Читать книгу English for Life Reader Grade 7 Home Language - Elaine Ridge - Страница 12

Pre-reading
1.	When do people usually sleep beneath the stars?
During reading
2.	What is the name of this shanty town (township)?

Shantytown

Anonymous

High on the veld upon that plain

And far from streets and lights and cars

And bare of trees, and bare of grass,

Jabavu sleeps beneath the stars.

Jabavu sleeps.

The children cough.

Cold creeps up, the hard night cold,

The earth is tight within its grasp,

The Highveld cold without soft rain,

Dry as the sand, rough as a rasp

The frost rimmed night invades the shacks.

Through dusty ground

Through rocky ground

Through freezing ground, the night cold creeps.

In cotton blankets, rags and sacks

Beneath the stars Jabavu sleeps.

One day Jabavu will awake

To greet a new and shining day:

The sound of coughing will become

The children’s laughter as they play

In parks with flowers where dust now swirls

In strong-walled homes with warmth and light.

But for tonight Jabavu sleeps.

Jabavu sleeps. The stars are bright.

Post-reading
3.	The word “cold” is used three times in the first stanza to bring home to us how hard life is in Jabavu township in winter. What other words make us feel sorry for the people in Jabavu?
4.	The coldness in this poem is described as though it were a living person or creature (personification). What do the words “creeps” and “invades” tell you about how the people experience the cold?
5.	The second stanza is a message of hope. List the differences between Jabavu now and Jabavu as it will be in the hoped-for future.