a) Setting of Place:
- Where is the poem set?
- Not specified; only the bathroom is mentioned.

b) Setting of Time:
- When is the poem set?
- Present day.

6. Persona: The persona is the one who is speaking in the poem.

He may be the poet himself.
a) The persona in this poem is probably an intelligent and
observant child.
b) He obviously loves and admires his father very much.
c) He is saying that his father is very brave.

7. Themes: The main idea in the poem that the writer wants the
readers to understand
a) Love for parents:
 - To the child, the parents are his heroes, especially the
father. He looks up to his father and says plenty good
things about his father. He is full of praises for his beloved
father. The things that he himself is afraid of, like ghosts
and monsters, he knows that he can depend on his father
to keep him safe from them.

b) Responsibility towards family:

- It is the fathers duty to keep his family safe from the
things they fear. He is responsible for their safety and well-
being. The mother also has her role to play, should the
father be unavailable.

c) Children cannot be fooled:

- In modern times, children are exposed to a lot of
information and technological advances, so they are
sometimes able to make intelligent judgments. Thus, they
are not easily fooled.

d) Parents must be honest and realistic with their

children:
- Some parents are afraid of being exposed as weak and
vulnerable in front of their children. As such, they may lie,
pretend or fantasise to protect their own ego. Children can
see through the web of lies and pretence.

e) Heroes in fact and fantasy:

- A hero is a person admired for his noble qualities, bravery
and good deeds. While many heroes exists in fantasy like
Superman and Batman, there are also everyday heroes like
ones mother or father, nurses, firemen and policemen.
Sometimes people pretend to be heroes in fantasies (like
dad in the poem). However, the fun of fantasy does not
last.

f) Fears and phobias:

- The child is afraid of the dark, ghosts, skeletons, and many
more. However, it is clear that the childs fears stem from
his own imagination as none of the creatures are real. The
father, despite being brave and having very little fear, is
afraid of spiders. This shows that each of us must have a
fear of something.

8. Moral Values: Refer to your Literature Module Page 8

a) The values the poem teaches you
9. Tone and Mood:
a) Tone Refers to the writers attitude to his listener
- Ironic: This is obvious in the last two lines of the poem
when the persona asks a rhetorical question. The child
notes that his dad is afraid of a mere spider in the bath and
needs Mum to remove it.

b) Mood Refers to the overall feeling or emotion of the

poem
- Light-hearted / not serious
- Humorous

10. Structure and Style:

a) Structure:
- The poem is written in five stanzas of four lines each.
- Lines 2 and 4 of each verse rhyme.

b) Language:
- The language used in the poem is simple and
straightforward.

c) Literary Devices:
i. Repetition: Words or phrases that are repeated to
stress an important point
- He not afraid of (four times)
- My dads as brave as a dad can be (twice)

ii. Imagery: Words that are enable the reader to

visualise or hear an object, a person or a scene
- Hes not afraid of meeting ghosts, Hed even smile and
greet em
- If Frankensteins monster knocked on our door, He
wouldnt let that upset him

iii. Irony: Refers to an amusing or strange aspect of a

situation that is unexpected
- In the beginning, the child describes his father as the
most courageous person.
- However, in the last two lines, the reader learns that
the father is actually afraid of spiders.
- This shows that the father is a human being after all
with his own fears too.
 iv. Metaphor: To compare two things that have the
same qualities
- dead of night (stanza 1, line 3)
- Meaning: night is so still (keheningan) and dark, it is
almost like the stillness (tidak bergerak) of death.

v. Hyperbole: A hyperbole is an exaggerated

(membesar-besarkan) statement used in a funny
way
- The personas list of exaggerated statements about
the dads bravery is not realistic. Example (stanza 3, line
1-2)

Practice 1: Word Power

Match the words in Column A to its meaning in Column B.

Column A Column B
1 rate A to show or establish the truth
2 dead of night B the frame of human bones
3 horrors C to get rid of
4 telly D a time when it is most quiet, usually in the middle
of the night
5 skeletons E to give value or worth to something
6 defeat F to feel disturbed or uncomfortable
7 upset G something very frightening
8 prove H to overcome a challenge or problem
9 remove I short form for television, usually referred to by the
British

Answers:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
F