Exercises

Exercise 1

Stanza 1

He had such quiet eyes
She did not realise
They were two pools of lies
Layered with thinnest ice
Were breathing desolate sighs
Imploring her to be nice
And to render him paradise

1) How is the woman attracted to the man?
2) How has the poet enhanced the man's effect on the woman?
3) What moral value can you learn from this extract?

Exercise 2

Stanza 2

If only she'd been wise
And had listened to the advice
With pleasure-seeking guys
She'd free from "the hows and whys"

1) Does the woman have a good or bad experience in her relationship? Explain.
2) What lesson has the woman learnt from her experience?
3) What does the phrase the hows and the whys refer to?

Exercise 3

Stanza 3

Now here's a bit of advice
Be sure that nice really means nice
Then you'll never be losing at dice
Though you may lose your heart once or twice

1) Describe the poet's tone in this extract.
2) What does the line Be sure that nice means nice suggests?
3) Based on this extract and your knowledge of the poem, describe a theme of the poem.


p/s, you can always refer to your English teacher at school for the correct answers. :)

Tone and Mood

• The poet uses a gentle tone throughout the poem.
  
• Even as she describes the deceit, the foolish action of the woman, we do not sense any harshness in her tone.
• She describes the relationship with regret that if only the woman has been wise and listen to advice, then perhaps she will not get so badly hurt.
• The poet maintains a calm mood as she narrates and comments, and even as she ends the poem by dispensing her advice in a friendly and well-meaning way.
  

Language and Style

Language

• The poet uses free verse and speaks in a conversational style.
• The lines flow gently and freely into one another as the poet narrates and comments.
• It is easy to follow the poet's narration and understand her advice.

Rhymes

• The poet uses rhymes and this makes the lines flow smoothly and in a sing-song manner.
• It enhances the poet's friendly and warm tone.
  

Personification

• 'those quiet eyes Were breathing desolate sighs" (line 5-6) enhances the effect of the lover's gaze.

Metaphor

• "two pools of lies" (line 3) emphasizes the extent of the lies and evokes an image of drowning which suggests a sense of helplessness.
• "at dice" (line 16) suggests that a love relationship is like a game where you take your chances.
  

Point of View

• The poet acts as the narrator and commentator.
• She tells us about a relationship and comments on it, on the lesson learnt from this relationship.
• She then speaks directly to the reader to expend her advice.
• The readers feel involved as if they are also witness to a failed relationship and have been given personal advice on the dos and don'ts in relationship.
  

Theme(s) of the Poem

See through the surface

• Learn to look out for ulterior motives in men who seek to befriend you.
• Do not think with your heart. Sometimes relationships work out, sometimes relationship do not work out. We may win or lose in love.
• However, the most important thing of all is that we have an honest and sincere relationship with the other person.
• The other person likes us for who we are and not because he wants something in return from us.

Have self-respect

• Do not lower your expectations, demands or standards in order to get someone to like you or accept you.
• By maintaining our self-respect, we will not be easily persuaded or cajoled into doing something we do not want.

Listen to advice

• Listen to advice.
  
• Appreciate that people have good intentions when they give advice.
  

Understanding The Poem

STANZA 1

He had such quiet eyes
She did not realise
They were two pools of lies
Layered with thinnest ice
To her, those quiet eyes
Were breathing desolate sighs
Imploring her to be nice
And to render him paradise

• The woman is taken up with his 'quiet eyes'. The eyes mesmerise and beg her to 'be nice' to him and make him extremely happy, that is 'render him paradise'.
• The poet uses a very strong imagery of the eyes 'breathing desolate sighs' to enhance the effect of the eyes on the girl.
• The woman, being so enamoured with those eyes, does not notoce he is deceiving her. It would be difficut to see through the man if the woman had her feet on the ground because the eyes have only the 'thinnest ice', easy to break through to learn the man's true nature.
  

STANZA 2

If only she'd been wise
And had listened to the advice
Never to compromise
With pleasure-seeking guys
She'd be free from "the hows and whys"

• Something has happened to the woman and she has learnt the truth about the man.
• The poet suggests that she has learnt the hard way, that is she learns her lesson through bad experience.
• She has made a mistake of trusting the man because she has refused to listen to the advice not 'to compromise', that is, lower her standards or expectations in order to please a man who seduces women.
  

STANZA 3

Now here's a bit of advice
Be sure that nice means nice
Then you'll never be losing at dice
Though you may lose your heart once or twice

• The poet extends her friendly advice to women to understand what is meant by 'nice', what it means when men are 'nice' to you.
• When he is 'nice', freindly and pleasant to you, make sure that he is sincere and trustworthy and not because he has ulterior motive, that is he wants something from you in return.
• The poet further comments that love may be a gamble as suggested in 'dice', you take your chances with someone, you may find true love or you may not.
  
• The important issue here is that ultimately you have not lost anything because you have not compromised, you are not deceived.
  

Synopsis of the Poem

• The poem is about a woman who has been deceived to think that she was loved by a man with 'quiet eyes'.
• She suffers for this and only learns on hindsight not to trust or give in to men who seek women only for pleasure.
• The poet gives an advice on being able to recognise what is true and what is not, when a person is truly friendly and when he is not.
  
• You may lose in the game of love and give your heart away, but knowing the truth of the situation will mean that you will not suffer any lasting losses.