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This poem describes a teacher's observations of his students at the end of the school day. The students are tired and eager for class to end, daydreaming of their afternoon plans. When the bell rings, the students become energized and rush to leave the hot, dreary classroom, flinging chairs and dragging out the last bits of the day. The boys run out excitedly while the girls slowly pack up, secretly checking mirrors hidden in their books. The teacher stands back to avoid the rush, feeling an awkward witness to the students' giggles and whispers as they thank him on their way out.
This poem describes a teacher's observations of his students at the end of the school day. The students are tired and eager for class to end, daydreaming of their afternoon plans. When the bell rings, the students become energized and rush to leave the hot, dreary classroom, flinging chairs and dragging out the last bits of the day. The boys run out excitedly while the girls slowly pack up, secretly checking mirrors hidden in their books. The teacher stands back to avoid the rush, feeling an awkward witness to the students' giggles and whispers as they thank him on their way out.
This poem describes a teacher's observations of his students at the end of the school day. The students are tired and eager for class to end, daydreaming of their afternoon plans. When the bell rings, the students become energized and rush to leave the hot, dreary classroom, flinging chairs and dragging out the last bits of the day. The boys run out excitedly while the girls slowly pack up, secretly checking mirrors hidden in their books. The teacher stands back to avoid the rush, feeling an awkward witness to the students' giggles and whispers as they thank him on their way out.
The Poet One of Malaysian well-known authors. He has also made a name for himself as an essayist, cultural critic, translator and publisher of Tengara, a magazine for Southeast Asian literature. He has written several volumes of poetry in English and Malay and has published anthologies of Malay poetry.
Born on 26 March 1942, at Temerlok, Trong. In 1958 when he entered the Malay College, Kuala Kangsar(Maktab Melayu Kuala Kangsar). While studying, he had won the Wise and Bulter Scholarship for Composition and Translation in two languages. He taught for some times before he went to Brinsford Lodge, Wolverhampton to study. He began to write poetry in both English and Malay when he was undergoing teacher-training in England during the early 1960s. In 1977, he was a Visiting Professor in North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina. Since 1978 he has been a professor in the Department of Malay Letters at the National University of Malaysia. In 1992-1993, he was a Fulbright Visiting Researcher in University of California, Berkeley. In 1993-1994 he was the Chair of Malay Studies, Leiden University, Leiden, Holland. In 1999-2000 he was a fellow at the Center for Southeast Asian Studies, Kyoto Univerwsity. Since 2000, he has been a professor of the School of Humanities in Science University of Malaysia, Penang.
Like all his other poems, Muhammad Haji Salleh has written all the words in the poems in lower case. Only the Latin-influenced languages use capitals letters to begin sentences and proper names. Languages such as Arabic, Chinese, Thai, Burmese etc , do not have such rules. Giving I the lower case symbolizes a sense of humility. This is probably because the poet regards what he felt during school over as very personal.
He wrote the poem while he was teaching in Sultan Abu Bakar School, Kuantan in 1968. His real experience as a teacher watching his pupils rushing out of the classroom in great spirit and life force, which was not shown in class, has inspired him to write this poem. Discuss What are your feelings when the class is almost over?
Sit in a group of 4-5 and discuss. Stanza 1 the belated bell shrieked rustily into listless children ears listening to their noon-dreams and wandering plans for the schoolless afternoon. i too was waiting for the bell (quietly cursing the new office-boy) persuading an idea home into minds that have closed their doors. Showing no interest The persona also wanted to go home. Meaning Students were not paying attention because of their tiredness after spending such a long time in class. They were making plans for the coming afternoon. The persona himself also was also eager to go home.
Stanza 2 the bell was life-giver, the sudden god of freedom- life rushed into the limbs of heat-sapped bodies. chairs were flung on desks, wood upon wood, dragging the last scraps of the day down. but i must wait, see them leave what they had not wanted, the dreary classroom, wet from the heat Dull, lifeless The word sudden indicate that the bell is only welcomed by the students at that time. This is probably that for other times the bell signaled the start of another lessons while at that time the bell 'freed' them from the class. Meaning The bell was regarded as the life giver because the ringing of the bell made the children energetic. After the bell had rung, they quickly flung the wooden chairs on the wooden tables and they were wet from the heat because they were sweating. (there were no fan or air-condition that time) But the persona had to wait for them to leave the dull and lifeless classroom that they had not wanted.
Stanza 3 i stood behind the table, out of the path of the stampede of boys running to catch friends from other classes, from the elbows and feet of those newly alive. the moments took them away behind the buildings, to the roads. Stampede means a sudden wild rush of mass of people in a particular direction. The students left very fast. Meaning The persona had to stand behind the table to avoid being knocked down from the stampede. Students are bored to death in class and that is why they felt 'newly alive' when school is over. They left very quickly. Stanza 4 the girls smoothed their hair secretly peering into some mirror hidden in shakespeare or usman awang. in their book baskets. i stood waiting for them to go an awkwardly witness to life - giggles and whispers. they walked out some feminine, some childish, thanking me.
Students might not be allowed to bring mirrors or comb to school. Otherwise, they would not have to peer into mirrors secretly. Their books. Meaning On the other hand, the girls were still calm. They were secretly peering into some mirrors that they had brought to school. They were not allowed to bring mirrors to school. Despite the school rules, the girls had hidden the mirrors in their books. At that time, books written by Shakespeare and Usman Awang were their text books. (They were to learn both Western and local knowledge.)
He felt awkward probably he was confused whether to punish the girls for breaking the school rules or not. The girls were giggling and whispering to each other while they were leaving the classroom. Some feminine, some childish. The girls, not like the boys, were polite enough to thank the persona before leaving. They showed respect to the elders as their cultures had taught them.
In your own group, discuss again:
what are the tones of this poem? Themes Observation of a teacher The whole poem is about the personas observation and the view as a teacher, on the atmosphere of the class and the attitude of the students towards the end of the class. Eagerness The students and the teacher were eager to go home. Excitement The students were so excited that they had already start to plan the activities for the afternoon even before the class ends. Literary Devices 1. ONOMATOPOEIA (The use of that imitate the sounds associated with the objects or actions they refer to) - the belated bell shrieked rustily (stanza 1, line 1)
2. ASSONANCE (The repetition of identical or similar vowel sounds in neighbouring words.) - for the schoolless afternoon (stanza 1, line 5)
3. METAPHOR (A figure of speech in which an implied comparison is made between two unlike things that actually have something in common.) - the bell was life-giver (stanza 2, line 1)
4. PERSONIFICATION ( an non-living object given human qualities or abilities.) - life rushed into the limbs (stanza 2, line 3) 5. OXYMORON ( A figure of speech in which incongruous or contradictory terms appear side by side.) -wet from the heat.(stanza 2, last line) 6. REPETITION - some feminine, some childish,(stanza 4, line9)
Waka and Form, Waka and History Author(s) : Mark Morris Source: Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies, Dec., 1986, Vol. 46, No. 2 (Dec., 1986), Pp. 551-610 Published By: Harvard-Yenching Institute