1a. what are the persona's feelings described in the first three stanzas of this poem? Explain how the poet described these feelings through the use of alliteration, metaphor and pun.

In the poem, the author was able to express his thoughts and feelings through the creative use of pun, alliteration and metaphor. In the first stanza, the author made use of metaphors such as tugged the leash and pack of unruly hounds. By using the metaphor tugged the leash; the author was trying to say that the students were all rather rebellious and refused to listen to his instructions. Also, the author wrote his students as a pack of unruly hounds, depicting them as turbulent animals. Other than that, the author also made use of pun. One good example would be quarry of knowledge. Quarry refers to the prey that the hunter is hunting and in this case, it meant hunting for knowledge. To further express his feelings, the author used choice of words. In the first line of the stanza, he wrote weariness. Basically, it refers to how tired and sick the teacher was of teaching his students.

In the second stanza, the author made good use of choice of words. For example, he wrote brunt, which means stress. In this case, the author probably trying to say that he could no longer stand the pressure and stress from teaching the students. Other than that, the author used alliteration such as “of”. In the second to fourth sentence in the stanza, the author wrote “of” to link the sentences together and express his feelings. Furthermore, the use of pun can also be seen in the second stanza. The author used sick which means ill. However, I can infer that he was trying to say that he was annoyed and tired of his work.

In the third stanza, the author wrote fuel of life. The author used the metaphor, fuel of life, to describe life as fuel. In this case, he probably meant his energy and will. To add on, the author also used the metaphor, kindle my will to a flame. I can infer that he probably meant to express his will and persuade his students. Lastly, the author used the pun “and take the toll of their insults in punishment?—I will not! --- ”. Toll refers to a tax or tribute. However, in the poem, the author was trying to say that he was not going to take the hardship and burden exacted on him by his students.


1b. How is the tone of anger in this poem illustrated?

In the poem, the author made use of many literacy devices, metaphors and puns to express his anger towards his students. The first stanza of the poem used metaphors and puns such as tugged the leash and quarry of knowledge to show how rebellious the students were. Also, the author wrote “I can haul and urge them no more” to show that he could no long bring himself to persuade and get his students to be interested in their work. Furthermore, he was also trying to say that he was tired of his work. Also, the word haul and no more means pull with force while no more means no longer. It means that the author had tried very hard in vain to get his students to work and pursue knowledge.

In the second stanza, the author wrote brunt, slovenly work and blotted pages. From that, I can see that the students gave the author sloppy work, resulting in the author being unable to face the prospect of marking their work. Also, the author used the pun sick to describe how tired he is of teaching the students. Hence, I can infer that this stanza was probably trying to say that the author has run out of patience and is tired of his student’s messy work. Also, he feels hopeless and was unable to see the point of teaching his students.

Later on, in the third stanza, the author was probably trying to say that he will not muster up his energy to teach his students as those students are indifferent towards his teaching and does not want to learn. Hence, I can infer that the author was trying to say that the teacher is unable to face their insults and lack of interest. Also, the author wanted to express the fact that the teacher had given up on his students as they do not seem interested in his teachings.

Lastly, in the last three stanzas, the author said that he will not waste his energy teaching the students. He finds that there is no point in him teaching and their learning, as it all goes down into the same abyss. Also, the author said that it does not matter to him, whether his students could read or write. In the last stanza, the author decided not to teach them anymore and keep his strength for himself.
In conclusion, I find this poem rather interesting, as it shows the life of teachers nowadays. The author was also able to fully describe and bring to its reader the message that it wants to express.