Oddjob Flashcards
(15 cards)
Q1: What central themes are explored in the poem?
A: The poem explores grief, loss, love, death, silence, and the deep emotional bond between humans and animals.
Q2: What is the significance of the opening line “You prepare for one sorrow, / but another comes”?
A: It suggests the unpredictability of grief—no matter how prepared we think we are, loss always surprises us in unexpected forms.
Q3: What poetic device is used in the comparison between grief and weather?.
A: Metaphor. Grief is compared to weather, showing it as an uncontrollable, natural force beyond human control.
Q4: How does Walcott portray the relationship between humans and animals?
A: He presents it as emotionally equal to human relationships, showing that love and grief transcend species.
Q5: What is the effect of listing “the woman, / the friend next to you, / the child at your side, / and the dog”?
A: The list emphasizes the universality of love and loss, placing animals alongside humans in the speaker’s circle of affection.
Q6: What natural imagery marks the shift from life to death in the poem?
A: “The sunlight altering / the darkening oleanders / in the sea-garden” symbolizes the passage of time and the onset of grief.
Q7: What does the dog’s behavior—“the dog’s whimper”—symbolize in the poem?
A: It symbolizes a silent awareness of impending death, hinting that animals may sense loss before we do.
Q8: What is the meaning of the line “the readiness is all”?
A: It expresses a resigned acceptance of death’s inevitability, echoing Hamlet’s reflection on mortality.
Q9: How does the poem describe the silence after death?
A: It is described as “sea-deep, / earth-deep, / love-deep”—a silence deeper and more profound than readiness.
Q10: What does Walcott mean by “the silence is stronger than thunder”?
A: He means that grief is so powerful that it leaves us speechless, more impactful than even the loudest natural force.
Q11: How are animals shown to experience love differently from humans?
A: Animals “never utter love as we do,” but feel it deeply—suggesting that love doesn’t need language to be profound.
Q12: What is the significance of the line “the deepest buried love is / the one silence”?
A: It suggests that the most profound love is often unspoken and only fully revealed in the silence of death.
Q13: What message does the ending deliver: “it is the one love, it is the same, / and it is blest”?
A: It affirms that all love—whether for a pet, a child, a friend, or a partner—is sacred and unified by grief.
Q14: What is the overall tone of the poem?
A: Reflective, tender, and elegiac. The tone carries quiet sorrow and reverence for love and the silence of loss.
Q15: How does the poem use silence as a poetic and emotional concept?
A: Silence represents not just death but the depth of unexpressed love—a space where words fail but emotion remains.
