Summary on It is the constant images of your face, Dulce et decorum est, This is the dark time my love, forgive my guilt, A contemplation upon flowers, A lesson for this sunday

1. ‘It Is The Constant Image of Your Face’ – Dennis Brutus
The persona seeks to resolve the innate conflict that resounds within him- he is torn between the love he holds for his country and the desire he possesses for his loved one. He begs ‘mitigation’ from the land for his act of treason or betrayal that he has committed through finding love with a woman.
(Patriotism)
2. Dulce Et Decorum Est [Pro Patria Mori] – Wilfred Owen
The intent of this poem is to demolish the stereotypical views of war from the political and social standpoint that it is ‘’befitting and sweet to die for one’s country.’’ The persona looks retrospectively at experiences in battle, and via the poem, the reader is presented a taste of the toxic trauma that seemingly torments the persona throughout his life. Unable to escape war as he even revisits the graphic encounters in his subconscious, the inevitability of being scarred physically and/or emotionally provokes the persona to appeal to his fellow human beings to protect and enlighten not only themselves, but also subsequent generations of mankind. ‘’Dulce et Decorum Est Pro Patria Mori’’ translates to – ‘’It is sweet and befitting to die for one’s native land’. Ironically, Owen chastises the patriotism reiterated in the title; and is seemingly somewhat angered by the romanticized portrayal of war. Through this piece, we are able to gather that maybe it isn’t so ‘’sweet and befitting’’ to die for one’s native land after all.

3. This is the Dark Time My Love- Martin Carter

This literary work, written by Martin Carter, speaks of the oppression that the British Guianese must succumb to when British soldiers have been sent to quell the unrest which has become rampant in the territory. Death is personified in the form of a soldier, a ‘strange invader’ who is ‘aiming at their dreams.’ By means of this, Carter has referenced the arrival of the soldiers to both the emotional and physical death of the Guianese inhabitants. Pathetic fallacy is utilized largely in the text; as seemingly even nature has fallen prey to the ‘dark time’ that looms around the area. We see that red flowers ‘bend their heads in awful sorrow’. In conjunction with this, the ‘shining sun is [now] hidden in the sky’. This delicately nuanced line, also refers to the hope that has disappeared from the hearts of the Guianese people, and they have now become overcome with grief and anguish. On another level, this line is also a pun, as it is a play on the phrase ‘this is the dark time’, as the sun disappears, so does the light – thus, there is nothing but darkness, and it has literally become a time of darkness or a ‘dark time.’

4. Forgive My Guilt – Robert Tristam P. Coffin
In this poem, the persona is guilty and apologetic for committing what he believes is a great misdeed. This is reiterated in the lines ‘Not always sure what things called sins may be/ I am sure of one sin I have done.’ His surety of wrong doing is the cause of his inability to move on, as he is still haunted by the memory of his evil. As he lay in the frost flowers with his gun, it explodes, accidentally injuring two beautiful beings of nature. While walking the headland, he still hears the cries of the plovers whose deaths he claims himself responsible for, and states that ‘time cannot drown them’. As guilt continues to have an effect on him, even when he ascends to adulthood, he hopes anything ‘wild, airy and beautiful’ will eventually ‘forgive [his] guilt.’

5. A Contemplation Upon Flowers – Henry King
In this literary piece, the persona attributes our reluctance to accept our impending fate to our human pride and vanity. He praises the flowers for being ‘little vain’ in tandem with being humble. His admiration of their humility and resignation to their fate is observed in the lines ‘you come abroad and make a harmless show/ and to your beds of earth again’. In the final stanza, the persona asks the flowers to demonstrate to him (and possibly the rest of mankind) how to ‘see death and not to fear/ But rather to take truce’.

6. A Lesson For this Sunday – Derek Walcott
In this poem, the persona explores the concept of innate human cruelty. He is shocked and somewhat appalled as he observes its genesis in even the youngest of our kind. While swaying idly in his hammock, his garden seems to be an idyllic locale for respite and relaxation. However, his Sunday does not go by peacefully as two children, a boy and girl ‘break his Sabbath with the thought of sin’, with their cries of joy as they immerse themselves in play. This ‘play’ is not all fun and games, as through his meticulous examination of the children’s behaviour, he sees them torturing an unfortunate butterfly, whose eyes they damage with a common pin, and soon enough, they proceed to ‘eviscerate its abdomen.’ He watches from a distance as the ‘maimed, teetering thing attempts its flight.’ The persona makes comparison to the girl, who is clad in lemon frock, with the butterfly whose wings are a hue similar to that of her dress. These lines create the implication that in his eyes, both the bt

He even goes further to say, ‘. . .everywhere the frocks of summer torn’ and from this, we can infer that the young girl