Need help with a Unseen Poetry personal response.

boobookitty

Hi, currently studying past exam papers and I need help on answering the 2003 LC ENGLISH Unseen Poetry Question.

"Write a personal response to the above poem"
(About 250 words)

and the poem was "Butterflies", by Rosita Boland.

In Bosnia, there are landmines
Decorated with butterflies
And left on the grassy pathways
Of rural villages.

The children come, quivering down
Familiar lanes & fields.
Hands outstretched, they reach triumphant
For these bright, elusive insects -
Themselves becoming wingéd in the act;
Gaudy and ephemeral.


Poetry has never been my strong suit so I was wondering if anyone could give me some suggestions on this. Thanks.

PurpleFistMixer

Um, how are other people supposed to tell you what your personal response to the poem is? What do you think about it? Do you like it? Are the images good? How does it make you feel? What do you think it's about? What kind of message is it trying to convey and what do you think about that?

(On a brief glance, I'd say the most interesting aspect of the poem is the contrast between the delicate, gentle images of the butterflies and the children, and the harsh reality and destructiveness of the landmines.)

ryanj

2003
Write a short response to the above poem, highlighting the impact it makes on you. (20)

The poem very cleverly made a significant impact on me due to its plain, ordinary manner. Language is simple. The poem is toneless and is formed slightly irregularly, with a four line and a six line stanza. However the ordinariness of the poem was paradoxically the element which impacted upon me most.

There is little language, image or mood of any exasperation. After the mention of “landmines” we hear of “butterflies” and “grassy pathways/ Of rural villages.” Language and tone are of the everyday variety and I did not expect to view a consequence of the landmines.
The second stanza continues the first stanza’s mode of run-off lines. This adds to the tension that grows as the poem nears its conclusion. My reading quickened and I felt that this was of some significance, that the poet was building up to an event of worth to the poem, be it at the next full stop or end of poem.
The powerful yet everyday image of children was the central element of the poem for me, not the titled “butterflies”. They are the future of Bosnia, and in the poem, are the only inhabitants “Of rural villages.” I felt their introduction in the second stanza only added to their innocent and unknowing state; they “come, quivering down/ Familiar lanes and fields” which have been laid with landmines. However they are unaware of what the poet has warned me of; that “there are landmines/ Decorated with butterflies”.
I found the poem’s conclusion striking, horrifying, yet clever. There is no explosion of a landmine, only the simple, usual act of attempting to catch a butterfly. However as the children “reach triumphant/ For these bright, elusive insects” we hear that they become “winged in the act;/ Gaudy and ephemeral.” The ending is abrupt, like their death will be when the landmine does its job. The tension of the poem is not resolved because the poem leaves the reader at the precise moment where the child is attempting the impossible, to catch “these bright, elusive insects” and seconds before impending death. But does this have anything to do with the role of the poem? As the children are not dead, are we allowed to rewind time or even form a different ending? Perhaps Rosita Boland is showing us that we have a chance to, and in doing so, shows us that war is not always the answer.
(Or does war have any connection to the poem? I wondered if the children turning “Gaudy and ephemeral” was purely because they are attempting the impossible, to catch the “elusive butterflies”. Gaudy and ephemeral could be the children dying after they have spent their entire lives chasing and dreaming of the impossible.)

brianthebard

I did that exam! Em, just do like PFM suggested. the best prep for the unseen poetry is to figure out a list of questions that you can ask yourself about any poem, then apply them to the poem on the exam. Do I like the images? What are the images? What are the main themes? How do they make me feel? Stuff like that.