POETRY:

THE GIFT
BY: CHRIS BANKS

BY: FAYEZ AND JUMA

WHAT IS THE POEM

ABOUT?
The poem is about a woman being
brought back home from a terrible
accident, where she has faced many
injuries. She then is comforted by
her loving son who take cares of
here.

WHATS THE MEANING

OF THE POEM?
The giftwhat could it mean?
There are two views on this. First one is the love she
receives from her son.
And the second one is the accident that has happened, she
calls herself a fool when she gives thanks to the pain, she
likes the pain because she receives tenderness from her son.

MAIN IDEAS
The main idea is the after effect of the accident.
The main theme is tenderness/pain, we could debate on this
as it could be both or could only be one of them.

STRUCTURE:
The poem is written in free verse, it has no particular rhyme,
pattern or rhythm.

STANZA 1

PART 1/2

After the accident, the hospital

This word
could suggest
how swollen
her mouth has
become.
The word
black can
signify
darkness and
pain she is
feeling. It
could be the
reason to the
colour of the
stitches.

Suggests how
badly injured she is

they brought me aching home

mouth pumped up like a tyre

use of simile. The

poet compares a
mouth with a
tyre.

black stitches tracking the wound

over my lip, the red slit signalling
the broken place.

The word tracking

can mean how big
and long the wound
is, because its
moving around with
it

STANZA 1

PART 2/2

And my son
Love she
receives
from son
Can suggest
that the son has
a long and cosy
arm
Tis can be a
small bit of
irony, as a
mother is
being cared
for by her son,
but its actually
suppose to be
the opposite.

Repetition of the
word son can
signify the love
she has towards
him.

my tall, cool son of sixteen

kissed the top of my head

Use of simile.
Compares the boys arm
with a birds wing.

and over the curve of my shoulder

laid his arm, like the broad wing
of a mother bird guarding its young.

Use of juxta position.

As the poet describes
the son as a mother
bird and herself as
the young bird.

STANZA 2
A sense of
sympathy

PART 1/2

Anyone who has known tenderness

thrown like a lifeline into the heart of pain

Use of simile.
Compares
tenderness with
lifeline.

anyone who has known pain bleed into tenderness

knows how the power of the two combine.

When you get

hurt, a lot of love
is received.
Going back to
the title of the
poem the gift

STANZA 2 PART 2/2

And if I am a fool to give thanks
for pain as well as tenderness
and even if, as some would say
there are no accidents -

Calling herself
a fool for
liking the pain.
The only
reason that
she likes it is
that she
receives a lot
of love from
her son.

STANZA 3
OR the gift
of the
accident

Still, I am grateful for the gift.

.

What gift could

she be talking
about?

The gift of tenderness

from her son

ANY QUESTIONS?