‘SECOND OLYMPUS’ Poem

Read the following poem and answer the questions that follow

SECOND OLYMPUS

    From the rostrum they declaimed
    On martyrs and men of high ideals
    Whom they sent out
    Benevorent despots to an unwilling race
    Straining at the yoke
    Bull dozers trampling on virgin ground
    In blatant violation
    They trampled down all that was strange
    And filled the void
    With half digested alien thoughts
    They left a trail of red
    Whatever their feet had passed
    Oh, they did themselves fine
    And struttled about the place
    Self proclaimed demi- gods
    From a counterfeit Olympus
    One day they hurled down thunder bolts
    On toiling race of earthworms
    They might have rained own pebbles
    To pelt the brats to death
    But that was beneath them
    They kept up the illusion
    That they were fighting foes

    Killing in the name of high ideals
    At the inquest they told the world
    The worms were becoming pests
    Moreover, they said
    They did not like wriggly things
    Strange prejudice for gods.

    Questions

1)    Who is being talked about in this poem? Give evidence. (2 marks)
2)    With two evidences, discuss the poet’s general attitude towards the subject of the poem. (3 marks)
3)    What do you understand by the following three lines?                        
“they trample down all that was strange                                
And filled the void    with half-digested alien thoughts?”
4)    Who are referred to as the “toiling race of earthworms” and why? (3 marks)
5)    Discuss two stylistic devices used in the poem. Give their effectiveness
6)    Explain the significance of the title. (2 marks)
7)    What is the tone of the poem? (1 mark)

SECOND OLYMPUS ANSWERS

a)    Colonialists.√ “……with half digested alien thought”√ “……they hurled down thunderbolts on a toiling race of earth worms.” 1 x 2
b)    Bitterness; the poet talks with irony and sarcasm to show his contempt.√ 1 x 2                    “…..strange prejudice for gods.”√                                        “…..self proclaimed demi- gods.”√                                        “…..martyrs and men oof high ideals.”√                                        “……benevorent despots to an unwilling race.”                                    Any 1 x 1 mark
c)    The aliens destroyed√ everything that was not important to trhem.√ And put up their own     things.√ They destroyed cultures and traditions and introduced theirs. 1 x 3
d)    It referred to African √ slaves who worked very hard on their lands√ and soil. They worked on     the soil for too long like earthworms.√ 1 x 3

i)    Metaphor “worms were becoming pests.” To emphasize the fact though√ the Africans were     minor compared to the whites, they caused destruction and resisted the colonial rule.
ii)    Irony √ “….strange prejudice for good” to show the colonialists’ hypocrisy√
iii)    Sarcasm √” ….self proclaimed demi- gods” to laugh √ at their proclaimed superiority’
e)    The disrespects√ for gods. The white have proclaimed themselves gods. 1 x 2
f)    Sarcastic tone.√ “strange prejudice for gods” 1 x1