‘I WENT TO CHURCH’ Poem

Read the following poem and answer the questions that follow.

    I WENT TO CHURCH.

    I went to church today.
    Yes I went and prayed for all
    Friends and foes alike.
    Dead and those alive.

I also prayed hard.
For the soul of that soldier.
Who got short.
Fighting for our motherland
While I shot hot life into his wife.
And I prayed to God too
That I live long
To go and pray again

    Questions.

a)    What is the poem about?      (4 marks)
b)    Identify and illustrate any two character traits of the speaker. (4 marks)
c)     Identify and illustrate three poetic devices used in the poem.    (6 marks)
d)     What is the meaning of the following lines as used in the poem?  (2 marks)
    i)     While I shot hot life into his wife.
    ii)     That I live long to go and pray again.
e)     i)     What is the tone of the poem  (2 marks)
    ii)     Explain the overriding mood of the poem.  (2 marks)

I WENT TO CHURCH ANSWERS

a)    The poem is about a person who has gone to church to pray.
    He prays for friends and foes to living and the dead.
    He had committed adultery with the soldier’s wife.
    He is remorseful or apologetic and asks for forgiveness.
b)    He is religious/pious – goes to church to pray – “To go and pray again”
    He is immoral/promiscuous – commits adultery with the soldier wife “While I shot hot life into his wife”
c)     i)     Repetition – “I went and prayed”
    ii)    Alliteration – friends and foes live long
        Fighting for
    iii)    Imagery (metaphor) – “I shot hot life into her wife”
d)     i)    The speaker engages in sexual affairs and impregnates the soldier wife.
    ii)    He asks God to preserve his life✓ so that he can go often to pray in in church.
e)     i)    Apologetic/remorseful/reconciliatory. Asks God for forgiveness.
    ii)    Prayerful – “That I live long to go and pray again”