THE FACE OF HUNGER

I counted the ribs on his concert in a chest
Bones protruding as if chiselled
By a sculptor’s hand off a mine
He looked with glazed pupils
Seeing only a bun on some sky-high shelf
The skin was pale and taut
Like the glove of a doctor’s hand
His tongue darted in and out
Like a chameleon’s
Snatching a confetti of flies
O! Child
Your stomach is a den of lions
Roaring day and night.

1.What is the message of the poem?(3Mks)
2.Why does the child see ‘only a bun on some sky-high shelf’ and why is the shelf‘sky-high’?(2
Mks)
3.Explain the following phrases as used in the poem.(3Mks)
a….as if chiselled by a sculptor’s hand off a mine

b.Like a glove on a doctor’s hand
c.Like a chameleon’s
4.Comment on the poet’s use of‘ concert in a chest ’and ‘a confetti of flies’.(4Mks)
5.Comment on the effectiveness of the last two lines of the poem.(4Mks)
6.Comment on the use of imagery in the poem.(4Mks)

ANSWERS

THE FACE OF HUNGER
1.It refers to a child who is suffering from the effects of hunger/starvation
He has grown thin and worn out
He hallucinates about food that does not exist
He looks helpless and uncared for
Starvation can cause hallucinations
2.He imagines eating a ‘bun’ but can not get it.
It is not possible for him to get any food
Food is out of reach
3.He is so emaciated/thin-as ifsomeonehascuthisfleshaway
Theskinistightandpale
The flickering tongue shows he is greedy
4.Like the ridges of a concertina, a musical instrument-one can count the ribs on his chest
Coloured flies-of different colours
5.It is effective because a den of lions roaring refers to the rumbling stomach because the child is
very hungry.
6.Simile ‘like a glove…’refers to the emaciated skin of the starved child
Metaphor‘ your stomach is a den of lions’ -refers to the sound emanating from the child’s
stomach